Andrew woke to find himself in Jill’s bed with Jill wrapped in his arms. He smiled to himself. The feel of her soft body pressed against his felt so right. Like nothing he’d ever felt before. He nuzzled into her soft hair and breathed in her scent, trying to get his fill of her before he had to leave for the day.
Andrew had been in plenty of casual arrangements like the one he and Jill now had. But he never spent the night at the woman’s house in any of those arrangements.
He preferred to limit things to sex and hanging out but skip the more intimate portions of the relationship. He didn’t snuggle or talk about anything personal. The women he was usually with were friendly, but they never took it past ‘hey, how was your day?’ That’s just how he liked to keep his relationships.
With Jill, Andrew had already broken his rules. Although he wasn’t sure why, he really didn’t mind that they’d gone beyond those boundaries. In fact, waking up next to Jill was a hell of a lot nicer than he wanted to admit.
Andrew heard the dog whining and realized they hadn’t let Rev out last night before they went to bed. It’d be a miracle if they didn’t find a puddle somewhere on the floor. He quickly slipped from the bed and threw on his pants. He slipped out the bedroom door and found Rev waiting in the hallway for him.
“Come on, boy,” Andrew whispered and they headed downstairs together.
Andrew opened the back door and Rev barreled past him to run outside. He left the back door open so he could keep one eye on the dog while he began the search for coffee. Digging out coffee pods for the single brew machine on the counter, he brewed a cup for himself and one to take up to Jill.
Rev had finished doing his business and was now running around in the woods behind the house chasing deer scents. He put his nose into one of the hollowed-out spots that a deer had burrowed into for the night, sniffed, then ran happily to the next hollow to check that scent.
The deer were long gone, but Rev was having a blast checking out their sleeping quarters. That dog is way too damned easy to please, Andrew thought with a shake of his head.
“Rev, come here,” Andrew called. The dog just ignored Andrew and kept running from hollow to hollow. He tried whistling, pleading, yelling, and clapping, but the dog didn’t pay any attention.
Andrew heard laughing behind him. He turned to see Jill wearing his t-shirt – which she looked damned good in – as she pulled something out of one of the cabinets.
“Secret weapon,” Jill said as she held up a small round cookie. “Laughing Puppers Biscuits. They’re Rev’s doggy crack.”
She went to the door.
“Demon Child!” she called out. Andrew watched as Rev raised his head, sniffed the air and then came racing toward the door at top speed, where he overshot the entrance.
The poor dog tried to skid to a stop but ended up plowing into the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen. Apparently unaffected by the crash, Rev stood, shook his head and pranced daintily back to his mom. He plopped his butt down into a prim and proper looking sit as if he hadn’t just flown ass over teakettle through the doorway.
Laughing, Jill delivered the treat and Rev took it over to his bed to eat while she turned her attention to the waiting cups of coffee. Andrew had already doctored both coffees, fixing hers the way she liked it.
“Jill, your dog answers to Demon Child,” he commented wryly.
“I know.” She grinned. “Isn’t he great?”
Shaking his head and laughing, Andrew hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a morning kiss. The feel of her soft and warm from bed had an immediate effect on him.
The kiss turned hot and breathless and needy in a flash and the urge to take her back upstairs quickly overtook Andrew. With a great deal of effort, he broke the kiss before he lost all choice in the matter.
“I have to be at a meeting in half an hour,” he said as he watched Jill try to catch her breath. He was relieved to see she was as affected by their kiss as he had been.
“Dinner tonight? Pick you up at seven?”
“Okay,” she said.
He knew he was headed for trouble when he felt a huge sense of relief, knowing he’d see her that evening. He kissed her goodbye and walked to the back door, but turned with his hand on the doorknob.
“Hey Jill? Can you wear the dress and boots you wore to Jack’s the other day?” he asked.
She gave him a puzzled look. “Sure.”
He smiled and walked out the door, sure that he was sinking further and faster into a relationship that he should be running from, but utterly unable to stop.