I nod and open the passenger door, reaching down to grab the strap of my purse.
I blink when he gets out too.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my voice sharp because I’m confused.
“I’m walking you to the door. Do you have a problem with that?”
“But why?”
“Why not?”
I don’t have an answer to the question. And since he didn’t give me an answer, I feel like I don’t have to give one to him either.
But I’m shuddering with something like excitement as we reach the front stoop of my grandmother’s house. I stop and stare up at him.
He’s gazing down at me with that same deep, warm expression I saw in him earlier.
Right before he kissed me.
“Why are you doing this, Marcus?” My voice breaks slightly because I’m pulsing with everything I’m feeling.
“I’m just standing at your door.”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
He nods, his mouth relaxing slightly. “I’m doing it because I want to kiss you again, and I think you want that too.”
I lick my lips. He sees it. His expression heats up.
It thrills me so much I quickly get my tongue back into my mouth and swallow hard. “I don’t know, Marcus. I don’t usually do things… just for fun.”
“I know you don’t. But I keep telling you that you’re allowed. Kissing me would be fun for you. And for me. It doesn’t have to mean anything more. It doesn’t have to change anything important about your world. So why shouldn’t we do it again?”
“Because… because I think it would… If we do it again, we’re going to do more than kiss.”
He chuckles softly and reaches up to brush some hair back from my face. “Yes. We probably will.”
“And you think that can be just for fun? No… no… pressure or complications?” I can’t believe I’m even considering no-strings-attached sex, but that’s exactly what I’m doing.
That’s what Marcus is offering.
And I want it so much.
“Yes. I think so. If that’s what you want.”
“That’s all it could be between us. For obvious reasons.”
He gives a slight nod. “Yes.”
This confirms a tiny, lingering question I’d never even acknowledged. And it makes things so much safer.
Safe enough for me to let myself be tempted for real.
After all, sex with Marcus is going to be good. I know it for sure. And if I can enjoy it—have some fun—in a way that both of us agree will lead to nothing disruptive to my life, why the hell shouldn’t I?
Why can’t I be like everyone else and just let go now and then?
It doesn’t have to threaten the security of my world.
I really think I could let go with Marcus and still be safe.
He confirms this by saying in a more serious tone, “I’m here for anything you want, Jennifer. Anything. Just name it. But if it’s not what you want, all you have to do is tell me, and I’ll never make a move on you again.”
I gulp. “I… do want it.”
“Yeah?” He tilts his head down.
“Yeah.”
“So you want to try to have a little fun and see what happens?”
Somehow I’ve made up my mind. I’ve decided. Everything inside me wants to do this, so I’m going to do it after all. “Yeah. That’s what I want.”
His eyes smolder in a way that makes my heart clench.
And other parts of me clench as well.
“So I can kiss you again?”
I nod. “Please do.”