She shivered under my touch, but heaved a weary sigh. “You’re definitely going to wear me out with all this extra endurance you built up from the trail.”

“Oh, I don’t think there’s a danger of that. But it doesn’t mean I won’t have fun trying—to wear you out, that is.” I chuckled against her neck and reached up to cup her breast. We were both still naked from the sex last night. It sure was good to be home.

“Hmm,” she said and I could tell she was going to try to play hard to get. I always loved the challenge of figuring out how to convince her. “I was going to go running.”

My tongue caressed her between her shoulder blades. “Go after.”

“But we have work today…” she said, her voice going breathy from the effect of my hands stroking her nipples.

I slid one hand from her breast, across her belly and down between her thighs. She let out a long gasp that ignited my blood. Sometimes it took an entire subroutine, and sometimes it was just as easy as going for the on button. I put my mouth to her ear. “I can pretty much guarantee your boss is okay with you being late.”

She rolled onto her back to face me. “You’re insatiable.” She hooked her hands behind my neck as I kissed her.

“Mmm hmm,” I agreed. “Because you’re irresistible.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault?” she said, eyes rounding, a long, slow smile crossing her lush lips.

She pushed against my shoulder, rolling me onto my back. Just as quickly she slipped on top, straddling me. Oh, hell yeah.

“Well, let’s make it quick, then.” She laughed.

It wasn’t quick. But she didn’t mind.

***

This was my first morning back to work after three months. And, for the first time ever, we were driving to work together. Oddly, it felt comforting and domestic.

The me from five years ago was rolling in his grave. But current-me couldn’t have been happier. Before I’d met Emilia, life was like an old-school video game played on a battered handheld. Small, requiring lots of imagination to spice it up and leaving lots of room for improvement. With her, it was like being engrossed in a full-immersion virtual reality, an experience unique to itself. There was no life before Emilia.

I glanced at her. She had her head down, focusing on her hands, which worked in her lap. At her request, I’d kept the top up on the car so it wouldn’t mess up her hair. After I reached out and downshifted, I took one of her hands in mine.

“What’s wrong?”

She sent me a worried look. “Nothing. Except that we’re late. And everyone’s going to see us walk in together.”

I raised a brow. “Is that a problem?”

She sighed. I pulled my hand from hers to shift again, then replaced it. “No one knows about our relationship. They’re going to know why I got the job.”

“You were hired to fill in for Cathleen’s maternity leave. Everyone thinks you’re doing an awesome job. Mac’s thrilled to have your help for DracoCon. Does it matter how you got the job?”

She shook her head. “No, but—I never wanted to be that girl, you know?”

I frowned. “What girl?”

“The girl who’s screwing the boss.”

“Sounds hot to me.”

“Of course it does.”

I paused, noticed her hands working in her lap again. “It will be fine. Why don’t you just go in first and I’ll sit in the car for a few minutes. No one will see us walk in together.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

“What about tonight, though? Everyone’s going to see us leave together.”

She smoothed her skirt across her lap with her free hand. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve been looking for a place. I can’t afford to rent in Irvine, but—”

“What? Why?” I frowned.

“Because Irvine’s one of the most expensive places to live around here. Maybe Tustin, I looked at one place last week—”

I refrained from looking at her. Best to play dumb and make her “explain” it to me. Sometimes if you got someone to voice their concerns, they came to understand how unfounded they really were. “No, I mean why are you looking for a place? You’ve been at my house while I was gone. Can’t you just stay?”

“Well, we weren’t living together. I was just kind of…staying over.”

I kept a straight face, though I was damned tempted to crack a smile. “But now we’re living there together.”