She reaches over to the nightstand and opens the top drawer, rustling around until she produces a box of condoms. A spike of jealousy hits me.

Lainey puts her hand on my cheek and forces my gaze back to hers. “I bought them after you started coming over here every night. I wanted to be prepared, just in case all my restraint evaporated and something like this happened.”

Relief that I don’t deserve hits me, and I settle between her thighs and roll my hips. “I missed you. I missed us.”

“Me too.”

I open the box and tear a condom free. Lainey plucks it from my fingers and pushes on my chest. She rolls it on, and instead of pulling me over her, she settles in my lap, slowly taking me inside.

And when we’re together like this, connected in the most intimate way we can be, it’s like we’ve never been apart, like the year that separated us has been erased. We find a slow rhythm that allows us to kiss and touch and breathe each other in. Lainey comes first, and I get to watch her tumble over into bliss. I missed this with her—I missed everything in her absence, but this feeling, like my world has been tipped back into alignment, tells me what I knew then but failed to acknowledge: that she was and always will be my balance.

I don’t look away from her as my own orgasm hits, and afterward we stay wrapped in each other, kissing, hands roaming, relearning each other through touch.

I cup her face in my hand and meet her stunning chocolate gaze. “I love you, Lainey.”

She smiles softly. “I love you too.”

“I wanted to tell you that when we were in Alaska, but I ran out of time,” I admit.

“Well, you can tell me as much as you want now, can’t you?”

By the time we leave her bed we’re cutting it close for dinner—not that it matters, since they’ll hold my table regardless. Lainey checks her reflection in the hall mirror while we wait for the elevator. “Oh my God, did you leave a mark on my neck?” She tips her head to the side and inspects the right side of her throat.

I wrap an arm around her waist and press my chest against her back. “I don’t see anything, but if you want a mark I’m more than happy to put one there.”

I nuzzle into her neck and nibble on the spot just as the elevator doors slide open. Lainey elbows me in the side, and I take a step back—which is when I notice Walter standing in the elevator.

Lainey covers the side of her neck like she’s hiding something. “Walter! Hi!”

This should be fun.

“Lainey.” He gives me a curt nod as he reaches out for something beside him. Which turns out to be a someone in the form of a petite brunette. He pulls her into his side and awkwardly throws his arm over her shoulder. “This is my cou—date, Ursula.”

His “date” Ursula’s eyes widen, and she looks up at him, maybe a little confused. He squeezes her shoulder, and she grimaces. “We went out for dinner, and now we’re going to watch Jeopardy!” He turns his head to look at her. “Isn’t that right, Ursula?”

“Uh, yes?” Her eyes bounce back and forth between me and Lainey, and then her brows raise. “Oh my God, is this your neighbor? The one that lives across the hall?”

“We have to go! Jeopardy! is starting, and we don’t want to miss the first round! It was nice to see you again, Lainey.” He shoots dagger eyes at me as he drags Ursula out of the elevator. “RJ.”

“Bye, Walter—it was nice to meet you, Ursula.” Lainey gives me raised eyebrows.

We step into the elevator, and the doors start to close, but not before we hear Ursula ask, “Isn’t that Rook Bowman? The hockey player? Oh my God! I would have gotten his autograph! And is that the Lainey woman you were dating? God, she’s really pretty—no wonder you’re such a mess. Good thing you didn’t tell your mom about her, right?”

The doors slide closed, and I hit the button for the lobby, waiting until we’re moving before I speak. “Sooo . . .”

Lainey cringes. “Well, that was super awkward.”

“I think more for Ursula than anyone else. I’m guessing, based on the family resemblance, she’s not really his girlfriend.” I tap my nose to signal what I mean, then wrap my arms around Lainey’s waist and pull her against me. “Did you two watch Jeopardy! together?”

“Why? Does it make you jealous?”

I shrug. Truthfully, maybe a little, but mostly because I know that show is on when Lainey gives Kody his before-bed booby snacks. “Smart is sexy, Lainey—even Walter knows that.”

“Do you know what I think is sexy?”

“What’s that?”

“You. Especially when you’re showing me how much you love our son.”

I dip down and kiss her until the elevator dings.

We end up being late for our dinner reservations, but Lainey is the best appetizer—and later, when we get home, we steal quietly up to my bedroom so I can make her dessert too.

CHAPTER 26

ANXIOUS NEW BEGINNINGS

Lainey

My parents’ visit is both a good and a bad thing. Good in that they see exactly how hard RJ is trying and how sincere he is in wanting to prove that he’s really in this with me. But the bad comes with my parents leaving, because as much as they drive me crazy with their overprotectiveness, I miss them.

I don’t miss living under their roof or having them fuss over me like I’m a helpless infant, but I miss having them close. There really isn’t an easy solution either. Not when RJ plays for Chicago. He’ll be on the road a lot very soon, but this is still his home base.

My dad might have asked, more than once, what I plan to do when my contract expires with the aquarium. It’s only supposed to be a temporary research position, and in all honesty, I should be able to complete the research in the allotted time. Even if I take reduced hours like RJ has suggested and manage to negotiate a slightly longer contract, once it’s complete, I’ll need to start looking for a new job. Unless they happen to need more research on aquatic animals’ mating habits that specifically relate to dolphins and whales. Which is unlikely.

Finding a new job shouldn’t be difficult in a city like Chicago, especially with three master’s degrees. But I don’t interview all that well, since I get so nervous, and I can’t be guaranteed that any other place of employment is going to be quite as accommodating as they continue to be at the aquarium. For the time being, I try not to worry too much about the things I can’t control. Instead, I focus on research when I’m at work, loving Kody when I’m not, and falling in love all over again with RJ whenever we’re together—which, for the time being, is often.

In the week since my parents went home, I’ve slept at RJ’s house three times. In his bed, with him. We’ve had sex all three of those times.

We’re currently cuddled up in his bed, Kody’s asleep in the room next door, and RJ is reading hockey-related articles while I brush up on dolphin seduction techniques. Like humans, a male dolphin will present the female with a gift—but substitute a sea sponge for flowers or chocolate—in order to gain her sexual favor.

So far, when RJ tries to explain hockey to me, I feel very much like I’m being taught a foreign language. I’ve never really understood sports, so it’s all a little over my head.