Our heavy breaths fill the room, and I swear he has to be able to hear the thunderous roar of my heart. Time passes, but I don’t know how much. My eyes drift closed, and I don’t worry about what’s next or how tonight changes us. I relish in the afterglow of what he did to my body and ask myself when we can do it again.

  I jolt when I feel a warm cloth between my thighs. “It’s just me. Let me clean you up,” he whispers.

  My face heats with embarrassment. “I can do it.” I reach for his hand, but he stops me.

  “No, baby. Let me take care of you.”

  So, I do. I let him clean me up. He tosses the cloth through the bathroom door. I don’t know if he made it, but I hear it hit the floor with a flop as he moves to blow out the candles, before pulling the covers back and climbing into bed.

  “Do you need anything?” he asks.

  “Just this. Just you,” I say, snuggling close and resting my head on his chest. He wraps his arms around me, and we drift off to sleep.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Foster

  * * *

  I awoke long before the sun, or should I say daylight. The rain is still falling outside, but the storm seems to have passed. I think it’s supposed to clear up later today, but I hope to be right here. That’s surprising for me, but it would take something pretty intense to pull me away from the woman sleeping soundly in my arms.

  It’s been years since I’ve slept next to a woman. The last one was Violet. Any others after her were for a hookup only. There was no cuddling, no waking up with someone in my arms. Not until Eden. Not until last night.

  When I first woke, I was startled, not used to having someone in my bed, but then last night came crashing back into me. Every fragmented memory lined itself up until it finally made sense. The result? I held her a little tighter—more out of reassurance than anything else. Her breathing was steady and warm against me, grounding in a way I hadn’t expected. I’ve been wide awake ever since, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the unfamiliar rush of panic to claw its way into my chest. I keep bracing for it, replaying moments, questioning what this means and what comes next. But the panic never arrives. Instead, there’s only this strange, quiet calm, heavy with thoughts yet oddly gentle, as if my mind is holding its breath, unsure whether to run or stay still.

  Her body stiffens, just for a second, the smallest tell, but I’m holding her close enough to recognize it. She’s awake now. I need her calm, because this rare sense of Zen settling in my chest feels fragile, like it might shatter if I move the wrong way, and I’m not ready to let it go yet.

  I shift closer instead, slow and careful, and nuzzle into the space just beneath her ear. I press a soft kiss there. Nothing rushed, nothing demanding. Just enough to remind her that she’s safe. That there’s no reason to pull away.

  She’s with me. In my arms, and I’m sure it will be a surprise to both of us that it’s where I want her to stay, at least for a bit longer.

  “Morning,” I murmur, my voice rough with sleep and disuse.

  Almost immediately, I feel the change. The tension drains out of her shoulders, her body easing back against mine as if she’s letting herself sink into the moment. She exhales, long and quiet, and the calm I’m clinging to settles even deeper, shared now between us. For the first time since waking, I stop waiting for something to go wrong and stay exactly where I am—enjoying the feel of her safe, warm, and relaxed in my arms. No matter how unfamiliar the feeling might be, it’s welcome.

  “Morning,” she replies, her voice laced with sleep and sounding sexy as hell.

  “Sleep well?”

  “Actually, I did. Better than I have in ages.” Her whispered confession lights a fire inside my veins. I did that. I gave her that peace, even for one night.

  “Good,” I say, pressing my lips to her bare shoulder. Fuck, her skin is so soft.

  “It’s still raining.”

  “The perfect excuse to stay in bed,” I say, giving her a soft squeeze. She giggles, and I swear my heart lurches in my chest at the sound, as if the organ needs to get closer to her.

  “We can’t stay in bed all day,” she says, glancing over her shoulder at me.

  “We can if we want to.” And I really want to. I’m not ready for whatever this is to end. I don’t know what happens once I let her out of my bed. Do we go back to… normal, sharing meals, visiting the children’s home? Does she continue to work for me? The thought of losing those moments with her has my gut twisting.

  I don’t want to lose those moments. I don’t want to lose her.

  “But you’re a professional athlete. Won’t you disintegrate or something? Maybe turn into a pumpkin if you don’t hit the gym at least once a day?” she teases.

  I chuckle. “I’ll just bench press you,” I say, tickling her side.

  She laughs and wriggles in my arms, trying to get away, but I’m not ready to have her that far away from me, so I stop and pull her back to my chest. She settles as if she belongs there, as if she wakes up in my embrace, with my face buried in her neck every day, and fuck, the mental image… I don’t hate it.

  “I should go. Get out of your hair,” she finally says, breaking the silence, but she makes no move to leave the warmth of my bed or my embrace.

  “Not yet,” I say, kissing her bare shoulder again. I can’t stop touching her, kissing her, holding her. Instantly, my mind goes back to my time with Violet. She’s my only comparison, because even if I didn’t mean for it to happen, Eden is more than just some random hookup. I fish through my memories, and I don’t ever remember feeling this needy where Violet was concerned. It has to be because I’ve been depriving myself of this intimacy for far too long, right?

  The rain pelts against the window, the clouds making the room darker than it should be at this hour. The power came on at some point during the night. I’m glad she didn’t wake up and try to leave. Not that I would have let her escape this bed without me.

  “Do you have a bucket list?” I ask her. Suddenly, I want to know more about her. No, I need to know more about this beautiful woman. Maybe then, I’ll understand why she’s different than anyone else before her. There has to be something more than just similar backgrounds that’s drawing me to her, letting her in, unlike anyone else in my life. Even Violet, if I’m being honest.

  “What?”

  “You know, a bucket list. What things do you want to do in life? Sky dive, swim with sharks, that kind of thing.”

  “Um, no. I’ll keep my feet planted firmly on the ground, thank you very much, and hell no to swimming with sharks. You are aware they can eat you in one bite, right?” Her back is to me, but I can imagine those big blue eyes of hers wide with disbelief that I’d even suggest such a thing.

  I chuckle. “Not those things specifically, but something… anything.”

  She’s quiet for so long, I don’t think she’s going to answer me, but then she starts to speak.

  “I want a family,” she says softly. “I want someone to come home to. I want to create a couple of tiny humans, and I want to show them how much they are loved every single day. I want someone I can lean on not only during the good times, but the bad, too.” She’s quiet, and I’m trying to find the right words when she speaks again. “I wanted my first time to be with someone whom I trusted. When I was younger, I feared that choice might be taken from me. There were a few times I was pretty sure that was exactly what was going to happen, but I made it through.”

  “Eden.” Her name is a caress because I feel those words in my soul. Hearing what she wants out of life and that I was able to give her one of them has me feeling like I’m ten feet tall and bulletproof.

  “I want to see the ocean. I want to sink my bare feet into the sand and watch the waves roll in. I want to feel safe and loved, and yeah, I guess I have a list.” She laughs nervously.

  I open my mouth to speak but find there’s a lump in my throat the size of a football, so I swallow hard and try again. “I’m honored you let me be that man for you, Eden. Last night was incredible, and you gave me a gift that I’ll always cherish.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to blow smoke up my ass, Foster. I know this is a onetime thing.”

  “Why would you say that?” I ask, pushing her gently to her back so I can settle between her thighs and look her in the eye. My cock is hard as I find my place, and she lifts her hips, making me groan. “Not now,” I scold playfully. “Answer me.”

  “But we’re still here in the same bed, in the same room, so it’s technically still the same event. One more time,” she says, reaching between us to grip my cock in her small hands.

  I close my eyes, pulling in a deep breath, before slowly exhaling. “Eden, focus, baby,” I tell her, opening my eyes again to see her blue ones full of lust staring back at me.

  “I am focused.” She smiles, and damn if that tilt of her lips doesn’t wrap around my heart like a fist.

  “Tell me why you think that?”

  “I know you love her, Foster. I know you have feelings for someone who is not me, and I’m okay with that. Last night, I didn’t think it was going to make you fall in love with me,” she says, her voice soft. “You gave me something I wasn’t sure that I’d ever have. You gave me comfort and trust and a moment that, no matter where life leads us, I’ll never forget.” She drops my cock, thank God, because it’s hard to concentrate when she’s stroking me, and moves her hands to my face. “You will always be a part of me because of last night. Thank you for that. It was more than I ever could have imagined it would be.”

  Her words swirl in my mind as I process what she’s saying. There are so many things I want to say, and so many I’m afraid to say—the boy who faced rejection his entire life. The young man, putting his heart on the line, says, I’m not ready to do it again. However, there’s a part of me that wants to scream at her that she’s wrong. I might have thought that I was still in love with Violet, but Eden made me see that I’m not. Time has healed that wound, and only a scar remains. Instead, an idea forms, and before I can talk myself out of it, I’m saying, “We should go see the ocean.”

  “What?” Her eyes widen in shock. “Foster, we can’t just go to the ocean.”

  “Sure, we can.”

  “I have to work.”

  “Eden, babe, you work here for me. As long as I report that you’re here doing what’s expected, the agency doesn’t care as long as they get my money.”

  “You can’t pay me to go see the ocean, Foster. It’s not right.”

  I bend, pressing my lips to hers. “That’s why I want to. You don’t care about how much money I have. Come on. It’s been ages since I’ve gone anywhere—not since the guys and I used to take trips in the offseason. But now that they have families, we don’t do that. Let me give you another first, Eden. Let me take you to the ocean.”

  “Really?” she asks, her eyes watering.

  “Yes, really.” I roll off her, my cock weeping at the loss of her heat, but this is more important. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I tap at the screen, pulling up the airline. “There’s a flight leaving for Florida at three.” I glance over at her. “Can you be ready and packed by then?”

  “Foster,” she says, sitting up, using the sheet to cover her nakedness. Damn shame if you ask me. “We can’t.”

  “Oh, baby, we can, and we are. It’s nine now, so we have to be at the airport no later than one.”

  “I’ve never flown before, Foster. I’m so out of my element right now. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to pack. I’ve never taken a vacation in my life, unless you count the trip to Gatlinburg I took with Carrie for her bachelorette party weekend. We rented a cabin, drank lots of wine, and ate too much junk food.”

  “It’s fine. Anything that you forget, we can buy while we’re there.”

  “Foster, I can’t afford this.”

  “It’s your birthday weekend, and it’s on me.”

  “You already gave me my present.”

  “Well, this is the rest of it,” I tell her.

  “I can’t let you do that. Flights are so expensive, and yes, I make good money, but I have to budget and be frugal, and this trip is not in the budget.”

  “This trip is on me,” I repeat.

  “I don’t even own luggage. I packed in a backpack when I went with Carrie,” she says, her voice small as she looks down at her hands, twisting them in the sheet.

  “Fuck the luggage. We’ll go shopping when we get there, and buy everything we need,” I say impulsively.

  “Foster,” she whines. “No. I can’t let you do that.”

  “Please, baby, I want to do this. I want to be there when you see the ocean for the first time. I want to experience that through your eyes. I can afford to do this, Eden. I don’t feel obligated or pressured; I want to. Please let me. It can be our joint birthday celebration,” I tell her.

  “That’s not fair if you're paying for it all,” she counters.

  Putting my phone on the bed, I turn and lift her onto my lap. The sheet falls away, and she gasps, but I keep it from her, gripping it in my fist. “I want this with you. I want to give you this. Please let me.”

  “Foster, it’s wrong. I don’t want your money.”

  I smile, a true, genuine smile, one that I know the guys have been seeing from me lately. One I can’t contain. “I know that. That makes me want to take you even more. Just a few days. We’ll stay on the beach, eat, drink, bury our toes in the sand, maybe take a boat ride and look for dolphins or something. I don’t care what we do when we get there. I want to take you to the ocean. Give me this, please.”

  “You make my heart race,” she blurts, her eyes going wide at her own confession.

  “Yeah?” I ask. My hand finds its way to her bare chest, and I roll one hard nipple between my thumb and forefinger, before giving the other the same treatment. “What would you say if I told you that you make my heart race, too?” Because she does, and I can’t explain, or even begin to understand it.

  “I know this is impulsive, but I’m not ready for my time with you to be over. I know I’ll still see you when you’re here to work, and that we’ll still have our visits with the kids, but this is something altogether different. It’s last night, rolled into today, rolled into a trip we both want. It’s extending whatever happened last night. I’m not ready to let you go yet,” I confess. Those last words are whispered, and the look on her face tells me she’s shocked, but my words also touch her, if the softness in her eyes is any indication.

  I’m shocked, too.

  I never open up like this, but with Eden, I can’t seem to help myself. For once in my life, I’m not going to think about it. I’m not going to analyze it to death. I’m just going with what feels right, and spending time with her, giving her another first, feels right, and that’s what I want to do.

  “Okay.”

  My heart skips and then starts back up at a jackhammer pace. “Yes, you’ll go?”

  She smiles. It’s slow and sinfully sexy as she sits naked on my lap. “Yes, Foster Vaughn. I’ll let you whisk me away. Just… be patient with me, okay? I don’t like heights, and I’m not sure how I’ll be.”

  “You’ll be with me, Eden, and I’d never let anything happen to you.”

  “You can’t promise that.”

  “I can,” I say fiercely, because there’s this urge inside me, this feeling that I need to protect her at all costs. It’s heavy and persistent, and fuck me, but I’m up for the challenge.

  “So, Florida?”

  Slipping my hand behind her neck, I pull her close and guide her mouth to accept mine. I kiss her slowly and easily, letting her feel what her agreeing to this trip means to me. “Yeah, baby, we’re going to Florida,” I say, breathless from our kiss. “I’ll book our tickets, and all you need is your phone, a charger, and anything else. Maybe your Kindle to read on the plane. We’ll buy what we need there. Including luggage.” I wink at her.

  “This is insane. You know that, right?”

  “That’s part of the fun, baby.”

  “Something tells me this is impulsive for you, too,” she says, smiling up at me.

  “It is, but it’s also exciting, and I want to share this with you.” I kiss her again, because now that I can, I don’t want to stop. I don’t know how I’m going to stop. “Do you need anything from your place?” I ask her.

  “I-I don’t know. Toiletries, makeup, my phone charger, I don’t know,” she says again.

  “I have a backpack we can use for your Kindle, or your purse is fine, too. We have the same phone, and I have an extra charger. No pets or house plants, right?” I tease, because I know she’s always wanted a dog, but never got one, and the house plant, well, I’m just joking with her.

  “We’re really just flying out of state with nothing but the clothes on our backs?”

  “We are. It’s a grand birthday adventure.”

  “Foster, this is already a birthday I’ll never forget.”

  “Well, we’re taking that a step further.” I kiss her again, this time just a quick peck. “Now, get dressed. We’ll stop and eat breakfast on the way to the airport.”

  “We have lots of time, though, right? I need to shower, and I prefer not to wear the clothes I worked in yesterday,” she says, wrinkling her nose.

  “Yes, we’ll stop by your place so you can shower. Then we’ll get some food and head to the airport. You can grab clothes out of my dresser to wear until then. Help yourself,” I say, as she climbs off my lap. “Let me book our tickets, and then I’ll take a quick shower.”

  I quickly book two round-trip first-class tickets, because we’re doing this up big. Hell, if I had more time, I’d charter a private plane, but she’d really give me a hard time over that. It would have given us complete privacy, and maybe we could have joined the Mile High Club. I make a mental note for next time. I don’t spend frivolously. It’s not like I can’t afford it, but I don’t want her feeling even more guilty than I know she already does about me paying for this trip.