Victoria shifted in bed as she remembered the vulnerable position he’d put her body in. Pressed against his hard chest, staring at the gym’s ceiling, while his legs wrapped around her. John held her in place with a sturdy arm across her breasts and breathed hot against her ear. Victoria could almost feel it while she was in bed. As she exhaled a long breath, she whipped the covers off her and switched on her bedside light. If she couldn’t sleep, she would do some light reading to pass the time. There was no sense in watching a dark ceiling. She went through the pile of books on her nightstand and settled on a contemporary title that she recently picked up from Antonia Harper. It wasn’t her usual historical romance purchase, but Paula recommended it for its lack of p-words.

She flipped to the last dog-eared page and picked up where she left off. “Okay, rough kissing in the back streets of Bangkok, here we go...”

Victoria read the same sentence three times before her eyes left the page and she stared out into space. John was in her head and refused to vacate. His sweaty body moving over her, holding her still, keeping her safe. Strong arms wrapped around her, pressing her close. Even the way he playfully squeezed her breast lingered in Victoria’s mind. Her nipples stiffened with the thought. She remembered being slightly embarrassed that his friend, Chris, had walked in on their intimate grappling session. He was good-looking too... Not quite as serious as John, but he was similarly built with lean muscles and a broad chest. Victoria pitied the women who encountered the two of them at a nightclub. She found herself sweating at the sight of both of them. But as cute as Chris was, he was not her chief concern. She wanted John and she wanted him now. Victoria glanced at the clock on her nightstand and groaned. One in the morning?

The book in her hands wasn’t going to help the urge that currently plagued her. She set it down and picked up her phone. Is it too much to call at this hour? She scrolled through her contacts until she found “Mr. Donovan.” Victoria realized she’d left him hanging without addressing Chris’s suggestion regarding her weekend trip. Honestly, she was desperate for someone to act as a buffer between her and her mother, not to mention some random divorced lawyer. But it was a pretty big ask of John. While he may have been good with parents, her mother was a whole other animal. Her father, Archie Reese, was a laid-back guy who could pal around with any prospective boyfriend. Katherine, on the other hand, would interrogate John into submission. It would be more painful than getting caught in one of her arm bars. After meeting his maternal figures, she’d determined that her own mother would send him fleeing in an instant.