greeting was all her tangled tongue could manage.
“Hi back.” Matt lowered his mouth to hers and as their lips touched they both hesitated, as they always did. DJ had no idea why Matt waited but she enjoyed stretching out the moment, ramping up the anticipation. Yes, she was desperate for his touch, but she also wanted to make the moment last. The first kiss, after so long apart, was always exceptional.
Finally, Matt’s clever mouth touched hers and it was, as always, sweet and sexy—a little rediscovery and a whole bunch of familiarity. The kisses they’d exchange later would be out of control, like a wildfire, but this one was tender and, in its way, as soul-deep sexy as what would come later.
Talking about later...
It took everything DJ had to pull her mouth off his, to drop her hands from that wide, warm chest. “If we don’t get dressed we’re going to be late for the wedding.”
“Yeah, you have about fifteen minutes to get out of that room to beat the bride to the church.”
DJ yelped at Darby’s dry voice. DJ took a step to the side to look past Matt’s arm to the computer screen. Her friends were still there, both looking worried. DJ was thankful that they’d only had a view of Matt’s broad back and truly excellent butt during that kiss.
“Hey, Matt,” Darby said.
Matt pinched the bridge of his nose, shook his head and rolled his eyes at DJ. With a rueful smile he turned around and looked at the screen. “Ladies.”
“Well done for arriving in the nick of time,” Jules said, her voice tart.
Matt just raised one sandy, arrogant eyebrow. Then he stepped up to the desk, looked down at the screen and smiled. “’Bye, ladies.” He closed the lid to the laptop and turned back to face DJ.
“I’ve missed you.”
DJ tipped back her head to look into his eyes, her cynical side wondering if he said that as a way to talk her into bed. But the look on his face was sincere, his eyes radiating honesty. Besides, Matt didn’t use coercion. She was either fully on board or he backed off; Matt did not whine or beg or force.
Besides, they both knew she was going to slide into bed with him the moment she saw him standing in the doorway. She was putty in his hands.
“You, half-naked in sexy lingerie, is my early Christmas present.” Matt lifted a curl off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. His mouth curled up into a deprecating half smile. “But I’m embarrassed to tell you that I hightailed it out of my office to make my flight and I’ve been rushing ever since. I didn’t want to be late, so I didn’t stop to buy condoms. You wouldn’t happen to have any, would you?”
DJ shook her head. Well, crap. Matt never, ever made love to her without one.
“So, damn. No condoms. Maybe we should go to the church and pick this up later.”
Oh, hell, no.
“Or we could just carry on...” DJ ran her finger down his hard erection before fumbling with the snap on his pants.
Matt groaned. “Dylan-Jane, oral isn’t enough. I need to be inside you. I’ll go pick up some condoms and come back. We’ll miss the service, but we could still make the reception.”
Hearing his rough, growly, frustrated voice, DJ melted. “I’m on the pill, Matt. I’m clean, there hasn’t been anyone since we last hooked up, and if you can tell me you are...”
Matt nodded. “Yeah, I am.” He kissed her lips before pulling back again. “Can I trust you with this, Dylan-Jane? There won’t be any unexpected surprises?”
If he knew her better, he wouldn’t have to ask. Sure, the time they spent together was a fantasy, hot and wild, but that wasn’t the person she was in real life. In Boston, she didn’t do the unexpected and she hated surprises. Her life was planned, regulated, controlled.
And a baby was Darby’s dream, not DJ’s.
“I’ve got this, Matt.” DJ pushed his pants and boxers down his hips, wound her arms around his strong neck and lowered her mouth onto his, whispering her words against his lips. “Come inside me, Matt, it’s been too damn long.”
Matt didn’t hesitate, quickly pushing her panties to the side. He slid inside her, held her there and then lowered her to the bed. Gathering her to him, DJ knew that he’d try to be a gentleman—he always tried to make their first encounter together slow and reverential. She didn’t need either—she needed hot and hard and fast.
“Matt, I need to burn,” DJ told him in a tortured whisper.
Matt pushed himself up and slowly rolled his hips. When she released a low moan, he smiled.
He had a repertoire of smiles, from distracted to dozy, but this one was her favorite: part pirate, part choirboy, all wicked.
“Well, then, let’s light a match, Dylan-Jane.”
Matt slid his hands under her hips, lifted her up, slammed into her and catapulted her into that white-hot, delicious fire she’d longed for.
She was almost, but not quite, tempted to murmur “Merry Christmas to me.”
Nearly a year later...
In the public area at Logan International Airport, Matt Edwards ignored the crowds and maneuvered his way around the flower bearers and card holders. He’d mastered the art of walking and working his smartphone: there were ten messages from his office and a few text messages. None, dammit, were from Dylan-Jane.
Despite reaching out over a week ago, she’d yet to give him a definitive answer about them getting together in Boston.
Maybe she was making him wait because he’d been out of touch for so long. But he’d been busy and it just happened that they’d had less contact this year than usual. A lot less. But he was here now, and he was hopeful they could recapture some of their old magic.
“Matt!”
Matt turned, saw the tall frame of his old friend Noah Lockwood striding toward him and smiled. Well, this was a pleasant surprise.
Matt pushed his phone into the inside pocket of his black jacket before shaking Noah’s hand. “It’s great to see you, but what are you doing here?”
Noah fell into step beside him. “I’ve just dropped Jules off. She’s flying to New York to meet a client. I knew you were coming in today, saw the flight times and thought I’d buy you a beer.”
An excellent plan. It had been months, maybe even more than a year, since he and Noah had exchanged anything other than a brief phone call or a catch-up email. At college, they’d been tight, and despite their busy lives, he still considered Noah a friend.
Noah had also introduced Matt to DJ, and for that he’d always be grateful.
“I’d love a beer.”
They walked to the nearest bar and Matt headed to two
