Overruled

by Lana Ferguson

“I miss you about as much as I miss teeth cleanings.” “Mm, sounds like you’re thinking about me in your mouth.”

“Did you come all the way over here just to yell at me, or did you actually miss me?” “Hardly.” “Too bad,” he murmurs. My nose wrinkles. “Why?” “Because I’ve missed you.”

“Try to keep the bullshit to a minimum, if you can.” “But, Dani,” he says with a wide grin, “you look so pretty when you’re pissed at me.”

“Remember when I said you looked nice in this dress?” It’s hard to think with his tongue dipping past my lips, but I do my best. “Yeah?” “I lied.” I barely have time to process if he’s insulting me or not, because his arm wraps around me, molding me to the front of him before one heavy palm cups my ass through my dress. “You look fucking beautiful.”

Asshole: Next time I want you in a bed, and I want you for the whole night. Maybe it will be enough time to do the things I’ve been thinking about doing to you.

can’t exactly say that the woman I’ve been fucking obsessed with and obsessed with fucking for months might finally be caving to the idea of tolerating me outside of sex.

“I came over here because seeing you was the only thing in the world that I could think of that might make this day less of a goddamned nightmare.”

“Still an asshole,” I chuckle before flattening my tongue in a broad sweep up the underside of him. “But fuck if your cock isn’t pretty.”

“Dani,” he laughs, actually laughs. “I walked away from that woman whose face I can’t even remember because from the second I saw you, for every fucking moment since—there hasn’t been anyone in my head but you.” He laughs again. “You might as well live there now.”

“I told you, Dani,” he says carefully. “I haven’t been able to see anyone else but you since the night I laid eyes on you.”

“Everything about you is a fucking dream. You’re so smart. Even when you’re using that big brain to kick my ass, I’m in awe of you. You’re so beautiful it damn near hurts to look at you. All I think about is touching you, tasting you. I can barely get anything done most days without thinking about it.”

“I’ve been yours for ages, Dani,” he says, his voice a low, sweet murmur. “I’ve just been waiting for you to catch up.”

That this prickly woman with her hidden smile and her fierce demeanor has somehow become the reason I get out of bed in the morning, the person I think about just before I go to sleep. She’s become everything. And I’m completely, irrevocably in love with her.

“Don’t you know?” I lean in, brushing my lips across hers, smiling. “I’ve loved you for ages, Dani. I’ve just been waiting for you to catch up.”

There’s never going to be a “last time,” Dani. Not for you and me.

“Sounds like I don’t have much choice.” His lips curl. “Well, you can always object.” “Something tells me I’d be overruled.” He pulls me close, the folder flattening between us and his lips hovering over mine. “Absolutely, Ms. Pierce.”