Penalty Clause by Lori Ryan

finished telling him that Nora and Lydia had invited her to tea that morning.
    “Uh, oh. Did Nora have anything to say about us?” Andrew asked as he slathered garlic butter on the French bread and popped it into the oven to toast.
    “Oh, you bet she did. What I don’t get is how she knows about us? I was hoping she didn’t have a clue!” Jill said.
    “Oh, that woman knows more than a voodoo priestess gifted with the sight. Nothing gets past Nora and if it does, Lydia is there to pick up the slack,” Andrew answered over his shoulder.
    Stirring the pasta sent the muscles on his broad shoulders and taut back into motion, mesmerizing Jill. She remembered grabbing those muscles as Andrew drove into her over and over and suddenly Jill was more than just distracted. She was hot and flustered. Thankfully, the thought of her conversation with Nora and Lydia quickly brought her back down to earth.
    “Well, she knows about us. Nora was rather blunt about us. Wanted to know if I was helping you get over your fiancée.”
    Jill saw the sliver of a moment when Andrew froze at the mention of his former fiancée. His hesitation was so brief, it was barely noticeable but she had been watching for a reaction, wondering if it would be there. Jill wouldn’t ask Andrew to explain about his fiancée or ask him what happened, but she wanted him to know that she knew. She waited quietly, to see if Andrew would say anything. She was beginning to think Andrew was going to pretend that she had never said the ‘f’ word when he finally spoke up.
    “She told you about that, huh?” Andrew asked. He plated up their dinners and joined Jill on a stool at the center island to eat.
    She decided to gloss over the fiancée, redirecting the conversation to give Andrew an out if he wanted it.
    “Nora asked me what my intentions toward you were. When I told her we were just spending time together, she told me you have a reputation for being – and I swear to you, I’m quoting here: ‘good in the sack.’ It was by far the most uncomfortable conversation I’ve ever had,” Jill said.
    Andrew’s fork hung in midair as he stared, open mouthed at Jill, a horrified expression on his face. “She did not. Please tell me she did not say that to you. Of course she did. Who am I kidding? This is Nora we’re talking about.”
    Jill just laughed as she watched Andrew try to process her conversation with Nora. “At least you didn’t have to sit there and figure out how to explain our relationship to her,” Jill said.
    Andrew grinned at that. “‘Spending time together,’ huh?”
    “I couldn’t think of any other way to tell her I was banging her grandson.” Jill blushed furiously as the frank colloquialism left her mouth. She picked up her wine glass and sipped to try to cover her embarrassment, but Andrew leaned in, moved the wineglass out of his way and kissed Jill soundly on the cheek.
    “I like banging you, Jillie Walsh.”
    ***
    As they finished their dinner, Andrew felt his body go from relaxed with laughter to intense with heat. And that heat was directed at Jill. It amazed Andrew that Jill could affect him so strongly. With a look, she could twist his body into a tight, tense coil ready to explode. Needing release.
    Andrew put down his wine glass and put his hand out across the table toward Jill. Jill placed hers in his and let Andrew draw her up and around the table. Andrew drew Jill down onto his lap and buried his head in her neck, breathing in her scent as arousal filled every cell of his body.
    “Watching you in these boots at Jack’s house was pure torture,” Andrew whispered to Jill. His voice was throaty and hoarse with desire. When Andrew’s mouth met Jill’s she kissed him back with her whole body. She pressed herself close to him, willing Andrew to take her upstairs.
    Andrew responded quickly to Jill’s silent demands. To her quiet plea with her body. In one smooth movement, he lifted Jill and carried her up to her