Souvenirs by Mia Kay Page A

lifted her hips. “Wrap those gorgeous legs around me, doll.”
    Tightening his arms around her and drying his feet on the bath mat, he strode from the bathroom to the bed. Laying her in the middle of the mattress, he retrieved another condom only to drop it as the sight of her locked his muscles. Kneeling to retrieve it put her within tasting range.
    “Give that to me,” she breathed. “I’d like all your fingers free.”
    He traced the tip of his tongue up the silky skin of her inner thigh. “I don’t think I’ll need my fingers.”
    “Oh God,” she whimpered as she tangled her hands in his hair.
    Hours later, Ben woke in the dark. The chaos of the neighboring bed brought a smile. They’d used the sheets as shower towels, and then Grace had pulled them from the bed in the throes of her last orgasm.
    Mindful of not waking her, he eased himself upright and reached for his book and his glasses. He’d read until he got tired.
    After ten minutes, he abandoned the ignored page. Instead, he stared at Grace’s curves accentuated in the glow of the book light. His skin tingled, as if every nerve had reconnected. Before, the feeling had always started with his fingers wrapped through hers or maybe his lips when he kissed her. Now it originated from his center and worked its way outward. He craved her, and not only her body, though God knew it was incredible. Her laugh, her voice, her joy intrigued him.
    He wanted her heart.
    Her toes tickled up his calf. He put everything aside as she turned her drowsy gaze on him. “Can’t you sleep?”
    “No. But that’s normal,” he reassured her. “My brain wants to work on its own schedule.”
    “I know the feeling. You want to get it all done while you have the focus.”
    “Exactly.” He gave her an out because he wanted to think of her more than himself. “It makes it difficult to share space with me.”
    “Unless you share it with someone who works in the same way.”
    His heart swelled when she didn’t take the chance to escape. “It drove Noah crazy at Uni. He’s my oldest friend, and now we’re business partners on several ventures.” Ben ignored that one of the ventures was him . “His wife, Fiona, is my P.A.”
    “Not his?”
    “She said he would make her batty.” Ben was tired of talking to her shadow. “If you’re awake, could we switch on a light?”
    She complied, and he blinked in the sudden glare, shading his eyes with a pillow scented with her spicy vanilla perfume. Grace came back to his side, warming him.
    “I always thought it should be hard,” she murmured.
    “Sorry, what?” Ben rose on one elbow.
    “Oh, dear.” She muffled her embarrassed squeal by plastering her hands over her face. She peeked through her fingers, and his chuckle grew to a laugh. “Um . . . more difficult. I always thought relationships should be more difficult.”
    “Because anything worth it doesn’t come easily.” His face heated when she waggled her eyebrows. “You know what I mean.”
    “Yes. Fighting for it proves you’re worthy, that the relationship is worth it.”
    “Only if both people are fighting the same battle, not waging it against each other.” Ben traced her collarbone with his finger. His lips traveled the path his fingers had made. “And you should never have to prove your worth to anyone.”
    Pushing aside how complicated this would get later, he brushed his mouth over hers. Then whispered, “Sometimes the best things are the simplest ones, doll.”
    It didn’t seem so simple the next morning as they juggled breakfast and bags and hurried through the lobby to catch the bus. After greeting their mothers, he and Grace were waylaid by every friend they’d made. The longer they talked and the more wide smiles he saw, the more Ben searched for a place to hide.
    By the time they reached their seats, Adam and Nora were muffling their laughter with their tour schedules.
    “Why do I feel like everyone on this trip knows?” Ben grumbled.
    Adam