Intimate Read Online Free PDF Page A

see.”
    “Is Mom coming
too?”
    “No. Just me.”
    His father often
traveled on his own, even just for leisure. Caleb never ceased to be impressed
by his parents’ marriage, with neither of them trapped by unrealistic
expectations or limited by pressure from the other.
    It was proof he
could really have it all—both love and freedom.
    They talked for
a couple more minutes before they hung up.
    After checking
the time, Caleb decided he better get over to pick up Marissa.
    They were lucky
sex had never gotten tangled into their relationship.
    Sex for him was
always pleasurable, but it was also merely physical. Shallow. And it just
didn’t match with his feelings for Marissa.
    Which meant
when he went to grab a couple of condoms, he truly hadn’t the slightest thought
of using them with his date. There would be other women at the party, though—beautiful,
interested women.
    He’d never hook
up with someone else while he was out with Marissa, but he wouldn’t be out with
her all night.
    He liked to be
prepared.
    He liked having
sex. He liked it a lot .
    And he just
didn’t think about Marissa that way.
    *
* *
    He knocked a couple of times and
then let himself into her apartment a half-hour later. He paused to listen and
heard her rustling around in her bedroom.
    As expected,
she called out, “Hey, I’m running a little late. I’ll be out in a minute.”
    He smiled but
made sure the smile wasn’t evident in his voice. “For God’s sake, Marissa. I’m
fifteen minutes late myself.” He turned the doorknob to her bedroom. “Are you
dressed?”
    “No!” she
shrieked from behind the door. “Don’t you dare come in! I don’t have my dress
on yet.”
    Caleb grumbled
loudly—mostly for effect—and went to the living room to wait.
    He regretted it
as soon as he settled in the same spot he’d been sitting last night. It made
him think about Marissa falling asleep on top of him, and he really didn’t want
to think about that.
    He wasn’t sure
how she’d ended up with her head in his lap, but it had made him very
uncomfortable.
    First, she’d
wanted to cuddle, which was always a bad sign. Caleb just didn’t like touching
that wasn’t sexual. Sure, it felt nice to have Marissa curled up beside him or
giving him hugs or putting her hand on his thigh.
    But it made him
feel too needed and too needy—both—and he preferred to be free.
    She’d slept
with her head in his lap for an hour and forty-two minutes last night.
    Caleb hadn’t
liked it at all. It made him feel strange, heavy, and confused. Very similar to
how he’d felt last year after Marissa’s father died. She’d turned to him for
comfort—just as she should have—and she’d clung to him desperately for weeks. Caleb
had tried his best to be there for her, all the while hoping it would end soon.
    He wasn’t used
to being used as a pillow, and he didn’t know why he’d started stroking her
hair while she slept last night.
    “What are you
brooding over so darkly in here?”
    Marissa’s voice
startled him. Instead of responding to her question, he eyed her from head to
toe. “Nice.”
    She wore a new
evening gown she’d bought earlier in the week, since she’d been complaining she
didn’t have anything suitable to wear to such a fancy occasion. It was a deep blue
that matched her eyes, sleeveless but with a high neckline. The neckline was meaningless,
since there was a diamond-shaped cutout in the front that displayed a good
portion of her lush cleavage. There was also a high slit up the side of the
skirt, parting to reveal a lot of leg and a pair of very high heels.
    Marissa was
grinning like an eager girl, although she was unmistakably a woman. “Isn’t it
great? Aren’t I gorgeous?”
    “Definitely
gorgeous.”
    His eyes rose
to her face and hair, and his brow lowered unconsciously.
    “What don’t you
like?” she demanded when she saw his expression. “You’re making your
disapproving face.”
    He schooled his
features