“Here I am,” she said as they wrapped their arms around each other.

“I missed you so much.” He traced her face with his fingertips, like he was memorizing it.

“I missed you, too,” she said. She ran her fingers through his hair. It was slightly longer than normal—he usually got a haircut from the same guy in L.A. every three weeks on Saturday mornings, and tomorrow was his regular haircut day, so it would have to wait until next weekend. It felt ridiculous, and wonderful, that she knew that.

“It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you,” he said. He pulled her silk blouse out from where it was tucked into her jeans and unbuttoned the first button.

“It was only a week ago,” she said. Why did she still always go breathless when he touched her like this?

He nodded and unbuttoned two more buttons.

“I know. But I spent two days thinking I would have to go two weeks without seeing you. I can’t even tell you how much I missed you those days.” He dropped a gentle kiss on her lips as he unbuttoned another button. “It made me realize a week is my limit.”

Maybe that was why she’d missed him so much this week, too.

“Did you have fun with your sister?” he asked as he stroked her cheek.

She smiled as he kissed her earlobe.

“I did. I finally told her about us, and she freaked out. And . . .” Damn it, she had to tell him this part when he wasn’t distracted. “Max, wait, hold on a second.”

He pulled back a few inches but kept hold of her waist.

“Why, is something wrong?”

She shook her head.

“Not wrong, exactly, but I should warn you—my sister’s boss is going to be at that fundraiser tomorrow night. Which means . . .”

He dropped his head on her shoulder.

“Which means your sister is going to be at the fundraiser, too. And you’re not.”

She ran her fingers through his hair again. She liked it a little too long like this.

“Exactly. Sorry to spring this on you at the last minute. She’s very nice!”

He stood up straight and laughed.

“Oh, I’m sure she’s very nice, just like you are, and a shark, just like you are, too.”

Well, Olivia couldn’t disagree with that.

“It’ll be fine! Though I wish I could be there to see this.” She kissed him on the cheek. “How was the event today? And the dinner tonight?” she asked him.

He reached for her buttons again.

“Great, and very boring, in that order. But that last part doesn’t matter, because I have you with me right now. I’ll tell you all about both after.”

She raised her eyebrows at him.

“After what?” she asked.

He unbuttoned her last button.

“After I pull your clothes off, throw you onto that big bed over there, and have my way with you for hours, woman who asks silly questions.”

He unzipped her jeans and pushed them over her hips onto the floor as she giggled. Then he bent down and threw her over his shoulder, which only made her giggle harder.

“Oh my God, what are you doing? If you throw out your back because of me and you’re out of commission for weeks, I’m going to feel so guilty!”

He walked across the room with a few strides and tossed her onto the huge bed. She laid back on the pillows and smiled at him as he pulled his own clothes off and dropped them to the floor.

“It would be worth it,” he said as he landed on the bed next to her. “It’s too fun to surprise you to restrain myself just for fear of my aging back.”

Olivia turned to look at him, and before he could move, she pushed him down, flipped over, and knelt over him.

“Now it’s my turn.” She smiled down at him, and at the surprised—and aroused—look on his face.

She kissed him hard, and he kissed her back just as hard. All of her longing and frustration and confusion and joy about him came out in that kiss. He was everything she wanted, he was everything she wasn’t sure she could have, he was everything she was unsure about, he was everything that made her happy.

“You’re so fucking incredible,” he said as he reached around to unclasp her bra. “Sometimes I don’t believe you’re real.”

He pulled her bra off and caressed her breasts in just the way she loved. He’d figured that out so fast.

“Likewise,” she said as he slid down so he could suck her nipples into his mouth. When she felt the gentle scrape of his teeth against her nipple, she moaned, and then caught herself.

“Oh shit,” she said in a whisper. “Do we have to be quiet? Do the people on either side of you know who you are?”

He pulled back, but kept her nipples between his fingers.

“I don’t think they do, but . . . just to be safe, we should probably be quiet.” He grinned. “I guess I should have thought of that before throwing you on the bed, huh?” He danced his tongue around one breast while he squeezed the other. She held her lips together so she wouldn’t cry out.

“Thank goodness this bed has so many pillows for me to scream into,” she said.

He pulled her underwear down with one hand, and she kicked them onto the floor.

“I’m going to make it my goal for you to need all of those pillows,” he said. He slid a finger inside of her, hard, and she gasped. His thumb moved in first slow, then fast circles, with his other hand still squeezing her nipples. Dear God, it felt incredible.

Then, suddenly, it wasn’t enough. She reached down to stroke the hard length of him, and it was his turn to gasp.

“I need you inside me now.” Sure enough, he’d left a pile of condoms on the bedside table. She grabbed one and opened it. “I knew you’d be prepared.”

“I was waiting for you for a while, okay? I didn’t want to waste time!”

She grinned and slid the condom on him and then lowered herself until he was poised just at her entrance. He rose up to meet her, pushed himself inside of her, and soon they were moving in sync, so fast and so hard she could barely breathe, she could barely think, she could only feel. And then everything felt so good that she could hardly move, but she had to keep moving and moving until there were fireworks behind her eyes and she smashed a pillow to her face to scream into it.

No wonder she’d missed him so much. Had anything ever felt this good? Had anything ever felt so right? She collapsed on top of him, and he wrapped his arms around her.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he whispered in her ear.

Why did that make her feel even better than the sex had?

The next day, after a lazy breakfast in bed and some enthusiastic postbreakfast exercise, Max reached over and tickled Olivia.

“What are we going to do for the rest of the day?” he asked.

She looked back at him with a slow, satisfied smile.

“I thought you were booked with senator stuff all day,” she said.

He reached for his phone and pulled up his calendar.

“Not until midafternoon—I’m doing some local news interviews and then the fundraiser, but I’m free before that.”

She pulled his arm around her and rested her head on his chest.

“I was going to head over to Berkeley this afternoon to get a mani/pedi with my sister, so it looks like our free time coincides. What do you want to do?”