Free Mind Over Matter by Kaia Bennett

dirty, just like the image in his head of her on her back, legs spread wide while he breached the gate between her thighs over and over again. He shifted in his seat, realizing how easy it would be to move even closer to her. Maybe she would resist at first when he touched her face and leaned in. Maybe she'd tell him to stop. But her eyes, and the slight hitch in her breath — he could read them like he'd gotten his PhD in her body language — told him he wouldn't have to work too hard to get past her defenses.
    "You really want me to say it, Nic?" he asked suddenly, his voice sounding the way it hadn't in quite some time. A deep, husky rasp that promised things he couldn't deliver now. Not without a lot of regret and resentment later on.
    She stared at him, and he could see her melting under the steadiness of his gaze and the familiar sound of teasing dominance in his voice. Her body was lighting up like Christmas from the inside out. He bet that under those warm layers of clothing goose bumps were rising on her skin, and her nipples were hard pebbles just waiting to be sucked. His mouth felt dry.
    "No," she answered. "I already know what you mean. We never did deny that we got along really well in that department."
    He nodded. She nodded. They turned away from the magnetic pull of each other’s eyes.
    "And now we'll just have to find another way to cope," he said, "Like real friends do."
    "Yeah. We were friends first anyway. Shouldn't be too hard."
    "Shouldn't be," Gabe replied, and though he hadn't meant them to, the words came out with the almost cryptic flavor of tempting fate.
    They sat in silence for a moment, watching the leaves drift back and forth in the breeze, like they were swaying to a song only they could hear. Light from the sun was caressing their limbs, lighting up the ground under their feet. Soon that same light was going to seem garish, the leaves would be dead, and if things went according to plan they would be comfortably in the realm of friendship by then. All the lust and magic of the past would take a backseat, transform, and mold itself into the understanding of unconditional bond instead.
    Now the only catch was getting from here to there without going crazy in the process.
     

Chapter Six
     
    "Why don't you just wait until he gets there and then let him do it?” Gabriel asked. His voice coming through her cell phone did nothing to hide the bemused smirk that was probably on his lips.
    Nicole chewed on her bottom lip. That was a good question. Why wouldn't she let Travis put away this box? Or just unpack it and put the contents in their proper place?
    She wasn't willing to answer it, though. What the box contained, what it meant, and why she felt compelled to shove it into some corner herself without having to talk about it with Travis, was something she was embarrassed and ashamed to admit.
    "He's already done so much around here, I just want to help," she finally offered, switching the phone to the other ear as she dragged the box towards the closet.
    It wasn't a lie. Travis was pretty much the go-to man when it came to integrating all her shit into his apartment because he liked to keep things neat and she got so easily distracted. She would say, "Sure, babe, I'll put those away today," while he was at work, and then forget all about them because of an idea that floated into her head.
    "Plus, I can't write at the moment," she continued. "I'm working on this scene but I'm stuck and I need to do something else for a while.”
    "What are you working on now, anyway?"
    That question caught her off guard. She wasn't used to talking about her writing these days, at least not in specific terms. Travis would ask her how it was going, but it was usually a roundabout question with a roundabout answer to go with it. How many pages, how productive she felt, stuff like that. Part of her still felt like a bit of a loafer talking about writing while he was out working a nine-to-five all day. A “real