Free On Best Behavior (C3) by Jennifer Lane Page A

wouldn’t be happy with my communication skills right now.” He looked back up at her. “I’m sorry.”
    “So I’m supposed to live in this Streeterville hovel now?”
    “Streeterville’s hardly a slum, princess.” Her glare ended his teasing. “Actually, they’ll probably use it for another undercover agent since it’s all set up with surveillance. I was thinking you could move in with your dad for a while?”
    Her mouth dropped open, and her pacing resumed. After a few seconds, she said, “Okay, assuming I could deal with my dad better this time around, what am I supposed to tell him about me moving out? We already agreed he’d go ballistic if he knows you’re around Mafia again.”
    “That’s a tough one.” He rubbed his jaw.
    “I can’t tell him we’re fighting, or he might hate you again.”
    “Yeah. Don’t tell him that.” His fingers tapped on the back of a chair. “Hey, what if you told him we were trying to be chaste before our wedding? That you’re saving yourself?”
    She cocked one eyebrow. “That ship has sailed, McSailor.”
    “C’mon, he wouldn’t believe you?”
    “No way.” She braced herself. “Not after…the sentencing. All the sordid details of my sex life came out then.”
    “Oh.”
    His grip on the chair appeared to tighten, and he held still for several moments. Finally, he approached her and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
    She melted in his arms, grateful for how far they’d come since the summer. Grant hugging her instead of yelling made her trust him even more. It also made her feel guilty for referencing her past with Logan in the first place.
    “ I know!” She looked up at him. “I’ll live with Kirsten!”
    “No.” He stepped out of their hug. “You can’t be in this building.”
    She ignored him. “That way you can sneak upstairs when you get home at night.”
    “Sophie, no! It’s not safe.”
    “Grant, you better figure out real quick that you’re not telling me what to do in this marriage.”
    “Why are you being so stubborn? This is for your own good! I won’t place you in that kind of danger again!”
    “So it’s safe for Kirsten to live in this building, but not me?”
    He paused, and she knew she had him. “It’s different. Besides, I thought Kirsten got a one-bedroom place like ours.”
    “She did. I’d have to use the sofa again.”
    “I feel guilty enough as it is, and now you won’t even get a bed?”
    She smiled coyly. “It’d be worth it, if you came up and slept with me.”
    “On a sofa?”
    “It’d be cramped, but I doubt we’d be doing much sleeping.” She glanced at his sweatpants. “That is if you can ever get it up again.”
    He gasped. “That was below the belt!”
    She giggled, drawing closer. “Yes, it was.” Reaching down, she slid her hand in his pants and grasped his length. “Is the tequila still bothering you?”
    “No, but you are.” His breath hitched.
    “So you’ll let me live with Kirsten then?”
    He shivered. “I’ll have to call…Agent Bounter…make sure it’s okay.”
    She leaned in closer, her breasts pressing against his chest, grinning. “And I’ll make sure Kirsten’s okay with it too.”
    “Mmm.” He gave her a measured stare. “I know what you’re doing, Bonnie.” One hand held her shoulder, the other brushed through her hair.
    She nodded. “I shouldn’t be manipulating you like this, but it’s fun.”
    He chuckled.
    “Sounds like we have a lot to discuss at our next session.”
    Grant tensed and pulled back. “Uh, I can’t go to therapy anymore.”
    “You can’t?”
    “It’s not safe. They’re going to be on me now, checking me out. I can’t be seen with you or Ben. I’m sorry. It will only be for a little while.”
    “Grant, if you get hurt…”
    “I’ll be careful.”
    Her mouth set into a determined line. “I’ll help you next time they make you drink.”
    “How?”
    “We’ll build your tolerance.