“Two.”

“Two?”

I nodded.

He smiled and clasped my hand, walking me further and further down the bridge, towards a group of black benches that were spread out across the lanes.

“So, is the third guy the charm, Claire?”

“No, that’s not what I....I meant two including you.”

“What?” He stopped walking. “Your ex-husband was your first?”

“Yeah, we were high school sweethearts...Before him I messed around with a few guys here or there, but we never had traditional sex—just kisses and dry humping and...” I sighed. “Are you in desperate need of an ego boost right now? Are you going to ask me which one of you is better?”

“I don’t ask questions I already know the answer to. What is traditional sex?”

“Are you twelve or twenty eight?”

“Twenty-nine in the summer.”

“It’s just sex. You know, what you and I have been doing for a while.”

“Does ‘traditional sex’ include oral?” He joked.

I stilled. I looked out over the ocean and focused on a small tugboat that was making its way towards us. I needed to figure out a way to change the subject.

“Claire?” He cupped my chin. “Did you say yes?”

“That’s too personal...”

“No it’s not. Tell me.”

I sighed. “Of course I gave him—”

“I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about you.”

“No...But that doesn’t mean—”

“Ever?” His eyes widened.

“My ex was very straightforward. He always said that wasn’t his thing. I was a virgin when we got together so it never really bothered me. You can’t miss what you’ve never experienced, you know? What we had was good.”

He stared at me a long time, slowly blinking, shaking his head in disbelief. “Okay...Let me ask you another question. Did you two ever have sex outside of your bedroom?”

“He never fucked me in a room full of people if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Did he talk dirty to you?” he whispered in my ear.

“Jonathan!”

“Did he?”

“These questions are completely—”

“Necessary. I’ll take that as a no...” He trailed his fingers down my backside. “Did he ever explore you here?”

“No...And that’s not something I ever wanted him to do.”

“Why not?” He gently squeezed my ass.

“Because that’s...It’s—”

“Immoral?” He laughed and pulled me down onto a bench. “We’ll discuss it one day.”

“How many women have you been with, Jonathan? Fifty?”

“Fifty?” He smirked. “Including you?”

Oh my god, there’s MORE? “Is that number too low?”

“Too high.”

“Forty nine?”

He laughed. “Seventeen.”

“Wow...”

“Why do you look so shocked?”

“It’s...It’s less than what I expected, but that’s still a lot of women...Were you in relationships with any of them?”

“A few. One was a friend with benefits who I saw whenever I wasn’t in a relationship.”

“And before you had sex with me, when was the last time you’d had sex?”

“Six months before you.”

“Well, that’s actually quite shocking. Were there no other women at corporate who wanted to be dragged into secret rooms or bent over your desk afterhours?”

He shrugged. “No reason, really. I was too busy and I have to be extremely careful when it comes to women.”

“Because you have attachment issues?”

“Would you like to be fucked on the Golden Gate Bridge tonight?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t have attachment issues...I have to be careful because some women are only into me for my money, or are more interested in going to the press and blackmailing me than dating me.”

“Has that ever happened?”

“Not unless you’re going to attempt it. Should I be worried?”

“No...” I leaned back. “So, where do you honestly think you and I are—”

“I told you to stop thinking about that.” He moved me so my back was flat against his lap.

“I just want to know if—”

He bent down and kissed me. “It doesn’t matter right now,” he whispered. “I’m not dating anyone else and neither are you. Let’s just see where it goes...”

I lay like that for a long time, gazing into his eyes as he gazed back into mine. I wanted to ask him more questions, questions about all those women he’d slept with, but after he kissed me for the umpteenth time, I forgot what I was going to say.

Over the sound of the sloshing waters, I heard the roaring of a car in the distance and realized the limo was driving back towards us.

“Mr. Statham, the bridge will re-open in ten minutes sir.” His driver pulled in front of us and rolled down the window.

“Thank you, Greg.” Jonathan eased me out of his lap and helped me back inside the car.

I thought we were going to continue our epic-long-silence-saga and ride back to my place without talking, but he pulled me into his arms as soon as the car pulled off.

He crushed his lips onto mine and kissed me passionately, making me wish he would take things further and undress me. But he didn’t. He used every single second of the ride to explore my mouth with his tongue and possess my lips with his.

When the car stopped outside of my house, he slowly moved away from me and sighed. He walked me up to my door and slipped his arms around my waist. “Did you have a good time tonight?”

“Yes. Thank you very much...Are you sure—”

“No one saw anything. You and I are a secret—just like you wanted.” He gave me another open mouthed kiss that made me lose my balance and fall right into him. He held me tighter, rubbing his hands up and down my back, kissing me so intensely I lost all my thoughts.

I didn’t want our kiss to end. I didn’t want our night to end, but I wasn’t sure if Ashley and Caroline were in the living room; I hadn’t told them anything about him yet.

Before I could consider the idea any further, Jonathan gave me one last passionate kiss and stepped back. “Goodnight, Claire.”

Chapter 13

Jonathan

“Any word on where Harrison stands on the Uni-tech investment?” “Are we sure we want to buy Livingston Corp. before we go public? Their sales were dismal last quarter.” “We need to finalize our predictions for the market at least three weeks before the IPO launch.” “The sPhone blue has officially broken our last record for preorder sales.”

I was sitting in another late night board meeting and I was tempted to say, “I honestly don’t give a damn about what any of you are talking about. Let’s just get the hell out of here.” Yet, some of the shareholders were tuning in from overseas and I knew that wasn’t the smartest idea.

We’d been fine tuning the details for the IPO that was still a long while away: Renegotiating stock options, finalizing the requirements for employee buy-ins, and preparing hundreds of public statements and in-house events.

I’d been so busy that I hadn’t seen or spoken to Claire all week. I didn’t have time to attend any of her directors’ meetings or talk to her on the phone at night. My meetings always ended around three in the morning, and since her department was so busy with the sTablet, we only texted each other a few times a day.

I didn’t think not seeing her for a week would bother me, but it did. Anytime the meetings became boring—which was every fifteen minutes, I pictured her bent over my desk, pushed up against the walls of my office, or screaming my name as I pushed her into another climax.

Where else in this building should we have sex?

“Mr. Statham? Mr. Statham?” One of the board members cleared his throat.

Maybe on the roof...“Yes?”

“Is it okay if we end tonight’s meeting a little early?”

I looked at my watch. Two thirty in the morning.

“That’s fine with me.” I tried not to look relieved. “See you all on Monday.”