Meet Connor Grey and Maggie Drummond from The Bottom Line. They’re long time friends and currently both single. To Maggie’s surprise, Connor suggests a friends with benefits arrangement out of the blue.

So, what are friends with benefit? What are the pros and cons of such a relationship?

A friend with benefits is someone who you can hook up with for no-strings sex. It’s more than a one-night fling, but it’s not a steady romantic relationship either.

These days it’s sometimes difficult to find time to do the whole dating thing and pursue a relationship, especially with full-on careers. Some adults choose to sleep with a friend they trust without any expectations. It’s a way of having string-free sex without the hassle of hitting the pubs and clubs””all the fun without the problems.

This type of relationship does come with problems.

One of the parties can become emotionally involved. Sometimes it’s difficult for a person to keep the emotional distance necessary to make this sort of relationship work. Women typically become more involved and feel everything more. This can present difficulties because the last thing the relationship needs is jealousy when one of the friends has a date with someone else.

The solution to this problem is to set ground rules before the start of the relationship. Safe sex is a must. Decide if you want to tell your friends, and talk frankly about your expectations. Honesty is key and both parties need to keep to the set boundaries.

Connor and Maggie decide to go ahead with their friends with benefits arrangement, although it doesn’t quite turn out how they expect.

* ~ *

Here’s a short excerpt where they first discuss their arrangement.

“I have an idea, but I need a kiss first.”

Smiling, Maggie leaned close and pressed her lips against his cheek. She moved back before he had a chance to react.

“That wasn’t quite what I had in mind.” Blood rushed through his veins, his heart thudding against his ribs in an erratic manner. Hell, sex between them would be good, if this innocent little kiss was any indication. “A real kiss.”

Connor closed the distance between them and grasped her head firmly in his hands. She jumped at his touch, stared at him, a spark of indefinable emotion darkening the golden brown of her eyes to chocolate. His gaze dropped to her mouth. God, he’d always loved her mouth, fantasized about kissing it, seeing her lips wrapped around his cock. He snorted inwardly. Like that idea would score him points. Connor brushed his lips against hers. Soft. So soft. The rest of his body went on high alert, cock filling to press against his fly.

She sighed and he took advantage, slipping his tongue inside to taste her. Coffee and a faint minty flavor danced across his taste buds. At first he kept the kiss slow and gentle, then he lifted his head to study her. He liked the dreamy expression on her face, but he enjoyed kissing her more. He wanted her to respond to his kiss, needed to know she felt even a little like he did. Her eager lips and the hands threading through his hair, holding him in place as he wrapped his arms around her again, shot all his doubts to hell.

Slowly, he pulled back. They were both breathing fast. “Okay. That answered my question.”

Maggie smoothed her tongue over her bottom lip and watched him with a touch of confusion. Judging by her expression, she thought she’d taken a wrong turn from the bathroom and stepped into an alternative reality. “What question?”

“Would you be interested in a friends with benefits deal with me?” He held his breath and waited for her answer, knowing he’d never wanted something so much in all his life.

Her mouth opened and closed three times. “Friends with benefits? You mean”¦we’d sleep together?”

“If we weren’t seeing anyone else.” Damn, please don’t say no. His gut jumped with nerves. He’d pushed her too hard. Of course she’d reject his offer and wonder about his motives.

Maggie picked up her mug and took a sip of coffee, grimacing faintly. She stood and walked over to the coffeemaker, returning with the carafe. “Do you want a top up?”

“Sure.” He held out his mug.

She took a long time, fiddling with the coffee, the mugs and the Granny Smith apples sitting in the fruit bowl.

“Are you going to say something?” he asked.

“Doesn’t a deal like this have the potential to blow up in our faces?”

“Why should it?” he asked, trying to convince her. “We’re not kids.”

“I still don’t understand why you’d choose me.” She started pacing up and down, making him nervous.

“You’re a friend. I like you. I trust you.” Connor wasn’t going to ignore the many pitfalls. That wouldn’t be smart. “We’d set boundaries before we started anything between us. Stop pacing. Sit next to me. I’m not gonna bite.” Not yet, but if things went his way he would in the future. He’d enjoy marking her, leaving her body wearing his badge of possession.

Do you enjoy reading stories about friends-to-lovers or friends with benefits?

Purchase The Bottom Line at Samhain Publishing or Amazon.

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand and writes contemporary and paranormal romance for Samhain Publishing and Ellora’s Cave. She’s recently sold a historical to Carina Press. When she’s not writing she loves to travel and frequently drags her husband off to far-flung parts of the world. Not that he argues much. Cooking is fun (since she enjoys eating) and she likes to take photographs of everyone and everything. Her latest release is THE BOTTOM LINE, an erotic contemporary romance, which is available from Samhain Publishing. You can visit Shelley at www.shelleymunro.com