the sink for later and then return to my position of leaning against the counter approximately three inches from her small hand. “What do we need to discuss?”
“How long am I staying here? I have to get my car fixed. Plus, I have a lease on the cottage, so I have to move back sometime. Do I pay you rent while I’m here?” She rattles this off like it’s a business deal.
Emma is not a business deal to me, though. She’s already under my skin, embedded where the bad stuff used to dominate and still partially resides. I think she could knock that shit out of me.
“You can stay here as long as you need to. I’ll get your car towed and fixed; my friend owns a repair shop in the next town. We’ll get your lease cancelled; I know Joe, the man who owns those cottages, and he won’t have a problem when he hears that you’ve got some asshat ex breaking in whenever he feels like it. So you are not moving back to the cottage, and you’re not paying rent here. There, are we done with that?”
She crosses her ankles and swings her legs out, back and forth like a kid. “Why are you doing this? You’ve known me five days and most of that time you weren’t speaking much to me. I got the impression that you were rather aggravated having me in your space at work. When I overheard you with Carson, it pretty much confirmed what I thought. So why would you want me living here?”
“I told you why I was tearing into Carson. It’s not you. I’m glad he hired you, and since we’ll be working together, helping you settle in Hera is the least I can do.”
“Except I’m not settling. You just moved me out of my new home. I can’t settle in here; this home belongs to Leo.”
“He’s busy settling into Lauren’s house, and that belongs to Jess, so I guess, we’re all settling where we can.”
“I don’t think that’s the whole story,” she says with a sly smile. “I think you’re a nice guy. Although, it may be hard for you to admit it to yourself because it’s apparent you’ve been dealing with some tough personal issues for a long time.”
I close my eyes and hang my head with a sigh. That is exactly what I don’t want to hear; a woman I am attracted to feeling sympathy for me and attempting to reassure me like I’m her new friend. That’s a mood killer. I consider doing the dishes to top off my night when she places her hand on my arm.
“Thank you,” she says sweetly and leans in close, kissing me lightly on the cheek.
I am so still that all I hear is my own breathing. She’s lit the fuse. I want to kiss her. Hard. I don’t want to talk; I want to touch what I haven’t been able to touch for months.
She doesn’t move back; she hovers there next to my face with her lips a whisper away as her hand slides up my arm. I don’t wait for another sign; I move swiftly and cup her face with both hands. I’m so hungry for her that I collide into her mouth. I keep the kiss slow and firm. I am not going to woo her with soft kisses and tenderness when I have spent five days living like a raging bull, thinking of her.
As my tongue caresses hers, exploring every part of her soft mouth, she runs her fingers up my arms and over my shoulders. Her soft hands are all over me. She caresses my head and traces my scars while her other hand runs down the back of my neck. This touch—her hand stroking across my scalp—is different than all the women who have been touching my buzzed head for months. The other women felt like intruders; Emma doesn’t.
Then she opens her legs and I push myself between them. I use one hand to grab her ass and pull her towards me, and she wraps her legs around me. That’s when I really begin to come undone. Any part of my body I thought I was controlling is succumbing to her. I hold her waist and move my hands slowly up her rib cage and cup the sides of her breasts before my mouth takes over her neck and works its way down to that hollow dip in her collarbone. She moans softly. This is
“How long am I staying here? I have to get my car fixed. Plus, I have a lease on the cottage, so I have to move back sometime. Do I pay you rent while I’m here?” She rattles this off like it’s a business deal.
Emma is not a business deal to me, though. She’s already under my skin, embedded where the bad stuff used to dominate and still partially resides. I think she could knock that shit out of me.
“You can stay here as long as you need to. I’ll get your car towed and fixed; my friend owns a repair shop in the next town. We’ll get your lease cancelled; I know Joe, the man who owns those cottages, and he won’t have a problem when he hears that you’ve got some asshat ex breaking in whenever he feels like it. So you are not moving back to the cottage, and you’re not paying rent here. There, are we done with that?”
She crosses her ankles and swings her legs out, back and forth like a kid. “Why are you doing this? You’ve known me five days and most of that time you weren’t speaking much to me. I got the impression that you were rather aggravated having me in your space at work. When I overheard you with Carson, it pretty much confirmed what I thought. So why would you want me living here?”
“I told you why I was tearing into Carson. It’s not you. I’m glad he hired you, and since we’ll be working together, helping you settle in Hera is the least I can do.”
“Except I’m not settling. You just moved me out of my new home. I can’t settle in here; this home belongs to Leo.”
“He’s busy settling into Lauren’s house, and that belongs to Jess, so I guess, we’re all settling where we can.”
“I don’t think that’s the whole story,” she says with a sly smile. “I think you’re a nice guy. Although, it may be hard for you to admit it to yourself because it’s apparent you’ve been dealing with some tough personal issues for a long time.”
I close my eyes and hang my head with a sigh. That is exactly what I don’t want to hear; a woman I am attracted to feeling sympathy for me and attempting to reassure me like I’m her new friend. That’s a mood killer. I consider doing the dishes to top off my night when she places her hand on my arm.
“Thank you,” she says sweetly and leans in close, kissing me lightly on the cheek.
I am so still that all I hear is my own breathing. She’s lit the fuse. I want to kiss her. Hard. I don’t want to talk; I want to touch what I haven’t been able to touch for months.
She doesn’t move back; she hovers there next to my face with her lips a whisper away as her hand slides up my arm. I don’t wait for another sign; I move swiftly and cup her face with both hands. I’m so hungry for her that I collide into her mouth. I keep the kiss slow and firm. I am not going to woo her with soft kisses and tenderness when I have spent five days living like a raging bull, thinking of her.
As my tongue caresses hers, exploring every part of her soft mouth, she runs her fingers up my arms and over my shoulders. Her soft hands are all over me. She caresses my head and traces my scars while her other hand runs down the back of my neck. This touch—her hand stroking across my scalp—is different than all the women who have been touching my buzzed head for months. The other women felt like intruders; Emma doesn’t.
Then she opens her legs and I push myself between them. I use one hand to grab her ass and pull her towards me, and she wraps her legs around me. That’s when I really begin to come undone. Any part of my body I thought I was controlling is succumbing to her. I hold her waist and move my hands slowly up her rib cage and cup the sides of her breasts before my mouth takes over her neck and works its way down to that hollow dip in her collarbone. She moans softly. This is
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