Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Tempe’s eyes slowly drop to my hand, where she can clearly see the five-thousand-dollar check in my hand. “I think our performance at the wedding was enough, so I’ll pay you that five thousand now.”
She stares at the check but doesn’t move to take it. Instead, she sets the bottle of wine on the counter and crosses her arms. “I thought I was a little more than a gig.”
Fuck. I hear her irritation. Her eyes are frosty. Things are getting dangerous.
“Of course you’re not a gig,” I assure her, setting the check by the wine. “I just… I wanted to deliver what I promised, and I know you need that money.”
“You’re sort of making me feel like I’m no different from Tansy,” she says bluntly.
“Excuse me?” I’m aghast she’d ever compare herself to that woman.
“The money makes it impersonal. It also signifies an ending to our… whatever this is. Thus, I feel like a Tansy.”
“Fuck, no!” I exclaim, putting my hands on her shoulders. “That’s not what I want and not what I intended. I’m nervous and awkward, and I truly want you to have that money so it can help you and your family. But… I wanted to have you over to dinner tonight because I want to keep seeing you. Not in a fake way, but a real way. I just didn’t go about saying it right.”
Tempe’s green eyes widen. “Oh,” she murmurs and then just stares at me.
“Oh,” I repeat hesitantly. “Is that all you have to say?”
She has the grace to look embarrassed and then offers me a sheepish grin. “Yay?” she says, posing it as a question rather than a statement to see if that’s an acceptable answer.
I laugh, pulling her into me for a rough hug. I press a kiss to the top of her head, because that somehow seems appropriate given the tender feelings barraging me right now. “Yay works,” I assure her.
“Good,” she murmurs, pulling her head back to peer up at me. “And you need to shred that check.”
“You need to cash it.”
“Things are different. This isn’t a job anymore,” she counters.
“But you earned it when it was a job,” I argue.
“We’ll talk about it later,” she says, going to her tiptoes and pressing her mouth to mine.
I think it’s just going to be a soft kiss, but her tongue slides past my lips and I’m instantly aroused. I slip my hand to the back of her head, grab a fistful of her hair and peel her off me for a moment. “We should eat dinner first. I’ve got everything ready to go.”
“I’m not hungry for food,” she purrs, and God help me, she places her palm against my crotch to squeeze my thickening erection. “I’m hungry for this.”
Now, I’ve tried to be gallant. Up until this moment, I was ready to insist she let me feed her, but I’m sorry… no red-blooded male can push a woman away when she’s palming his cock and saying she’s hungry for it.
I bend at the waist and haul Tempe up and over my shoulder. She giggles loudly, bracing her hands on my back as I stride to my bedroom, my long legs eating up the distance.
At the edge of my bed, I lower her to the ground and we stare at each other for a long moment. Her chest rises and falls and my heart feels like it’s going to explode out of my chest. Tempe’s hands go to the button of my jeans and every hot fantasy I’ve had about her—there have been quite a few—are on the verge of coming to life. I’m so close to having her mouth on my cock, a favor she’s wanted to repay since I licked her to an orgasm night before last, and there can’t be anything in this world that I want more.
Except… images of me on my knees before her, her leg draped over my shoulder and the way she writhed under the pressure of my tongue.
“Get your pants off.” I respond thickly, tongue heavy in my mouth.
“Wh-wh-wh-at?” she stammers.
“You heard me,” I say, putting my hand to the center of her chest and pushing her gently. The backs of her legs hit the edge of my bed and I push her down onto it. “Here… let me handle it.”
Quick, efficient and kind of digging her startled gasp, I pull off her shoes and socks, followed by her leggings and panties.
“Rafferty,” she cries out as I whip the pink silk from around her ankles and toss them over my shoulder. “I’m supposed to be—”
“Shut up,” I order, flashing her a grin before I spread her legs apart, once more dropping to my knees and this time both legs go over my shoulders.
Tempe shrieks when my mouth presses against her soft femininity, and Jesus, my head spins. She tastes delectable, just as I remembered.