“Oh,” Lainey breathes, scrambling to sit up on the car, suddenly embarrassed. I help her down and arrange her skirt while the peanut gallery of workmen continue to shout, cheer, and whistle from across the road. “I got a bit carried away,” she says quietly as I grin at her. “Quick, let’s go.” She’s around the car and in the passenger seat before I even move. I rearrange my trousers as I make my way to the driver’s side, earning another chorus of shouts, so I raise my arm in acknowledgment to the gang of men, smiling like a fool as I slip into my seat. I’m not the least bit embarrassed. Or I might be, I don’t know. There could be some embarrassment somewhere to be found, but it’s not likely it will be, since it’s buried in satisfaction. And maybe a little smugness, too.
I look at Lainey, unable to wipe the smile off my face. “I’d say someone is pleased to see me.”
She raises a brow, her hand moving toward my lap and finding my condition. I grit my teeth, biting back my groan as I watch her face coming closer to mine. “I’d say you’re rather pleased, too, Mr. Christianson,” she whispers, her expression challenging. I swallow. She smiles.
Home.
I slam my car into first and wheelspin down the road to the sound of Lainey laughing hysterically and workmen chanting in our wake. And when her dancing eyes fall onto mine, I just shake my head in wonder.
And then I ponder once again—what the fuck is happening here?“Give me your things,” I say, taking the overnight bag from her before she offers it. “Help yourself to wine,” I call over my shoulder, heading for my bedroom. I quickly dump her bag on the end of my bed and go to leave but pull to a stop at the door when something comes to me. I look out the corner of one eye, and then the other, thinking. Then I turn and find her bag on the end of my bed, thinking more. Then I cast my eyes around my bedroom, taking in how tidy it is, thinking harder. My eyes complete a slow circuit of my room before finding Lainey’s bag again. My housekeeper has been today. My apartment is spotless. “Makes the place look untidy,” I tell myself, stalking forward and snatching Lainey’s bag off the bed. When I arrive in my man-infested walk-in wardrobe, I circle on the spot, searching for the right place. “There,” I say, heading for the chest of drawers on the far side. Dropping Lainey’s bag, I pull the top drawer open and remove the perfect pile of black T-shirts, relocating them in the next drawer down. I grab Lainey’s bag from the floor and take the zip, stalling for a second. “Never go through a lady’s bag,” I say out loud, hearing my father’s voice. So I put the whole thing in the drawer instead, having to ram it in for it to fit. “That’ll do.” I shut the drawer with some effort, brush my hands off, satisfied, and then wander back through my bedroom to find Lainey, smiling at my tidy bed with fresh sheets as I pass it.
“There you are,” she says when I find her in the kitchen with a glass of wine in each hand. “I was just coming to find you.”
I take a wine, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “What would you like to do?”
Her eyebrow quirks, her glass slowly moving to her lips. “You need to ask that?”
There goes my dick again, trying to punch its way through my trousers. I shift on my feet, and it doesn’t escape Lainey’s notice. She grins around the rim of her glass. Then the little tease licks the edge, her wet, pink tongue lapping up a small drop from the brim. My eyes narrow accusingly. “I want to hear the words,” I tease.
“You do?”
“Yes.” I step back and perch on the edge of my dining table, crossing one ankle over the other. “What would you like to do, Lainey?”
She pouts, moving into my body, straddling her legs over my thighs to get as close as possible to me. “You want me to spell it out?” she asks, her nose touching mine.
I nod, my mouth suddenly dry. “Please.”
“Okay.” She takes my face in her hand, angling my head before placing her lips on mine. I don’t put up a fight. Wouldn’t dream of it. She’s about to tell me exactly what she wants to do, and I will most definitely be obliging. “Take me swimming,” she whispers, slipping her tongue past my lips.
I recoil quickly, leaving Lainey’s luscious lips alone a few inches from mine. “Huh?”
She giggles and falls forward, forcing me to wrap my free arm around her waist to catch her. “I want you to take me swimming again.”