“Oh no,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’ll endure you bouncing on a mattress that hundreds of other people have writhed around on, but I’m not playing.”
“C’mon,” he said, turning the corner of his mouth up in the half smile that always got women all riled up. “What if I take you to an early dinner at Purple after this?”
Brynn rolled her eyes. “Save that smarmy smile for one of your groupies. And how’d you know I like Purple?”
I know everything you like. Everything.
Instead he rolled his eyes right back at her. “Well, let’s see, it’s an upscale, totally pretentious wine bar that pretends not to be pretentious. How could you help yourself from liking it?”
He saw her hesitate. Brynn was always a sucker for New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, and Purple’s menu had a handful of them.
“No thanks,” she said, pressing her li
ps together. “I should get home. I should call James.”
Will noticed that there was a pause before the last sentence and carefully hid his grin. She’d barely mentioned that marble boyfriend of hers all day, and he knew she was only doing it now to tell him to back off.
No can do, Brynny.
“Suit yourself, Princess. This mattress is no good anyway.”
“Too small to accommodate your depraved tendencies?” she asked sweetly as he rolled off.
“No. Too small for yours,” he said with an eyebrow wiggle.
She stiffened slightly. “I have no intention of sharing a mattress with you today or ever.”
“Just as well. I think you wore out the one I had last time.”
“I hope you get bedbugs up your ass,” she muttered as he threw himself onto the next mattress.
Will took his time with the mattresses. He already knew which one he wanted. He’d been getting the same brand for years. It was just always easier to get a new one rather than deal with the hassle of shipping it every time he moved. But Brynn didn’t have to know that.
“Hmm, I think this one has just a little too much give,” he muttered, pretending to test the current mattress. “Say, Princess, could you straddle me for a minute so I can get a sense of how much leverage a woman’s knees could get on this thing?”
She ignored his request, and instead tapped a long finger against her lips and pretended to study the mattress. “You know, that’s a valid point. I seem to remember you just sort of lying there, so considering the woman will have to do all the work, it’s good that you’re paying attention to the female needs. Especially if you want her to come back for more. Oh, wait, you don’t do repeats.”
He gave an exaggerated sigh and moved on to the next mattress in one fluid movement. He watched carefully as she checked her watch, although he didn’t think she was really in a hurry. In fact, for most of the day, she hadn’t seemed to mind being with him. Much. He’d intentionally let her pick all of the furniture. Well, except for that awful beige couch.
He’d known all along that the thrill of being able to decorate a house from scratch would be too much for her to resist, and she’d thrown herself wholeheartedly into the task, asking the sales people millions of questions, trying dozens of different options before informing him firmly, this one.
He knew he was pushing it with mattress shopping, but it was a necessary step in his plan.
A salesperson approached them warily as Will rolled around on each mattress, and Brynn patiently explained that no, they didn’t need any help, that her acquaintance merely wanted to try them out. All of them.
The salesguy gave a tentative smile and wandered away as Brynn pulled out her buzzing cell phone, her eyes scanning the incoming message.
It was the moment he needed. Taking advantage of her distraction, Will rolled to his knees, hooked his arm around Brynn’s waist, and tugged, flopping both of them back onto the mattress with just enough of a jolt to make her purse whack him in the chest before he rolled her beneath him.
Or almost beneath him.
Mostly she was just wiggling and muttering obscenities at him.
He rolled onto his side, locking his arm around her waist and pulling her into the little-spoon position.
“So now what do you think about this one?” he said against her ear. “It’s hard, but I’m kind of thinking it’s just right.”
“Oh, wow, a blatantly obvious double entendre. How unexpected of you.”