I shut the lid on my laptop and he takes it, finishing his drink and handing me my glass. “Bottoms up.”
Smiling around my glass, I offer a cheeky, “We did that already.”
“Careful, woman. You’ll awaken the sleeping dragon.” He doesn’t smile, but there’s no mistaking his signature dry humor. He lets me drain my glass before taking it from me as well. I throw the blanket from my body, no longer cold now that I’m covered from chest to legs in Archer.
He kisses my throat, ducks his head, and circles one nipple with his tongue. My eyes roll back into my head when he moves down the length of my body.
“How sure”—he kisses my belly button—“are you that your sister won’t be home for hours?”
“Pretty sure.” I arch my back, my hands clawing his head as he places a damp kiss on my hipbone.
“Sure enough for this to happen on this couch in full view of the front door?” He slides his tongue to my other hipbone and places a kiss very, very close to where I want his face buried.
I flutter my lashes, considering. “Um…”
“This could take a while,” he murmurs against my pussy. His tongue comes out for a casual lick. “A long, long while.”
“Oh, God.” I sit up, taking in his position between my legs. His shirt is open, the heat of his chest warming my thighs. He’s the most beautiful specimen, and what he’s offering to do to me… I shudder without meaning to. “M-maybe we should go to the bedroom. Just in case.”
“Thought you’d see it my way.” He helps me to my feet. I double-check the deadbolt but disengage the chain so I don’t have to let Calista in when she returns home. I’ll be busy.
He follows me down the short hallway to my bedroom, his hands cupping my rear. When we enter my room, he’s already pulling off his clothes.
I sit on my double bed, which isn’t big by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s huge compared to the tiny countertop and cramped sofa. He rolls his shoulders like he’s ready to welcome whatever additional space he can get. Then he puts a knee between my legs, palms my lower back, and lifts and scoots me a foot up the bed.
I yip, impressed by how easily he relocated me, but not really surprised. He’s practically bionic in my mind. He repeats the move and scooches me up another foot. I reach for my hair that became trapped beneath my back on the way.
Moonlight sifts through the slatted plastic blinds, striping his body, and curving over the delectable hills and grooves making up his mouthwatering physique. He gives me his weight, sinking me deeper into the mattress. Elbows on either side of me, he nestles his fingers into my hair, touching my scalp. His lips tip as he watches me from beneath a thick swath of eyelashes.
I shift beneath him, wanting him, impatient for him. Wrapping my hands around his wrists, I urge him down, but he doesn’t budge.
Instead he sighs and announces, “Bad news, beautiful.”
“Oh?” My heart hammers an SOS. Did he change his mind?
“I brought two condoms. We used ’em. Do you or your sister have a stash? If not, I have to make a run.”
Oh. That is bad news.
“I’m not sure if I’m upset you didn’t buy a giant box before you came to my office today, or relieved you didn’t think I’d be this easy.”
He grins, his teeth flashing bright in the dark room. My first Archer Owen grin. Swoon! “You have given me zero signs you were going to be easy.”
I resisted him for months. Much easier to do when he wasn’t standing in front of me. Or lying on top of me.
“And I sure as shit didn’t expect to be an accessory in the drive-by juicing you gave Ed. Neither did I expect to have to teach Brandon Lambert an unforgettable lesson.”
I lapse into a vision of Brandon crashing into the table. “That was pretty epic.”
“We’re a good team.” Archer narrows his eyes for a second, like his thoughts are elsewhere, and then he says, “Before you were unfairly fired, I planned on asking you to help with my night spa. I figured you could work remotely, and via as many video chats as I could talk you into. I planned on flying you up on the weekends so you could have a feel in-person too. But now”—he shakes his head—“seeing how you have plenty of free time, I’m thinking you should come to Ohio with me, and stay ’til we open.”
“Stay? In Ohio?” I blink, my mind moving through the details of relocating to the Midwest for a handful of months.
“Yeah.”
With his body warming mine, it’s hard to think of a single reason to refuse him. Being near him for an extended period would likely mean more horizontal naked time. And, let’s face it, vertical naked time.
“You can stay in my townhouse.”