She chewed her lower lip, furrowing her brow as she put her head back on his shoulder. “Sorry about that. I guess maybe I saw something more in you.”
He rubbed his hand up and down her back and then hugged her to him. “I liked it. You were supportive of me even though it seemed I liked working at that run-down gym. One thing that struck me about you, Pais, was the way you didn’t judge. You might have thought I could do better but not because you were embarrassed to be with me. Just that you thought I’d be happier if I was.”
He could tell she was smiling because he felt her cheek move against him. “I wasneverembarrassed by you. I hate that there is so much worth tied to occupation in society. I mean, as long as you could pay your bills and seem content, there’s nothing else to judge...” She hesitated. “Well, if I’m being totally honest, when I briefly thought you might be a criminal... I didn’t love that.”
She wouldn’t. She was honest to her core. He wished he could have been.
“So anything else you want to know?”
“When are you going back the West Coast?” she asked.
Sean grimaced. Truthfully, he hadn’t really considered it. He had a script to look at that his agent had sent him and was going to have to do press for the movie he’d wrapped on. But he wanted to resolve this relationship with Paisley first. Needed to know if this was just a Christmas affair or something that would last longer.
“That depends.”
She shifted around and shook her head as she looked down at him. “I hate that. Just say it.”
“Well, I’m not the only person in this relationship and so my decision depends on you. If you kick me out and say ‘thanks for the sex, be seeing you,’ then I guess there’s no reason to stay.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “For the record, I’ll never saybe seeing you.”
“You won’t?”
“No.”
He arched one eyebrow at her.
“I’d say...hit the road, Jack.”
He laughed, realizing she was done talking about the past and wanted to move back to the present. “Indeed. So other than the new bedroom, what else have you done to the place in the week I’ve been gone.”
She flushed. “Not much. I’m going to start decorating for Christmas, but my brother hasn’t had time to come and help me put up the tree.”
“Was Christmas good growing up?” he asked, thinking of her dad and her family situation.
She shrugged. “Yeah. I thought...well, it doesn’t matter. But Dad always made sure Christmas morning was picture-perfect.”
“I’ve got a love-hate relationship with the season. Some years I’m all in, and I hire a team to deck out my Malibu mansion, and other years I order a case of scotch and sit in my den alone.”
“You’re a man of extremes?”
He didn’t think he was, but truthfully, he had always been sort of up and down with holidays. “The thing is Christmas is about family, and when yours isn’t great...sometimes the best you can do is get through it.”
She hugged him. “Let’s do Christmas together.”
Instead of answering, he pulled her into his arms.
He wasn’t pinning much on celebrating the holidays with her, but for the first time he was thinking about December 25th and it wasn’t with total dread. He knew that had more than a little to do with Paisley.
He moved above her, growling deep in his throat as her hands went to his cock, and then he felt her mouth roam over his chest.
Her tongue darted out and brushed against his nipple. He arched as he put his hand on the back of her head, urging her to stay where she was.
As he moved his hands lower, caressing her between her legs, he shifted around so that she could straddle him. Their eyes met as she sank slowly down on his erection.
She rode him and he held off his orgasm as long as he could until he felt her pussy tighten around him, and she threw her back and called out his name as she came. Then, clutching her tighter, he thrust into her until he emptied himself. He held her in his arms after. She was quiet and drifted to sleep but his mind was active.
He had a second chance with Paisley and he didn’t want to fuck it up.