Better Than Home: Better Than Good Novella

“Thank you. I’ll think about it,” he said softly. “Hey, did I tell you I almost met our neighbors?”

“Almost?”

“They were pulling out of their driveway with a posse of kids in their minivan, so we waved again. We might just have a waving relationship. We had that with the old man who lived on the corner when I was growing up. He avoided conversation like the plague, but he always smiled and waved. Like a prom king.” He paused to demonstrate and continued with a laugh. “I have a feeling they think I work for you.”

I snorted. “What makes you think that?”

“They’ve seen me bringing packages in and managing the help. I bet you ten bucks they think I’m the designer your wife hired.”

“My wife?”

“Uh-huh. I can’t wait to see their faces when they realize the queers have moved in next door.” He flashed a mischievous grin. “I’ll invite them to our housewarming party too.”

“Whoa. Wait.” I froze mid-sip. “Are they going to be a problem?”

Aaron frowned. “What kind of problem?”

“The prejudiced kind” was on the tip of my tongue, but it sounded paranoid in my head, so I settled on, “I don’t know. I’m sure they’re perfectly nice people.”

“We’ll find out eventually. In the meantime…let’s paint!”

I groaned, sipping my beer before setting it on the mantel to unbutton my shirt. “Aar, I’m tired.”

Exhausted, actually.

It had been a weird day.

Get this. I’d received instructions to form a team to help with a special project Hughes was working on in LA. The only unusual thing about the request was that it might require travel. I hadn’t been asked to do much traveling while I’d been at the firm. I didn’t overthink it, but it caught my secretary’s attention.

And for the first time ever, someone I trusted within the firm had voiced the “rumor.”

“Are you moving to LA?” Colleen had asked worriedly.

“Don’t be silly. Of course not.”

“Good. I’ve heard a lot of talk lately and—”

“What kind of talk?”

“Hughes needs help in LA. He has more business than he counted on, and they want a real presence. You’d be a natural candidate, but I selfishly don’t want you to go.”

I stared at her, dumbfounded for a moment, before assuring her I wasn’t going anywhere.

I headed into a meeting soon after, and I’d like to claim I’d forgotten all about our brief conversation, but I hadn’t. I thought about it all the way home.

And trust me, I had a long-ass drive now. It gave me extra time to stress about nonsense I couldn’t control. I wanted nothing more than to curl up on my corner of the sofa with a beer and watch baseball. But I didn’t have a sofa or a working TV.…Thank God I had beer.

“We don’t have to do much,” Aaron cajoled, pulling me from my reverie. “Maybe one room tonight, then we’ll move on to the others tomorrow. Thoughts?”

“Saturdays are better for painting. And that gives us a few hours to come up with a crew. Let’s ask your brother and your dad to help us. They’re good painters, right?”

“No, they’re terrible,” he deadpanned.

“Oh.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “Fine. But I’m gonna need some incentive, babe.”

Aaron traced a path from my Adam’s apple to my chest. “I think I can help with that. What did you have in mind?”

He licked my neck, closed his fist around my shaft through my suit pants, and sank to his knees.

Fuck.

This never got old.

I slipped my fingers through his hair as he unbuckled and unzipped me, pushing my boxer briefs and trousers out of the way before opening his mouth to draw me in. Damn, he was good at sucking dick. We’re talking expert level.

Aaron teased my balls while he licked me like a popsicle—up one side and down the other. He worked me over, using his tongue one second and his talented fingers the next. I widened my stance and held his head, urging him to take a little more at each pass.

He scratched my ass cheeks and upped the tempo until he gagged on my cock. I pushed his forehead and waited for him to meet my gaze.

“Hey, not so fast. Take your shorts off.”

“Matty…”

“Do it,” I commanded in a huskier than normal tone.

Aaron sat on his knees and tugged his T-shirt over his head. He stared up at me, dragging his teeth over his swollen bottom lip as he popped open the buttons on his shorts, and slowly lowered them over his ass, leaving him in a pair of sheer black lace underwear that left nothing to the imagination.

His casual sensuality was potent. He knew how to use his body to his every advantage…from the arch of his back to the sway of his hips. My mouth went dry. No kidding. And that was before I got a good look at his thick cock bulging obscenely from behind that teeny piece of lace.