“Theo, it’s all right. I remember.”
“Go back to sleep.”
“You sound like you’re in pain. You sure you’re okay?” She sits up.
That’s when her eyes flick to my crotch. Light from a nearby sidewalk lamp slices through a gap in the curtains, providing just enough visibility for Nora to see the tent in my shorts.
“Oh,” she says.
I cover myself with my hands, face burning. “I am so sorry, Nora, I didn’t . . . I don’t . . . H.R., call them, get me fired. Please. I deserve it—”
“Come back to bed.” The words land between us with the force of an atomic bomb. For several seconds I just stand there and blink, my ears ringing. Is this a dream? A nightmare? A fantasy born of extreme sexual frustration, the kind I haven’t experienced since I was a pimply teenager pining after Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember?
“I want that,” I say hoarsely. “More than anything, Nora. I want to make you feel good. But you told me—”
“Aiden. I know. I also know you’re totally different from him.”
I run a hand over my face. “Are you always this lucid in the middle of the night?”
“I am when I wake up so horny.”
My blood jumps. “You too?”
“How could I not be?” She lifts up the covers beside her. “You’re a total smokeshow, and a surprisingly excellent cuddler.”
“I do not want to cuddle right now.”
Her eyes bore into mine. “Neither do I. Come to bed, Theo.”
I run my hand over my overgrown stubble. “Can I brush my teeth first?”
Her lips curve into a smile. “I’ll join you.”
I follow her into the bathroom, turning on the light. I look at her in the mirror and see that her face is flushed but her eyes are clear. I look at myself and notice mine are too. Then I watch her put a dab of toothpaste on her electric toothbrush and blink when she reaches over to put a dab on the throwaway travel brush I got from the store downstairs because I forgot mine back home.
“Thanks.”
“No pwobwem,” she says around her brush. Our eyes meet. We’re not drunk. We’re not high or so horny we can’t see straight. We’re doing this stone-cold sober.
We’re not making another mistake.
“By the way,” she says, rinsing out her mouth with a handful of water. “I really like your scruff. Beard. Whatever it is. Looks handsome on you.”
Nora likes facial hair. Noted.
We return to the bedroom twelve seconds later with minty fresh breath. Nora slips underneath the covers on her side.
“Full disclosure,” I say as I round the bed, coming back to my side, “I like you.”
She bites her lip. “I like you too.”
“No games here.” I put my hand on my pillow and lean into it so I’m hovering over her, our faces inches apart. “Whatever you want, I’m in.”
She furrows her brow. “Theo, we’ve known each other for two seconds. And we’ve only played nice for one of those seconds.”
“I know what I want,” I say simply. “It’s you. I understand we work together, and you just had your heart broken—”
“It’s not broken anymore.”
My turn to smile. “Good. Just trying to be upfront here.”
“I appreciate that.”
“You’ll appreciate this more.” I reach behind me to grab the collar of my shirt. Yanking it over my head, I drop it on the floor and smile harder when I catch Nora staring at my bare chest.
Licking her lips, she says, “And your shorts. Those too.”
“Briefs included?”
“Briefs included.”
I hook my thumbs in my waistband and push my shorts and briefs down. My heavy cock bobs as it’s set free.
“Oh,” she breathes, eyes going hazy. “Oh, Theo. You need to get the fuck back in bed right now.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Theo
Climbing into bed, my bare cock meets with the cool sheets. I see stars.
Nora’s mouth finds mine at the same moment she reaches between my legs. She wraps her hand around my length at the root, her touch featherlight. Exploratory. I want more.
That’s when it hits me.
“Shit,” I breathe against her lips. “I don’t want to make any assumptions—”
“I have condoms.” I feel her lips move into a smile against my own.
I groan. “Always prepared.”
“You know me too well.”
“I do.” I hiss when her hand glides up my cock, and she swivels her wrist so her palm skates over my head. “Christ, Nora. I think you already know me.”
She laughs, throaty and deep, and something inside me snaps. The sound is a satisfied one. Happy.
Me. The kid from Nowhere, North Carolina, is making this sexy, smart, accomplished woman happy in a way pedigreed pricks like Aiden never could.
I angle my head and capture her mouth in a hard kiss. She tips her chin back to meet me, tongue in my mouth, hand on my dick. She tightens her grip on me, giving me a firm, slow tug. I bite the corner of her mouth and slip a hand inside her tank top. The material is delicate, so thin I’m worried it will tear. I go gently, sliding my palm up her belly, her side. Her stomach caves at the contact.