Start Me Up (Man of the Month 4)

"I'm so close, baby. Can you come for me?"

She shook her head, and he released one hand, moving it to cup her, his finger teasing her clit as she continued to ride, more frantically now that she could feel the explosion rising in her.

"Now," she cried, as she felt his body start to release. And as if she'd made it happen, every cell in her body seemed to shatter in an explosion of pure, white stardust.

Her core tightened around his cock, taking him even further, and when they were both spent, he shifted on the small sofa so that she could collapse on top of him.

His eyes were closed, but he opened them to kiss her. Then said simply, "Wow."

She could only nod agreement, and then she put her head on his shoulder and fell into a warm, blissful sleep.

* * *

They woke once during the night, and Nolan carried her to the bed, then climbed in beside her, something he never did. Usually, he bolted as fast as he could. But there was something about this woman that called to him. That clicked with him. And when she opened her eyes and sleepily said, "What?" he told her that he wanted to make love to her again since he'd have to go to work before she woke up in the morning.

She nodded with an eager smile, and they made love slowly and sweetly before falling asleep again, twined in each other's arms.

He woke at four-fifteen when Connor texted to ask where the fuck he was. Nolan bolted out of bed and yanked on his clothes. As he headed toward her front door, his body shook from the force of a massive yawn, and he was struck by the realization of how little sleep he'd had.

With a self-satisfied grin, he backtracked to her kitchen, then selected a travel mug from the neat row in her cabinet. He hoped she didn't mind, and he was grateful for the excuse to see her again and return it. He drummed his fingers on the counter as he waited for the machine to finish brewing, then added some cream to cool it off. Then he was on his way again, shutting the door firmly behind him and double-checking to make sure it locked.

The station was in north Austin on the I-35 access road, but he didn't have to worry about traffic at this time of the morning, and he rolled into the booth at five after five.

"What the hell?" Connor began, but Nolan just held up a hand.

"Hot date," he said, with a grin and an eyebrow waggle.

Connor just shook his head and handed Nolan a binder. "Sponsor information. Manny emailed it to me last night. He wants you to read through, and try to work a few references into your schtick. Apparently ad revenue is dropping so we're trying to set ourselves apart from the other stations. Be more organic with our product placement."

"Great." Nolan flipped through the text-filled pages of the binder with distaste, his stomach twisting into knots as he thought about having to read through the whole damn thing.

"Here."

Nolan looked up in time to catch the USB flash drive that Connor tossed his way. "I went through and dictated some highlights of the first five sponsors. Just a quick and dirty run-through, but I figured it would give you material for today. Should take you ten minutes to listen to."

"Yeah?" Nolan stared at the drive. "Thanks."

Connor lifted a shoulder, suggesting it was no big deal. "I figure you've got better things to do than waste your time reading through that tome."

"Damn right," Nolan said, clutching the flash drive like a lifeline. Nolan hadn't told Connor he was dyslexic. Hell, he'd never told anyone except Amanda and the folks at the Dyslexia Reading & Tutoring Room, a nonprofit organization focused on helping kids with dyslexia learn decoding and other skills to help with both reading and self-esteem.

He'd been quietly working with the organization for years, but while he didn't keep his involvement a secret, he also didn't advertise it.

Maybe Connor had simply realized that it took Nolan forever to work his way through a pile of papers. All Nolan knew for sure was that Connor hadn't complained when Nolan asked him to summarize the daily news. And whenever Manny dumped a lot of reading on him, Connor always said it was the producer's job to keep the talent's slate clean.

He shot a glance toward Connor as he plugged in the drive, but he didn't ask. Better not to know. It wasn't like Nolan wanted to talk about it. He just wanted to do his job. And think about Shelby.

And when six o'clock rolled around, that's exactly what he did. "Gooooooood morning, Austin! It's Thursday morning, and this is Mornings with Wood. And, yeah, it's one of those days where that show's title is pretty damn appropriate. Welcome, listeners, to my new favorite day. Yeah, that's right, I got me a little somethin' somethin' last night, and I'm bouncing off the walls with all the good vibes."

He hit the button on the console, and the sexy female voice crooned, "Oooooh, Nolan. Tell me more."

"Now, you know a gentleman never kisses and tells, but maybe this will give you a hint. Back with the morning traffic after a little AC/DC."

As he finished his riff, he faded into Shook Me All Night Long, then sat back in his chair, shot Connor a self-satisfied grin, then spent the next three minutes and thirty-two seconds lost in some damn sweet memories.

Chapter Seven

The sharp buzz of her cell phone interrupted Shelby's NSFW dream. Still half asleep and smiling, she groped for it, accepted the call without paying attention to the screen, and murmured, "Nolan."