"Very. But where are you going?"
She paused long enough to look him up and down, lingering her gaze in the vicinity of his cock. "I thought we'd go to your place. Walking distance, right?"
His mouth curved up. "It most certainly is. And we can take the shortcut."
Her pulse picked up tempo at the idea of getting naked with him sooner. "I'm game," she said. "Lead the way."
He stepped beside her, then took her hand as he led her through an alley behind the Bank of America building.
"How is this faster?" she asked, and he laughed.
"I didn't say a shortcut to what," he said as he eased her up against the brick wall of the alley. They were hidden from view from pedestrians on both Fifth and Sixth Streets by the uneven nature of the wall and the scattered Dumpsters and metal storage containers.
"What are you doing?" she asked as he inched the skirt up, exposing her to the dim ambient light.
"What I've been wanting to do since I first tried to get those damn panties out from under your dress," he said, then lifted her up so quickly and unexpectedly she gasped.
He ordered her to hook her legs on his shoulders, and she complied, both turned on and slightly terrified of falling. But he had her fast, and she realized just how strong those muscled arms really were.
"Arch back," he ordered, and since the next thing he did with his mouth was cover her clit and suck, she did what he said. And as he worked a beautiful magic on her sex, she opened her eyes, looked at the sky, and let Nolan hold her tight and keep her safe as he, quite literally, took her to the stars.
Chapter Seventeen
"I'm serious," Hannah said as she poured a round of Pinot Punch for the table. "Electric toothbrushes. I mean, who would have thought, right?" She rolled her eyes, then continued. "Although I guess I just lack imagination, because apparently the electric toothbrush vibrator craze is going strong. I just read this huge article online."
Shelby pressed her legs together. There'd been no vibrators last night, but abandoning her panties had definitely made for a quality evening. She remembered the way his hands had felt--not to mention the rest of him--as she caught Nolan's eye across the bar. The air crackled, and she knew his mind had traveled back with hers.
Yeah, she thought as she squeezed her legs together again. Nice to be on the same wavelength.
"It's getting rowdy over here," Reece said, grinning as he and Nolan came over to join the table. He put his hand on Jenna's shoulder, and she reached up to touch it. "What are you talking about?"
"Dental hygiene," Jenna said, and she, Shelby, Brooke, and Hannah melted into laughter again.
"This is that electric toothbrush thing, isn't it?" Nolan asked.
Shelby looked up at him, intrigued, while across the table Hannah murmured, "Well, well."
Nolan held his hands up in surrender. "Fodder for my show, people. Just fodder for my show." He winked at Shelby. "Unless you want it to be more," he added, and her cheeks burned so quick and so hot that she had no choice but to kick him under the table. A lame kick with no follow-through that only had him laughing.
"Nolan's entering the Mr. April contest," she announced, figuring that was punishment enough.
He sighed, but didn't argue, and she did a mental fist pump, shoring up her victory.
"Not my idea," he said, grinning at her. "I lost a bet. But the payment was worth it."
"It's all good," Reece said. "Good promo for the bar and for your show. Honestly, we can't lose."
"No," Nolan said, his gaze burning into Shelby, "you're right. I definitely feel like a winner lately."
* * *
"Hey, Mom," Shelby said as she punched the button to accept the incoming call through her car's audio system. "What's up?" Shelby knew her voice sounded rattled, but it had been a crazy week at work, and now she was on her way to being late for the Young Professionals taping.
It would have been smarter to let her mom go straight to voicemail. The last time she'd talked to her mother, she'd been less than excited about Shelby dating Nolan. And today of all days, Shelby didn't need anything negative in her head.
"I'm on my way to that Young Professionals thing I mentioned last week," Shelby added, hoping her mom would understand that this was not the moment to mess with her daughter's head.
"You'll do great, sweetheart. No, I just called to let you know that I listened to Nolan's show this morning."