Her Naughty Holiday (Men at Work 2)

Which he did. Right there on the stairs he kissed her neck and her throat.

“I won’t ever forget that part,” she said, tilting her head to the side so he could kiss her under her ear in case he wanted to. Apparently he wanted to. “I didn’t tell you because I wanted it to happen naturally without a lot of second-guessing and I didn’t want you to worry about me and I really didn’t want me to worry about you worrying about me. That’s what I wanted. That’s what I got. I didn’t think it would happen so soon, but I also didn’t realize how incredibly sexy you were until I got you into bed. So no, you didn’t disappoint me. The opposite, in fact.”

“Good,” he said, pausing to nip her neck with his teeth. “That’s what I needed to hear. But...”

“But?” She pulled back to meet his eyes.

“I do think Ruthie might be right and you may have a little bit of trouble asking for what you want. That you haven’t asked your family to back the hell off and leave you alone is a good sign that maybe, just maybe, the kid is right about that.”

Clover rocked her head from side to side, considered what he said and then nodded.

“She might be right about that.”

“So...from now on, please be open with me. You’re not going to hurt my feelings if you ask me to do something that I’m not doing or you tell me to stop doing something I am doing that you’re not into. We’re going to have a lot more fun together if we’re both honest with each other, in and out of bed. Cool?”

“Cool.”

“Is there anything you want to tell me before we leave? Anything you want us to do the next couple of days? Any other firsts we need to take care of?”

“Well... I’ve never given a blow job to completion. I feel like maybe that’s something I should learn how to do. Do you think you could teach me?”

“No, that’s not something I’m interested in.”

She raised an eyebrow at him in suspicion.

“You’re telling me you aren’t into blow jobs?”

“Not my thing, no. Sorry.”

“You’re lying right now, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Through my teeth.” He nodded. “Now I know how Pinocchio felt.”

“Your nose getting longer?”

“Something’s getting longer. Now please go pack before we end up having staircase sex, which I had once and it was not good for anyone involved. Hurry. Go. Please.”

She kissed him on the mouth because she could, because she wanted to, and she was thoroughly enjoying giving herself permission to do what she wanted to do.

“Going.”

Erick slapped her ass when she turned around and a laugh of pure pleasure burst from her. Being in a relationship, even a fake one, with a man like Erick was seriously fun. She should have done this years ago. Then again, she didn’t know Erick years ago and she couldn’t have picked a better man to be her training boyfriend. He was definitely worth the wait, she decided as she opened up her closet and pulled out her suitcase. Into it she threw a couple pairs of her favorite jeans, warm wool socks, hiking boots, a couple favorite long-sleeved shirts and sweaters. She spied a pink-and-black bag in the corner of her closet, a pink-and-black bag that had been in that corner of her closet for several years. She took out the tissue paper and examined the contents. It should all still fit. And if Erick kept his promise, it wouldn’t matter, anyway. Anything she put on tonight would end up on the floor in minutes.

She finished packing and went back downstairs. Erick had a bag in his hand and she saw he’d filled it with food from her cabinets and fridge.

“I don’t know what you like to eat,” he said. “I put some of your stuff in here so you’ll have it.”

“That’s very thoughtful.”

“You really eat pumpkin spice yogurt?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“I’ll tell you a few names once I’m done throwing up in my mouth.”

“Oh, hush. It’s good. Are you ready?”

“I am. Where’s your phone?”