Otherwise Occupied (Evan Arden 2)

“Pretty much.” I took a long sip of my water, leaned back against the couch, and closed my eyes.

She didn’t take the hint.

“You don’t like holidays much, do you?”

“Not really.”

“Why not?” she asked.

I sighed and opened my eyes enough to glare at her.

“I really just want to rehydrate a bit and then go to bed, okay? I didn’t pay you to run your mouth.”

Her eyes narrowed at me for a moment, but then she smiled what I assumed was supposed to be an apology and snuggled up to me. I put an arm around her shoulders, leaned back against the couch again, and just felt her fingers trace over my chest.

Of course, that didn’t last long.

“You’ve been picking me up at least once a week for three months,” Bridgett said, “but you never tell me anything about yourself.”

“That’s because you’re my favorite hooker,” I replied, “and not my shrink.”

“You have a shrink?” Her head tilted up to look at me, and her hair tickled my chin as she moved.

My eyes flicked over to her for a moment as I studied her expression. She was surprised to hear me say it and waited for the confirmation. There was something else in her gaze as well, something that wanted to claim she knew it all along.

Her expression softened slightly before she spoke again.

“For what happened to you…over in the Middle East, right?”

Unexpected words.

I was taken off-guard and couldn’t respond right away.

“What makes you say that?” I finally asked. I cleared my throat, turned my eyes from her, and sipped my water. I racked my brain trying to remember what I might have told her, but I didn’t come up with much. She knew I was in the Marines, but I hadn’t told her anything else.

“You talk in your sleep.”

“What the fuck? I do not.”

“Not often,” she said, “but you have – a couple of times.”

I watched her carefully, but she didn’t appear to be lying about it.

“What did I say?”

“Oh no,” she replied. “I’m not that easy.”

I had to roll my eyes at her, which earned me a giggle. I set my bottle of water down on the end table and reached over to grab her by the waist and pull her into my lap. With one hand, I held her down against my cock while the other one circled both her wrists and held them behind her back. I brought her up against my chest and leaned forward until our noses were almost touching.

“Not easy?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “I think you need to remember who’s paying for you tonight.”

“You don’t have to say shit like that you know.”

“Say what?”

“Say that you pay for me.”

“I do pay for you.”