Page 46 of Player For Hire

She nibbled on the corner of her lower lip. “Is that too weird?”

“I’m here for what you need.”

My chest tightened as I realized that wasn’t far from the truth. Already, I wanted to be what she needed.

Well, hell.

“Okay. I’ll have to think on that.” She locked her phone and retreated deeper into her corner of the couch, this time turned my way. “Did you have ideas for lessons?”

“How about a mini-lesson?”

She set her phone down, her attention absolute. “I’m good with that.”

I reached for her, and her eyes widened as I urged her to straddle me. “We’ll start with a makeout session.”

Her lips twitched. “Isn’t that what we did earlier?”

“We learned a few things about one another. Now we’re going to put it into action. Tell me, what did you learn today, Naomi?”

She settled her hands on my chest. “Um, I learned that you should license your tongue.”

I laughed and leaned in to kiss her. I kept it easy and fun. Smiles infiltrated the kiss until she was giggling against my mouth. “What else?”

“You like a back scratch. And when I do this.” She skimmed her fingers along the nape of my neck into the short hairs there and scratched lightly. “Maybe I should call you tiger because you purr when I do this.”

I didn’t realize I was, but she was right. I was tactile. Probably from all the years of not being touched as a kid. After my mom, there had been precious little affection with a house full of men.

She tipped her head. “Where did you go?”

“Nowhere.”

“Class is in session, so you have to tell me.”

“Therapy sessions are included in the deal?”

Her short nails eased to soft strokes. “Learning goes both ways, I guess.”

I wasn’t used to being so honest. It was easier to keep people entertained and at arm’s length. But if I wanted her to trust me, I supposed it had to go both ways. “My mom died when I was twelve. My dad is great and so is my brother, but there wasn’t much in the way of nurturing, you could say.”

“So, touching is...good for you?”

“Sex is very good.”

Her brow furrowed. “But you only wanted to touch me today.”

“It wasn’t about me. It was about you.”

She wiggled in my lap. “And now I’m learning I should reciprocate?”

“Is that what you want? Truly?”

“There’s this restlessness inside me.” She brushed her fingers over her throat and back around her neck. “I’ve felt it a long time.”

“Sex doesn’t always answer it. I’ll tell you that up front. Took me a long time to learn that part.”

“But it can sometimes.”

I grinned and kissed her. “Definitely can sometimes.”