Page 122 of Pretty Little Thing

Nora lowers her feet to the floor. “Yes,” she answers.

“You’re really offering me a full-time job here?”

“Salaried with benefits. Yes.”

I close my mouth, suddenly realizing it was hanging open. “Why?” I ask.

She presses her red lips together. “I like having you around. You’re like…” She smiles. “Okay. When I was a kid, I only ever had vanilla ice cream.”

I laugh. “Oh, I see where this is going…”

She grins. “And all of my friends kept telling me about chocolate. And strawberry.”

“And rocky road?” I ask.

“And rocky road!”

“So, I’m your naughty, corrupting, devil ice cream,” I joke. “Is that it?”

“You’re that sweet, delicious, wonderful treat that I should have let myself have ages ago.” She runs her thumb along my cheek. “And I don’t want to give you up.”

“Even if I make you fat?”

“Especiallyif you make me fat.” She laughs. “How’s that for a performance evaluation?”

I shake my head in disbelief. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll take it,” she says. “Or, at the very least, that you’ll think about it.”

“In that case…” I push forward, stopping just short of her lips. “I’ll think about it.”

Nora gently purses those perfect red lips against mine.

“Good boy,” she says.

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