Page 40 of Play for Keeps

He paused for a second, trying to gather what dignity a naked man with a semisoftie could before answering. “Let’s say the show was more impressive when Mrs. Westlake caught the opening act.”

Her eyes crinkled, and she covered her mouth with her hand, but the preventative measures came too late. Laughter flowed out around the edges of her fingers like hot lava, deep and rich and terrifyingly beautiful. He moved toward her, drawn by the siren song of those husky chuckles. The shaving kit hit the floor near her feet with a dull thud.

Her wrist looked so delicate and fine. Half-scared he’d crush her with his big, clumsy hands, he gently drew her hand away, allowing the full-bodied joy of her laugh to wash over him unimpeded. The mortification he’d been feeling drifted away as he drew her hand to his mouth. Hungry for the taste of her skin, he pressed a lingering, open-mouthed kiss to the center of her palm. Triumph and remorse wrestled in his chest when her laughter faded into a breathy sigh. Her bright eyes fixed on him. He felt her pulse quicken beneath his fingertips.

“Ty—”

His life was a mess. He was freshly divorced, publicly humiliated, and facing a make-or-break season in terms of his career. Shit, he’d barely undressed enough to make love to the woman he’d been lusting over for longer than he’d care to admit, but he managed to give his neighbor a flash of full-frontal. If that didn’t prove some kind of talent for getting things ass-backward, he didn’t know what would. But he knew one thing with absolute certainty. He wasn’t ready for the night to end.

“Lie back.”

“What?”

“You look like some kind of surrealistic porn star on that couch.”

She blinked like an owl. “Is that a compliment?”

“God yes.” He took her hand, pressed her palm to his chest, then slowly slid it southward. The sight of her waiting for him had managed to erase the lingering effects of getting caught flagranting his delictos in front of Mrs. Westlake. He inhaled deeply through his nose as he wrapped her hand around his reviving erection. “You look so pretty when you get all flushed and flustered.”

She gave his cock a firm squeeze, then stroked him teasingly. “Who’s flustered?”

“Lie back.”

Millie let her hand fall away. A feline smile curved her mouth as she spared the oversized sofa a glance. “Here? You want me to lie back here?” She was teasing, but the underlying challenge was serious. She ran her hand over the subtle nap of the fabric. “You want to defile this pretty red couch?”

Ty thought back to all the times Mari had thrown a damn conniption over him sipping a beer while on the stupid sofa and let his smile spread. “Oh yeah.”

Without another word, Millie pressed into her hands and scooted back until she was perfectly centered. Smiling her smug smile, she lifted her hands over her head as she’d done on his bed, her red-raspberry nipples hard and reaching for the sky. She reclined, arranging her legs to accord the scene a tantalizing hint of modesty. “Like this?”

“Perfect.”

And she was. Distracted by the mere sight of her laid out for his taking, he sat down on the edge of the sofa near her hip.

Surrealistic porn star.

He wanted to kick himself for ever thinking the words, much less saying them out loud. The curve of her belly was a work of art. Soft. Utterly feminine. Welcoming.

Everything about the two of them being together rang true for him. Natural. Sure, the hair color wasn’t something a person saw out in the wild, but it suited her. She didn’t have the body of a twenty-year-old, but her curves and angles had been engineered by God and hard work. He loved the long, lean muscles of her legs. Those runner’s legs. Wanted to feel them wrapped tight around his hips.

“Did you want me to pose for you?” she asked.

The question shook him from his musings. Chuckling at himself more than her bold prompting, he gave his head a rueful shake and reached down to reclaim the leather toiletry kit. “I thought I’d come home, clean up, maybe cook some dinner for you,” he said as he unzipped the case. “But the minute I hit town, I couldn’t get to you fast enough.”

“You cook?”

“I like to eat, so yeah, I cook,” he countered.

She let out a low, sultry moan as she rubbed the top of her shin with the sole of her other foot. “Stop, or I’ll be tempted to keep you on a permanent basis.”

Ty paused, his gaze zooming in on her face as he freed the box of condoms from the bag. “Would keeping me be a bad thing?”

“You know I’m a go-with-the-flow girl,” she said in a husky tease.

This time, he had no hope of holding back his snort of disbelief. “Bull. You’re the ultimate control freak.”

She raised those perfectly shaped eyebrows and eyed him with unconcealed impatience. “Yes, well, I was giving you a shot. Don’t make me put you on your back again.”

Tearing into the box, he fixed her with his sternest stare. “As much as I enjoyed letting you…” He yanked a string of rubbers from the box. “It’s my turn.”

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