Page 85 of Books and Hookups

“Pajamas? Like anything fits. Can you do the zipper?”

I lowered the back zipper of her dress and averted my eyes. This was no time to ogle her. She was exhausted after a long day of airports, airplanes, and interviews. I wanted to shake her for going on the trip in the first place, examine every part of her to be sure she was okay, lick her pussy until she admitted she belonged here with me, and hold her forever so she’d never leave the state again.

But that was my lizard brain trying to take charge. Lucie always thought with the rational part of her brain, and none of that would make any sense to her. Finally, an idea appeared that would satisfy my caveman urge to claim her without being creepy. “I could bring you some of my T-shirts. They’d probably fit you.”

“That would be amazing.” She pushed herself up to sit. “How about that one?” She stared at my black Barb’s Bar tee.

“Yeah, I’ve got one like it downstairs.” I stood.

“Don’t go,” she said. “That one’s fine.”

“I just worked a ten-hour shift in this. It smells like sweat and beer.”

She shrugged. “Keep it then.” She let her dress fall from her shoulders and reached back to undo her bra.

As on edge as I was, I’d combust if I saw her bare breasts. There was no way I could keep my hands off her, and she needed rest. I ripped off the shirt and handed it to her. “Here. If you want it.”

She smiled, victorious, and slipped it over her head. It fell to the tops of her thighs, and there was just enough room in it for her rounded belly. It skimmed her breasts as she did a complicated shimmy to take off her bra underneath it. She sighed as she tugged the bra out of the armhole and dropped it on the floor. “Much better.”

She rose to her knees to tug back the covers, and I averted my eyes from the tantalizing glimpse of her panties and the backs of her thighs. It reminded me of yesterday’s angry sex and the blinding pleasure when I’d come inside her.

I’d been right about the trip. It had been too much. But there was no comfort in being right. She settled in bed, her curls fanning across her silk pillowcase. “You going to join me?”

“I, um, I don’t think I should.” Sex was the last thing she needed when she was this exhausted.

“You don’t want to stay, or you don’t think I want you to stay? Because I do. I want you to stay.” She met my gaze, and hers was unguarded, revealing her need. “No funny business. I promise.”

“I can’t do anything about this.” I gestured at the bulge in my jeans.

“Sure you can. You can jack off in my shower if you need to.”

“Jesus, Lucie!”

“Look, I need to go to sleep. And I’ll sleep better with you. So will you stay? Please?”

“Yeah.” Because what else could I say? “I’ll stay.” I shucked off my jeans and socks and crawled into bed beside her. “You’ve got to be the big spoon, though.” I turned my back to her.

“No problem.” When her arms came around me, the plastic bracelet scratched my chest.

I put my hand over it and the bandage on her forearm, snugging her arm tightly against my chest. Her belly pressed into my back, and I was thankful for the layer of cotton between us that let me pretend it was an extra-firm pillow and not the sexiest woman I’d ever met cuddling me. “Night, Lucie.”

“G’night.” Her exhale tickled the back of my neck, and in less than a minute, her breathing evened out. I stayed awake a while longer, waiting for my erection to soften and wishing I could fall asleep like this every night for the rest of my life.

The next morning, I left a big insulated cup of water and a spinach-banana smoothie on Lucie’s counter while she slept. It was unappetizingly green, but I’d dosed it liberally with honey, so I hoped she’d drink it to replenish her electrolytes.

I didn’t want to leave her, but I’d promised to meet Leo. The address he’d texted me turned out to be an empty storefront next to a dry cleaner’s. On the dingy front window, I could make out the faint outline of the word DELI.

“Hey!” Leo bounced out of the front door like he’d had a full eight hours of sleep and not five or six. “Come in!”

“What are you doing in there?” I looked up and down the street, my gaze lingering on the business next door, which looked way more reputable than this one. “Is this a drug house?” I whispered. “Are you huffing dry cleaning chemicals?”

“What the fuck?” he said. “I don’t do shit like that anymore. Come inside.”

Inside was no better. The linoleum floor was so faded that I couldn’t distinguish the pattern. There was wood paneling halfway up the walls, and more of the dated panels covered the small counter to the left. Behind that were ancient refrigerated display cases. Everything looked like it had been installed at least a decade before I was born. To the right was a picture frame, but it didn’t hold a long-expired certificate from the health department. It showcased a bullet hole in the wall.

“Cool, yeah?” Leo’s eyebrows had lifted practically to his hairline, and he wore the same expression as when we used to go to the arcade as kids and he saw the neon-lit dance pad of his favorite game.

“Ugh, not unless you’re a cockroach.”

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