Page 16 of The Fix Up

“It looks like there’s a thread caught right here,” she said, pinching it between her fingernails and giving a tug.

“Can you pull it?”

“I’m trying. I can’t get a grip with my nails. You said you have a pocketknife?”

“I was kidding.”

“I have manicure scissors in my other purse, but I left that at home.”

Ben squirmed, muscles rippling as he moved. “I think I’m okay without having scissors anywhere near my junk.”

“These teeth are really tight.”

“I’m also okay without having teeth near my junk.” He squirmed again and Holly grabbed his ass without thinking. “Hold still,” she said, gripping his butt cheek to make sure it happened. It occurred to her belatedly that this wasn’t the best way to establish a professional relationship with a new client, but there wasn’t much to do for that now.

“If I just had a pair of tweezers?—”

“Is there anything on your key ring?”

“A bottle opener,” she said. “Pretty sure there’s not much I can do with that.” She tugged at the zipper again, conscious of the fact that she still hadn’t taken her hand off his ass. “God, it’s really stuck.”

“I’m going to have to wear these pants every day for the rest of my life with the zipper halfway down.”

“Maybe if I just wiggle it?—”

“I’m not sure wiggling it is a good idea,” he said, his voice sounding strained. She looked up to see his face flushed to a hue somewhere between strawberry and tomato.

“Why not?”

“Because the more you touch me like that, the tighter these pants are getting.”

“What? Oh.” She bit her lip, suddenly very aware of the considerable bulge straining against the zipper. She’d been trying not to notice, but now that he mentioned it?—

“Okay, actually, this might help,” she said, struggling to keep her voice steady as she grabbed the zipper again.

“My boner is helpful?”

She snorted, surprised to realize the wordbonerexisted in his genius-level vocabulary. “Kind of,” she said. “It’s stretching the fabric out. If I could just get a grip on the thread.” She looked up at him, pretty sure the words she was about to utter were the most inappropriate ones she could possibly say to a client on the first day of a business relationship.

“Would you mind if I used my teeth?”

Ben looked down at her, his eyes flashing with amusement, his five o’clock shadow darker in the dim light of the dressing room. “By all means,” he said, dropping his voice to a low growl. “Put your mouth wherever you like.”

* * *

Ben couldn’t believethe words that had just escaped his lips. He sounded like some kind of caveman, not like himself.

Then again, wasn’t that the point of hiring Holly? To bring out his inner alpha male? He was having trouble remembering right now with her mouth moving warm and soft over his cock.

Okay, so there was a layer or two of fabric between those perfect, lush lips and the hard-on he was pretty sure would burst right through the fly of these damn pants if she kept touching him like this. Maybe that was the solution. Maybe if she just stepped back and took her hands off him, his dick would bust its way out of this mess all on its own.

“Hold on,” she murmured, her voice sending a vibration through the zipper. “I think I’ve almost got it?—”

“Take your time,” he said, then mentally kicked himself for being a jackass. It sounded like the sort of sexist thing his dad might say. Of course, it was true he didn’t want her to rush. No sense breaking the zipper or tearing the fabric or having Holly take her hands off him for any reason whatsoever.

“Oh!” she gasped. “Right there! Almost got it.”

Ben closed his eyes and hoped like hell he didn’t embarrass himself. God, her mouth was warm. He could feel her breath through the thin cotton of his boxers and his inner pig hoped like hell this procedure would take at least another hour.

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