Page 10 of Just Screwing Around

“No, it’s chicken. Give me some credit.” I bumped his shoulder with mine. “I ate that casserole at your place too, you know?”

He reached to the cupboard to grab plates, and my eyes snagged the way his shirt crept up the flat of his stomach. I watched him move around the space long enough that I started to feel the heat of the casserole dish through the towel I was using to hold it. I brought myself back to human form and put the dish on the table.

Nick sat next to me and passed over a knife and fork. The whole scene was weirdly domestic, almost intimate, and now was the first and best chance I’d had to get to know the guy again.

I dished a huge portion of chicken casserole onto our plates and grabbed two beers from the fridge.

“I thought I was out of beer.”

I shrugged. “I stopped at the liquor store on the way home.”

He took a long pull from the bottle and smacked his lips. “Best roommate ever. Thank you. This looks amazing.”

“No reason not to work together to get things done.”

He studied me for a second. “I think Derek might have a reason or two. I ran into him at the lumber depot the other day.”

I grimaced. “Shit, sorry. I should have told him about our living arrangement before you had to.”

“You cooked and got me beer, so all is forgiven.” He was already halfway through his plate. “I was surprised you didn’t tell him, though. Moving in with the enemy and all that.”

I speared a piece of broccoli. “I didn’t really want to hear it from him, to be honest. You and I have always gotten along. Besides, I have a shit ton of debt to deal with and unless he wants to pay off the bill, I need cheaper rent. Life is hard enough as it is without fighting battles that aren’t mine.”

“Fair enough.” He pushed his now empty plate away from him. “Shit, that was good. Can’t tell you how much I needed that.” He stretched his long legs out under the table in his dirty work jeans and my eyes ran over the long line of him.

“Like I said, we can always take turns shopping or cooking or whatever. Help each other out and make each other’s lives easier,” I said.

“Like with your business budget?” He gestured to the spreadsheet open on my laptop screen. “I’ve been a business owner for a long time. I might be able to help.”

I swallowed hard. It was tempting to get a second set of eyes on my numbers. I could breathe a little easier thanks to my cheaper rent, but still, no matter how I turned my head or squinted my eyes, an extra hundred grand didn’t magically appear in theassetscolumn.

Besides, that wasn’t what I’d meant. “My budget wasn’t what I had in mind.” I twisted to face him in my chair and dropped my voice to what I hoped was a low, sexy tone. “Lots of ways we can help each other out.” I wished I’d known he was going to be home so I could have put on a top that was more cleavage and less covered in flour.

“Help each other out?” he said, as he lolled his head to the side, resting it against the back of the chair. His eyes held mine.

I nodded and bit my lip. “Owning a business is stressful. Hell, being an adult in general is. I’m sure we can give each other a littlerelief.” I added enough emphasis to the last word that even the neighbour was thinkingshe wants to fuck you, you idiot.

His Adam’s apple bobbed and he swallowed. “Relief?”

I nodded and stood to take the dirty plates to the sink. “Yep. For when things get sohardthat you need a helping hand.”

Chapter Six

Nick

Iwatched Charlotte put our plates in the dishwasher, too dumbstruck to even offer to help.

Did she just offer to buy groceries or jerk me off?

The fact that I wasn’t sure spoke volumes about how long I’d been out of the game.

Cassanova I was not.

“I’m going to have a shower and head to bed,” she said with the same husky tone.

I nodded, watching her curvy ass disappear down the hallway. I had work to do, because of course I did, but it was hard to remember what it was after that conversation. I was half hard under the table and sincerely hoping I wasn’t misreading the situation.

As I was dragging my sorry ass out of my chair, I heard the shower kick on. It occurred to me what she kept in that shower. Sexy smelling soaps and shampoos and one little piece of silicone that was doing the job that could be done better by me. Her vibrator might be convenient, but I had fingers that were nimble and talented from years of manual labour. I had a tongue that was aching to taste her and a dick that was rapidly pumping up to join the fun. And I was very motivated.

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