Page 12 of Just Screwing Around

“Friends who looove each other?”

I rolled my eyes. “You are a grown woman.”

“A grown woman with a son who loooves his roommate.” She started making kissy faces and I stood up to go.

I didn’t love Charlotte. But I was getting addicted to her attention. Maybe even starting to see the possibility of something more. I didn’t know yet. I did know I was very interested in what she got up to in that shower.

“Don’t get all huffy. Sit down.” Mom’s words cut through my internal ramblings.

I did as I was told. “I’m really happy to see you voluntarily spending time with someone. You work way too damn hard.”

I didn’t disagree with her. In the past, I would never admit it. Winning customers just to fuck with Derek had been a primary business strategy for me for a while. Now I was seeing that there was more to life. “I’ll be glad to have the money one day when you want to retire.”

She pursed her lips. “You don’t need to worry about paying my way. It isn’t your responsibility.”

I opened my mouth to argue but she beat me to it.

“From now on, if I see you working on a weekend or evening, I am marching right to Charlotte’s coffee shop with your baby pictures in my purse, ready to show her your cute little baby butt. Or maybe tell her stories about when you were potty training.”

“You wouldn’t.”

She lifted a brow. “Try me.”

I huffed out a breath and stood to go. “Fine, I will have a social life, but I don’t have to like it.”

Chapter Seven

Charlotte

The first two weeks I was here, I barely saw Nick. Now he seemed to be around more and more. Honestly? I was here for it. Would have been nice if he’d joined me in the shower when I’d offered the other day, but hey, he wouldn’t be the first oblivious man I’d come into contact with. Being with him saved me from agonizing over spreadsheets, and it was nice to get to know him again.

The business would do great. I just needed to be patient for a while and figure out what worked and what didn’t. Being patient would be one hell of a lot easier with a distraction. Not just a dinner conversation distraction, but a naked distraction. As if my thoughts summoned him, Nick walked through the door all dirty and tall.

Fuck. Why, oh why does him being covered in sawdust turn me on?

He looked exhausted but still when his eyes landed on me standing in front of the stove a slow smile spread across his face. I was hit again by how domestic and normal the whole thing felt.

“I stopped at the grocery store and grabbed everything on your list,” he said, putting a bag on the counter and unloading it into the fridge.

“Thanks. Dinner’s going to be a half hour or so if you want to shower.”

He grabbed a toolbox I hadn’t noticed by the door. “Actually, I have some investigating to do.”

“Really?” I raised an eyebrow and turned to lean against the stove.

“Yeah, there’s this strange buzzing sound coming from the main bathroom. A vibration maybe.” He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and moved closer. “Have you heard it?” He pinned me with his stare and heat flooded my core.

“Hmm, you know I think I may have,” I said, trying and failing to suppress a smile. “Is vibration bad?”

He planted one hand on either side of my hip and leaned over me, his face just inches from mine. “Could be. I’d need some time to tease out the cause. In the short term, a little vibration might seem like no big deal, but sooner or later.” He shook his head. “I’ll need to take a hands-on approach to fix the problem.”

My breath was coming faster as his hand inched close enough for his thumb to swipe my hip.

“How do you know it isn’t serving some really important purpose? The vibration, I mean?”

One side of his mouth ticked up. “I’m sure it is. I have a better tool for the job, though. Let me know next time the vibration hits, I can show you.”

I’d be blushing like a virgin if all my blood wasn’t busy making my clit pulse like the bass at a nightclub.

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