Page 17 of Just Screwing Around

Charlotte didn’t waste time pitying herself. She jumped up, snatched her laptop off the shelf and started furiously scrolling.

I moved around behind her to look at the spreadsheet over her shoulder. “Can I help?”

She glanced at me and chewed on her lip.

“No shame in asking for help, you know?”

She rubbed her temple with her fingertips. “I feel like I’m trying to make something out of nothing. The business doesn’t make any money until it’s open. There’s just so many expenses with the renovation. Not to mention electricity, staff wages and business insurance apparently.” She gestured to the paper on the table. “The reason why I got rid of my apartment and moved in here was to lower my expenses while the business wasn’t making money. I thought I had it all figured out so I could make my savings last until I started to have an income. But I guess I forgot about the insurance.”

“You pay the insurance monthly. It’s not that much money, Charlotte. And you only have to pay for last month and this month before you’ll have money coming in. With the location you picked and what I’ve tasted of your menu, you’ll be raking in money from day one.”

“What if this isn’t the only bill I forgot? I mean, yeah, I can call up the insurance company, explain that I messed up. I’ll probably pay a penalty then get back on track once I have more money coming in, but what if this isn’t the only problem? I still have a whole month before I’m open and I’ve already eaten up most of my contingency fund for the renovation. How could I possibly make things balance when my income will stay at zero for another month?”

I scratched my chin and thought about what I would do if I was in her situation. I could relate to what she was going through. I had to buy materials to complete a job and I didn’t ask for full payment for the job until it was done. “Well with my business, when I find myself short of cash, I take on a few small jobs that can be completed quickly. Like maybe I don’t make a lot of money off of a job that only takes four hours, but the money comes in the same day. I wonder if you could do something like that?”

She had been staring intently at her spreadsheet, but at my word, she turned in her chair. “Like a soft opening you mean?”

“Yeah, that could work, why not?”

She got up and started pacing again. “The kitchen renovation is completely done. And I have lots of recipes that I’m happy with. If I could keep Derek’s mess to the main restaurant, I could sell a basic menu of coffee and muffins out the back door. It would give Kim and I a chance to figure out what sells and what doesn’t. And it would have a little bit of money coming in before the grand opening.”

Apparently, that was settled because in an instant she turned on me and grabbed my face with both her hands and brought her lips to mine. “Fuck, you’re smart Nick.” She grabbed my hand and started towing me down the hallway.

“What are we doing?”

“Celebrating. Naked.”

“I should probably shower first.” I’d been on site most of the day, hauling materials and hammering nails.

She pushed me on the bed. “Hands clean? Nails clean?”

“Well, yeah.”

“You’re fine then.”

I looked down at where my shirt was covered in sawdust. “Are you sure? I spent the whole day sweating.”

She whipped her shirt over her head and dove on me like we were in a wrestling match. “Very. It would be gross on anyone else. On you, the smell of hard work is like catnip to your horny roommate.”

The idea that I was something special to her hit me in the chest, but I was quickly distracted by the writhing woman on top of me. The bra she wore was one of the bright pink ones I’d seen taunting me in the laundry room. As much as I liked the look of it against her creamy skin, I popped the closure on the back before running my hands down to cup her ass.

I loved her ass. My hands were big and still her curves were enough to fill them and spill over the sides.

We made out like teenagers as she undid the buttons on my flannel shirt. Her soft lips working over mine and her sweet scent surrounding me. She shoved up the t-shirt I was wearing, and then her lips were on my stomach. She raked her hands through the hair on my chest, scratching just enough to cause goosebumps to break out on my skin. Then she was kissing her way down to the band of my jeans. My cock strained against my zipper as the heat of her mouth teased at what was to come.

She pushed herself off the end of the bed, popped the button on my jeans and started yanking them down my legs. The stiff denim wrenched against my legs but I didn’t care.

“Do I get to touch you too or is this The Charlotte Show?” She was still in her leggings but bare from the waist up.

She laughed as my jeans came off my ankles and she threw them across the room. “In the shower the other night, you were behind me the whole time. I didn’t get to see your face when you came. I didn’t get to touch you or taste you. So now, I want to spend a little time living out my fantasy while you sit back and relax.” She pulled the band of my boxers down far enough that my cock sprang free. She held my eyes with hers as she licked me once from root to tip and I swear I saw stars. “Is that a problem?”

I shook my head and she lowered her mouth back over my length. My blood had been charging south since I’d kissed her in the kitchen and whether I’d last worth a damn now was anyone’s guess.

I loved the idea of her exploring me. We still hadn’t talked about what was happening between us. The way she enveloped me in her arms in the kitchen had felt so intimate and relationship-y. I hoped this wasn’t her getting me out of her system.

Right now, things were rough for her with her business. For me too with each deadline on the townhouse project coming faster than the last. Me and Derek not getting along didn’t help, either. We could talk about all of that later. For now, with her head between my thighs, I focused every spare brain cell on the hot, wet sensation of her mouth around my dick.

Chapter Eleven

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