Page 57 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House
‘So, I get in that shower that smells like you, like your shampoo, and lotion and just like … you. And I think about how you were naked in that same spot earlier that day. And I think about what would happen if I had joined you.’
Iris let out an involuntary groan, and the place was loud enough that no one heard. In fact, everyone else was going about their evening with no regard to the fact that they’d escalated to full-on foreplay over here.
Archer smirked, that dimple mocking her.
‘What would you do if you joined me?’ she asked, not willing to be the one who blinked first in this game of sexy chicken they were playing.
He shrugged and took another swig of beer. ‘It depends on the night,’ he said. ‘Sometimes just thinking about you naked and soapy is enough to get the job done.’
Heat shot to Iris’s face and between her legs simultaneously.
‘Other nights…’ He shrugged again and Iris wanted to scream.Other nights, what?! What do you think about on the other nights?‘Other nights, I think of wrapping all that strawberry-blonde hair around my fist and, well…’
And what?! Paint me a picture, chef.
But her surroundings were slowly seeping back in. What the hell were they doing in the middle of the bar?
Archer had apparently realized it a second before her. This had gotten wildly out of hand.
‘We need to stop talking about this, Iris, or it’s going to be very awkward for me to walk away from this table.’
She giggled like a maniac. ‘Right. You’re right. Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.’ Yes, you do! It was him, he came over you. Don’t think about coming!
‘It was my fault. That was way out of line,’ he said.
‘It wasn’t. I egged you on.’
He huffed a laugh. ‘We are not good at this, Iris.’
‘At what? Being super professional around each other?’
‘Yeah, that.’
‘I know. I’m sorry, but in my defense, you’re really hot.’
Archer’s smile grew. ‘Oh, really?’
‘Don’t pretend you don’t know. That makes it even worse.’
‘Well, in my defense, you’re really hot, too.’
‘Thank you,’ she said with a grin.
Archer laughed again and she loved it. She wanted to eat that laugh with a spoon.
‘But I really don’t want to mess this up for Olive,’ he said, suddenly more serious than he’d been all night. ‘She’s been through so much and she likes you and I don’t want anything to ruin that. I’ve slept with enough co-workers to know it never ends well.’
‘Of course. You’re right.’ She finished off her drink, desperately needing another. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep it in my pants.’
‘I appreciate everything you’ve done for her. She’s already made so much progress.’
Iris still didn’t feel like letting the kid eat processed snacks and throwing some sheets over the dining-room chairs to make a fort was really doing all that much, but if Archer wanted to praise her, who was she to stop him?
‘Thanks. I’m glad you’re happy with how things are going.’
As much as Iris agreed that a fling with Archer definitely did not mesh with her keeping this job, the fact that this conversation had gone from scorching hot dirty talk to a job-performance meeting was pretty lame.
‘I’m going to grab another drink,’ she said. ‘Want me to get you one?’
