Page 49 of Side Hustle
“I promise to shower you off…very…carefully,” she singsonged with a wink.
It should have been physically impossible, but I was already half hard, willing to take my chances with the sand in delicate places just to get another round with Hazel. She smiled at me, the sun rising high in the sky behind her. It hit me like a wave to the face: life was so much sweeter with her.
I spoke without thinking. “You’re my lemonade.”
Hazel tilted her head. “Say what now?”
I’d already come this far. I should finish that ridiculous thought, only because I knew she’d love it. “You’re bringing out the poetry in me, Ms. Redding. I was thinking that life was like constantly biting into a bitter lemon until you came along. You brought the sweetness and now my life is straight-up lemonade. The really sweet kind you can’t help but gulp. I can’t seem to get enough.”
Her face melted and she stuck out her bottom lip before dipping down to kiss me. “You’re so sweet. Who knew?” she whispered against my lips. Then she straightened and bounced, making me grunt on the impact.
Her voice was teasing as she poked me repeatedly in the stomach. “You like me. You want to sip my lemonade. You want to kiss me. You want to love me.”
She squeaked to a stop, biting her lip and staring at me like she’d gone too far. Neither one of us had used the L word, but hearing it from her lips didn’t make me break out into a cold sweat like I thought it would. If anything, it felt right. Like I’d waited my whole life to hear that word from her and her alone.
“Sorry,” she whispered, eyes wide with concern.
I didn’t let another word come from her lips before grabbing her and spinning so she was on her back in the sand, my mouth against hers. I couldn’t bear to hear her apologize for saying something that was the truth. I might not be ready to say it quite yet, but I couldn’t have her apologizing either.
“I just might,” I said simply, scanning and watching the realization dawn on her face.
A huge grin spread across her face and I knew right then my heart was hers.
“You gotta write a pros-and-cons list before you know for sure?” Hazel burst out laughing at her own joke and I couldn’t help but join her. She wasn’t far off the mark and it warmed my heart to know she knew me that well.
When the laughter died down and the tension in the air was totally gone, I deadpanned, “I already started one actually.”
She burst out laughing again and my day was complete.
19
Hazel
“Hey, did you see the text from Lucy in the big group chat?”
Rip was hunched over his laptop, working on some spreadsheet that had fifty-seven different colors and far too many numbers on it to be any fun. It was my night to make dinner, which meant bagged salad and a rotisserie chicken I’d bought already precooked. The last time I’d cooked dinner, I’d caught Rip eating tortilla chips in the dark kitchen at midnight. Apparently, my tofu stroganoff surprise had been a surprise all right and he didn’t want to hurt my feelings by saying anything. Figured I shouldn’t starve my man, so I was going with store-bought foods tonight to be on the safe side. A well-fed Rip meant I got more sexy times and I really wanted more of those.
“Um, no,” Rip said absentmindedly. He clicked a few keys and then slammed the laptop shut with a sigh.
“You okay?” I dumped the salad into a bowl.
Rip rubbed his forehead and came into the kitchen to stand inappropriately close to me. He rested his chin on my shoulder as I tossed the salad. “Yeah. Just trying to work the financials on splitting the money from the mine. I think I’ll have to do a monthly payout, but I think hiring someone to do the accounting would be smart. It’s way over my head.”
“Hmm. An accountant sounds good. That’ll give you more time to play with me.”
Rip’s hands gripped my hips and I may have shoved my booty back a little. He ground his ready erection against me and I mentally patted myself on the back for making a dinner that could wait if need be. I wanted to see what Rip could do to me on these kitchen counters, and based on the solid pipe in his pants, he was ready for the job.
“Wait.” He paused. “What text?”
“Oh shit.” I put down the salad tongs and slapped my palms on the counter. “I almost forgot.” Turning in his arms, I looked up at him, knowing he wouldn’t like what I had to say. “Lucy’s been staking out the sperm bank to try to catch her thief. And she’s super tired, what with Heston still being an infant and all, so she asked for our help.”
Rip’s eyebrows drew together, but I pressed on. “You and I are on the schedule for tonight. All we have to do is sit in the car for a few hours and scope out the clinic. It’ll be fun! Like a real live detective stakeout.” I added jazz hands for extra enthusiasm, but he wasn’t buying it.
“I gotta give up a night with you in my bed to catch the person who stole Bain’s sperm?” Rip’s face screwed up so comically I couldn’t help the giggle.
“Come on. It won’t be that bad. I’ll even bring those fuzzy handcuffs I got from the piñata party.” I waggled my eyebrows until he relented on the frown.
“I’m starting to think I should have my own piñata party,” he muttered as he kissed my forehead and turned to grab the plates out of the cupboard.
