Page 70 of Kissing Games
‘A Hamilton,’ she replied with a grin. ‘So where are all the branding marks?’
‘On the back.’
She turned the edge of the giant rug over. ‘Oh, Charlie!’ she gasped. ‘You’ve used four.’ She touched the stitching holding the fleeces together. ‘Did you sew this?’
‘Yes.’
‘But, Charlie, it’s so expensive. I…’ She broke off and he swallowed. She’d noticed the embroidery in one of the corners. She traced the letters. ‘You’ve sewn my name.’
He cleared his throat. ‘Yeah. I embroidered your name into the back of every sheepskin. So you know it’s yours. Every bit of it is yours.’
She dropped her head and let go of the edge of the rug so it fell back into place. He could see her cheeks were red. He’d anticipated she might try to turn his gift down, so had embroidered her name on the back. Then he thought she might unpick the four sheepskins and give away the other three. He’d be fucked if he was going to let that happen, so he’d sewn her name into the back of every one.
‘Valentina?’
She nodded, still looking down.
He gestured at the rug. ‘I can afford it. It’s my money and I want to do this for you. At the end of the shoot I’m going to get it couriered wherever you want. If you don’t want to give me your address, I’ll get Shauna to arrange it. Please. Let me do this for you.’
He watched a tear run down the bridge of her nose and drop to the cream pile. It held together at the end of a tuft, a perfect sphere, the flames from the fire dancing inside.
‘Hey.’ He pulled her onto his lap. ‘If there’s going to be any bodily secretions on this rug, I don’t want them to be tears.’
She snuggled into his chest and he passed her a handkerchief. ‘Sorry, Charlie. It’s so lovely but I’m not very good at accepting gifts.’
He rocked her gently in his arms. ‘You know how good it feels to give a present to someone?’
She nodded.
‘Then allow me to feel good. If you’re happy, then I’m eleventy trillion times happier.’
She wiped her eyes. ‘How am I doing paying off my bar bill by the way?’
He shook his head. ‘Terrible. You’ve got twenty trillion, ninety-nine million, ninety-nine thousand, ninety-nine hundred, and sixty-nine kisses left to go.’
‘Huevón,’ she said with a smile, her fingers tracing the line of his jaw. She trailed them down his neck to where the first tattoo started. ‘So, when do I get my tour?’
‘Right now, if you want? Why don’t you take a picture of the rug first and send it to your family?’
Valentina went to her bag. ‘That’s a good idea.’ Her back was to him as she rummaged through it, taking out the parcel the courier had delivered earlier.
‘Remind me what’s in the package?’ he asked, shucking off his clothes.
‘Just the script for my next job.’ She pulled out her tablet and turned around.
He’d stripped down to his boxer shorts and was lying on his side on the rug, one leg bent up.
‘Hey, chica,’ he said, wiggling his eyebrows. ‘Do you think Abuela will like how I’ve accessorised your rug?’
She bent over, holding the tablet to her tummy as she snorted with laughter.
He put his thumbs inside the band of his shorts. ‘Too many clothes? Better to go au naturel?’
‘No!’ she shrieked and ran towards him, dropping the tablet on the rug and trying to stop him undressing further. Her face was inches from his cock. It twitched against the material. ‘Does it ever stay still?’
He grinned. ‘Not when you’re about.’ He scooted off the rug. ‘Take some pictures now, without me ruining the shot.’
Valentina snapped a couple, then looked up at him through her long lashes. ‘Can I take some with you too?’
