Page 76 of Average Joe

I nodded.

“One of my customers?”

“Wouldn’t rule any of them out.” Then, to test the waters, I threw in, “Any old boyfriends been harassing you? Anyone back in the picture?”

“No. I don’t know anyone who owns a Z or recall any white Nissans driving through the stand recently.”

What is your connection to Johan Harper?I wanted to ask but bit my tongue, because if Marley and Harper were in business, she’d clam up and shut me out.A partnership with that man was something you kept on the down-low.

“Do you have a security system?”

“At work? Yes, of course.”

Good answer, but not what I was looking for. I cupped her face with both hands. “At home?”

“No. But I’ve been looking into home systems.”

Since the attempted break-in, I left unsaid. “Would you let me install one for you?”

With my hand, I tried to nod her head up and down in the yes gesture, but she shook back and forth. “No!”

God, she was cute, and I wanted her lips on mine, but instead I asked, “Why the hell not?”

“Because I can install one myself.”

“But you haven’t,” I argued. “And with the line of work you’re in—”

“Don’t, Joe,” she interrupted, jerking free of my grip, then shoving a pointed finger in my chest. “Don’t go there.” Her cheeks pinked, her lips parted. Those wild eyes shot deadly warnings my way.

But when she rose on her knees, moving to get up, I hooked her waist and secured her in my lap. The more she wiggled, the more she fought, the stronger my determination to make her melt.

Some other fucker might hold her heart in his fist, but the rest of her flesh and blood? Mine. All fucking mine.

“I’ve told you before.” Marley slapped her palms on my chest to push me away, determined to win a war she’d already lost. “I can take care of my own shit.”

So much for talking. My libido took the lead.

I slid a hand up her back to her nape, then fisted her hair. “It’s cute you think you’re strong enough to fight me off.”

“Let me up, Joe.”

“Now, now.” I laughed before nibbling her neck, knowing she’d surrender. “You don’t really want that, do you?” I growled into her ear, thrusting my hips just enough she’d feel the hard heat. “You love my hands on you.”

She squeezed my hips tighter with her knees, and her breasts heaved, smashed between us, those tight buds hardening. Pupils dilated, she glared, her soft breaths growing labored, heady with need.

Hell, yeah.

“You wanna fight me off, gorgeous? Give me your best.” My cock throbbed between us. “I’m a man raised by strong fucking women. Women I would die for. Women I’d kill for.” I leaned closer, brushing her hair away with my nose and whispering in her ear, “And I’ll do the same for you.”

I slid a hand inside her waistband to knead that perfect ass, then slipped a finger between her cheeks, then lower, finding her slick and warm.

Her breath hitched, and she opened her mouth to argue, but I continued. “Fight me, baby. But know this. I play dirty. And I’ll win.” I nipped her bottom lip.

She whimpered.

I chuckled. “We both know you’re into me, and it’s not just my cock you enjoy, is it gorgeous?”

Her frame hardened like a seasoned warrior, but I wasn’t fooled. Marley was delicate as a fucking princess. God, I loved her weight in my lap, the fit of our groins, her feminine heat nestled in that space between my arms that’d been empty and cold for too damn long.

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