“How about this? If we decide to break up, we do it respectfully.”
She raises one eyebrow. “Because breakups are always about respect.”
“The only reason I can see that would break us up is incompatibility.”
Her face flushes and I smile. God, she’s adorable in a way I never thought I would think of her. She’s a ballsy woman and open about her sexuality. I’ve heard her have a long discussion on why she likes explicit scenes in her romance novels. No way I could hang out for the entire discussion because her talking about sex scenes is a little much for me to take, but I like that she is open and honest about what she likes. I love that about her as much as I like the fact that I can make her blush.
“We don’t have a problem with that.”
“Indeed,” I say. The light changes and I take off. “But the other problems for breakups I don’t think will be a problem with us. Cheating is something neither of us are into.”
She nods. “Agreed.”
“We don’t have an issue with money.”
“That’s true.”
“No drugs or alcoholism.”
“Nope.”
“So, see, there’s no problem.”
I pull into her apartment parking lot and then slip into one of the visitor slots.
“It’s not that simple, Harry.”
I sigh and wonder about this line of questioning from her. EJ might be top rated when it comes to her business plans, but I know how she runs her personal life. She doesn’t like plans. At all. Other than not having ties to any man. Was that the problem? Did our relationship throw a kink into her world?
As we walk up to her apartment, I wonder about that.
“So, how about this? We promise respect and truthfulness.”
“It’s not that easy. Relationships are messy.”
“Yes, but we can rise above it. We both have business minds, and we can apply it to this.”
Yeah, way to wow her with your romantic side, Bradley.
“Okay, I guess.” When she turns around, she looks anything but convinced. Panic hits me square in the chest, then filters out through my body. I find it difficult to speak and I’m not sure what to do. This can’t be it. I need more of EJ, more private time, more of everything EJ.
I step closer, intent on speaking my thoughts, but the moment I’m close enough to feel her heat, my head spins, my mouth dries up, and all I can think of is tasting her. Other than that one moment in the hallway, I haven’t had my mouth on her in hours. It feels like weeks, and I know it’s being dramatic. Still, I can’t help it, don’t want to. This crazy feeling coursing through my veins feels good…fresh.
I settle my hand on the doorframe and lean down. I mean it to be sweet, soft…casual. It is…at first. I brush my mouth over hers, tasting the sharpness of her last margarita. She slips a hand up my chest to my shoulder and presses her entire body against mine as her eyes flutter closed. In that second, I’m lost in her. Again. Always.
I slant my mouth over hers, parting my lips and deepening the kiss. I lick the seam of her lips and she opens them immediately. God, this woman. She has me by the balls and I don’t even care. My own eyes slide closed and I fall into the kiss, into the decadence that is EJ. I ease her into her apartment, my lips still on hers, and kick the door shut. I crowd her back up against it, then drop down. I’ve been dying to have another taste of her sweet pussy for hours. I’m not sure I’ll ever get enough. I unbutton and unzip her jeans, then yank them down, along with her panties help—leaving her heels on. I toss them both behind me somewhere but neither of us pay any attention.
I spread her legs and settle my mouth against her. I slip my tongue between her dripping wet folds and I lose myself. All I care about is the taste of her on my tongue, the sweet tang of her desire as it dances over my taste buds. I lick along one side of her then the other, enjoying the way she slips her hands through my hair. I want this fast, at least for her. I want her to lose control, to give in to the need that has been simmering all day.
I run the flat of my tongue up and over her clit, enjoying the way she moans. My name. Over and over and over. Fuck, she is the sexiest woman in the world, but when she says my name like that…I can’t deal with it. I can’t give it up. I need her in a way I have never needed another woman before in my life.
I plunge two fingers into her, and she screams. I would enjoy it if I could. Instead, the need I have built in her has also exploded in me. Jesus, fuck, I don’t think I can control myself. I take her clit into my mouth and suck. At that, she comes, pressing her pussy against my face and I take it. I revel in it. I pull back from her and rise to my feet, keeping one hand on her to keep her from sliding down the door. After unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans, I push them down and my cock springs free. She grabs me, trailing her fingers up and down my length and for a second I lose myself to the feel of her small hand dancing over my flesh. I yank my wallet out of my back pocket, then pull out a condom. I tear the package open with my mouth, but EJ grabs it from me.
“Hey,” I say, but I end up groaning when she rips open the package, pulls out the condom then settles it on the head of my dick. I watch her delicate hands roll the condom down my dick against my dick. It is possibly the sexiest thing a woman has ever done to me. When she has it all the way on me, I lift her up and against the door. Need is coursing through me and I have no finesse, no way of controlling myself. It should freak me out, but instead, it feels amazing.
I thrust into her to the hilt, and we both groan. Her pussy is hot and pulsing around my dick and right then, I could lose it. Just come from one thrust into her. I know it makes me a chump in so many ways, but I can’t help it. This is what she does to me. I lose all of my control when I’m near her.
“I’m sorry,” I say against her neck as I graze my teeth over her pulse.
“God, don’t be. That felt fantastic.”
I smile. “That’s nothing compared to what’s coming.”
She laughs out loud at that, but it ends on a moan when I pull back out and thrust back into her hard. Over and over I plunge into her hot, wet core. Everything in me needs this. Hunger slaps through me, my mind lost to everything but making both of us come, to getting to that pinnacle. EJ wraps her legs around me, giving me better access to her, but I’m not deep enough, I don’t know if I will ever get there. I pull away from the door and turn to the dining table. She releases her legs and I pull out of her, then turn her around and bend her over the table. Yes, I think. This is what I need. Her amazing ass…that ASS…and here I can get deeper. I thrust back into her, again and again, her pussy clinging to my dick each time I pull out. It’s like sliding home every time I plunge back into her.
I keep one hand on her hip and lean over her so I can reach her clit. I massage the little bundle of nerves. I need to come, my entire body shaking with it, but I want her with me. It only takes a little bit of teasing and she is bucking up against me as she screams my name. Her pussy clamps down on my dick, pulling my orgasm from me. Pleasure hits me so hard, I shout her name as my balls draw up and my orgasm hits me. Over and over, I thrust harder, deeper, riding the crest of the most amazing orgasm I’ve ever experienced. My eyes roll back into my head and my fingers dig into her flesh. I give myself over to pleasure, let it wash over me, through me.
I collapse, my body drained. For a few seconds, I try to gain my breath, and I realize I not only took EJ up against her door, but then I fucked her silly on her table. No carefully planned seduction. Primal need overwhelmed all my control and, fuck, it felt good.
I pull myself up and then out of EJ. She doesn’t move.
“EJ?”
She raises her hand but doesn’t move. I take care of my condom, then I return to her. I yank her off the table and up into my arms.
“Harry,” she says.
“What?”
“I can walk to the bedroom on my own.”
I stop and look at her. “I know you can. But I like to carry you.”
I think she’s going to argue with me, but instead, she slips her hands around my neck and then settles her head against my shoulder, a happy sigh slipping from her lips. God, this woman. She seems so tough, and she is, but there are times like this that just get me. It’s like she’s surprised I want to do things for her. What kind of men has she dated in the past? Apparently, some real assholes, if she never expects anything but the act of sex.
I settle her down on her bed. She looks up at me, her blue-green eyes a little dazed, as if she’s barely awake. I help her out of her shoes, though. I should feel like a beast, but I feel too good and she wasn’t complaining. I ease her back on the bed. I zip up my pants and run a hand through my hair. One weekend. That’s all we’ve been together and I’m losing myself to her. And, for some reason, I don’t care. Right now, all I care about is this woman and living in the moment.
“Hey, you leaving?” she asks, her voice sexy and sleepy.
Again, what kinds of assholes did she date before now? What man in his right mind would have that kind of sex and then just leave?
“Not if you don’t want me to.”
She rolls over onto her side facing me. Her eyes are closed and her mouth curves. “I would like you to stay, but I understand if you have to go. Tomorrow is a work day.”
“I have a change of clothes in the car.”
“Good,” she says dreamily.
I want to slip beneath the sheets and cuddle up next to her, but I need to run downstairs and grab my bag. I’d slipped it in my trunk without a word to EJ. I didn’t want her to think that I was being presumptive.
Five minutes later, I’m back in her apartment. I drop my bag on an overstuffed chair in the corner, then strip out of my clothes. She’s beneath the covers, wearing nothing but the sheets of her bed. As soon as I join her, EJ rolls over and cuddles up against me. It surprises me. She’s an affectionate person with her friends and with my folks. Allison always says that EJ gives the best hugs and she does, but I thought she would be more standoffish with me. Instead, she snuggles up against me and I can’t fight the smile. It eases the pressure in my chest knowing that in this, we are compatible. I just have to find a way for her to accept me outside of the bedroom and everything will work out.
With that happy thought, I drift off to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
A couple weeks later, I find myself a little overwhelmed by Harry. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not really bitching, but Elliana James is not accustomed to this kind of relationship.
“Did you see that Claire Kingsley has a new book coming out soon?” Jeanine asks me.
“Yeah.”
She gives me a strange look. I don’t blame her. A new book from one of my favorite authors usually gets me going, but these days it’s hard to concentrate. I’ve been working the Día de la Muertos event, dealing with Ed—who is still insisting on making his wedding cake and groom’s cake—and the multiple recipes he’s thrown at me for my event, and then there’s Harry. Remember what I said about him?
I notice Travis walk by, then stop outside the door. I haven’t seen him since he stopped by a few weeks ago, but I knew he would be around sooner or later.
“Hey, EJ, how’s tricks?” Travis says with a smile.
“How’s tricks?” a female voice says from behind him. “That’s all you got, Fillmore?”
He sighs as a smallish woman steps out from behind him. She’s definitely petite, curvy, with blue eyes, and one of those kinds of perfect faces people would pay for. Her long dark hair is pulled up into a ponytail and, well, she looks as cute as a button. I recognize her as his co-host, Nancy Howard.
“I know you,” Jeanine says. “You’re Nancy.” She rolls her eyes as a blush steals over her cheeks. “Like you need me to tell you who you are.”
Nancy laughs. “Don’t worry. I still think it’s crazy that anyone recognizes me.”
“Especially since your co-host is so attractive,” Travis says with a smile.
Nancy snorts. “Yeah, no.”
So, the chemistry they have on their show is the same in person. Interesting.
Since Travis is spending his time glaring at Nancy, I decide to introduce myself.
“Hi. I’m EJ, and this is Jeanine. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Same here,” she says with a smile. “Ignore the idiot with no manners. He acts like he was raised in a barn.”
“I’m going to tell Syd you said that.”
“I never said it was her fault. And besides, she loves me more than she loves you. I’m her bestie.”
I blink. “Wait, you’re his sister’s best friend?” She nods. I laugh. “Syd and Nancy?”
“And, if you get the two of them together and add alcohol, they are actually worse than the original Sid and Nancy,” Travis says.
“I’ve been meaning to check out your store for a while, so I’m glad we got this job.”
“Oh, wait, I didn’t know you were doing that project as part of the show.” I know that only about a tenth of the projects they work are on the show.
“Yeah. The producers like the idea of restoring something that’s historical,” Travis said.
“And Travis likes old things.”
“Not all old things,” he says eyeing her.
“I know you just didn’t walk into a romance book store owned by a woman and put another woman down for her age,” I say.
Nancy laughs. “She’s got you there, Tray Tray.”
“I said not to call me that,” he says, irritation threading his voice, but he’s keeping it under control, barely. Very interesting as Travis has always been one of those laid-back kind of guys. “I apologize, but just understand she deserves all of it.”
I open my mouth, but Nancy apparently doesn’t need any help.
“Keep telling yourself that, Tray Tray. You know I remember all your boyhood mishaps, so unless you want me live streaming a list of them, you might want to take a step back.”
His face flushes and, oh my…these two have more than just a little chemistry. They show a small amount of it on the show, but they keep more of it under control than I realized. I’ll have to hit up Syd and find out just what she thinks about it.
“I’ve learned never to argue with a woman when she has blackmail on you,” Harry says from doorway of my store. I hadn’t noticed him due to the show in front of me. As he walks forward, I repress the little part of me that wants to rush forward and kiss him. I am not that kind of woman. I’m reserved in public. Still, from the way Nancy Howard is looking at Harry, I might just have to cut a bitch.
I blink trying to rein in my thoughts. Oh, God. I’m getting jealous over Harry. This is so not good. But then, it’s hard not to have those feelings. He’s dressed in dark slacks and one of those button-down shirts he likes, his sleeves are rolled up to expose his inked-up forearms. Harry has some serious forearm porn going on, always has. Now, I just don’t like sharing it with anyone else.
“Are you saying there’s a woman out there that has blackmail on you, Bradley?” Travis asks.
“Definitely. My sister. That woman never forgets anything.”
“I’m Nancy Howard,” she says, smiling up at Harry. Yeah, some woman needs to learn her place. Inwardly, I growl the thought, but outward, I smile. Or try to. And what is with the idea that Harry is a kind of possession of mine? I have never been this possessive of a guy, ever. Like, as in, even my first love, if you can call Mike from college–that’s how Allison and I refer to him—my first love. He was the first guy I slept with, but I never really worried about other women.
“Hi,” Harry says smiling at her. I know that is his professional smile, one that he gives customers on a regular basis. Still, I can’t keep myself from growling. Jeanine gives me a look, and I realize she heard it. Thankfully, it seems that no one else did.
“Harry, meet Nancy,” Travis says. “He owns the cupcake store.”
“One of three owners, actually,” Harry says.
“Oh, yeah, Syd was telling me about that place. We will definitely have to stop in there on a daily basis.”
“Why don’t we have them supply the shoot?” Travis says thinking out loud.
“What shoot?” Harry asks.
“They’re filming the renovation upstairs for the show,” I say.
“Oh, damn, that would be great,” he says to Travis.
“And if you’re up to it, we could film in there, right?” Nancy says looking at Travis.
He nods. “Sure. We like to help out small businesses. We know that sometimes it helps if we’re in the area and then at times it can be a deterrent.”
“Appreciate it,” Harry says.
“Is Fritz around?” I ask.
“Yeah. I abandoned him and Ed.”
“Fritz?” Nancy asks.
“Yeah, he handles a lot of promotion.”
“Oh, I thought I could work with you,” Nancy says stepping closer.
Travis rolls his eyes. “Harry’s taken, Nancy.”
She glances at him, then sees my stare. “Oh, hey, sorry. I don’t poach. But this Fritz…”
“Is very happily single and will be more than happy to talk to you, I’m sure,” Harry says.
“Sounds good. It was nice meeting all of you, and I’ll be stopping in here later to look over your collection of books,” she says with a smile.
“See ya later, EJ,” Travis says as he follows his co-host out the door.
“Fritz better thank me for that,” Harry says.
“I think Fritz might get his ass kicked if he tries any funny business,” I say.
“Oh, okay, I thought it was just me,” Jeanine says. “Those two…you know there is a thin line between love and hate, right?”
I nod. “So, Harry, what are you doing here?”
He steps up closer and smiles. It’s that smile he gives me when he’s about to do very naughty things to me, and I feel my entire body flush with excitement.
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