He nodded and turned back to the clerk, holding out one hand for the key. With his other arm he gave her a quick squeeze around the shoulders, sending tingles of excitement traipsing up and down her body. Heat radiated from her core and she shifted from one foot to the other, trying to alleviate the throb in her sex. It also took every scrap of her willpower not to rub up and down his body like a cat in heat.
What was wrong with her? Sure, she hadn’t slept with a guy in ages, but she shouldn’t be this bad off.
“Ready?”
She snapped out of her daze and nodded quickly. God, was she ready. He just didn’t know.
He grabbed the handles of both bags and beckoned her toward the elevator. They rode in silence. Does he know? I’m a terrible liar. How am I going to fake disinterest for a week? She glanced over and he smiled. Not an I-want-to-strip-you smile, just a nice friendly grin. I wonder if he’ll take his shirt off in front of me.
She covered her face and turned away from him, biting back a giggle. Which turned into a strange sounding snort.
“Are you okay?”
She turned back to face him and gave him a half smile. “Yeah, fine. Just a weird hiccup.” Her eyes were watering from holding back the laugh.
“Sure?” His eyebrows were raises suspiciously.
“Yep. Peachy.”
Thankfully, he didn’t press the matter. The elevator rang and the doors opened on the forth floor, the top floor of this small hotel. Saved by the bell. She hurried off and then stopped, realizing she didn’t know what the room number was.
“To the right. Room 411.”
She swung to her right and fell into step beside him. His sandalwood scent filled her lungs and she sighed inwardly. A week alone with the man she’d been hooked on for a decade and who wasn’t interested in her. Masochist much?
<><><>
The room was small, a three-drawer dresser with a TV on top, a desk and chair, one sitting chair, and a bed. No couch! She glanced at the queen size bed to her right. There was not enough space to sleep without touching.
Alarm bells sounded in her head. She was going to embarrass herself. It was a given. She slept all over her bed at home. Most mornings she woke up to find her covers all over the floor.
He parked their luggage by the wall and looked at his watch. “I’ve got to go run and meet the client, but I’ll be back in a few hours with dinner. Did you need me to stop and get you anything?”
“No, I’m good.”
He met her gaze and nodded.
“What do I do?”
“Just relax, watch some TV, read a book. I’ll have lists for you to call on tomorrow after I get a good look at the damage.”
“Oh, okay.”
He stared at her a minute, like he was trying to decide if he wanted to hug her goodbye or just wave. Cute. At least she wasn’t the only one a little confused. He finally unfroze and pulled his cell from his side pocket.
“Can you put your number in? I don’t have it yet,” he said, holding it out.
She put in her number and handed it back. “Text me so I have yours.”
“Just did.”
Her phone beeped in her purse.
“Cool, see you in a bit.”
He nodded and slipped out the door.
<><><>
Trevor opened the hotel room door at 9:05pm. The meeting with the client had taken longer than he expected. The flooding had taken down a wall, collapsed a roof, and ruined several large machines. The owner was paying upfront for a quick salvage, but it would be tomorrow morning before he could have a crew mobilized and here.
As late as it was, he’d managed to find a little place still open and got them both a home-style burger and fries. Hopefully she would forgive him for being so late.
The site that greeted him was adorable and frightening at the same time. Her luggage was open on the floor and appeared to have been dug through, as if whatever she’d wanted was at the very bottom. A pair of pink satin and lace panties lay draped over the edge and a matching pink and black bra lay just inside the suitcase on top of a pile of shoes. The thought of seeing her in those made blood rush to his dick. Papers and books were scattered across the bed along with a tablet computer wrapped in a bright yellow cover.
He set the bag of food down on the dresser next to the TV and picked up one of the books off the bed – Ancient Gods and Goddesses. He flipped through a few pages. Next to it he picked up an inside out black, over-sized sweatshirt. He turned it the right way and chuckled. On the front it read –Men say a women’s place is in the kitchen. Just remember, that’s where all the knives are. This girl was something else.
The door of the bathroom clicked open. Lorelei walked out half wrapped in a towel, wet hair glistening, looking like one of the goddesses from her book. I’ve truly died and gone to heaven.
“Holy mother of popcorn balls! Trevor!” She screeched and ducked back into the bathroom, but not before giving him a nice peek at her bare ass. “You could at least make a little noise when you come in,” she spat out through the barely cracked door.
“That wouldn’t be any fun.”
He heard a faint curse, but couldn’t decipher what she’d said.
“Can you please leave so I can get dressed?”
He had no intention of leaving the room. “I can bring you clothes. What do you want?”
“I…fine. The yoga pants and the sweatshirt on the foot of the bed.”
He picked up the requested items and glanced down at the lacy bra and underwear. She hadn’t asked for them. A few steps brought him to the bathroom door. She opened it far enough to stick her arm through, snatching the clothes from his hand and shutting the door in his face.
“Anything else?” Underwear, perhaps?
“No.” Her voice was irritated, but husky. The raspy quality made his mind go places it shouldn’t.
He held back a groan, imagining her naked beneath that loose sweatshirt. Her breasts just waiting to be teased and kneaded. Her pussy wet and eager for his hard cock.
He shook his head and backed away. This was bad. How was he ever going to get any work done, if all he could think about was having his way with the beautiful woman sharing his room? She probably wasn’t his biggest fan, especially after he surprised her and nearly got a towel-dropping visual of her freshly showered body.
She emerged from the bathroom, eyes dodging his gaze. He could see the faint line of panties beneath her pants and a white strap of a sports bra showed through the neck opening of her sweatshirt. So much for the naked and accessible ideas, her breasts would be snugly tucked beneath a heavy-duty layer of spandex and elastic.
He held up the bag of food and sat on the edge of the bed. “Hungry?”
She finally looked at him and smiled. “Very!” She scurried to her open suitcase and began stuffing the clothes back into the center. Papers from the bed and the books were also tossed into the suitcase. “Sorry about the mess. I didn’t know when you would finally get back, so I just started working on some stuff I brought with me.”
“That’s fine.” He cringed when she shoved the messy suitcase against the wall. “Are you just going to leave your stuff like that?” He couldn’t help it. The OCD was rearing its ugly head. Why a person would leave their things so rumpled and messy was beyond his scope of comprehension.
She raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Are you going to straighten my suitcase?”
His focus snapped to her. “No.” He wouldn’t, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he wanted to. “Your clothes will be messed up.”
“I hung up the good ones,” she answered and plopped down behind him on the bed, crossing her legs and arranging several pillows behind her to recline against the headboard. “What did you bring your famished assistant?”
He turned to face her and smiled. “A burger and fries?”
“Yes!” A grin spread across her entire face. She looked like a little kid seeing a McDonalds playground for the first time.
He dug out the food and handed it over with several napkins and a paper plate.
She had it unwrapped and several bites gone before he managed to get his out and ready to eat.
“I’m really sorry I was so late.”
“Mmmm, it’s okay. I’m just glad you brought food. I’d already eaten both granola bars I’d packed in my bags and was ready to start in on the furniture.”
He snorted out a laugh before biting into the hamburger. “I’m glad I got here before you turned into a termite. The hotel might charge extra for furniture consumption.”
She licked her fingers and giggled.
The sight of her tongue sliding along her fingertips sent another surge of blood racing to his groin. He swallowed nervously as she pulled her fingers away and slowly licked her lips, tracing her tongue along the bottom and then caressing the top. A mischievous twinkle in her eye told him he’d been caught.
Damn. The little minx was torturing him on purpose.
At the sound of his phone ringing, the playfulness vanished. He glanced at the screen. It was Caiden. Swiping with his thumb to answer the call, he held it up to his ear.
“What?”
“Don’t sound so bummed, bro,” his brother chuckled. “Did I interrupt something?” The smile on his brother’s face could be heard prominently in the tone of his mocking voice. “I heard you stole away to California with our adorable little Lorelei.”
“Shut it,” he growled.
Lorelei cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head and frowned.
His brother’s laugh bellowed on the other side of the line. “Since you took the office temp with you, I’m going to call OfficeAid and see if Melanie is free to come help me get the contracts Harvey and I are finished with closed out. I’m not a fan of spreadsheets to make or read. Karen said if Melanie was available, she already knew how to do everything.”
“Sounds good.”
“When are you headed back, Trevor?”
“As soon as I get Brad and his crew set up on this job. They are on flights scheduled to get here in the morning. Will you make sure you get payroll for Terry and Jim’s crew out before Christmas?”
“Will do. Have fun in Cali. See you back in a few days.”
He hung up with his brother and slumped. It had been a long day and the client expected miracles in the space of mere days. Brad would be here in the morning and they would get the tarps up and start sandbagging. Once the flow of water was halted, they could get the building cleaned up enough to access how much damage was done. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to ask Lorelei to do, other than call in orders for supplies.
“You okay?” Her voice was silky soft and promised things he couldn’t ask for. Shouldn’t ask for. What would she think of him? Whisking her away on a job, the week before Christmas because he didn’t want her in the office with his brothers. The MacLaughlin brothers were known for being territorial. Caiden and Harvey would see him taking Lorelei on this trip as a direct claim. All three boys had grown up with her and both had told him they would marry her themselves if he didn’t step up when the time was right.
The time was now. He needed to tell her why he’d wanted her to come to California and he needed to tell her why he’d been so uncomfortable. Now that he knew Lizzy had been pushing for the set up as well. He didn’t feel quite as awkward trying to start something. There certainly wasn’t a lack of chemistry. They’d almost locked lips on the plane. She’d even somewhat admitted to wanting the set up to work. Damn old man ruined the moment.
“Trevor?”
There was just the slightest waver of anxiety in her voice. His heart jumped at the sound. He’d felt her desire earlier in the day. She’d caught him looking at her. The sexual attraction was there, but she was holding back too. Perhaps he needed to wait and find out what was bothering her, before he made any advances.
The last thing he wanted was for her to think he brought her along just so they could hook up.
“I’m fine, Lorelei. Just tired. It’s been a long day.” Such a cop out, but he just didn’t know what to say.
“Oh.” Her gaze floated from him to the bed and then back. “I guess we are sharing.”
“Well, yes. That was my plan.” He grinned. “I promise to stay on my side.”
She frowned. Why? Did she want him on her side?
“I just want to apologize up front if you wake up on the floor,” she murmured, getting up and throwing away her trash. “I have a tendency to move around a lot when I sleep.”
“You think you are going to push me out in the middle of the night?”
She nodded, blushing, as she slipped back into the bed and under the blankets.
He laughed. “I’m not worried.”
“Well, you’ve been warned.”
Using his feet, he pushed off his shoes and arranged them underneath the edge of the bed, so neither of them would trip if they got up in the night. Though many of her things were still scattered everywhere, so it might not help at all. He quickly went through his nighttime regimen and returned to the bed in a white t-shirt and sweatpants.
Lorelei gave him a quick glance. She’d turned on some home and garden television show and was telling the host to plant something different. He slid into the other side of the bed and fluffed the hotel pillow.
“Here.”
He turned. She was holding out another pillow.
“They are really flat. I wasn’t happy with just one either.”
“Thanks,” he said, taking the pillow and shoving it under his head and shoulders with the first. It did help, but they were still very flat.
“Will the TV bother you? I can turn it off and just read for a while.”
“You are fine. Watch however long you want.”
5
He died and awakened in a heavenly dream. A warm deliciously curved Lorelei was pressed against his body. He rubbed a palm up and down her back and inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo. Damn this feels real. Her chocolate curls smelled like lavender. His cock had a mind of its own though, and was rock hard and pressed firmly into the softest part of her belly. Her warm breath teased his senses even through the fabric of his t-shirt.
He moved his hand, tracing the outline of her hip and thigh. She was voluptuous in all the right places. He liked a woman to have shape and be soft. He ran his hand down over her pert round ass and squeezed.
Damn. She felt so good. So perfect. Best. Dream. Ever.
She wriggled a little, putting more pressure on his cock and he bit back a groan. He leaned forward, moving his hand from her hip to cup her face. He guided her lips up to his. So soft. So warm. He licked the seam and was thrilled with they opened, allowing him access. His tongue swept inside and pressed against her tongue.
Her body stiffened and a squeal escaped her mouth, slight muffled by the kiss.
What the hell?
Her legs jerked and one of her knees caught him squarely in the groin.
Fiery pain shot through his body and he grimaced, trying desperately not to bite his tongue. He loosed her face and rolled away, falling off the bed with an ungraceful and painful thud. It wasn’t a dream. The reality of what he’d done sunk in. No wonder she’d kicked him. He cupped his balls and curled into the fetal position.
“Oh my God! Trevor! I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you? I didn’t mean…wait—” He opened an eye from the floor and looked up to meet her accusatory glare. “You were kissing me. Why were you kissing me?”
He took a deep breath and tried to speak. Nothing came out.
“Why would you kiss me when I was asleep? Don’t you think I’d have enjoyed it more awake?”
His lungs finally agreed to draw in a breath. “I thought I was asleep. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I took advantage of you like that.”
“Oh.” Her face was instantly downcast. “So you aren’t interested in me that way? Could you please make up your mind, Trevor MacLaughlin, because I’m getting tired of these shenanigans.”
He twisted around and climbed back onto the bed. She sat up and pulled her sweatshirt over her head, drawing his gaze to her white sports bra. Her nipples were pebbled under the fabric and his hand ached to touch them.
Instead, he ran his hands through his hair and sighed before looking up to face her again. “I’ve always been interested in you, Lorelei. But, I never told you or Lizzy. I didn’t want to be the reason your friendship might have ended.”
“So—”
“You were like family growing up,” he interrupted. “If we’d dated and it didn’t work out…I couldn’t do that to her or to you.”
She smiled, stood, and shimmed out of her yoga pants. A pair of white lace panties was the only thing standing between him and her sweet pussy. “You know Lizzy and I used to sit around and devise ways to punish you for your purposeful lack of interest when we were in high school.”
She’s stripping in front of me.
He tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone dry. She continued with her story, but he couldn’t take his eyes from her hands. They were stroking up and down her front. Every time they traveled up she would tease her already aroused nipples. Now they strained against the tight spandex, begging to be nibbled on.
He nodded his head when her hands froze. Don’t stop. Her gaze pulled his to meet it. Those honey brown eyes were dark with arousal. She wanted him. Now.
Her hands caught the bottom of her bra and she lifted it, peeling it slowly over her head. Beautiful creamy breasts with rosy nipples fell free of the confining fabric and swayed back and forth across her chest.
Fuck. Blood rushed to his bruised manhood.
“Why do you think all the socks in your drawer were constantly mismatched? Or that your pens and pencils were always mixed up and upside down? Or that your toothpaste was always pressed to the tail end of the tube?”
Trevor (A MacLaughlin Family Novella) Page 3
