by BJ Harvey
“I thought we could find something to watch on Netflix,” Zach says, jolting me from my thoughts. Lacing his fingers with mine, he leads me across the hall into the large living room.
A huge flat screen TV hangs on the main wall opposite a comfortable-looking corner sectional and matching square ottoman on the floor in front of it, covered in a scattering of magazines including Men’s Health, GQ, and even Sports Illustrated. Tidiness may not be a strong point of his.
There’s definitely no denying that this room is one hundred percent testosterone territory. A man’s domain if ever I saw one.
I scan the room again, looking for the thing that is a must-have for any guy I could ever be involved with. Actually, it’s a prerequisite if I’m going to spend time in their space.
“You don’t play games?” I ask curiously. I thought for sure Zach would be a guy who played at least some sort of sports title.
“What?” he says.
“You don’t have a gaming system,” I state incredulously. I look one last time. “I can’t spend time here if you don’t have a gaming system. It’s not in my DNA.”
He laughs. “So you’re saying you’ll only visit me again if I have a PlayStation?”
“Or an Xbox,” I add.
“Does the fact that I have a PS4 in my bedroom with surround-sound and a sixty-inch TV play in my favor then?”
“I think I love you” is on the tip of my tongue, but of course I don’t say it. My heart does skip a beat though.
“Do you feel the need to compensate for something between the sheets?” I tease.
“No!” he says defensively, and I giggle at his staunch reaction. I decide to let it go and move back to his previous suggestion.
“So . . .” I say coyly, moving away from him and taking a seat on the couch. “Netflix and Chill?” The moment my ass hits the cushion, I have to bite my lip to stifle my moan at how comfortable it is. I splay my hands against the fabric on either side of me and rub my fingers against the dove grey suede. “Damn, I think I want to live on your couch.”
He walks up to stand in front of me, his lips twitching. “Netflix and relax. If there’s any chilling involved, I’m not doing it right.” And just like that, the couch isn’t the best thing in the room anymore. “Should I leave you and my couch alone?” he says, quirking a brow.
“Hmmm?” I continue my couch appreciation for added effect.
“Dani, stop rubbing up against my sofa. It’s making me jealous of an inanimate object. Besides, there are much better things you could be stroking,” he adds with a knowing grin.
“But I can do this without taking my clothes off,” I retort, issuing a challenge. I tilt my head to the side, now knowing full well how much he likes it when I do that.
“Is that so?” he says, his voice thick and his eyes dark with lust. “How about we see just how much fun we can have together with clothes on?”
I wake up with a kink in my neck, but a sleeping—and still clothed—Dani in my arms on the couch beside me.
We made out like a pair of teenagers while watching an action movie on the television. Never have I felt so pent up yet so content at the same time. It was just the two of us in our own little cocoon, and it was fucking fantastic.
Dani was so much more relaxed last night. She was funny and witty, and I found myself not thinking about anything else other than just being with her.
I lean down and rest my lips on her forehead, pulling away to be met with her big blue eyes staring back at me. “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”
“Morning,” she says with a smile. “I must still be dreaming because I swear I’m lying in your arms. Although if this was really a dream, we’d be naked and not talking.”
Now she’s got my attention. “Pretend it’s a dream. I’m fine with that. Do with me what you will,” I offer.
She giggles and snuggles closer into me. “I guess we fell asleep,” she says quietly against my tee.
“You started snoring halfway through the movie.”
Her head snaps up and her wide eyes meet mine. “I didn’t . . . did I?”
Chuckling, I run my fingers through her hair and pull her head back. “You didn’t, but you do make these cute snuffling noises.” Before she can say anything, I drop my mouth to hers and give her a soft good morning kiss.
Her hand moves to my face and she runs her palm down my jaw against my stubble. “I like this. You should definitely keep it.”
“Does it make me more rugged and manly?” I ask, dropping my voice an octave. She shakes her head then does that fucking tilt again.
She’s adorable when she wakes up. I can see a hell of a lot more sleepovers in our future, although hopefully with a lot less clothing. “I’ll take it under advisement.”
“You do that,” she replies, grinning up at me. “What’s the time?”
I look at the clock on the far wall of the room. “Just after seven. What time do you have to go?”
“Soon. I need to call a cab and go home to get changed before heading to the office.”
“I’ll drop you at your place. Save you the fare.”
She smirks. “You have a flair for saving me money.”
“Seems I do. Or maybe I just like spending time with you, and dropping you off means I get to do that for longer.” I kiss her cheek. “And I can rest easy knowing you got home okay.” I brush my lips against hers, easing my tongue inside her mouth and meeting her stroke for stroke. I ease back the kiss and rest my forehead against hers. “We should get up.”
“It’s lucky I like my job, otherwise I’d totally call in sick.”
“I definitely wouldn’t complain if you spent the day with me.” I kiss her one last time then push myself up off the couch, and once on my feet, hold out my hand and help her up.
“What are you doing next weekend?”
She looks to the side, something working behind her eyes. “I was thinking about taking Nate to the Aquarium. You want to come?” she asks, excitedly.
“You don’t think Nate will rat us out?”
“Considering he’s only two years old and can barely cogitate. I think we’re good.”
“You’re definitely good. I’d love to come. Who would’ve thought I’d have to share you with a toddler for our second date?”
“Zach . . .” she groans, but notably she doesn’t make a move to get up.
“Let’s make a move and I’ll put the coffee on.”
“Deal,” she says with a huge smile, squeezing my hand before letting go and walking out of the room.
My morning wood is so fucking obvious, my sweat pants tented at such an angle that there’s no way she could’ve missed it. Unable to do anything about it right now, I adjust myself to at least ease the pressure down there until I get a chance to relieve the ache caused by hours of making out with Dani then spending the night with her hot-as-fuck body pressed against me.
I’m pouring coffee into two travel mugs when she walks into the kitchen, her hair tied back in a messy bun on the top of her head and her eyes now bright and definitely wide awake. She doesn’t stop moving until she reaches me, wrapping her arm around my waist and burrowing into my side.
“How do you have your coffee?” I ask.
“Black with three sugars.”
My eyes widen, and I look down at her. “Three?”
She shrugs and gives me a small smile. “I like it sweet.”
Fuck, so do I. Dani’s kind of sweet, to be precise.
“Three it is.” I spoon the sugar into her mug and replace the lid on the cup before adding my vanilla Half-and-Half to mine and doing the same. “You ready to go?” I ask, as she steps away and takes a long sip.
“Yep,” she replies, and with my hand in hers, I lead her to the front door and out to my car.
Arriving at her place, we walk into her building hand in hand and stay that way throughout the elevator ride up to her floor, only stepping apart when we reach her front door.
“You want to c
ome in?” she asks, not meeting my eyes.
“Dani?” I use my index finger and lift her chin up so she’s looking at me. “As cute as it is, you don’t have to be shy around me. We had a great date last night; I’m fucking pleased you fell asleep against me, and you have not one thing to be embarrassed about.”
Her answering grin is spellbinding.
“Maybe I shouldn’t come in. If you look like that after literally sleeping together, I can’t wait to see what you look like when we don’t sleep at all.”
“That makes me really want you to come inside.”
I back her into the wall beside her door and push my body hard against hers, stifling her shocked gasp with my mouth. Her hands grab hold of my biceps when I drive my tongue in her open mouth.
I snake my hand down to her ass. My fingers slide along the back of one of her legs, lifting it as I go and hooking her foot behind me. With her legs now open for me, I grind my pelvis painstakingly slowly up her center, and we both groan into each other’s mouths, the sounds intermingling.
“Awesome. Free porn show at my door. Do you do requests, or is it a ‘take it as it comes’ deal?” Abi asks from beside us, her voice like a loud foghorn echoing down the corridor.
Both Dani and I swivel our heads toward her now open front door, our foreheads still touching.
Even in my current predicament—with my cock throbbing incessantly against Dani’s stomach—my lips twitch as I try my hardest not to bust a gut laughing. This is because Abi is standing there wearing a T-shirt that reads “Hello Titty,” short sleep shorts and the most ridiculous looking pink fluffy slippers, all while having both hands on her hips and her toe tapping on the carpet.
“And what time do you call this then, missy?” she says to Dani, who snorts in response.
“Sorry, Mom, but we fell asleep in front of the TV.”
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Abi replies.
“Something like that,” I mutter, turning back to look at the gorgeous woman still in my arms and pressed against the wall.
“I’ll call you over the weekend. Have a good day,” I say, brushing my lips briefly against hers one last time. If we didn’t have an audience, I would’ve laid another hot and heavy one on her.
Stepping back, I give her hips a gentle squeeze before letting her go.
“Until next time, Abi,” I say, walking past the woman smirking at me and laughing at her. Surprisingly, I’m still chuckling when the elevator doors close and I make my way back to my car.
There is one thing I can count on if things keep going well with Dani—and if Zan doesn’t maim me—at least life won’t be boring.
With my nephew, Nate, happily chatting away in the backseat of Zoe’s car, I parallel park on Solidarity Drive.
Opening the car door, I unclip Nate from his car seat, giving him a cuddle and a face full of kisses before sitting him in his stroller. I’m grabbing his diaper bag when two hands grab my hips from behind, making me scream.
I jab my elbow back but stop when Zach’s voice croons in my ear, “Hey, it’s just me.”
Twisting my head around, relaxing at the sound of his voice and the sight of my new favorite face staring back at me. Well, not new, but definitely one that I’ve missed seeing for the past week, my work and his night shifts meaning we haven’t been able to catch up.
“You gave me a heart attack.”
“We can’t have that now,” he says with a laugh and pulls me into his front, kissing my cheek quickly before stepping back and moving around and down to squat in front of Nate. “Hey buddy. How ya doing?”
I swear to God, all ovaries in a ten mile radius silently explode with just those five words.
“Car,” Nate replies, and I giggle. Zach looks up at me and shoots me a huge grin. And that was the final nail in the coffin for my lady parts.
“It’s his new favorite word. He’s gone from Dada, to Mama, to car. I’m still holding out hope for Dan-Dan sometime soon. It may be for Daniel or for me, but it won’t stop me claiming it as my own.”
“Fingers crossed then.”
“Shall we go?” I ask, and before I can even move, Zach is behind the stroller and pushing it, talking away to Nate like he can understand every word the toddler says. I quickly grab my purse before locking the car and running ahead to catch up with my two dates for the afternoon.
“Two adults and one child please,” Zach says the cashier at the concession.
“You have a beautiful family, sir,” the female cashier says.
“Ah . . . no . . . he’s not—”
“Thank you,” I say, stepping forward and grabbing the tickets off the counter, pushing Zach to move. His stuttering is hilarious, but conscious of the line building behind us and my losing battle with my laughter, I decide it’s safer to move on.
“Zach is funny, isn’t he, Nate? He’s a silly goose,” I say to my adorable nephew, receiving a cute smile as a reply.
“She just caught me off guard, that’s all,” Zach explains, looking sheepish.
“Riiiiiiight,” I say disbelieving. “Admit it—you freaked out.”
“Not as such . . .” he hedges.
“Seemed like it.”
“That wasn’t a freak out. I’ve seen you women have your little freak outs; that was not even close,” he continues, definitely taking his defense a little too far.
“The night you kissed me and vanished into thin air? That was a freak out.”
His head spins around and he narrows his eyes. “That was a minor brain glitch, a moment of moral indecision that a walk and fresh air helped resolve,” he answers plainly, as if it’s the most straightforward answer in the world.
My mouth gapes open, not only at his explanation, but at the ease with which he admitted it. “I like you, Zach Cooper.”
“That’s good,” he says, a smile playing on his lips as he runs his hand around my back and pulls me to him—a move that’s becoming rather common, but never unwelcome. “Because I definitely like you, Danika Roberts.”
“Ouch,” I mutter, looking down to the tiny ineffectual hand pinching skin on my calf before returning my gaze back to Zach. “I think Nate wants to get moving.”
“A man who knows what he wants. I like it.”
I roll my eyes at the show of male solidarity between my boyfriend and my two-year-old nephew.
“Well since he’s one of the most important men in my life, I guess I better give him what he wants.” Pushing the stroller forward, and with Zach’s arm still around me, I walk toward the entrance.
An hour and a hell of a lot of fish later, we’re sitting in the circular seating area watching the awesome aquatic show, Zach by my side and Nate on my lap. It hits me that Zander was right. This ‘having a life’ business is a hell of a lot better than living at the office by day and playing games at night.
I turn my head toward Zach and find him looking down at me. “Hi,” I whisper.
“Hi,” he whispers back, dipping his head and brushing his lips against mine.
“Best second date ever.”
“Even with the little tag along trying to hone in on my action?” he asks with a grin, nodding to the squirming boy in my lap.
“Especially with him.”
We sit there staring at each other for longer than we should. It’s totally insane that after wanting Zach like this for so long and now having him, it’s even better than I could’ve ever imagined.
He gets me, he likes my geek speak—or he says he does—and apart from the shadow of Zander that looms over us, we’ve shifted from distant friends to definitely more than friends seamlessly. The nine-year age difference between us is not an issue and for that I’m glad.
I’ve always been told I’m wise beyond my years, and I’ve always felt older than I am. I’ve never been a party girl—that was Zoe’s domain—or a troublemaker. Zoe and Mia were enough of a handful for Mom and Zander when we were growing up, so I was happy to stand back and do my own thin
g.
To find someone like Zach—especially him—that lets me be me and better still, likes it, makes me happier than I have been in a while.
For the first time, I feel like I can have the career I love and a man who supports that while also balancing out the rest of my life.
What more could I want?
The following Thursday, I’m mid shift at the firehouse and eating dinner in the kitchen when a text comes through from Dani. Since the impromptu sleepover at my place and our trip to the aquarium, we haven’t been able to see each other again due to some shifts from hell where I had very little sleep, and Dani working long hours on an upcoming game release. I’ve made a point to connect with her every few days though, touching base and taking her pulse, because if there’s one thing I know about Danika Roberts, it’s that she overanalyzes everything down to the smallest of details, and I don’t want her to doubt my growing feelings for her for a second. I figure if she knows I’m thinking about her, she’ll know I care.
Dani: How’s my favorite firefighter tonight?
I grin and go to pick up my phone, but Scotty swipes it out of my hand and moves away.
“Who’s that?” he asks, reading my text.
“Give me my phone, Scotty,” I demand, holding my hand out. He just smirks at me and continues scrolling.
“Who’s the new girl, Coops?”
“No one you know.”
“Dani,” he says slowly. “Such a pretty name.”
“Scotty . . .” I growl.
“Okay, okay,” he says, going to hand it over then snatching it away again. He leans his ass on the table beside my plate and goes all teenage girl on me. “So how’d you meet her?”
“You don’t want to know,” I reply with a frown.
“Shit, this actually sounds interesting.” He takes a seat opposite me and leans forward on his elbows. “Another firefighter groupie?” he asks, as if it’s an everyday occurrence.
“Another?” I ask back incredulously.
“Like you’ve never been one to go for the flame bunnies.”
“Once, dude, and that was a drunken fumble.”
