Work For It

by Ashley Bostock

  At the exact moment she reached for it, he held it out and their fumbling in the dark caused the flashlight to bounce out of his hands. “I’ll get it.”

  She bent forward just as Dylan’s arm came out and hit her square against her jaw.

  “Oh, fuck.”

  “Ouch!”

  They said in unison.

  “I hurt you,” he said, no longer worrying about the flashlight.

  A combination of tingles and throbbing pain shot through her skin as he grabbed onto her body. His hands drew up her neck, feeling his way in the dark roughly, but nothing aggressive that made her want to hide, and then his fingers were on her jaw where his touch suddenly went light and caressing.

  “Where? Here?” He held her chin gently with one hand as if he could see and grazed along her jaw with his other hand.

  “Right there. It’s ok. It was an accident. I’ll be fine.” Her breath hitched in her throat but not because of the pain. Because of him. His nearness. His gentleness. His thumb grazed over the spot he’d hit and continued to her mouth. The pad of his thumb outlined the edges of her mouth, gently slowly. Torturously. On its on accord, her tongue tipped out and made contact with his thumb.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Had he even noticed her tongue had touched him? His breath tickled her senses as it fanned over her mouth. Oh, gosh. He was going to kiss her. Even in the dark, Lina closed her eyes, not caring that five seconds ago she was trying to think of ways to keep him away. Please do this. In her mind, she could envision exactly how he looked. His green eyes staring at her intently with that look like he wanted to devour her right then and there. His head slightly bent demanding her attention. His outrageously confident smirk that warned her that he was going to give them what they both wanted.

  “Don’t be s—” She tried to say but he cut her off. His mouth landed on hers. Slow, prying her lips open with his tongue in a sure and possessive manner. Every cell in her body was tuned to the awareness of Dylan. His height. His warmth. His sweaty masculine smell. His lips. The way his facial hair tickled her mouth and the sensitive skin around it. It was an erotic sensation she’d never felt before. She was surprised by how much she liked it.

  His arm came around her middle, pulling her in closer to him. His skin was hot against her body and when she gave a little moan, she felt it all the way to her toes. The man was sensational.

  Too sensational.

  This shouldn’t be happening. No matter how good it felt.

  He must have sensed her reluctance because he pulled away before she could.

  “Now tell me that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Dylan’s voice was low and achy.

  The best I’ve ever had. “I’ve had better.” Her standard sarcasm came out—damn, even when she didn’t want it to—but that was the only thing keeping Dylan at bay.

  Oh, that and the fact that not only was she going without a shower for another day, but she wasn’t brushing her teeth either. Her knee came up slowly, not enough to do too much damage. It was a small move to make it seem like it was an accident. Her knee came in direct contact with his balls.

  He groaned. “Oh, Jesus. What the hell was that for?”

  “What? I’m sorry. Did I hurt you? I was just trying to move away-”

  “It’s fine. I’ll be fine,” he said in a tight breathy voice.

  “I don’t know how that happened.”

  “I’ll take your word for it that that was an accident—this time. But don’t underestimate this thing between us. You just threw me a challenge, and I never back down from a challenge. Just sayin’.”

  Challenge, yeah right. She was sure he wasn’t going to touch her if she didn’t keep up with her hygiene, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

  “You win on the shower thing. Do you want me to hold the light for you?” Lina asked.

  “Back up first. I’ll find the light. I don’t want to hurt you again. Or have you hurt me again either.”

  Lina did as he asked, although the way he apologized she wasn’t so sure another accidental bump would be too bad. Because he was too sweet. She needed to do something to get her mind on board that Dylan was a bad idea. Oh, Lina, get a grip.

  She heard Dylan drop to his knees. Heard the sweeping sounds of his hands against the tile as he searched for the light. Blame it on the small confines of the bathroom or their heated kiss, but she was getting turned on. Just the mere idea of him moving around on his knees in front of her was giving her goosebumps.

  His hand brushed her foot and grabbed it. “Just a foot.”

  “Yeah, my foot,” she said. There he was. His face inches from her thighs. She imagined what he must look like, shirtless on the floor kneeling in front of her, his attention focused on her and not the flashlight. Did his tongue have as much stamina as the rest of his body? Ok, cut! That wasn’t exactly what was happening, but it was her fantasy so she could imagine all she wanted.

  “Got it,” Dylan said. He flicked the light on and handed it to her. “Don’t drop it while I’m in the shower.”

  “I’ll try my hardest.” She flicked the light directly onto Dylan, whose hands were going to the waist band of his athletic shorts. “Wait! You just can’t get naked without warning me. What are you thinking? Here.” She turned around and tilted the light over her shoulder, trying to point it to the ground.

  He chuckled again and the sound went straight to her heart. Ignore how delicious that sounds! She could hear the sweet rustling of his shorts as he took them off. Blood flowed thick through her body. Her knees felt like they were going to give out. Wow. What did he look like? What did that look like?

  “There, I’m naked. Now how do you want to do this?”

  She raised her shoulders, dying inside from imagining the way his manhood was probably hard bumping against his lower belly. Or how, if she just turned around, how easily it would be to reach out and palm it in her hand and enjoy the weight of it. She swallowed, trying to wet her throat. “Do what?”

  “Here. Give me that thing. Are you really this nervous about seeing a naked man?” he asked.

  Not normally. “You’re like a stranger to me. Practically.”

  “We’re both adults. Plus, my tongue was just in your mouth.” The water came on behind her and she almost stole a peek but chickened out.

  “There’s warm water. That’s good news. That means it’s run off propane probably. Looks like you won’t have to take a cold shower, sweetheart.”

  I need a cold shower. Every fiber of her being wanted to turn around and watch Dylan. But those same fibers of the same being told her to stay put and don’t even think about looking. If he caught her looking, his head would double in size. Umm, his real head. Attached to his shoulders. Not the other head. That would probably expand in size too. Maybe not double, but it—

  “Earth to Lina. You going to hold this now? You can turn. I’m going to get in.”

  The heavy weight of the flashlight touched her shoulder and she grabbed it with the opposite hand, his fingers touching hers a little longer than necessary. She held her breath and turned slowly. The beam of the light shone on one of his toned calves, as it disappeared behind the tiled wall. She took a step forward and touched the cold wall with one hand and positioned the flashlight inward to the shower.

  “Damn, that feels good.” Dylan’s voice echoed inside the confines of the tile. Yes, she wanted to get in there with him. Yes, it was a very bad idea. A very bad thought to be having about him.

  Thirteen more days. She could do it. She rested her head against the cold tile on the outside of the shower.

  “Is the light okay?” she asked.

  “Can you tilt it up a tad?”

  She did as he asked. “How’s that?”

  Dylan muttered something indecipherable, so she took it that she was holding the light where he needed.

  As if thinking about his nakedness wasn’t enough, she was suddenly hit with some yummy-smelling man soap. Like sandalwood or musk. Pine, mayb
e. She didn’t know. She was just guessing—making things up so she didn’t do what she really wanted and jump his bones.

  She took a deep breath, hoping it would calm her nerves.

  One peek.

  That was all she wanted. One little peek of his bite-able ass. Her conscience touted that it was a bad idea. But Lina was so tired of doing the right things for everyone but herself. She needed to grow some balls—balls that had nothing to do with her job. This would all be for her. If she was lucky he’d be facing away from her.

  Well, that depended actually. She wouldn’t call it unlucky if he were facing her. Especially if he was…her previous thought about the way he’d look, it would look, hard and bobbing against his pelvis, assailed her again.

  Just do it quickly. She leaned against the corner of the tile, her heart rate picking up speed as she slowly maneuvered her neck around it. Her prayers were answered.

  The beam was pointed directly at his ass.

  And like she knew it would be true, she wasn’t disappointed by what she saw.

  The desire to bite the tight muscles of each cheek hit her hard.

  All defined muscle.

  She pulled back and flattened her back against the outside wall. Shit. Had she really just done that? Her heart beat wildly. Naughty, naughty girl. Smart, smart girl.

  “Hey. Where’d you go? I can’t see.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” Her voice was barely a whisper as she pushed her back away and faced the tile again, tilting the light forward and back into the shower.

  She shouldn’t have peeked.

  It was too much.

  “You’re next.”

  She jumped as Dylan’s wet face popped out from the other side of the tiles, aligning with hers perfectly. She pointed the light near his neck to get a better look, realizing belatedly that it would have been a good opportunity to blind him if she hadn’t been so out of sorts. His mouth was curved into a wickedly handsome grin, water dripped off all his dark facial hair she desperately wanted to touch, and she wondered if he’d have any qualms about peeking at her if she were to get in next.

  No.

  Stick with the plan.

  Sneaking a look at his ass was not in the plan.

  No shower.

  No brushing her teeth.

  Annoy the hell out of him so he would keep his distance.

  Those were in the plan.

  Water dripped from his mocha locks, down his bushy eyebrows and along his prominent cheekbones only to sluice over his perfect heart shaped lips.

  She licked her lips as if she could lick the water off his in doing so.

  Plans. Right. Suddenly her old plan to kick him out didn’t seem as important as her new plan of surrendering to him did. Old plan screamed boring. New plan screamed live some.

  “Come on, Lina. You afraid to get a little wet?”

  Chapter Seven

  “Wet from you? Yes.” She turned away from him and held the flashlight over her shoulder as he grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower.

  The good news was that it was her turn, and he was going to happily hold the flashlight for her.

  “Are you ready to get in? It’s your turn.” Dylan held the towel around his waist and reached above her to take the flashlight. What would she do if he just pressed his erection in to her butt right now? Cause that was exactly what he wanted to do. Not sure how she’d react though. He definitely didn’t want to be on her bad side. As sassy as she was.

  How would all that sass be in the sack? That was the question of the day. What would Lina be like when he drove himself into her? Would she want him to go slow and easy? Was she one of those women who was classy on the outside and naughty on the inside? Would she be chatty? Quiet, only letting out her moans of pleasure?

  “I decided not to take a shower right now.” Lina interrupted his thoughts.

  His hopes fell. He cocked his head. “You’re not?” he said. “Why? Afraid I might peek?”

  She shook her head.

  “You can turn around. I’m decent.” Well, minus the semi-aroused state his dick was in, but he had nothing to be ashamed of. They were adults and he was half-naked with a beautiful woman in the bathroom. How could that thought not turn him on? Besides, it wasn’t like she was shining the light directly on his junk.

  Lina turned slowly as if she thought he might be lying. “I’ll wait until the electricity comes back on. I can’t imagine it being off for much longer. You’re obviously much more flamboyant than I am. I’m not as comfortable as you clearly are.”

  This made sense. He was much more comfortable in his own skin – with clothes or without. Her being a beautiful woman stuck inside a cabin with a man of his strength and stature was probably something she was concerned about. There was no reason for her to be, but she didn’t know that. She’d wait until the electricity came back on. Dylan didn’t think it could be that long either. Surely the city had at least been able to pinpoint the problem and get a plow out to move the snow so they could fix whatever electrical boxes or power lines—whatever it was that was down—back up and running. As much as he enjoyed being this close to Lina with the lights off, they couldn’t live off Lucky Charms. At least not him. If her two boxes were any indication, she clearly could.

  “Well, I’m going to get dressed.”

  Following him out of the bathroom, she went to her room and he went to his. The single window in his room provided plenty of white light that he no longer needed the flashlight. Dressed and with nothing else to do, he lay on his bed. Two nights in a row he’d had the same dream. Not really the same. But close.

  He couldn’t grasp it from his sleeping state and bring it with him into consciousness yet. It was important and every time he woke up, he lay there grasping at straws in order to figure it out. But with no luck.

  All he knew was that it was new and exciting and could very well be telling him something about his current state of mind. He was a hundred percent certain it had to do with Dirty Gains, he just couldn’t figure out in what aspect.

  He closed his eyes, hoping for sleep to overtake him again in order for him to pull the thoughts of his unconscious mind forward. However, all he saw was Lina. Her golden hair and bright blue eyes as she whipped his ass at Monopoly. Those freckles of hers that he found so intriguing and couldn’t figure out why. The way her lips felt like everything they promised. Soft yet firm. The way she fit into his arms and equally against his mouth. There was no awkwardness there. Just a kiss between two people that was meant to happen.

  Dylan wasn’t a big believer in fate—faith, yes—and showing up at this place on a whim once Cam had gotten it reserved for him, only to be stuck with the stunning and sassy blonde, he couldn’t help but think that God had been working in his favor. Especially because she was the only person on the planet who didn’t recognize him or seem to care who he was or where he came from.

  Their whole evening together had been spent in a light-hearted manner, not discussing their personal lives. Hell, she herself had avoided some of his questions and he hadn’t been willing to pry at the time. Now, though, he wondered if the secret love language for Lina was the art of understanding. Some women jumped in his bed and didn’t give a crap about his poetic thoughts. Then there were some women whose dirty talk was the man’s ability to listen and communicate. Was that Lina’s brand?

  He was never very good at communication. With his dad, yes. And his two brothers, Wes and Cade. But women? Meh. Not so much. He was willing to change his tune though, if it meant he and Lina could play around together. With a little less than two weeks to be together, he was willing to do whatever it took.

  She did something to him. If he was honest, as much as it hurt his ego to admit, it was because she didn’t know him as Dylan Truex. She had no idea who she was sharing a condo with. He could be himself. It was comforting to know that she could befriend him as Dylan, just a normal dude.

  He didn’t have to uphold his celebrity status as the Dirty Gains b
illionaire who came from a small Nebraska town with divorced parents and a mom that never failed to let him down. That was the one thing she was good at. Well, “was” being the keyword. He no longer let her affect him that way because he learned the hard way that she was never to be trusted.

  He made the conscious effort to try with Lina. If that was what she wanted, then that was what he would give her.

  “Are you awake?” Lina’s sexy voice brought a small smile across his face.

  “I am. What can I do for you?” he said, not opening his eyes yet.

  “We could read together. If you’re still up for that. I just thought since it was daytime it would be easier to read than trying to read this evening.”

  Dylan opened his eyes and sat up in bed, completely interested. “Oh hell yeah, woman.” He patted the bed next to him. “Come sit by me.”

  Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “I don’t think that’s a smart idea. How about we go sit by the fireplace?”

  She was seriously not affected by his charm. What the hell? “On second thought, let’s talk.”

  She arched her eyebrows. “Talk. About what?”

  “Anything. Our darkest secrets. Our guiltiest pleasures. What our lives were like before we each showed up here.”

  She slowly entered his room. “It’s not usually the men that want to talk.”

  “No. But we both agreed that we’re staying here together. I figure we might as well make the best of it. Get to know each other and be friends.”

  She looked at him skeptically. “Most guys just want to fuck.”

  Dylan smiled. “Oh, I want that too. The fucking part.”

  Her hand went straight to her hip. “Seriously? I’m out of here. Just when I thought you might have more to your personality than your ego—”

  Dylan put both of his hands up. “You brought it up. I was only agreeing with you. Unlike you, I’m laying all my cards out on the table.” He stood in front of her. Enjoyed the way her chest rose with attitude.

  “What do you mean unlike me? I have nothing to hide.”