7
EDEN STOOD IN THE DOORWAY of the coin laundry and gazed at her surroundings through dark sunglasses. “This is nice,” she said. “But why are we here?”
“I have to do laundry,” Marcus replied, flicking the brim of her baseball cap. “In the real world, so will you. Clothes get dirty and you have to wash them.”
“I don’t have to wash them,” she said. “I send them to the cleaners and they wash them.”
“This isn’t the Ritz. Most people wash their own clothes.”
“I know that,” Eden said. There were times with Marcus when she felt like a complete idiot. Yesterday she’d tried to operate his dishwasher and managed to flood his kitchen with suds. Then she’d tried to make toast and set off the smoke alarm. And last night she’d cleaned up cookie crumbs with furniture polish only to have Marcus slip and fall on the hardwood floor.
The past twenty-four hours had been a lesson in how little she knew about day-to-day life. Though she thought she could at least cook something simple, macaroni and cheese from a box had been a disaster. After her fiasco with the furniture polish, Eden had been forced to scratch cleaning off the list of things she could do well. And though grocery shopping seemed like an easy task, the store layout confounded her. If she was a failure at the coin laundry, then she might as well give up her dream of starting a life of her own.
“I know how to do the wash,” she said. “I used to watch Sarah do it. She used to let me push the buttons and turn the dials.”
“Good,” Marcus said. “Then this should go quickly.”
He dragged the duffel bag inside the door and dumped the contents into a wire basket on wheels. Eden smiled as she watched him pick through the laundry. Their clothes were all jumbled together, and anyone walking by might think they were a couple, perhaps even husband and wife.
A tiny thrill raced through her at the thought. What would it be like to make a life with Marcus? She’d been so careful not to allow herself such thoughts, but the longer she spent with him, the more she enjoyed the silly fantasy playing out in her head.
They shared an incredible physical attraction, so their life in bed would never be dull. But was there something beyond that between them? And if there was, how would they go about discovering it?
Eden boosted herself up on a nearby washing machine, kicking off her flip-flops and tucking her bare feet beneath her. “I know why you wanted to do the laundry,” she said. “So you could play with my underwear and I wouldn’t think you were pervy.”
He picked up one of her bras and fingered the lace and satin. “I’d rather play with what’s underneath your underwear,” Marcus said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Eden giggled, removing her sunglasses and glancing around the empty Laundromat. She grabbed the front of Marcus’s T-shirt and pulled him toward her. “We’re all alone here,” she said, straightening her legs on either side of his hips. She wrapped one leg around his thigh and drew him closer.
He gave her a skeptical look. “Eden, behave yourself.”
Unfazed, Eden took his hand and slid it beneath her skirt, pressing his palm to her inner thigh. “Haven’t you ever done it in a public place?”
“Have you?”
She grinned and slid his hand higher. “Believe it or not, I haven’t. Contrary to the stories the press puts out, my sex life has not been terribly adventurous. What about you? Where’s the most exciting place you’ve ever done it?”
He gave her a wary glance. “I think my shower ranks right up there.”
“You haven’t been a very adventurous boy either,” she teased, her hand sliding down to his crotch.
“You asked for the most exciting place, not the most public,” he said, leaning into her until her palm pressed fully against him. “Are you doing this just to get out of helping me with the laundry?”
Eden leaned forward and took his lower lip between her teeth, tugging at it. “I’m really excited about doing the laundry. Can’t you tell?” She moved his hand up a bit higher, enjoying the game and wondering what Marcus’s limits were. How far would he go to possess her? Would his desire be so overwhelming that he’d risk making love to her right here? Or did he have secret boundaries? His hand slid up until it rested at the juncture of her thighs.
Marcus gasped, his gaze meeting hers. “You’re not wearing underwear,” he said.
“All my panties are in the wash. What about you?” She slipped her hand down the front of his jeans. “Oh, I guess yours must be in the wash, too.”
He nodded, holding his breath as her fingers danced along the length of his penis. Almost instantly he began to grow hard, and Eden left her hand where it was, enjoying his discomfort.
“Don’t mess with me,” Marcus warned, sliding his thumb between the soft folds of her sex. He found her clitoris and rubbed it gently.
“Then don’t mess with me,” she countered.
She waited for him to stop, but he’d obviously decided to accept her challenge. Eden smiled as he continued to caress her, surprised at how easy it was to become aroused even in a public place.
Her fingers closed around him and she leaned forward, whispering into his ear. “I know you want me,” she murmured. “I can feel it.”
“I do,” he replied. “But not as much as you want me.”
She playfully bit his earlobe. “We’ll see about that. I think you want me badly enough to imagine me naked. Imagine me lying on your bed, ready for you. Think of it,” she whispered. “You could touch me wherever you wanted. You like to touch me, Marcus, don’t you?”
He groaned as she began to stroke him. A desperate “yes” was all Marcus could manage. He slipped his finger inside her again, then withdrew it in a rhythm that was all too familiar to Eden. Maybe he’d been right. Maybe she did want him more.
The door rattled, and they both turned and watched as an elderly woman walked inside, a wicker basket tucked beneath one arm. Eden waited for him to stop, but he didn’t. Instead his caress became more intense. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized he intended to win the game at all costs. To a casual observer, it wasn’t clear what they were doing. Marcus’s hand was hidden beneath her skirt and Eden’s was protected by the shadow of his opposite arm.
She caught his gaze and smiled. “You want to be inside me, don’t you? Do you remember how that feels?”
He nodded. “Do you?”
“Hard and thick,” she said.
“Tight,” he countered. “And warm.”
Eden felt herself grow faint. For a moment, the power shifted as a wave of pleasure raced through her. A moan slipped from her lips and she fought the temptation to surrender.
“Go ahead,” Marcus urged. “There’s no reason to stop yourself.”
Eden bit her bottom lip hard, the pain making her focus. “You go first.”
“You can’t make me,” he said.
“I can.” Eden leaned forward. “Just imagine my mouth on you. Soft…and warm…my tongue teasing until you can’t think of anything else but how good it would feel to come. If we were alone, I’d do that for you. You’d lie back and close your eyes and I’d-”
Marcus’s free hand found her nape, and he pulled her into a kiss, his moan lost between them. An instant later he came in her hand, her caress suddenly damp and sticky with his orgasm. She enjoyed a short moment of triumph, a satisfied smile on her lips.
The first spasm caught her by surprise, and after that she had no choice but to capitulate. He watched as she came, knowing that he hadn’t lost by much.
“You’re a bad girl, Eden Ross.”
“I can’t seem to help myself,” she said as she withdrew her hand from his jeans.
He arched his eyebrow, his hand sliding along her thigh. “And I was planning to take you to the hardware store after we were finished here.”
“Hardware?” Eden sighed. “That sounds very intriguing, Marcus. There are tools and all kinds of hard things at the hardware store, aren’t there? When can we leave?”
Marcus glanced around. “I think we’d better finish the laundry.” He winced as he reached out and began to toss
