“What kind of name is Har?”
His eyes cut to her, and it was the first bit of frostiness he showed her. “Mine. That’s what kind of name it is.”
I grabbed my tip container and left the table before I heard her retort.
MY SHIFT ENDED AT ELEVEN, and I was back at Har’s place by quarter to midnight.
I scarfed down some cheese and crackers before I took a shower. I had a busy day planned for tomorrow. There were three apartment complexes I planned to tour, my bike needed an oil change, and after that I would hit the grocery store and be back here to prep a week’s worth of meals.
With my hair wrapped up in a towel and wearing my favorite pajamas, I padded to my room with dirty clothes in hand. After I dumped the clothes, I unwrapped my hair and draped the towel on a hook behind the door.
When I pulled the door open again, Har stood there. “You seriously need a new set of pajamas, Combes.”
“Listen, Har, if you want me to call you Michael, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me by my last name.”
He gave a small nod. “I’d like to teach you about the latter.”
His words made no sense. “What are you talking about? ‘The latter,’ or did you say ‘the ladder?’ Because I don’t think I need to learn about either.”
He shook his head and mischief lit his green eyes. “You said it was the former and you didn’t know about the latter. I want to show you how good I am at sucking out on you.”
My mouth went dry, which helped me keep it closed even as my jaw threatened to go slack.
“Look on your face tells me that idea interests you. No ties, no feelings, no dates, just sex, Stephanie.”
“Why?” I whispered.
He did a half-shrug and for some reason it irritated me.
“Is this just like that damn kiss? Because you ‘feel like it?’ That’s the difference between you and me, Har. I go after something because I feel like it, I always pay the price.”
His jaw shifted to the side for a beat. “No price to pay here, Combes.”
I scoffed. “Not for you, sure. But you have no idea how grateful I am to be here. With any luck, I’ll have a deposit for a better place by the end of the month, but until—”
“You aren’t leaving.”
My eyes widened. “I’m not? What the hell? Is this your idea of rent?”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
Anger filled his eyes. “No, it fuckin’ is not. I wanted to get inside your pants the moment Jenkins pointed out my poker table that first night. When your ceiling caved-in, I hated the idea of you goin’ back to the clubhouse, and I have more than enough space for you to be here. Thought I could control myself, but I can’t stop thinking about you being twenty feet away. The way you look at me says you’re battling similar issues. We need to work each other out of our systems.”
I laughed. “You make it sound like it’s just that damn simple.”
“Why shouldn’t it be? And you don’t need to be in an all-fire hurry to leave.”
“Of course not; I don’t leave, then I’m around whenever you’ve got an itch to scratch. Sorry, but that isn’t happening, Har.”
“You deny you want me?”
“Like I said, I always pay the price.”
“How would you? This would be so simple.”
I closed my eyes. How could men propose things like this?
I opened my eyes. “It wouldn’t be so simple. Not on my end. So, thanks but no thanks, Michael. Good night.”
Har
YOU BUNGLED THAT, Har thought as he went back to his bedroom.
Why wouldn’t sex be simple between them? Deep down he knew better with a woman like Stephanie. She didn’t seem like the high-maintenance type, but her words said otherwise.
He growled his frustration and hit his bathroom. Part of him wanted to hit the clubhouse, but he’d tried that four times over the last ten days. He couldn’t scratch the itch, and he found it strange Stephanie would use that same term to describe it. She was definitely an itch for him.
Under the shower spray, he grabbed his body wash and squirted some in his right hand. He willed himself to not jerk off. It would be the second time he’d done it today. As he rubbed the soap into his chest, visions of Stephanie in the shower with him assaulted his brain. She had looked so good with her damp hair and those useless pajamas she wore. She might as well traipse around nude, for fuck’s sake.
That thought sent his hand gliding down to his cock. He gripped himself firmly and tugged. His head tilted back, and he envisioned the many ways he would take her. The kitchen was definitely in the top three places he’d have her. By the fireplace in the living room could work, but that would have to wait until the weather changed. He pictured her on top of him, reverse-cowgirl, and his speed picked up while his grip tightened.
Maybe he should have pictured the ways he’d fuck Stephie while he was with the sweet-butts last week, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that to them or himself. If he was with a woman, he believed he should be with that woman.
Those thoughts nearly made him lose focus, but he could see Stephie with him in his bed and his orgasm came stronger and faster than any before.
He had that rare moment of complete clarity that came with busting a nut, and he knew he’d have to put some effort into convincing Stephie what was good for both of them.
Five minutes later, he turned off the water and dried off. He toweled his hair, and left it hanging damp around his shoulders. It needed to be cut, but he never had time for that shit.
For once, he had a Saturday
