Page 45 of The Deadbeat Next Door

CHAPTER NINE

Carrie

Cody’s mouth crashed onto mine and the last bit of reason and sanity I’d been holding onto fled. I’d done such a good job ignoring my lust for Cody, but then George had reminded me of all the jerks and losers I’d dated and I just wanted…I wanted a fun fling before I died alone an old spinster with fifteen dogs. I was allergic to cats, so I couldn’t even get spinsterhood right.

I pulled at his shirt and slid my hands under it. I explored his hard, warm muscles. They felt really, really good. I was slowly beginning to think maybe I’d been wrong in writing off overly-muscled men. I pushed his shirt up and dropped my mouth to his chest, exploring the valleys and ridges of his pecs as I went. He moaned and the knowledge that I’d been the reason he’d made that sexy sound set me on fire. I’d only ever been with two men and it was so long ago I’d almost forgotten what it was like. Even so I was pretty sure it hadn’t been like this. My every nerve ending was alive and electric and I couldn’t get enough of him.

I flicked my tongue over his nipple and then sucked it into my mouth. “Holy fuck,” he said, his body vibrating.

He wrapped his big arms around me and lifted me with him as he stood. “I’m stating for the record that this is a mistake,” he said.

“I like you better when you don’t talk.” For once in my life I was going to make the wrong choice, and I was going to enjoy the hell out of it.

He chuckled and carried me down the hall to his room. He set me down on the bed and took two steps back. His expression shuttered and he put his hands behind his back, as though he was trying to remember not to touch me. “We shouldn’t do this.” He took another step back. “This is only going to complicate everything. We should stick to the plan and keep this platonic and business-like.”

Damn it. He was supposed to be a party boy, a good-time guy, he wasn’t supposed to worry about my feelings. He wasn’t supposed to be the sensible one. I just wanted to enjoy him. I just wanted…I told myself I wanted to feed my lust, stoked by an eternal dry spell, but the truth was, I was lonely.

With Cody, I could pretend, just for a bit, that he was my everything. I could push my loneliness away and know my heart would be safe at the end of it. I wouldn’t get the real thing with him, but I wanted a taste, I just wanted to pretend for a little while that I wasn’t alone, that I had someone in my bed and at my back. I just wanted to pretend…“What if it’s not a bad idea?” I said. This was either the craziest idea I’d ever had, or the best one. “What if you aren’t my neighbor? What if I’m a vineyard owner and you’re the guy who…I don’t know, does whatever job on a vineyard requires sweat and muscles and shirt-less work?”

His brow twisted in confusion and he shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

I had no earthly idea, but I liked it. I was a mental person, I used my imagination with every book I read, and this fantasy I was painting…Well, it was kind of fun. “I’ve been watching you work in the fields and I’ve been…” I felt my cheeks heat, but I pushed on. If I gave up now, he’d walk away and probably never give me another chance to convince him we should consummate our attraction. “I’ve been dreaming about you, naked and touching me, kissing me. I’ve wanted you, but you haven’t even looked at me. Not once.”

“Carrie,” Cody said, but he took a step forward and I could see the desire on his face. “This is a mistake.”

“You’re right. This would be a mistake, if Carrie the school teacher and Cody her neighbor had sex, but it’s not a mistake for Carrie the vineyard owner and Cody the hot, sweaty worker to have sex, because they aren’t real.” I could see the doubt on his face. I could see him resisting. “We’ll pretend we’re other people, remove ourselves from this room by another step and be sure no one gets hurt.” He still doubted, I could see him mentally backing up and I wanted…I wanted…For once, I wanted to take what I wanted without guilt or shame or hesitation. “Please, Cody. I just…Just let me have this. It’s been so long since I—”

“I want a raise,” he said, his voice gruff and firm and…Yes, there was still hesitation on his face, but his eyes were alight with something like excitement.

“What?”

“I’m working in your vineyards from sun-up to sun-down. I’ve saved your grapes and your winery with my knowledge and fast-thinking and I want a raise.”

Oh…Oh. I smiled at him, slipping into the fantasy, taking on the role of a woman in charge, a woman who sees what she wants and is willing to take it, regardless of ethics or morals or…Okay, if she was a real person, she wouldn’t be very nice, but she wasn’t real and this was…This was fun. I looked Cody up and down like he was an object. The way he straightened and his eyes darkened let me know I was having an effect on him. I liked having an effect on him, I liked this game. “I wasn’t planning to give out any raises this year and, quite honestly, I’ve noticed you slacking and taking more time off than you should. I’m not sure you’ve earned a raise.”

Cody took those two steps back to me and his eyes blazed with heat and desire. I suspected if I looked down, I’d see a more certain sign of his interest, but I was playing a game and Carrie, the vineyard owner, wasn’t going to look. “Do you have any suggestions for how I could earn that raise?”

I looked over his shoulder at the open door. “I’ll have to think about it. It’s not something that can be discussed in a public place.”

Cody smirked and stalked back to the door. He closed it and returned to me. “Tell me what you want, Miss Harrison.”

“I want you to get on your knees and put your face between my legs.” I’d never been so bold in my life. I was pretty pragmatic about sex and wasn’t afraid to tell a guy what I liked or didn’t like in bed, but I’d never demanded he service me. I wasn’t myself, though, I was someone braver and more confident.

Cody pulled his shirt off and tossed it on the floor, displaying all his hard planes and ridges. I wanted to touch them, I wanted to lick them. Before I could do either, he was on his knees, his hands working at the buttons on my pants and sliding them down. This would have been so much sexier if I’d worn a skirt or a dress. Instead, I stepped out of my pants at his urging. He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to my core, over my panties. He looked up at me, his eyes hooded, his expression fierce and I swear it was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen in my life. He hadn’t even touched me and I was already wet and aching for him just from the expression on his face.

“Take off your top,” he said, his voice gruff.”

“I’m the boss here,” I said. “I tell you what to do and not the other way around.”

It felt damn good to take charge. Some guys might have gotten annoyed or pissy, but Cody just smiled, slid his thumbs up my hips, under the little strings that held up my panties and pulled them down. He didn’t give me a chance to step out of them before his mouth was on me, his tongue and his fingers working me in a way both gentle and demanding. My knees shook and I wished I’d thought this through a bit more. It would be so much better to be laying down and…“Stop,” I said, my own voice raspy. Cody stopped immediately and backed away. Concern on his face.

“I will enjoy this more if I’m lying down. Help me take off the rest of my clothes and allow me to get comfortable.”

“Yes, boss,” he said, with a sexy smirk. Damn, I liked the sound of that.

He stood, his impressive reaction to me impossible to miss. He unbuttoned my cardigan, taking an eternity to work three small buttons open. Then he pushed it off, pressing kisses to each shoulder and to my collarbone. As he pushed the cardigan down my arms and over my hands, he kissed my neck. He kissed my neck and I nearly squealed with pleasure. How did something so simple feel so damn good?

He stepped back and pulled the little tank underneath over my head, revealing my breasts in a lacy demi-bra. He took my mouth then, kissing me hard and allowing me to taste myself on his tongue. The kiss melted every part of me, until I felt I’d dissolve into a puddle on the floor. With a well-practiced ease, he reached behind me and undid the clasp on my bra. He let it fall to the floor, and he laved each of my nipples with his tongue, making me moan aloud.

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