Page 57 of Cocky Player

Her eyes were so wide and hesitant I couldn’t resist leaning in and kissing her nose.

“You ready for that?”

“Go big or go home, baby.”

“Your wish, my command, m’lady.”I shifted her off me and adjusted myself.A sexy woman on my lap for so long would make me hard regardless of the circumstance.

“Please.”She slapped me playfully on the shoulder.“You could never pass for a gentlemanly old-time Lord of the Manor, let’s not even pretend.”

“Sure I could.”

She moved to step around my legs and to prove it, I smacked her ass.

“Hey!”Her hands flew to her backside, her bottom lip between her teeth.As she rubbed her ass, I took in every inch of her perfect, plump and firm backside.

“Get moving, shortcake.”I stood from the couch, tugged down my polo shirt, and made sure my wallet and phone were still in my back pocket.

“Don’t you dare.”She shoved a finger at me and glared.“That’s Gina’s.”

“It fits.”

“I like angel better.”Damn straight.Angel was definitely mine.

“Yeah.”I threw a hand around her back and yanked her to me, slamming her mouth to mine as she gasped.“I do too.”

The Italian restaurant was close enough to walk to, so I let her guide me down the street.

We settled into chairs at a table for four, red and white checkered tablecloth covering it along with a small vase of three fake white flowers in the middle.It was cheesy but authentic and as we ordered, lasagna for me and a fettuccine alfredo for her, our conversation flowed more easily than I could have ever thought possible.We laughed as she told me stories of her childhood, growing up so much younger than her brothers.Her brother’s wife who’d been around since she was five.The antics she and her sister used to get into, including hiding frogs beneath her brother Tanner’s pillow when she knew he was sneaking girls into his bedroom at night when their parents were out late.

Despite the trauma she experienced, one she didn’t mention at all after she unloaded it all onto me, she’d had the kind of childhood I could have only imagined and the only time conversation slowed was when she talked about going to boarding school.Her parents wanted her somewhere safe and away from the attention her abduction had received.They wanted her to heal and move on without the looks and stares she got when she tried to eventually return to her normal school.

They wanted her to have a fresh start and she was all for it.Through it all, my admiration for her grew until I was sitting there, tearing off chunks of garlic bread and stuffing my face becausedamn, she was right.This place was incredible.

But I totally understood her parents’ desperate need to protect her.Every time she alluded to her kidnapping, a fierce white hot shot of fury rolled through me, reminding me I’d do the exact same.

Things being easy with Brenna shouldn’t have continued to surprise me.She was different than anyone else I’d ever met, but she also made me feel different.And maybe that was it.

When you met the person you were falling for, everything about it was easy…natural.And strangely enough, I wasn’t bothered by it at all.

I’d fallen for this woman without thought or issue, and now, I only had to hold out a few more days to show her exactly how much she meant to me.

I wokeup in the morning before my alarm sounded, the sky still dark, but I was unable to sleep.I blamed part of that on my erection pressed against the soft cotton fabric of Brenna’s pajama shorts.Shorts she’d nervously tugged on after she asked me to spend the night andsleep, just sleepbeside her.

I wrapped her more firmly against me, smiling and peppering her shoulder with kisses while I remembered the way she’d stood in front of me, hesitant, her nerves more obvious over the simple act of sleeping than anything else we’d done.But I couldn’t deny I was also feeling out of my element.

I might have been the teacher for sex, but somewhere along the way, the student became the teacher.She was teaching me how to open up to people.She reminded me I actually had a heart and it didn’t just beat, I was starting to think it solely beat for her.It came alive when Brenna was around and I had a moment of feeling like a prick for all the times I gave my friends shit when they fell for their women.

Because somehow, when you met a woman who meant more to you than a simple orgasm or three, falling for them happened before you realized you’d done it.

Brenna’s skin was warm as I kissed her.I wasn’t trying to wake her, but God I wanted to take a few minutes to be with her, hold her, memorize the taste and feel of her soft feminine flesh before I had to shove out of her bed and get ready for my early morning workout.Gage Bryant would be calling me soon, asking me to grab him a cup of coffee on my way like he did every morning we met at the gym before seven.The man wasn’t lazy, just declared the coffee shop by my condo better than the one near his house where he lived with his wife Elizabeth.And my local Ma and Pop coffee shop by morning and wine night slash open mic by night was a half-hour out of his way.

No problem for me but why the man always called instead of texting was beyond me.

I shoved thoughts of Gage and my plans for the rest of my day out of my mind as Brenna stirred, pressing her backside more firmly against my erection and let out a quiet, sleepy sigh.

I slid my hand down her stomach to beneath her thin white tank top, a tank top I remembered vividly as she pulled it on and then removed her bra.It was so thin her pebbled nipples were obvious and I wanted nothing more now than to brush my fingers over them, shove up her tank top, wake her with my mouth on her breasts, biting her pale nipples, sliding my fingers through her slit.

If only she was comfortable with it.

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