Page 25 of Counting On You

“Huh.” Sounds like she’ll be panting my name by the end of the week.

“Yeah.” She nods her head, as though to convince herself of the ridiculous statement she’s just made.

“How come?” I take in her posture, the way she glares at me. Her perfume, a blend of roses, wafts past me, and I force myself not to inhale too deeply. In fact, I’m fighting the urge not to lean over and bury my nose into her skin, then lick my way down her neck to her breasts.

“You seriously believe everyone wants to see you naked?” The annoyance is gone, replaced with disbelief.

I cross my arms over my chest, unable to stop the hint of a smile creeping over my face. “Not everyone, no. But I’m sure most want to, you included.”

She lets out a snort. “Well, you’re wrong, buddy. No woman with her head safely screwed on and a modicum of self-respect would want to unless she had no choice.”

“I can assure you most of them plead with me to take off my clothes.” I grin at her. “So, why are you here again?”

“I’m here to get treatment, just like you, even though I’m not…I’m not a…” she trails off as she waves her hand at me, “you know, I’m not like you.”

The silence that follows is long and peaceful. Unlike her gaze, which is wild and doubtful and a little rebellious.

I realize she’s waiting for me to say something, but I’m not going to help her out by declaring that she’s not a nutcase or that she doesn’t belong here.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Why are you here right now, standing in front of my bedroom door?”

“I want to talk,” she says.

“I’m not going to move out if that’s what you’re here for.”

“I know. And I don’t expect you to.” She pauses, not returning my smile as she takes a long breath. “As strange as it may sound, apparently, we’ve been roomed together on purpose. So…” She trails off again, biting her lip as she eyes her hands. For a second, I can’t help but wonder if she’d slap me if I sucked that lower lip of hers between my teeth. But the opportunity vanishes the moment she looks up again, her expression softer.

She really has the most beautiful eyes. Almond shaped. Framed by full lashes. Only the slightest hint of eyeliner and mascara. “Look, you can jerk off as much as you want. Honestly, I don’t care what you do. But if we’re to make this work—”

“Will,” I cut in.

She frowns. “Huh?”

“You made it sound like there’s a possibility that we might fail. But we’re not going to. Weareliving together. Wewillmake it work. Just pointing out a fact.”

Not least because there’s no chance in Hell I’m losing my chair on the company board.

Her features harden again; her eyes are ablaze with fury. Whatever thought’s riding her, it’s riding her hard. “Just be finished in ten. I’ll be waiting in the living room.”

Her mouth stays open as if to say more, then she closes it, but her gaze lingers on my neck. “You might want to do something about the bleeding,” she says eventually.

“What?”

She spins around, slamming the door behind her.

I reach up to my neck and realize there’s blood on my fingers. I must have been so engrossed in my thoughts of her that I cut myself while finishing up shaving and didn’t even realize it.

Fuck.

I didn’t even feel the pain.

Thinking back, our little conversation was kind of hot.

And she even encouraged me to finish up. At least in my mind she did when she gave me ten minutes to finish up shaving

Maybe I should listen to her and finish what I started.

My hand travels south, and I exhale a sharp breath in surprise. I’m still completely hard. Our little confrontation has turned me on. My grip tightens around my cock, but I can’t bring myself to resume the action.

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