Page 33 of Flirty Thirty

“Think you can sleep now?” he asks with a lift of his lips. Even in the dark shadows of the hallway, I can see the dip in his cheeks from his laugh lines.

“After I wash off your man juice.” I hold out my hand.

His laughter is bolting with genuine surprise and a bit of embarrassment. He closes the gap he put between us enough to kiss me sweetly on the lips. “Go out with me tomorrow?”

“Are you always going to ask me that question when my mind is otherwise occupied?”

“I’m three for three so far, so yes.”

I push back on his chest. “I’d like to stay in,” I say, careful not to say yes, but not to say no either.

“Done.” He kisses me once more, letting this one linger. “Sleep well… you know, after you get my ‘man juice’ off of ya.”

I wipe my hand on the butt of his boxers with an evil glint in my eye. I shrug at his mock shocked expression. “What? You’re washing them anyway, right?”

He shakes his head at me, boldly hooking his thumbs into the waistband and pulling his boxers to the floor. He stoically marches to his room, completely bottomless. My joke is rewarded with a great view of his perfect ass that will most likely star in my dreams tonight, if I manage to get any sleep at all.

***

A low rumbling sound rouses me from a vivid, yummy dream, and I blink myself into the present, heart thumping hard under a borrowed t-shirt. Tom picks up his head as I sit up, stretching his arms out as he too wakes up to the sound of a motor streaming in through my open balcony doors.

Once my heart has calmed and my mind has woken up, I wipe away the sweat from my silly sleepy behavior and scoot from under the fluffy comforter. Kat jerks when I step out onto the balcony, eying me before turning back toward the birds in the very leafy tree that stands next to the house. I cover a yawn, lean on the railing, and gaze out at the unconventional alarm clock.

Cooper’s blond head comes into focus across the very large backyard, bouncing as he tries to turn the riding lawn mower around. A sleepy laugh flits from my lips when he gets out of one position only to get stuck in another. Judging by his body language, I imagine some mighty cursing is happening under the sound of the mower.

Tom runs his spine against my ankle, and I nod. “I know, right? You’d think this place had a gardener or twenty.”

I shrug and head back inside, glancing at the clock on the nightstand before flicking the alarm off. Not bothering to close the windows since I’m three stories up and the nearest neighbor is about fifty acres away, I strip down and head into that luxurious shower, really taking the time to enjoy it. Last night I was more preoccupied with Cooper’s text messages than the four stream jet shower. Now… that showerhead sure looks like it wants to get to know me on an intimate level, but maybe I’ll save that until it’s seen me naked at least three times.

Knowing my anal tendencies about punctuality, I regretfully turn the hot, relaxing shower off about twenty minutes in, wrap myself up in a fluffy blue towel, and step into the massive bedroom that—if I’m not careful—would convince me into marrying Cooper on the spot just to own one of these. The sound of the mower still carries into my room, louder now, and when I peek outside I find Cooper a stone’s throw away from the house. Looks like he’s finally gotten the hang of that thing.

I wolf whistle, not sure if he’ll even hear me, but his head crooks up, and with his eyes locked on my very sexy towel-on-the-head look, he runs the mower straight into the fence around the basketball court. Even with all the noise from the mower, I catch the curse he drops that time.

Laughing—and a little flushed from the unexpected reaction—I turn back inside and get dressed in my realtor best. There are a few showings I have set up for today, one of my buyers is signing on his new house, and I promised Sarah a lunch to divulge all my dirty secrets of the biz as she moves from promising intern to passing her test. While all of that was enough to make me anxious to get to work a week ago, I’m now anxious to get there only to come back here and see what Cooper cooks up for me for our stay-in date tonight. I could go for a nice cuddle on the couch while binge-watching Netflix, with a side of orgasm, please. For all his ridiculous notions, I will give him that skipping the hoops a person has to jump through just to get to the sex is a very good idea. He wants “marriage?” Watch out, buddy, I will give you marriage. I don’t even plan on turning on any beauty tools when I get back from work.

I slip on my Michael Kors heels, reminding myself that I’ll need to paint my toenails soon since we’re in sandal weather and I can’t wait to put those suckers on. Then again, if I’m not going to worry about making myself super adorable twenty-four seven, then perhaps I won’t.

“I’ll see you guys tonight,” I tell my kitties. “Behave, you got me? No pissing on any of those sheets just because you don’t think they’re yours yet.” Yeah, dogs aren’t the only ones to do that. I narrow my eyes at Tom, his lazy green eyes gazing back as if saying he’ll do whatever he wants whenever he wants. I point a finger to emphasize my point. “I’m talking to you, Professor Grumpy Pants.”

I continue “the look” until I’ve shut them in, hoping that they’ll use the litter box I put on the balcony and not the $300 loafers in the closet.

Skipping right past the kitchen, I head outside, keys in hand, ready to make a stop at Buy a Bagel for breakfast. Cooper turns around the corner, wiping the sweat from the nape of his neck with a towel. His lips curl up into that knee-melting smile, and he nods to my wittle VW.

“You heading out?”

“Ain’t no rest for the wicked.”

He closes the distance between us rather quickly for a man who looks like he’s just run a marathon. Pressing a soft palm at the small of my back, he pulls me in enough for a light peck on the lips that while it’s so simple, it steals my breath away. I refuse to believe that sensation continues after a couple has been together past the initial spark, though the thought does come into my mind that maybe there is something to be said about simplicity.

My head tilts as he pulls away, and I let my curious gaze float up to his. “Can I ask you something?”

His eyebrow twitches up. “Yeah.”

“Why are you mowing the lawn?”

His expression relaxes as he runs a hand over his growing beard. “I like doing things myself first. No sense in paying someone to do something I can do.”

“Hmm.”

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