Page 4 of Hot Rucking Canadian

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Yeah, but I’ve heard of badass before, but not—”

The bell chimed and the elevator door swept open.

We stepped inside.

I pressed the button for my floor, and the elevator began its climb upward. I lived in one of the older buildings on the westside—pretty much all I could afford.

“One of the guys on my crew, back when I was first starting, called me Badarse. He was Aussie.”

“Crew?”

His nose twitched. “Construction.”

Said with just enough edge to make it clear we weren’t going to pursue this particular avenue of conversation.

I could take a hint. I didn’t offer my name. Apparently we weren’t going the intimacy route tonight.Fine by me.

Or so I told myself.

The bell chimed, and we exited the elevator. I gestured for him to follow me to 913. To my relief, he did. I hadn’t been certain if I’d screwed things up by asking his name. Generally, in the throes of passion, I liked to use a guy’s name. Upon reflection of this evening so far, I suspectedSirmight go over quite well.

I unlocked the door and stepped in first so I could flip on the lights.

Then I stood aside to let him in.

I locked the door and before I could do anything, he was already removing his black leather biker boots. In response, I toed off my running shoes.

He removed his jacket.

I hung it on the coat tree, then added my own. We were already in the third week of September, and weather could be unpredictable.

Tonight was brisk, with a breeze coming off the ocean. The meteorologist predicted rain tomorrow for our game.

That was fine. I didn’t mind getting wet. “Uh, do you want something to drink?” Because being a good host was a thing.

“I’ll take a glass of water, and then what I want is you. Naked. On the bed.”

Part of me wanted to point out that we hadn’t even kissed.

The rest of me—led by my very interested cock—pointed out kissing was highly overrated and naked was a very good thing.

I headed to the kitchen, grabbed two bottles of water, and then led him into my bedroom. I handed him a water, placed mine on the nightstand, then made a show of pulling the condoms and lube out of my drawer.

Just in case he might think safe sex wasn’t on the agenda for tonight.

My mama raised me to be careful.

As I unbuttoned my jeans, Badarse headed over to the window.

In these older buildings, the windows didn’t tend to be floor-to-ceiling.

If I wanted the best perspective, I’d escape to my sliding glass door and my tiny balcony. Just enough space for two loungers.

Just before I let my jeans fall in a heap to the floor, I remembered my cell phone. I extracted it from my back pocket, hooked it up to the charger by my bed, and continued to hastily remove my clothes.

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