Page 181 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
“Is this seaweed?” I choked.
“Well, it’s designed tolooklike seaweed.” Alistair waggled his eyebrows. “But it’ll stay on better than the real stuff.”
And the giggles got me. I laughed until I doubled over and had to clutch at Alistair for support.
“Like I said, you don’t need to wear it,” Alistair chuckled.
“Oh, I’lldefinitelywear it. But it’ll be for your eyes only.”
Arousal squiggled through him.
I placed the box gingerly on the counter and hugged him. “But this is actually hilarious because, well, we must’ve been on the same thought train.”
“Great minds usually are.” He bit his lip in a hammy, yet seductive, sort of way. “Did you get me a bikini too, Pippi?”
“No. Better.” I crossed into my living room and grabbed the wrapped shoe box from where I’d placed it on the sofa.
It took him a second, when he took the box from me, opened it, and pulled out the red paddy hat. I started to get nervous that maybe hewouldn’tget it.
But then I felt his glee, burbling off him a half a second before his sonic boom rattled the paintings in my apartment. “This is yourblouse?”
“Sure is. I found someone who could custom-make the hat. I think she thought I was crazy, having her use the blouse. Especially since it was still in such nice condition.”
Alistair shook the cap loose and popped it over his curls, tilting his head to the side to model it for me. “How stylish do I look?”
“Oh, very.”
Stars, he was adorable, with the hat perched precariously on top of his wild mop of hair. It joggled, clinging on for dear life, when Alistair reached over and hauled me into his arms, settling me between his thighs, so I could rest my hip against him. “Thank you, Pippi,” he murmured into my hair. “I love it. It’ll be my favorite hat forever.”
For a minute, two, three…we stood there. Cuddling. Kissing. Petting and arousing each other.
“Would you like your serious gift now?” Alistair mumbled against my lips.
“Does the serious gift involve you naked in bed?”
He clicked his tongue and nibbled on my jaw. “That’s theafter-gift, Pippi.”
“Ah.”
“The serious gift is actually serious. And not really a gift, more of a suggestion.” He nudged me away slightly, so he could reach into his bag and pull out a wad of papers.
It took me a minute to leaf through those papers and register what they were.
“This is a house,” I said dumbly.
“About forty-five minutes from here.” Nerves rolled off Alistair—a rarity for him—as he drummed his heel against the bottom of the counter. “Might be too far for you to commute to work? But…well, I figured we could take a look at it tomorrow. It backs right up to the state park, which is what appealed to me. I know you like hiking. You could literally walk out theback door and go. And Cocoa”—he bent his head, peeping at the snoozing cat under my desk—“would get lotsof birdwatching in. But…” He exhaled. “Like I said, it’s only a suggestion. I have a connection. I told them I was interested, but nothing’s been done beyond that. If you hate the idea, or hate the house, I—ummmpfffff!” He bit off, moaning, when I wrapped my arms around his neck and latched my mouth to his.
I fondled him as we kissed, dragging my nails over his navy blue button-up and clawed them into the black jeans cradling his thighs. He squirmed and mumbled into my mouth.
It was so easy to make him writhe. So easy to coax delectable little grunts and mewls out of his chest. And I loved that about him too.
“I guess you’re not opposed to the suggestion?” he panted when I drew away.
“You’d guess right.” I shimmied my body between his legs, rubbing at his crotch, grinning when he gave a breathy sigh. “This is…Gosh. I’m…I might be a little overwhelmed. And a lot horny.”
“You don’t say?” He bent, nipping, not so gently, at my earlobe.
“Should I slip into that little bikini…?”
