Page 210 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

Alaina drifted for a few minutes. When the fog cleared, she felt Gray below her, around her, and deep inside her. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Alaina felt a soul-deep peace and contentment.

“How soon do you think you’ll have a suite available to rent?” Gray asked, once he could form words again.

“I need to clean out my grandmother’s suite and paint it, then it would be ready. The others will take months. Why?”

“I have an idea that would mean less work, less time, and more money, if you’re interested.”

“Really? What?”

“Rent me your grandmother’s suite, but only if it looks out onto the river.”

“It does. But I thought you had a house in Bridgeton.”

“I’m house-sitting for my mother and stepfather. They’re on a cruise, and I needed a place to stay until I find an apartment of my own. As to doing renovations, you wouldn’t have to do anything else to those other rooms, if you don’t want to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure a lot of Marines would line up to rent those rooms as climate-controlled storage while they are deployed. All you’d really have to do is clear the rooms out and put locking knobs on the doors. You could charge almost as much for a single room as you could for the suite, but without the hassles of having people underfoot. You could make more money because you could rent each of the four bedrooms as individual storage units. That would also leave you more time for other pursuits.” Gray brushed her hair back from her face. “And you could run around naked anytime you wanted.”

Alaina stared at his chest as she turned over his suggestion. Rent out the upstairs bedrooms for storage. It would be a perfect solution. It also meant she wouldn’t have to get the historical society’s approval for anything.

“Are you sure you want to rent the suite? You haven’t even seen it yet.”

“Yes, I want the suite. I also want to do a makeover on your in-public wardrobe.”

Alaina smiled. “You won’t dress me in stripper clothes, will you?”

“No, though that could be an interesting sight.”

“I’ll do it but only if you’ll dress like one too.”

Gray frowned but knew he had found the woman he’d been looking for. The woman who would give him a run for his money. The only thing he had to figure out was how to erect some sort of screen along the water to keep river traffic from seeing too much while they played naked games in the backyard.

“Behind closed doors. The corps would not approve of me walking the streets naked.”

Alaina brushed a kiss on one cheek, then the other before tracing his lips with her tongue. “Thanks, Gray.”

“For what?”

“For making today a birthday I will never forget.”

Chapter Five

“Why do you hide your sexy body under all these frumpy clothes?”

They had just finished spectacular “It’s Saturday morning and we’re still alive” sex, and her defenses were down.

Turning only her head, she sighed. His silver eyes glowed with contentment in the early morning sunlight as he stared at her with an intense gaze. Even if she tried to deflect, she could tell he wouldn’t let her.

Taking a deep breath, Alaina decided to share the reality she’d lived in. “My clothes aren’t frumpy, they’re… they’re… okay, they are frumpy, but as a member of one of the oldest and most respected families in New Bern, I’m held to a higher standard.”

Without any real believable explanation, she lapsed into the speech she had received at least once a week since her sixth birthday party when she and Jimmy Ray Macklin had snuck away to make mud pies in the vacant lot next door.

Gray snorted as he lifted his upper body on his elbow to lean over her, so they were nose to nose. “That’s quite a load of shit you’re shoveling there, darlin’. Do you really believe it?”

“Excuse me?” Alaina tried to get offended but couldn’t since she didn’t believe it herself.

“Bullshit. A heaping pile. I think you dress that way because you’re scared.”

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