Page 85 of Player For Hire

I drew in a breath. “Okay.”

“Brushing a woman’s hair can be a form of foreplay. Extending the touch even when we aren’t getting naked.” He started underneath the heaviest part of my thick hair and gently drew out each stroke, making sure he didn’t pull too hard.

He was so damn tall. So gentle and yet so big that he made me feel protected. Something I wasn’t used to in the least.

I was in so much danger.

And I was running headlong into this insanity. Who the hell was I?

“Your hair drives me crazy. So soft and thick.” He tunneled his fingers through the underside and along the base of my neck, making me groan. My nipples beaded up in reaction, and I was already wet. He gathered the length and slipped it over my shoulder, then kissed my neck before he handed me the brush. “We better go or I’m going to fuck you in front of this mirror.”

“Maybe later?”

He grinned at me in the mirror. “Definitely later. Now we need fuel. Since we have an empty apartment for a few days, I plan on making use of it. Even if you have a pipsqueak bed.”

I laughed when he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my bedroom and down the hall.

It was always an adventure with Colder. I just had to remember to stay in the moment.

The future would wait.

CHAPTER 24

COLDER

Callahan had been absent for the whole damn week and left me in charge of Lonegan’s. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him about maybe increasing my duties at the bar.

Hell, I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

Cal had asked me to do more managerial tasks over the years I’d worked there, but I hadn’t been too keen on the responsibilities. I knew the bar backward and forward, but I was more than happy to leave at the end of my shift.

I didn’t want to worry about schedules and time off or spreadsheets, for God’s sake. But I stepped up while he was off dealing with his newest acquisition. He’d been pretty hush-hush about what it was, but I could tell his attention was elsewhere.

We had a good staff and Cal still stopped in to check in, but there was no real time to talk to him. Even with the extra hours at the bar, I still spent every spare moment with Naomi.

April was speeding by and as usual with New York lately, we were barely getting a spring before the warmer temperatures were upon us.

When Iona was in town, we spent time up in the rooftop garden before our lessons. When she was gone, we rarely came up for air.

I couldn’t get enough of Naomi. Most of the time, we spent afternoons together. Sleep wasn’t exactly at the top of my list since I worked around her writing schedule and my hours at the bar.

As one week faded into two, I grew more frustrated.

Naomi was in the thick of her book and I could tell that as each day passed, she was becoming more keyed up, as well. Iona and I kept encouraging her to use the time to write and not worry about finding a job just yet.

By the end of April, Naomi was more distracted than present, and it was taking me longer to lure her away from the keyboard.

I let it go some nights, even if it left me with a sleepless night without her. The only good thing was by morning she was crawling into my bed. It annoyed the hell out of me that I didn’t sleep well without her next to me.

I’d been in a few long-term relationships, but none surprised me as much as how I felt about Naomi. Or how quickly it happened.

After less than a month, I couldn’t imagine not having her next to me every night.

But again, what the hell did I have to offer her? A studio apartment that we couldn’t even live in together if we wanted to. There was nowhere for her to work, and I couldn’t afford a bigger place without a serious bump in pay.

I made damn good tips, but it wasn’t money I could count on.

I took my frustrations out on the bar as I did a deep clean before we were to open. Mondays were slow and we didn’t open until evening. It was my usual day off, but again, Cal had asked me to cover for him.