Page 21 of Sheltered

Blaze didn’t wait any longer. He kissed me again, and his hand on the arm that had been wrapped around my waist drifted south.

When he squeezed my ass and groaned, I knew.

This man was going to change my life, and I couldn’t wait to see where we wound up.

SIX

Blaze

“Is this too early?”

This woman was adorable.

And considering what I knew about where she was at this very moment, adorable wasn’t the only thought I had about her.

It was Monday morning, and Harlow had, at my request, called me the minute she woke up this morning. I knew it was her day off, so I thought I’d take advantage of being able to talk to her first thing when she wouldn’t be pressed to get herself ready for work.

She had been worried yesterday that it might be too early in the morning for her to call me, but I insisted. While it seemed she had no problem following through, it was clear she was concerned.

“It is not too early,” I assured her.

My reason for that had nothing to do with the fact I was already up, dressed, and nearly ready to walk out the door to head to work. I’d have taken her call at four in the morning and been just as happy about it.

Because I liked the idea of Harlow waking up and calling me before she did anything else, before she even got herself out of bed.

It was on that thought when a vision of Harlow being there now popped into my head along with a few questions. I wondered how she liked to sleep. Did she do it naked? Was she wearing just a T-shirt? Or did she wear something sexy?”

I could have asked, and I was sure she would have given me an answer, but I liked the idea of being able to find that out in person one day.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I know it’s my day off, but my body seems to be on a schedule. It refuses to let me actually sleep in.”

I laughed. “I’m sure, Harlow. I’ve been up for at least an hour already. I’m about five minutes away from leaving my place to head into work.”

“Wow,” she marveled, a slight rasp still noticeable in her early morning voice. “So, the private investigation business gets started early?”

“There are always things to investigate. But I don’t necessarily go in at this time every day. I’ve got some flexibility,” I returned.

As the words came out of my mouth, I thought about how I wouldn’t be five minutes away from being ready to leave to head into work if I’d have spent the night in bed with Harlow beside me.

“That’s nice. So, you can sort of set your own schedule then,” she reasoned.

“Yeah, I guess so. As long as we put in our hours, the boss doesn’t give us shit about whether we’re ready to go at seven in the morning, or if we’re strolling in at ten,” I explained.

Harlow sighed and grumbled, “I wish my boss would lighten up.”

She was talking about herself. My lips twitching, I guessed, “Oh, you’ve got one of those. Is she rigid and critical of everything?”

“More like a tyrant,” she joked. “She doesn’t seem to know how to loosen up.”

I’d been leaning against my kitchen counter, but since I intended to delay myself leaving for work, I pushed off the counter and moved to the living room. As I made my way to the couch, I said, “I don’t think that’s entirely true.”

“Mmm, well, you’ll have to come in some time to meet her. She’s a different woman when she’s at work.”

“I’ll be sure to do that soon,” I promised. “So, since your boss was nice enough to give you the day off today, how do you intend to spend it?”

Without an ounce of hesitation, she said, “I think I’ll be spending it recovering from my last day off.”

Yesterday.