Page 40 of Ice Cold Heart
She leaned closer, resting a hand on my abdomen. “Maybe the costuming department? Or does the school sell baby clothes for the sports teams?”
“I don’t know, but Gavin would lose his shit if his baby girl was prancing around with Mathis on her back.”
“Yess,” she hissed. “I love this plan. We need to execute. Marco probably knows someone who could help.”
“I’m sure Eva does, but we’d need to keep it secret from her too.”
“Another secret… sure you can handle it, farm boy?” With one teasing comment, I was all the way back at the beginning of the night, desperately trying to keep control of myself so I didn’t scare her away.
“After you, everything else seems fairly tame.”
She tapped one long finger on the cover of my lit book. “Yeah, I’m a veritable wild child.”
I laughed because while Avery was unapologetic about what she wanted, she had a solid sense of responsibility under the antics. Our eyes met, and the laugh died under an onslaught of thick tension. Her lips parted like she was going to say something, but no words came out. The hand on my stomach closed a little, bunching the material of my shirt, and a low-grade buzz of energy zipped across my skin where she touched me, even through the thin cotton barrier.
“We should get back to work,” she said, as if she wasn’t the one who’d sidetracked us.
Her gaze flicked away from mine, and like the last time our deal had come up, I had a feeling the reality of finishing an assignment made her nervous. She’d demanded orgasms, and I didn’t think she’d changed her mind—but she was having trouble relegating me to sex toy status.
I wasn’t going to make it easy for her.
Demands weren’t the way, I reminded myself. She’d just push back. I’d finally gotten her to open up, and I didn’t want her retreating. At the same time, I wanted her invested in what was happening between us.
“I’d say we’re about done and it’s time for me to pay up.”
“We technically haven’t finished your assignment yet,” she pointed out breathlessly.
“I know how it ends.” My voice lowered, and Avery’s focus flitted to my mouth for a quick second before she sucked in a breath through her nose.
“As your tutor, I don’t feel right leaving the assignment unfinished.”
As I’d suspected, she hesitated when faced with the reality of our deal. “I’ll read the last page myself before doing the paper. As my reading tutor, there’s not much left you can help me with. Time to cash in on your benefits. I’m ready and willing, but if you don’t want to, we don’t have to do anything else. I’m happy to lay here cuddling with you.”
“Cuddling should be against the rules,” she protested, not moving away at all.
“Friends cuddle.”
She speared me with a pointed look. “Oh really? You cuddle with Reece?”
“Reece isn’t a cuddler. I napped with Gavin once, but he’s an octopus when he sleeps. He’ll grab onto anything in arm’s reach.”
Avery pressed her lips together to hold in a smile. “I asked for orgasms, not quality time.”
“Too bad, because you’re getting both. It’s up to you which you want first.”
Her nails dug into my abs, but I wasn’t about to say a damn thing. She could scratch me to hell and back as long as she stayed right here in my bed while she did it.
“I’m not having sex with you right after you used the C-word.”
I nuzzled her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. “Cuddling will only make it better.”
“Just digging yourself deeper,” she retorted, shifting closer.
I chuckled and dropped a soft kiss on the juncture between her neck and shoulder. “I’m not hearing the safe word.”
She huffed. “You’re not getting out of the deal that easily, but tonight I’ll let you keep your pants on.”
“City girl, I don’t need to take my pants off to give you orgasms.” I dragged my mouth over her shoulder, and her answering shudder told me what I needed to know about her hesitance. She wanted the release as much as I did. “I’ll stop the second you want me to, but I’ve been thinking about having my hands on you all day.” Longer, but she didn’t need to know I’d fantasized about her in the shower after the first time I’d seen her in the tunnel.