I guess she’s not used to public displays of affection. Apparently, showing up the guys in her past wouldn’t be hard.
He found a parking spot just around the corner and strode back to her building. If things went well, maybe she’d be moving her belongings again someday… into a place of their own. Christ, Drake, jumping the gun much?
Still, it would be great to have a special woman who knew and accepted what he was. Barring any nasty surprises, he’d never have to explain it to anyone again.
He took the steps to the second floor two at a time. He wasn’t even winded from the exertion of moving and then walking quickly back to her place. Anticipation had him focusing on other things. Pleasanter things.
He knocked to give her fair warning, despite having the key, then used it and walked in. “Did I put things where you wanted them?”
“Yup. You read the boxes well,” she teased.
“Thank you for making it fairly idiot-proof with the labels. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted the couch in your bedroom or out here in the ‘guest room’ until you got another bed.”
“You guessed right by putting it in the bedroom. I can deal with moving it out when the time comes. I’ll just have to try extra hard not to ruin the hardwood floors if I have to drag it from one room to another.”
“That’s what I thought. But, if you ever need to move your stuff around again…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll ask.” She grinned.
“I was going to say, ask someone else.”
Her grin disappeared and her eyes rounded.
He laughed. “I was kidding.”
“Oh! Well, I wouldn’t blame you if you meant it. They made damn heavy furniture in the sixties and seventies.”
“Is that when your parents bought everything?”
“Probably. It’s old enough to be replaced, but not old enough to be antique. I think it qualifies as junk.”
“Hey, if it gets the job done…”
He thought he caught a glint in her eye.
“I might need some help testing its functionality. Want to see if the bed is comfortable?”
He was surprised by her invitation but no less pleased. She did find nice ways of thanking him.
“Are you sure? I thought you had a roommate.”
“She’s working at the bar downstairs.”
“I mean, of course I’d love to, but don’t feel like you need—”
“Believe me, I need.” She grabbed his shirt and dragged his mouth to hers, delivering a long, silencing kiss.
He let his hands roam over her body, eventually cupping her ass and giving it a squeeze.
She broke the kiss and said in a husky voice, “I’m glad I labeled the box with the sheets in it.”
He chuckled and followed her into the bedroom where she found the box marked “Linens, etc.” He tossed the couch cushions aside and opened the hide-a-bed. These things were rarely comfortable, but this one didn’t look too bad. At least the mattress appeared thick enough to cushion the metal bar.
She practically ran back to the bed with an armful of sheets. Wow. She seems as sex-starved as I am.
Regardless of the fact that he’d have to stop at heavy petting, it was refreshing to find a woman who liked sex and didn’t mind initiating it. Now he just had to hope he didn’t get so hot and bothered that he’d start to shift. It could happen. He hadn’t blown off steam in a while.
Bliss unfurled the bottom sheet across the bed and he caught it. The two of them made quick work of covering the bare mattress and rolled to the middle of it still wearing their clothes.
“Yup. Seems plenty comfortable—”
He didn’t even get to say “to me,” because she had him in a desperate clutch and was delivering another hot kiss. Wow.
She popped open the button on her jeans. “We have way too many layers between us.”
Drake rolled up to a sitting position and unlaced his boots. Kicking them off, he grabbed the hem of his T-shirt. Before he could yank it up, he noticed Bliss had already stripped down to her underwear… and stopped.
“Do you have a condom?”
“No, but I’m clean and I can’t get you pregnant.” She hesitated. He figured he’d lighten the moment. “If we were playing strip poker, you’d lose.”
“Not necessarily,” she said. “I’m a pretty good poker player.” Her wink seemed to say she’d enjoy a game of strip poker at some point.
He unzipped and whipped off his jeans. “We’ll have to try it sometime.”
She grinned and whispered, “Oh, yeah.”
I love it when Bliss smiles. I hope I can make her smile a lot more.
He suddenly realized what she was smiling at—his big, rock-hard erection, and her expression was turning into a leer.
“Wow. I thought you’d be well endowed, but, well…”
“Well what?”
“Well, dayum!”
Drake couldn’t help it. He let out a hearty laugh.
Suddenly she lost her grin. “I’m afraid I’ll have to stop you before…”
“Before?”
“You know. The good part. No condom, no penetration.”
“I understand completely. I have other tricks up my sleeve, though.”
Bliss shoved against his chest and Drake flopped onto his back.
At that moment, a door opened and closed. It sounded as if someone had just entered the apartment.
“Shit,” Bliss muttered.
“Hello?” a female voice called out. “Is anyone here?”
Drake and Bliss jumped off the bed and pulled on their jeans and T-shirts as fast as they could.
“Just a minute,” Bliss yelled.
“That must be your roommate. I thought you said she was working,” he said in a loud whisper.
“Maybe she’s on her break and came up to introduce herself. Who knows?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
Bliss checked to be sure Drake was decent and then opened the door. She strode out to the living room and saw an attractive young woman with blond highlighted hair puttering in the open kitchen.
She came out to the living area, drying her hands on a towel. “Hi. I’m Angie, and you must be Bliss. Claudia told me you’d be moving in today.” Then she turned toward Drake and sent him a jaunty smile. “Hey, Drake. What are you doing here?”
Bliss glanced from one to the other. “You know each other?”
Drake shuffled his feet and focused on the floor. “I’m what you’d call a semi-regular at the bar downstairs.”
“And I’m one of the bartenders,” Angie said. “He usually occupies a stool right at the bar, so we chitchat during lulls.”
Bliss wondered if a “semi-regular” was anything to be worried about. Was he semi-regularly drunk? Did they call out his name when he walked in the door? But it was too soon for such a personal question. She’d find out eventually, especially since she’d be working there starting tomorrow.
“So, Angie, I’m glad you came upstairs and introduced yourself,” Bliss said. “Are you on your break?”
“No, my shift is done for the day. Full-timers work six-hour shifts. Today, I worked eleven to five. Most of the time, I work five to eleven.”
“The bar is only open until eleven o’clock at night?”
“Yeah. Didn’t Claudia tell you? I don’t know why Anthony insists that everyone be out before midnight, but I’m not about to question my good luck.”
“Hmmm…” Bliss wondered about that too. “Is that unusual? I thought most bars were open until at least one or two o’clock in the morning.”
Angie shrugged. “We’re just a neighborhood bar. Most late-nighters go to the trendy clubs. Anthony might have tried the later hours and found it wasn’t worth it, but I really don’t know.”