If they were, no one would ever get hurt.”
“I don’t want this to be over.”
He hesitated. She felt it.
“An improvement in our timing would be nice, but we don’t get to decide some of those things. Believe me, honey. I’m looking at every possible way to ensure this never ends.”
If he hadn’t ended by kissing her, she might have asked for something more concrete.
12
It was a little past four in the morning when Arnie slid from the bed and left Summer sleeping soundly.
Giselle’s untimely interference nearly derailed their evening. Luckily, a container of brownies with a room service assist in the form of ice-cold milk and a can of aerosol whipped cream helped reset the mood.
As he made his way from the bedroom, he stumbled over the very same can—empty. He glanced at the bed, remembering Summer with her legs spread while he squirted the sweet cream blobs on her pussy and licked it off.
She reciprocated by placing a thick line of whipped cream along the underside of his dick while his throbbing erection lay on his stomach, and he was half-assed tied to a chair. Summer was an original, and instead of using her tongue to enjoy the cream, she managed to take him to the brink of control with nothing but her fingers and some sexy moans.
He let out a deep sigh at the sexy memory.
In the living room, he searched for and found his phone. He breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t find anything from Dottie. The longer it took for her to get back to him, the more time he had with Summer.
When the summons came and his leaving was unavoidable, he planned to ask her if she’d consider moving to New York. Once he brought his sunshine girl to the big city, he’d pop the question and do it up right. All the cheesy romantic stuff his overactive mind could think up.
Convinced he’d hit on a solid plan, Arnie ignored the flashing lights and the rather obvious sign warning of the dangerous curves ahead. Worrying wasn’t where he did his best work. He was more of a hang loose kind of a guy. The unperturbed approach always worked in the past and left him open to adjust on the fly as necessary. Why borrow trouble until you have to?
He checked his work email and then his personal account. Izzy sent him a rude meme showing monkeys licking each other’s balls. Felicity Toy, RN, NIGHTWIND’S official snark angel, was the person he counted on for testicular humor, and she never disappointed.
A reminder from his accountant about the upcoming baseball season and Arnie’s inquiry into upgrading his stadium box needed his attention. He flagged it for later and then deleted a bunch of crap.
His mind set at ease, he discarded the phone and stretched out the kinks. Nonstop sex for days on end wasn’t the same as the intense workouts he was used to. His longtime trainer, a former Marine, fully expected Arnie to return from this West Coast jaunt in shit form. Ten days of eating, drinking, and family intrigue usually left him in need of a healthy intervention. This trip wasn’t going to be any different.
Wide-awake with nothing to do, he decided a long, hot shower was in order.
In the bathroom, he stared into a mirror, assessing his naked body. Thirty-seven wasn’t old, but he wasn’t in denial about his age. Shit started going into the crapper as forty approached. He wouldn’t always be the hot guy in the room, and as it was, the young bucks with attitude were already a problem.
When he slapped a hand on his abs, the sound of skin on skin echoed off the tile walls.
“Time to make the jump back to protein smoothies.”
He leaned into the mirror and checked out the situation on his face. The usual standard-issue man scruff was veering dangerously close to beard zone. He wanted to shave, but until he knew the physical requirements of the assignment headed his way, he was better off doing nothing. A beard sometimes came in handy.
His hair was in the same holding pattern. It was getting a bit longer than he preferred, so a trim and cleanup were definitely in order, but once again, he knew better. A reluctant sigh rumbled up from deep in his chest.
His face transformed with a smirk, however, when his eyes beheld an obvious set of teeth marks on the skin of his lower neck. While experimenting with the whole “wearing Summer