“Fuck,” he muttered, scraping a hand down his cheek. “Sorry, I—”
“No, it’s...” She scrambled from his lap and he let her go.
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to slow his barreling thoughts. He wouldn’t be able to get the words out right if he didn’t slow the fuck down. They would all come out a jumbled mess. Then he would sound like a bigger idiot than he was.
“My daughters will be home soon. It’s better that we don’t...”
He opened his eyes in time to see her snag her glasses from the table, shove them back on her face and grab her forgotten beer off the ground. She gripped the bottle so tightly, she appeared to be strangling it.
He unfolded himself from the chair and didn’t give a fuck when she watched him adjust his dick in his jeans.
“So, do you want to get together on Tuesday for your first lesson?” She was a bit breathless, her words wispy.
He didn’t want to push her. All he wanted to do was touch her.
And never stop.
He wouldn’t be satisfied until he committed every fucking inch of her to memory.
Until he recognized her taste, her scent.
Until he heard her voice in his dreams.
Dreams to drown out the nightmares.
He needed to leave now.
To let her go.
Stick to their deal and come back Tuesday. He could spend more time with her then.
Only problem was, he wanted to spend more time with her now. Before she knew the hard truth. When she discovered she wouldn’t be able to teach him. That he was incapable of learning something so simple. Which was to read and write words.
Words, which were her world. A world he didn’t belong in. Most likely never would.
But these lessons and the painting were a good excuse to see her again.
He had that. Even if only for a little while.
But still... He wasn’t ready for this night to end.
Not yet.
Chapter Nine
As Chelle reached for the handle to the glass sliding door, the strings of lights went out, bathing them in darkness, causing her to pause and her skin to tingle. An arm snaked around her waist and the bottle was removed from her trembling fingers.
Everything on and in her began to pulse like the bass at a live rock concert while standing in front of one of the large speakers.
The elastic band was pulled from her hair and the second the strands fell loose, Shawn’s nose was buried in them.
He said nothing, but the tightening of that solid arm and the press of his very solid erection into the small of her back said it all.
He didn’t want to keep their relationship to only their deal. He wanted more.
He wanted her.
Her blood surged through her veins as he nuzzled her neck and then her ear.
Disappointment licked at her briefly when he pulled away, but only long enough to turn her. The arm securing her no longer pressed against her belly, it was replaced by the hard length of his cock.
With a finger under her chin, he tipped up her face and dropped his until his lips were only a whisper away from hers. “Say yes.”
They didn’t have a lot of time. Not before her girls came home. She was afraid of her daughters catching them in a compromising position.
She was also afraid of what would happen if she gave him that yes.
She wanted to. She did. But she hadn’t said yes to anyone in a long time.
She had always been content with her own company. Unfortunately, every time she’d been on a date over the years, she compared the man she was with to Brendan.
Was it fair? No. And though she tried, she couldn’t stop from doing it anyway.
Admittedly, Shawn was different from any man she’d dated before. This situation was also very different. It wasn’t a date. Neither held any expectations, right?
That was why dating was difficult. Too many expectations to meet. Too much time spent analyzing everything the other person said, trying to uncover who they really were deep inside versus what they were showing on the surface.
None of that applied here.
No pressure existed, either.
They could just be.
Together.
For the moments they had.
Simple.
Uncomplicated.
But he needed to agree to that first. For her daughters’ sake. No matter what, they always came first. Her wants and needs were a distant second.
Since he had never answered earlier, she asked, “Do we have a deal with the barter?”
“Yeah.” It was more of a guttural grunt than an answer.
“No expectations beyond that?”
“None,” he murmured without hesitation.
She hoped that was true. Because anything else beyond the barter could be messy, as she mentioned before.
Her life might be boring and predictable, but it was neat right now. Keeping it that way provided a steady home for her girls. They’d lived with enough turmoil right after their father was killed.
Afterward, she had struggled for a while to get their lives back in balance and, once she achieved it, she didn’t want anything to upset it again. Once her girls were out on their own and settled, she’d have plenty of time to put herself first.
Even so, she could give herself this moment.
Just this one.
“Not here.”
He closed the slight gap and his lips swept lightly across hers. Just a whisper of a kiss. He pulled away before she lost her head and encouraged him to take it deeper. They were standing right in front of double glass sliding doors leading into the kitchen.
That wouldn’t be smart.
But then, how smart was it for her to say yes to this man. A quiet, mysterious man she only just met and hardly knew anything about.
Just because she felt some connection with him, didn’t mean they should take the connection further. From an easy companionship while working together to intimacy.
Truth be told, she missed it, the intimacy with another being. The sharing of touch, words, and sexual desire. Of having another person turn her on by doing the simplest of actions.
No expectations, Chelle. Simply allow yourself a moment to forget everything and lose yourself in someone who desires you. The evidence of desire being hard to miss.
“Where?” he asked roughly when she didn’t say anything further and didn’t move, either.
Where?
Where could they go and remain undetected? To share a secret moment?
Not in the house. Not in her bedroom. Not in the garage since Maddie parked her car in there.
Maybe behind the shed that sat along the left side of the yard against the fence. They could duck behind it like a couple of teenagers. Out of direct view of the house and in a dark corner of her yard. They would hear the girls long before the girls would see them.
When she pulled away from him, she tugged on his hand and led him out from under the covered patio and over the grass.
“Chelle.” Smooth gravel churning in warm, thick honey.
Was he having second thoughts?
No. He didn’t hesitate as they approached the small metal shed that held her mower and gardening tools. When he realized where they were headed, he picked up the pace, now pulling her along.
As soon as they turned the corner, as soon as they were out of sight from the house, he spun her around and drove his fingers into her hair, smashing their lips together, sliding his tongue through her mouth.
A claim. That was what it seemed like.