“You did.”
“Sorry?”
“Don’t be. You needed the sleep. Though I can’t say I didn’t consider waking you this morning.”
She smiled and looked over his shoulder. “It seems you made me breakfast instead.”
“Disappointed?”
Her mouth twisted. “One morning, I’d like the Bran special—sex followed by homemade breakfast.”
He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her, his hands finding her ass. “Don’t tempt me. I do all sorts of unexpected things where you’re concerned—showing up late for work would be an easy one to add to the list.” He kissed her neck, his mouth moving lower. “I break self-inflicted rules…buy furniture…and suddenly consider desk sex a perfectly acceptable activity.”
“You’re going to buy new furniture?”
“And I want to have desk sex. Did you miss that one?”
She reached around and grabbed his ass. Hard. “You’re the one who put a stop to that, not me. You know I’m game.”
“Ireland,” he said.
She kissed his chin. “Yes?”
“We have to go to work.”
“And?”
“And now I’m considering throwing you on the recliner and having my way with you.”
Her nose scrunched. “That doesn’t sound…reliable. What if it toppled?”
“Good point. Go shopping with me later? I need to rectify the furniture situation stat, so concerns like this don’t hinder our alone time. How are your skills with decorating?”
Bran leftwork early and picked up Ireland before heading to a local furniture store. He’d brought dinner from the Italian restaurant at Club Tahoe, and they ate at a picnic table on a grassy knoll across the street overlooking the lake. He couldn’t have picked a more picturesque location. With the sun low on the horizon, water lapping nearby, the setting was perfect. “Work go okay today?” he asked.
Ireland finished chewing a bite of spaghetti bolognese and wiped the corner of her mouth. “Great, actually. I told my boss about the program I built for Club Tahoe, and he wants me to create something similar for one of their larger casino hotels in Las Vegas.”
She beamed, and the garlic bread in Bran’s stomach hardened.
He chewed slowly, considering what to say. Ireland was happy, and he was happy for her, but he also felt greedy. The last thing he wanted was to lose Ireland right after he’d found her. “So you’ll work at another hotel? In another part of the state?”
She shook her head abruptly and touched her hand to her mouth when a crumb of garlic bread fell off her lips. Luscious lips…lips he wanted to kiss. “No, nothing like that. My boss will pay me as a subcontractor for the work. I’ll need to make a business trip or two, but Tahoe is my home now.”
The pressure in Bran’s chest eased. And that was a new experience. He’d never cared this much before.
“Which means,” Ireland went on, “my student loans will be gone before I know it.” She shook her head, a shy smile on her face. “Everything is going so well, I’m afraid to jinx it. I’ve never been this happy in my career and…”
“And?”
She grabbed his hand. “And I kind of like you.”
“Kind of?” He frowned in mock outrage.
“A little. You’re pretty hot. And sweet.”
“Hold on now—no one has ever called me sweet.”
“They didn’t know you, now, did they?” She leaned over and kissed his lips, the gentlest touch. That sent a flame to his chest.
