“Yes! Hank trusts me. Jake trusts me. Prim—”
“I know,” I cut him off. “I know about Prim.”
Guilt needles my gut, and all at once, I’m not entirely sure I can go through with this.
You saw him first. She’s too young by far for a man like Garrett.
“Your pa is letting me stay in that guest house dirt cheap on account of the labor I’ve been putting in. I can’t afford to be out on my own right now, not with my shop in such bad disarray, and I can’t go back home.”
“Then nobody has to know. The loft is private, and you guys did a good job of fixing it up.”
“This is a lot to ask of me.”
“Fine, I’ll find someone else.”
Garrett’s eyes bulge cartoonishly. “Find someone else!”
“Yeah, I’ll go into the bigger city this weekend, check out the local dives. I’m bound to find someone.”
“The local dives? By yourself!”
“Maybe I’ll download that Tinder app.”
“Jesus Christ, Ali—you’re America’s freakin’ Sweetheart! You don’t belong on any Tinder.”
“Well, how else do you propose I alleviate my stress?” I say with an arched brow.
“Alleviate your stress?”
“Yeah, do you think you’re the only one with sexual needs?”
His jaw hangs open, my confession too much for him to bear.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Can’t you-Can’t you just get one of those fancy things?”
“Fancy things?”
“Yeah, those vibrating dildo-cab-obs.”
“You mean, a vibrator?”
“Yeah, one of those.”
“Because a vibrator is nothing compared to a warm, moist tongue.”
His face grows dark. “Get into my office,” he growls in a tone that provokes my fear. He grabs my biceps roughly, pulling me towards the open door.
My jaw drops, and an adrenaline rush pushes me into a fight or flight reaction. “Jesus, what the hell’s gotten into you?” I say, yanking my arm as I try to free myself from his rough grip.
He pulls me close and whispers into my ear. “If it’s a warm moist tongue you want, it’s a warm, moist tongue you’re gonna get.”
