I hear the sink faucet being turned on when there’s a knock at the door. When I open it, a man in a hotel uniform is there with a folded-in-half cot on wheels, Jules’s heels in hand.
Taking the shoes in one hand and grabbing the cot handle with my other, I thank him and wheel the cot into the room.
“Seriously, Noel,” Jules calls from the bathroom, “take the bed.”
Like hell. I’d never sleep in the king-size bed while she’s on a couch or a cot. I set up the cot, using extra blankets from the closet, and move the pillow from the couch to the cot.
When Jules emerges from the bathroom, her face fresh after being scrubbed clean, she gives me a weary look.
“Get off my cot,” she gripes.
“Why are you still wearing your clothes?”
Her cheeks flush light pink. “I didn’t think you’d want me to wear my pajamas.”
Dammit. I can’t help getting hard just looking at her. She’s so beautiful. Maybe even more so because she won’t just sleep in the bed like I’m telling her to.
“Put your pajamas on and go to bed.” I flip onto my side so I’m facing away from her. “I’ll be asleep in about thirty seconds.”
“I’m not trying to be a dick, but?—”
I cut her off, pulling the covers up over my shoulders. “Quit arguing with me. I don’t care if you think I’m a dick.”
“Fine. I’ll take the couch.”
I throw the covers off, turning around and sitting up. “I’ve fucking had it. Why are you being so obstinate?”
For the first time, uncertainty flickers in her eyes. She thinks I’m angry, but I’m not. I’m so turned on I can’t even think straight, and it’s all I can do to keep my hands off her.
“You aren’t my boss,” she says softly. “You won’t kiss me because you think it’s unprofessional, but you aren’t my boss.”
I’m momentarily stunned. “That’s what this is about?”
A smile dances on her lips. “Mostly.”
She slides out of her cropped blazer, tossing it onto the couch. My eyes track her every movement, my dick painfully hard now.
I stand up, knowing she can likely see how much just looking at her turns me on. “So all I need to do is kiss you, and you’ll take the bed?”
She nods, her lips parting a fraction. I know I shouldn’t do it, but standing here alone with her, just a couple of feet keeping us apart, my resolve falters. She wants me to kiss her. After burning for her day and night for a month now, I don’t want to keep fighting it.
I move closer, cupping her cheek with one hand. When my fingertips touch her skin, she inhales a quick little gasp, one of her hands landing on my side.
It’s been such a long time since a woman touched me, and it’s never felt like this. Just her hand on me, with my T-shirt between us, is making my pulse pound. She’s so vibrant and beautiful, a bittersweet reminder of what I might’ve been able to have ten years ago.
“I think about you all the time,” she whispers.
I don’t deserve that. I’m old enough to be her father and I haven’t pursued her the way she deserves. But I’m selfish. I put my free hand on her waist and slide it around to her lower back, pulling her body against mine.
My lips meet hers in a kiss that’s not exploratory. I can feel her need, and it matches my own. There’s nothing tentative about either of us, and our kiss is deep and intense from the start. She presses her body against mine, making me groan.
It feels so fucking good. Nothing but this matters. I lock my arm around her waist and move my hand from her cheek to her hair, my fingers raking through the thick, soft strands and pulling.
She gasps, melting into me. Her hand is in my hair now, tugging as her other hand snakes up beneath my shirt to my back. The feel of her fingers on my bare skin awakens something inside me. I squeeze her ass, grinding my cock against her.
When I pull my mouth away from hers, she’s breathless, her lips bright pink and swollen.
“Please don’t stop,” she begs.
