“That’s not exactly how I would put it.”
“Sadie’s up there. I left a sample box with her. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!”
“I—”
Ida opened the car door. “I’ll let you into the building.”
“I think I’ll just see Sadie tomorrow.”
Ida didn’t move. I couldn’t very well run her over, so I grudgingly turned the car off and climbed out.
“When I was your age, I lived in a room in a large hostel for single women,” Ida said as she herded me to the entrance to the building. “There were no men allowed past the lobby. You better believe we snuck them in any way we could. They scaled the drainpipes, and one guy hang-glided onto the roof. Another guy got stuck trying to shimmy up the laundry chute. We had to call the fire department. You’re such a big guy that I don’t want you to get stuck in the trash chute. You just go up there. Free love and sex!”
“Sadie’s not expecting me.”
“Body like yours, any woman is expecting you any time. Don’t forget to leave a review of the products!” she said cheerfully and knocked loudly on Sadie’s door.
I was debating whether I should try and slip out the window at the end of the hall when the door opened a crack.
38
Sadie
Isucked in a breath when I saw Parker standing in the doorway. He smiled thinly. “I was in the neighborhood.”
“Just happened to be driving around?”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “I can leave.”
“No!” This was my chance. I wasn’t blowing it. I grabbed his jacket sleeve and pulled him inside.
“Ignore the mess, gross linoleum, and fluorescent lighting,” I said, slamming the door behind him. There was a man. In my apartment. A real one. And he wasn’t the pizza delivery man who had asked to come in that one time for what I thought was going to be porno sex but instead he just needed to pee. No, this was a real man, who, unless I totally screwed up, wanted me in a sexual way.
Don’t blow this. Don’t be weird.
“Ida insisted I come up,” he continued wryly.
I was used to seeing him in the high-ceilinged, brightly lit Svensson PharmaTech buildings. Against the dropped ceiling and dark walls of the studio apartment, Parker seemed huge, broad shoulders filling the space. He removed his jacket, and things were hopping downtown as I admired the ripples of muscles under his shirt.
“Drink?” I offered.
Parker crossed the short distance between us, took me in his arms, and kissed me. I had changed into yoga pants and a loose, soft top when I had returned to the apartment. The fabric was thin, and the heat from Parker’s hands left scalding trails as they roamed up my thighs to grip my ass then slide under my shirt. He moved to my boobs next, and I moaned softly as his hands pushed under my bra to cup my tits. My nipples were rock hard. His mouth kissed down my collarbone, and he pulled down the collar of the shirt to expose my breast. His mouth on my nipple was scalding, and I gasped in surprise then moaned. It was suddenly too much.
“Wine?” I croaked, pushing him off.
He blew out a breath; it was hot against my mouth.
“Some wine would be nice.”
I grabbed a bottle of white from the fridge. “It doesn’t have a cork,” I said, “but at least it’s not boxed. Only the best for my guest.” I twisted the top off then rummaged in the rickety cabinets for glasses. Suddenly Parker wastherebehind me.
“I think I want something else to drink,” he said, voice rough in my ear. He tipped my head back, kissing me roughly.
OMG, was this happening right now? Where was the Frankenstein condom Ida had given me? I braced, waiting to hear the rasp of a zipper, the belt buckle clunking to the floor. But Parker seemed content to kiss my neck, his hand slipping under my shirt to caress my tits, teasing a nipple, rolling it pebble-hard between his fingers. His other hand slipped down to my ass to caress me through the thin fabric of the yoga pants. My hips rolled back against him, and I moaned.
Still kissing my neck, he pushed the yoga pants down. I stepped out of them; my panties were soaking wet. The air was slightly chilly on my bare skin, but Parker’s hand against my panties was hot.
“You want this?” he asked against my neck.
