Page 94 of Colt

“I’m okay.”

I’m so not okay.

I offer him my hand. He takes it in the warm mitt of his. His palm and fingers are calloused, but his touch is gentle.

He turns my hand over, baring the underside of my wrist.

Then he leans in and gently—gently—presses a kiss to the skin there, my breath catching at the slight tickle of his scruff.

I am not ready for this man.

He knows what he’s doing. Who he is. What he wants.

I won’t let him kiss my mouth. But this kiss and the one that came before it—those just might be the most intimate kind of kisses of all.

CHAPTER 18

Front Porch Fellatio

COLT

One minute, I’m kissing Lainey’s wrist. Mostly because she smells so good here.

Also, it’s one of the places she’ll let me kiss her.

The next, Lainey’s grabbing my shirt and hauling me to my feet. She’s pushing me into one of the rocking chairs by the door. The force of my fall nearly sends the chair keeling over.

Lainey catches me, though, putting both her hands on the armrests to steady me. Her face is a breath away from mine.

Lemme kiss you for real, honey.

There’s this tenderness in my chest right now. Lainey may avoid vulnerability like the plague, and usually I do too. Tonight, though…

Tonight feels different. Maybe because I imagine I’m safe with this woman? Even though logically, I know that’s total horseshit. Hooking up with an employee who just so happens to be much younger than me and my son’s favorite person is about the most unsafe thing I can think of.

But her comment about my anger. And the way she let loose in the house, no fucks given. There wasn’t a fake bone in her body tonight.

I find that wildly, indecently attractive. Hence my enormous hard-on.

A searing rush of need gathers in the head of my cock as Lainey meets my eyes and moves her hands to my knees. She spreads them, then kneels, hooking a finger in the waistband of my sweats.

Sweats? Fuck me. Next time, I’m gonna be in jeans at least. Kills me not to be a little more dressed up for her.

Next time, maybe I take her out. Isn’t that the way this is supposed to go? Treat her to a nice meal, have some fun. Get to know each other a little bit better.

After tonight, I’m pretty sure we’re not really enemies anymore. Question is, where does that leave us?

I wanna tell Lainey that she didn’t do anything wrong. It’s the anger and the exhaustion and the shitty-ass stuff I’ve been through that have me acting some kind of way at work.

She opens her mouth when she cups my bulge. “I’ve been dreaming about this. Finally touching you. How big you are…”

“Gonna be too much?”

She smirks, curling her fingers around my girth. She gives me a firm tug through my sweats, and I see stars. “Nah. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

I brush the hair out of her face. “Why do I think you’re going to be good at this?”

“Because I’m good at everything I do.” She tugs my sweats down.