Page 16 of Tailored for You

I covered my mouth, hiding my smile as Serena jerked in her chair.

“Harp-” Serena turned around and stopped speaking. Her eyes went wide as they traveled from my feet to my face.

“Serena,” I said, her name rolling off my tongue. It took a second, but her cheeks slowly turned my favorite shade of pink.

I stayed still, waiting for her to move. As always, I took my cues from her. Showing up and surprising her was fun, but I still needed to broach the subject of a date with care.

Serena stood, wiping her hands on her jean shorts. Her T-shirt was cut wide at the collar and fell off one shoulder. She had a birthmark in the shape of a star on her collarbone that I wanted to trace.

With my tongue.

Focus. Harper’s here.

She padded to me, feet bare, with no polish on her toes, and stopped a few feet away. “How are you?” She opened and closed her mouth, like she wanted to say more but didn’t know what.

“I’m good.” I leaned in, loving how I towered over her. In one move, I could sweep her up in my arms, press her against the wall, and wrap her legs around me. “You mentioned some things might be ready. I was in the area”—I was always in the area, but that was beside the point—“and thought I’d check, save you a call.”

That was my best excuse yet. I had to keep that one in my back pocket.

Serena nodded, walking around me. I kept close to her as she moved, watching the strands of hair that had fallen out of her bun flow behind her. My fingers twitched with the need to twirl them.

As Serena searched for my order, her shoulders crept up, and she kept stopping to stretch her hands.

She was always stressed. No doubt, having Harper home for a half-day made it worse.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I reached over and grabbed Serena’s hands.

They were the perfect size, and for a moment, time stopped. Serena blinked at me, her mouth a pretty O as I dug my thumbs into her palms, stretching the muscles.

A current shot up my arm, begging me to touch more of her. To get closer to her. I resisted, knowing that it would be too much to throw her over my shoulder, carry her home, and beg her to let me take care of her.

Instead, I methodically worked my way from her hands to her wrists, digging my fingers into the pads of her palms. With each pass, Serena relaxed a fraction.

Her shoulders lost tension, and she leaned her head to the side, stretching out her neck. It was long, the pulse fluttering as she took deep, meditative breaths.

I wanted to close the remaining distance between us. Drag my tongue up her neck, feel what I did to her.

I didn’t. I was under her spell, watching as she relaxed with my help.

I bit back a remark about how she needed to take better care of herself when a cute little moan escaped her lips.

Fanculo. I could hear her make that sound a thousand times and never grow tired of hearing it.

“Uscirai con me,” I said. “E scoprirò quali altri suoni posso farti fare.”

“I,” Serena said, barely above a whisper. “I have no idea what you said.”

Good. It was better that she didn’t know my mind was wandering to her naked body and the noises she made when she was wet and needy.

I laughed, because what else could I do? Tell her what I said in a language she understood?

“How does that feel?” I asked, reluctantly taking my hands off her.

Serena swallowed, taking her eyes off me and lowering them to her hands, which she stretched out.

“You’re a miracle worker. Can I keep you around to massage my hands when they get too stiff?”

“You have my number. Call me whenever you need me.” There was so much more I wanted to say, but I knew it wasn’t the right time.