Читать книгу Her Naughty Holiday - Tiffany Reisz - Страница 11
ОглавлениеERICK STARED, SLIGHTLY slack-jawed, at Clover, who stared back, slightly sheepishly, at him. She was blushing, which he’d never seen her do before. It looked good on her, that blush. A little color in her pale cheeks. He’d thought more than once about the various ways of making her flush, blush and redden, but he hadn’t considered this one. He should have.
“Are you offering to pay me to sleep with you?” he asked. “I hope so. That’s been a fantasy all my life. I can go to a bar and you can come in and pick me up. We don’t have to use real money. I’ll accept Monopoly—”
“That is not what I’m asking.”
“Bummer,” he said. It was. He’d been nursing a crush on his daughter’s boss for a good year now, ever since he met Clover the day Ruthie started working at the nursery. He hadn’t done or said anything about the crush. Ruthie needed a job and a steady female presence in her life much more than he needed a girlfriend. But that fact had only stopped him from asking Clover out. It hadn’t put a dent in his crush.
“Here’s the thing,” she said. “I could really use somebody to play boyfriend for Thanksgiving. That’s all. Somebody to deflect all those questions I get from my family about why I’m not married yet, when I’m getting married, when I’m having kids...”
“Can’t you tell them to mind their own damn business?”
“You sound like Ruthie. Does it work when she tells you to mind your own damn business?”
“Well...no.”
“See my problem? It would make everything so much easier if I had a date for Thanksgiving. I know you’re alone this week. Ruthie told me. It’s a free meal and you wouldn’t have to be alone on the day. Interested?”
“Hmm...”
“Hmm...?”
“I kind of like being alone,” he said. “Thanksgiving isn’t a huge deal in my family. My grandmother’s Coquille. She’s always called Thanksgiving ‘What exactly am I supposed to be thankful for?’ Day.”
“Yeah, can’t blame her for that. Do you like free food?”
“I don’t usually turn it down, but I don’t drive out of my way for it.”
“Okay,” she said. “Just thought I’d ask.”
“Wait. You’re giving up on me already? That hurts.”
“I’m not going to try to convince you to do something you don’t want to do,” Clover said.
“Why not?”
“Because no means no.”
“I didn’t say no.”
“Then it’s a yes?”
“I didn’t say that, either. Come on. I’m a businessman. Let’s haggle.”
Clover laughed a nervous laugh, almost a giggle. She sat behind her desk and he sat on the desk next to her.
“You’re pretty when you laugh,” he said. “But you’re also pretty when you don’t laugh.”
“You’re sweet,” she said. “I feel like I shouldn’t have brought this up. I had a weak moment and your daughter set me up.”
“She left her phone here on purpose, didn’t she?” Erick asked.
“I am ninety-nine percent certain of it,” Clover said.
Goddamn, she was pretty when she blushed. No doubt about it. Blue eyes, blond hair and the natural beauty of a woman too busy to bother wearing much makeup. She always sported lip gloss, though. An icy pale pink that gave her a sixties mod look. A kissable color like bubble gum. He wondered what she tasted like.
“That girl will do me in someday, I swear.”
“She’s just worried about me,” Clover said. “It’s sweet.”
“I’m not used to my daughter being sweet. I’m more used to my daughter painting her bedroom walls and ceiling black, bribing an ex-con to give her a tattoo and flipping off the next door neighbor’s cat.”
“She flipped off the cat?”
“She said he was judging her.”
“I think she’s just trying to live up to her own reputation.”
“It’s working,” he said. “So do you really need someone to play boyfriend for the week? It’s that bad with your family?”
She sighed heavily and sat back.
“It’s hard,” she said. “They love me but that doesn’t make the stuff they say easier to hear. They think they’re saying, ‘We love you and we want you to be happy,’ but what I hear is, ‘You’re inadequate, you’re a disappointment and you haven’t done what you’re supposed to do to make us happy.’ They bug me so much about getting married that I’m scared to even date because I don’t know if I’m dating to make them happy or dating to make me happy. I’ve almost signed up for Tinder ten times in the last year and talked myself out of it.”
“I’d rather take a vow of celibacy than join Tinder. And I’m not even Catholic.”
“Don’t do that. That would be a waste.”
He grinned at her and shrugged. “You think I’m cute?” he asked.
“You’re hot,” she said. “Like UPS-driver hot.”
“That’s hot.”
“Smoking.”
“This is fun,” he said. “Why haven’t we ever flirted with each other before?”
“Because your daughter works for me, and I didn’t want to make it weird for her.”
“Oh, yeah. Her. Kids are such cock blocks. That’s the name of my parenting book if I ever write one, by the way.”
“That bad?”
“I love my kid, but damn, she makes things complicated. I don’t think I would have given asking you out a second thought if she was a normal kid. But this job was the miracle we needed. I didn’t think anybody would give her a chance after the barn incident.”
“Kids make stupid mistakes,” she said. “We all did.”
“At fifteen I snuck a couple beers from Dad’s stash, ‘borrowed’ the car without permission and ran over the neighbor’s bushes. I didn’t commit ecoterrorism to protest factory farming.”
“She’s got principles. I’ll give her that.”
“She’s got a criminal record for arson and destruction of private property is what she’s got.”
“That, too.”
“You’re good for her,” Erick said. “This job’s been good for her. I kept thinking about asking you out but then I thought Ruthie wouldn’t want to work for you if we were dating. Or if we broke up.”
“In this scenario we’ve already dated and broken up?” Clover asked.
“I’m a parent. We plan for all eventualities.”
“I’m not a parent and I had the same thoughts—don’t screw things up for Ruthie. But that’s me being selfish. She’s a great assistant. I’d hate to lose her.”
“She’s crazy about you. She needs a woman in her life. But her dad kind of does, too. Ask me what two hundred and sixty-eight means.”
“What does two hundred and sixty-eight mean?”
“That’s how many days until Ruthie starts college, and I have my house back. Not that I’m counting.”
“Are you counting?”
“I’m counting.”
“You know, my parents would probably be very impressed if they thought I were dating a single father. They’d think that was a ready-made family.”
“You really want me to be your Sven?” Erick asked. He already planned on doing it. This woman had taken his angry petulant pyromaniac daughter and turned her into a functioning member of society in under a year. He’d do anything for this woman, including but not limited to pretending to be her boyfriend for a couple days.
“I would appreciate it,” she said.
“We can have sex all week too, right?”
“Okay.”
“What?” Erick burst into laughter.
“What?” she repeated. “Why are you laughing?”
“I didn’t think you’d say yes. I was joking.”
“You were?” Her blue eyes went wide.
“Well...yeah. I mean, not that I don’t want to. I do want to. I swear to God, I thought you’d say no. I never guessed you’d say yes, not in a million years.”
“And why not?” she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. Oh, no, he’d put her on the defensive. Bad move.
“You’re a little reserved.”
“Reserved? Me?” She sat up straighter, prim as a schoolmarm.
“Your lowest cut shirt is a turtleneck.”
“Is there something wrong with having a warm neck?”
“Not a damn thing. Obviously I misjudged you. I’m sorry,” he said, not at all in the least sorry to discover Clover Greene wanted to sleep with him.
“Okay, I might be a little reserved,” she said. “But it’s not on purpose. When you own your own business and run it all by yourself, you tend to be all business.”
“That’s all I mean. I just never heard you talk much about a personal life. And Ruthie would have told me if you were dating anybody.”
“No time,” she said. “I guess that’s why I said yes when you said...what you said.”
“When I said I wanted to sleep with you?”
“Yes, that thing,” Clover said. “I actually have time this week to do that sort of...thing. It’s been a long time since I was involved with someone in a clothing optional type scenario.”
“How long? Wait, don’t answer that. That was a rude question.”
“We’re talking about sleeping together. It wasn’t rude. It was a fair question.”
“Okay, how long? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
“You show me yours first.”
“Years,” he said. “A year and a half? About that. I was seeing someone right before Ruthie got arrested. Then my entire life turned into babysitting her every minute of the day. You?”
“I had a boyfriend for a few months about three years ago. We broke up when he moved to Seattle for work. My parents still ask about him.”
“Ouch.”
“I don’t even miss him. They miss him.”
Erick held out his hand and as soon as he did it, he wished he hadn’t. His hands were a wreck—covered in deck stain with old scars and calluses. But she didn’t seem to mind. She put her hand in his and he saw she, too, had scars and calluses on her hands.
“I need a manicure,” she said. “My last manicure was about the same time as my last boyfriend.”
“Never had a manicure,” Erick said. “Never had a boyfriend, either. Ruthie tried to talk me into being gay because one of her girlfriends had a crush on me. I had to politely decline.”
“This is nice. Holding hands. I’d forgotten how nice this was.” Clover sat back in her chair again but didn’t let his hand go.
“Very nice. I suppose it wouldn’t kill me to be your Sven for the week.”
“And if it’s just through Thanksgiving, no big deal, right? Fake boyfriend, not real boyfriend.”
“I could make you a very good fake boyfriend. I can be fake nice, fake sweet, fake romantic. I can really fake it.”
“I don’t know if you could fake anything. You seem very genuine to me,” she said.
“I’m good at faking being genuine. Have to be. Teenage girls see through bullshit like they have X-ray vision or something. Ruthie wouldn’t have left her phone here if she didn’t think you and I would actually like each other. She saw right through me. X-ray eyes.”
“She didn’t need X-ray eyes on me. Just normal eyes. I sort of kind of check you out occasionally when you come to pick her up.”
“You do?”
“I do.”
“For how long?”
“Um...since the first day you and Ruthie came by?” She winced. Erick tried very hard not to laugh at her extreme discomfort. Clover was seriously adorable, and he seriously adored her.
He put his hand on his cheek and batted his eyelashes. “Oh, no, you’ve set me to blushing.”
“Stop it. I’m embarrassed enough as it is.”
“Why?” he asked, letting her hand go.
“Well... I did sort of just accidentally agree to sleep with you.”
“Nothing to blush over. I want to sleep with me, too. In fact, I do sleep with me every single night. I’m good in bed.”
“Are you?”
“I sleep like the dead, eight straight hours every night.”
“That isn’t what I meant.” She pointed at him through her hoodie pocket. “You are enjoying this.”
“I haven’t gotten laid in a long time. I would come from a foot rub, I swear. Yes, I’m enjoying flirting with you. I’m a little out of practice, though. How am I doing?”
“Not bad. I’m enjoying this, too, and that’s usually a good sign, right?”
“Definitely. Great sign.”
“So...” she said, standing up and facing him. Her hands were still stuffed deep in her pockets. He knew she was thirty but with her hair in the ponytail and wearing jeans and a hoodie, she looked younger, fresh-faced and innocent almost. Or maybe it was the nervousness and the embarrassment that made her look so young. It was endearing, whatever the cause. He wanted to kiss her very much.
“So. You want to do this?” he asked.
“Tell me what ‘this’ is and I’ll tell you if I want to do it.”
“You need a boyfriend to shut your family up on Thanksgiving. I’d be happy to play that part. But I’d like to get to know you better first so it doesn’t feel like we’re faking it. If I could choose, I’d go home with you tonight.”
“You want to sleep with me tonight? This night? Sunday night?”
“This very night,” he said. “I also agreed to fix your deck at 8:00 a.m. and if I’m already there I can sleep later.”
“Now I know why Ruthie punches you in the arm all the time.”
He braced himself for an arm punch. Instead Clover rested her forehead on his shoulder and laughed softly. After two seconds her head was still there. He put one arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer to him. She didn’t seem to mind that one bit so he wrapped his foot around her leg and pulled her even closer...
“Your shampoo smells good,” he said. “Lemons?”
“That’s not my hair. That’s my office,” she said, pointing up at the tree. “But you smell good.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“You smell like sweat and cedar. It’s nice.”
“We’re like a couple of dogs sniffing each other,” he said. “If this continues, my nose is going to end up in your crotch.”
He felt her shaking with laughter against him. He heard the laughter, too, but that was normal. Feeling a woman laughing against him...it had been a long time since he’d felt that.
“Clover?”
“Yes?” She lifted her head and met his eyes. Their faces were only inches apart.
“How about I kiss you? And after I kiss you, then you can tell me where you think I should sleep tonight. What do you think about that?”
“I... I think that’s a good idea,” she said.
“Great. I’m going to kiss you now. You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
He leaned in and she raised her hand to stop him.
“What?” he asked, pulling back.
“I was trying to remember my breath situation. I had gum about an hour ago. I think I’m okay.”
“You’re okay, I promise. Now are you ready?”
“Ready now,” she said. “Go for it.”
“I’m going for it. Right now. This second.” Except he wasn’t because he remembered he hadn’t kissed a woman on the mouth in over a year and he wondered if he’d forgotten how. To stall for time, he put his hands on Clover’s waist and positioned her between his knees. She put her hands on his shoulders and he wished he’d taken his coat off so he could feel her body heat better.
“Did you do it?” Clover asked. “I might have blinked and missed it.”
“Hold your horses. I’m getting there. Just lining up my target. I want to make sure I don’t miss. That would be embarr—”
Clover put her lips on his. Thank God one of them finally did it, he thought. But that’s all she did, put her lips on his. She wasn’t actually kissing him. She was leaning her mouth against his. He would have laughed but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Nothing for it, he’d have to kiss her back.
He wrapped both arms around her and drew her against him. Slowly and softly he moved his mouth over her lips as he ran his hands up and down her back. Her lips were warm against his and full and tender and he wanted to bite them but decided to maybe wait on the biting until later. It wasn’t an electric kiss but he did feel something warm in the pit of his stomach and that warmth was getting warmer with every passing second. Clover opened her mouth.
Not warm.
Hot.
Very hot...
He slipped his tongue gently between her lips and Clover murmured a sweet sensual sound of pleasure and approval. He kissed her a little harder, pulled her a little closer. Her hands moved from his shoulders to the back of his neck. Good sign. She wanted to touch him. And he definitely wanted to touch her. What was with this damn hoodie? Was it made of wool? He couldn’t even feel her heat through it. Stupid sensible wardrobe. He wanted this woman naked or at least in a T-shirt. He gave a little sigh of frustration and Clover pulled back from the kiss.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, wide-eyed.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“You put on appropriate fall clothing this morning. Why did you do such a thing?”
“It’s fall.”
“No excuse.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You’re already trying to get me naked?” she asked.
“Not naked. Just less clothed. Can we get rid of this hoodie? I can’t even feel your bra strap through it.”
“You’re the one wearing the big coat.”
“I can take my coat off. I can take off anything you want if it’ll get you to kiss me again.”
“You liked it?” she asked.
He nodded. Vigorously.
She smiled, her skin pinking again. God, she was pretty.
“I liked it, too. A lot. A whole lot.”
“Enough to invite me home tonight?”
“If we do...does that mean you’ll expect, you know.”
“Sex?”
“That.”
“No. I’m not going to expect sex from a woman too nervous to say the word sex to me.”
“Sex. Sex, sex, sex. I’m not nervous. I’m just...”
“What?”
“Nervous. Yes. You got me. I am nervous. I feel like I know you really well because of Ruthie and everything she’s told me about you. But you and I don’t actually know each other that well because...”
“Of Ruthie. I know. I get it,” he said. “I would like to get to know you a lot better. Especially if it means more kissing. Et cetera.”
“Do you want to spend the night at my house? I won’t guarantee there’ll be more than kissing but there’ll definitely be kissing. And lots of it.”
“I’d like that,” he said. “I would like that very much.” He took her hand in his and squeezed it. Her hand trembled. She really was nervous. More reason to spend as much time together as possible. Nobody would believe they were a real couple if she was this nervous around him.
“Okay. You have my address in your pocket. I’ll head home and you come by whenever you’re ready. You know, after you find a twenty-four-hour UPS store.”
“Ruthless will have to wait for her phone until Tuesday. Serves her right for setting her old man up.”
“You’re not an old man. You’re only thirty-eight, right?”
“Yeah, but in parent-of-a-teenager years, I’m ninety-eight.”
“You look great for your age.”
“You look great, period.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. It was the only part of his hand soft enough to touch a soft part of her.
“You’re too good at making me blush,” she said. “I hate being so pale.”
“It’s fun. I can see when I’m getting to you. It’s like an indicator light.”
“I think my indicator light says, ‘Engine needs servicing.’”
“God, I’d love to service your engine.”
She groaned in horrified amusement.
“I don’t even know what that means,” he said, “but I’m pretty sure it was dirty.”
“I kind of hope it was,” she said.
“Can I sleep in your bed with you tonight?” he asked. “No sex necessary. Just sleep. I’d like to get comfortable with you.”
“I would...yeah. I would like that, too.”
“Great. I’ll be right over after I get some stuff at my house. An hour. No later.”
He hopped off the desk and walked to the door.
“Erick?” Clover said.
“Yeah?”
She walked over to him and put her hand on the back of his neck again. She was a good height, perfect height for kissing while standing, which he discovered when she kissed him once more.
“Okay,” he said when she stepped back.
“Okay, what?”
“Okay, I won’t be over in an hour. I’ll be over in half an hour.”
“Don’t rush,” she said. “I want to take a shower and change the sheets on the bed.”
“Take your time.” He kissed her on the cheek and went to leave again. But he stopped and looked back at her.
“Ruthie and I drive each other crazy but she’s my daughter and she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. She doesn’t need to know all the dirty details about her father’s personal life, but I wouldn’t feel right keeping this a secret from her. It would really hurt her if I didn’t tell her something.”
“You’re absolutely right. She may act like she’s thirty-seven, but she is still seventeen. She should hear it from you.”
“I’ll call it a date. Can we call it a date?”
“Yes, you can call it a date.”
“I’m glad she forgot her phone,” he said, putting “forgot” into quotes.
“She’s a smart girl.”
“Sexist,” Erick said.
“She’s a smart fellow American,” Clover said, laughing. “Even if she can’t mind her own business.”
“Better me than Sven,” Erick said. “I’ll give your money back at the end of the week if you’re not satisfied.”
“Sounds like a very good deal especially since I’m not paying you.”
He zipped up his coat and patted his pocket to make sure Ruthie’s phone and Clover’s address were still there. “You need me to pick up anything before I come over?” he asked. “Food? Wine? Whips? Chains? Condoms?”
“I’m on the pill,” she said. “Heavy periods. Sorry. TMI.”
“I have a teenage daughter. You’re going to have to do better than heavy periods to TMI me. And I’m buying condoms, anyway. Not because we have to use them. Just because I want someone to know I might be getting laid this week.”
“I’m allergic to latex.”
“It’s okay. I’m so clean it’s depressing.”
“We’ll talk about it. Later. We’re just sleeping tonight. Right?”
“Right. Just sleeping. And kissing.”
“That, too.”
He started to leave.
“But maybe more than kissing,” she said.
He didn’t answer. He just walked out the door before he walked back to her and kissed her for a good three or four hours. Soon as he was in the cold night air on the way to his truck he pulled his own phone out of his pocket and sent a text message to Candace, his ex-wife.
Give your daughter a message for me, he wrote. Tell her she’s in trouble.
For what? Candace wrote back. She should know better by now than to ask that question.
She’ll know what I mean.
I’ll tell her. Anything else?
Yeah, Erick wrote. Tell her thank you.
