Taking Turns (Turning #1)(77)

“I’m late, Chella. But I’ll see you tonight, OK? One last Christmas party, then we’re done.” He winks at me. “Until New Year’s. But we’ll talk about that later.” One more quick kiss and then he’s gone, closing the bathroom door behind him as he gets ready for work.

“Work?” Smith mumbles beside me. “Really? Why the f*ck do you work, Chella?”

“I like work,” I say, turning my body towards his.

“We could stay here in bed all damn day.”

“I’m pretty sure the rules are back the minute Bric leaves.”

“Mmm-hmmm,” Smith says into his pillow. “Doesn’t mean we can’t just sleep next to each other for a while.”

I don’t say anything as I picture what kind of hell that would be. I feel the need to get the f*ck out of this bed right now before I start touching him. Groping him. Wanting him.

“Unless,” he says, lifting his head just enough so he can open one eye to peek at me, “you can’t control yourself around me? I have that effect on women, so I get it. It’s OK.”

I shake my head and smile. “For real, Smith, you’re right. I think your rule sucks. I’m not even ashamed to admit it.”

He takes an interest in this revelation because he cocks that one visible eyebrow at me.

“But I don’t think you’d last long either,” I add.

He turns all the way over on his back. His dick is so hard, it’s practically sticking straight up in the air.

I roll my eyes. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“I’m so good at self-deprivation, Marcella Walcott, I could stay right here. You could play with yourself until you come on your fingers and I’d still be… right here.”

“Really?” I ask, turning on my side and propping my head on my hand. “Then why did you take me downstairs last weekend?”

He presses his lips together in a small frown. “It was a conscious choice. To piss you off.”

“Piss me off?” I laugh. “I think you failed.”

“Yeah,” he says. “I can see that now. But I really thought you’d have a little jealous streak in you. And if you saw Bric and Quin f*cking that girl, you’d walk out.”

I just stare at him.

“But you didn’t. So either you have no jealous streak or you’re here for some reason we don’t know about yet. Which one is it?”

“I’m not the jealous type,” I say without missing a beat.

Smith smiles. “Good. Because I’m bringing another woman to your house to live with me.”

“What?” I ask.

But Smith is already getting out of bed. “I got shit to do today,” he says, already reaching down for his pants on the floor. “So I’m gonna head out. Tell Bric I’m looking forward to tonight.”

“You are not moving another woman into my house, Smith Baldwin. I’m f*cking serious.”

“Not jealous, huh?” he asks, looking at me sideways.

“It’s got nothing to do with jealousy,” I say, sitting up on the bed, kneeling. “It’s my house, not yours. You can have all the extra whores you want, but not at my house.”

Smith just smiles as he slips his shirt on, looking down at his fingers as they button it up.

“I’m serious. I better not get home tomorrow and find another woman in my house, Smith.”

He knots his tie, still smiling, staring straight at me as he tucks his shirt into his pants and zips them up.

“You’re f*cking with me, aren’t you?”

“Not jealous?” he says. “No, you are. So why didn’t you get mad when you saw Bric and Quin with another woman?”

I huff out some air. “I don’t even know them.”

“How about I don’t move her into your house? How about I just bring her along during our time together? So I can f*ck her. You know, since I can’t f*ck you. Would that work for you?”

“You’re not going to do that.”

“I’m not?” Smith asks, sitting down on the chair to slip his shoes on. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re getting f*cked by Quin when I’m not around.”

“It’s not the same. If you want her as part of our arrangement, then we should all agree. I’m not the one who made the rules for Quin.”

“OK,” Smith says, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair and slipping it on. “I’m up for a renegotiation. I’ll call the meeting for Friday. We can all discuss.”

I just stare at him.

“Unless you’d rather not, Chella.”

“I’d rather not. If you’re serious, and I’m not sure you are. I think you’re playing with me because it makes you mad that I’m not the jealous type.”

He walks around the bed, fully dressed now, and stops in front of me, then leans down, takes my face in his hands, and kisses me. Not a long one or a passionate one. Just a kiss goodbye. “You’re the jealous type, Chella. And if you don’t admit it right now, I will be bringing that girl to your house tonight. She might even be there tomorrow when you get home. I might be f*cking her when you get there.”

He’s such a liar.

“And,” Smith continues, “you can think I’m joking, or just playing with you all you want. But everything I just said will turn out to be true.”