On Dublin Street(50)

He’d made his point.


My useless limbs didn’t protest when I found myself in his arms again.


Spooning.


“Night, babe,” his voice rumbled in my ear.


“Night,” I mumbled, my eyes fluttering closed.


Then it was lights out.


~13~


I was lying, staring at my ceiling, feeling the twinge between my legs and the ache in my muscles when I moved.


I’d had the best sex of my life last night.


With Braden Carmichael.


And then we’d spooned. I frowned at that, my head turning on the pillow to eye the empty spot beside me on the mattress. I didn’t like the idea of spooning being part of the deal, but since it came with added benefits, I was going to swallow my discomfort and deal with it. Especially since Braden had done the right thing and left without waking me.


That screamed, ‘just sex!’


This could work. I could do this.


The sound of a cupboard shutting in the kitchen drew me up out of bed, my heart picking up speed. Was Ellie home? And then my eyes fell to the end of the bed. Braden’s shirt. He’d picked it up off the floor. I checked my alarm clock. Eight o’ clock.


Shit. He was still here. What was he doing here? Didn’t he have work? Irritation niggled its way into my blood, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot as I hopped out of bed, digging out a tank top and pajama shorts. On the move, I twisted my hair into a messy ponytail and went to deal with him.


I stopped short at the kitchen doorway and felt that all too familiar squeeze of lust. Standing pouring milk into two mugs of coffee, Braden was hot. He had pulled on his suit pants but was of course shirtless. The muscles in his broad shoulders moved as he did and I couldn’t help but remember how good they felt moving underneath my hands.


“Two sugars, right?” he asked before looking over his shoulder with a small smile.


That smile hit me in the chest like a punch. It was intimate. It was affectionate.


It hurt like hell. My expression hardened. “What are you still doing here?”


“Making coffee.” He shrugged, adding the sugar and stirring.


“Don’t you have work?”


“I have a meeting in a few hours. I have time for coffee.” He smiled again as he crossed the kitchen to hand me my drink, my hand wrapping around the hot mug just as his mouth came down on mine. Addicted to the taste of him, I kissed him back. It wasn’t a long kiss. Short but sweet. When he pulled back I was scowling.


Braden sighed and took a sip of his coffee before asking, “What now?”


“You’re still here.” I turned on my heel and headed into the sitting room, tucking my foot underneath me as I curled into the corner of the couch. Braden sank into the armchair and I tried not to ogle him. My scowl deepened. “And you’re shirtless.”


His mouth quirked up at the corner like he knew exactly what the sight of him half-naked did to me. “I need coffee before I can function, and since I was making coffee for myself I thought I’d make one for you.”


“Surely you can function enough without coffee to call a cab?”


“And we need to talk,” he added, as if I hadn’t said anything.


I groaned and took a big gulp of hot coffee. “About what?”


“About your shifts at the bar for one thing. I might need you to accompany me on weekend nights. Any way you can see about having your shifts changed?”


I answered with a saccharine smile.


Braden raised an eyebrow. “Is that a yes or a no?”


“That’s a big, fat hell no. Braden, I’m not changing my schedule for you.” I shrugged. “Look, I’ll meet you halfway at best. If you have somewhere you want me to be and you give me plenty of notice, I’ll make a shift swap.”


He nodded. “Sounds good.”


“Is that it? Are we done?”


His eyes narrowed and I felt a sudden change in the air. Braden leaned forward and I leaned further back into the couch even though there was a coffee table between us. “Stop treating me like a one-night stand you can’t get rid of, Jocelyn. It’s getting on my last nerve.”


I was seriously confused. “You said this was just sex.”


“I also said we were friends and you agreed. Are you this rude to all your friends?”


“Sometimes.” He gave me a warning look and I exhaled heavily. “Look, I just don’t want this to get complicated. Don’t you think spooning and then making me coffee in the morning is a little…”


“A little what?”


“Uch.” If he was going to be obtuse about it, I was giving up. “I don’t know.”


Braden put his mug down and stood up, coming towards me slowly. My eyes followed him half-warily, half-lustily, my gaze trailing up his six-pack to his throat. I really wanted to kiss his throat. He sat down, close, his arm reaching along the back of the couch so I was caged in. “I’ve never done this before. I’ll bet that you haven’t either. So, let’s play it by ear. No rules. No preconceived ideas of how this should be. Let’s just do what feels natural.”