by Shen, L. J.
“Thanks. I’ll be right out.” I head into her bedroom and shut the door behind me.
Curious, I take a moment to look around her room before I make the call. It’s feminine and neat, no surprise there. Pink, black, and white bedding. A million decorative pillows perfectly placed. One nightstand stacked with books, the other holding only a lamp, which is on. I lower myself to a bench at the foot of her bed and call my sister.
“Hello?” She already sounds peeved.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Let me guess—you’re not coming.”
“Laura, the weather’s terrible! I can’t drive in this.”
“How convenient.”
“Look, I wanted to come this year. I really did.”
“It’s like you knew I was planning to set you up tonight!”
“Set me up?” I frown. “With who?”
“I forget her name. She’s a friend of Reid Fortino’s fiancée.”
“Who the fuck is Reid Fortino?”
“God, you don’t remember anybody! He’s a co-worker of mine, and you’ve met him at least five times.”
“Oh. Well, thanks but no thanks. I don’t need to be set up.”
“Michael, you can’t keep turning down every single girl I send your way!”
“Um, yes. I can, actually.” In the living room, I can hear Harlow singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and it makes me smile because it’s so off key.
“You’re going to wind up old and alone.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.” I get up and open the door to peek at Harlow, stifling my laughter at the sight of her stringing Christmas lights around her body.
“Good Lord, what’s that noise? Did you adopt a sickly cat?”
“No,” I tell her, quickly shutting the door again. “It’s a neighbor singing. I have to go.”
Laura sighs dramatically. “What am I supposed to say to this girl if she shows up hoping to meet the man of her dreams?”
“Say Merry Christmas. Pass her the cheese plate.”
“You’re a big jerk,” she huffs. “I’m giving your present to somebody else. And if that girl shows up and she’s perfect, you’ll be sorry you’re not here.”
“I’ll take my chances,” I tell her. “Bye, sis. Sorry to miss the party. Give my apologies to Mom and Dad, and I’ll see you guys soon.” I end the call and hurry out of the bedroom.
The perfect girl is already mine tonight.
5
Harlow
Michael shuts the door to my bedroom, leaving me alone in the living room. I can’t help dancing around as I admire my tree and start hanging ornaments on its branches.
“I’m sorry I called you evil,” I tell it softly. “You’re the perfect tree, and I’m having the perfect night.”
Opening up a box of lights, I wonder who Michael had to call. For a second, a wave of fear rushes through me as I imagine him calling his girlfriend—or wife!—making up some lame excuse why he’s going to be home late. But before I panic completely, I remember that he said his sister is having a party tonight. He was probably calling her to say he can’t make it because of the weather.
Scolding myself for assuming the worst, I sing along with the soundtrack to the holiday romance on the TV as I unwind the lights. Not everyone is a two-timing asshole like my ex, and I have to get over it and start trusting people again—like the hot, sexy man in a suit who rescued me this evening. The one in my bedroom.
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas,” I croon loudly, even though I am a terrible singer and Willow says I really should not ever sing in public. “Let your heart be liiiiiiiiight.” I loop a strand of lights around my waist and toss one end over my shoulder, twirling in circles. “From now on our troubles will be out of sight.”
“Wow.” Michael shuts the bedroom door behind him, his expression amused. “That’s quite the vocal talent you have there.”
I laugh. “I happen to have many talents. Singing, alas, is not one of them.”
“I gathered that conclusion from the next room.”
“Everything okay?” I glance at the phone in his hand as he walks towards me.
“Everything is great.” He tosses the phone onto the couch next to his coat. “I am not expected anywhere else tonight.”
“Perfect.” I can’t keep the smile off my face as I twirl around, showing off the lights I’m wearing. “I was just about to test these and make sure they work.”
He puts his hands on my hips and pulls me closer. “Want me to try to turn you on?”
“Yes, please.” I lift my lips to his and he kisses me, and I would not have been surprised if every damn bulb on the string lit up just from the current between us.
His mouth moves down my throat, sending sparks to the farthest reaches of my body. His hands slip beneath my tank top and slide up my sides. His breathing grows heavier as his palms move down the back of my shorts and grip my ass. He pulls me against him, and I can feel how hard he is. My belly hollows, and my core muscles clench.
I reach down between us and run my hand over the warm, hard length of him, and my legs go weak. Is it wrong that I want this near-stranger to fuck me senseless tonight?
“How am I doing?” he whispers, his breath warm on my neck. “Are you turned on yet?”
“Um, yes—and then some.” I want to move into my bedroom, but I worry it might be too forward. Luckily, he’s not nearly so concerned.
“Think the tree will mind if we give it some alone time?”
“Not at all,” I reply, a little breathless. “Want to—”
But before I can finish my invitation, he scoops me up and carries me toward my room, throwing open the door and then laying me down across the foot of my bed. My heart pounds wildly as he closes the door, returns to the bed, and removes my glasses, setting them aside on the nightstand. I’m happy the lamp is on, so I can see him, but I’m still freaking out a little.
“I’ve never done this before,” I blurt. “Brought someone into my bedroom the first night I met him.”
“I’ve never done this before either,” he says, holding up one end of the stand of lights wound around my body. “Removed Christmas tree lights from someone in bed.”
“I’m a different kind of girl,” I tell him, giggling as he unwinds the string and drops it to the floor.
He loosens the knot in his tie and stretches out above me. “I like that. I like everything about you, Harlow North.”
“Even though I’m clueless about Christmas trees?”
“If you weren’t, I wouldn’t be here.” He grabs my tank and lifts it over my head, revealing a red lace bra that is more decorative than anything else. His bright sapphire eyes pop. “And I’m really fucking glad to be here right now.”
I smile as I wrap my legs around him. “Good.”
We make out just like that for a good long while, and I can’t believe how hot it is—the material of his dress shirt against my chest, the way his cock rubs against me through layers of clothing, the way I’m nearly naked but he’s still wearing a fucking tie.
He moves his body over mine in a way that lets me know exactly how good it would feel if we got rid of all the barriers between us. I’m not exactly sure how far we’re going to take this, but it’s not long before he’s got me panting and writhing beneath the weight of his body, frustrated by the need to get closer to him.
How bad would it be to have sex with a stranger? I mean, is he still a stranger? I know his last name, right? And I know where—roughly—he lives. We’re practically neighbors! And I know he’s the kind of guy to rescue a damsel with a tree in distress on a snowy December night …
Good enough for me.
Apparently he’s feeling the same way, because just as I’m about to swallow my pride and reach for his belt, he picks up his head and says, “Hey, before this goes any farther, I just want you to know, you can tell me to stop at any time.”
“Okay.”
“So,�
� he says, kissing his way down my chest, “do you want me to stop?”
“Not even one little bit.”
He looks up at me, his mouth hooking into a smoldering crooked grin. “Good.”
He takes his time.
I don’t know whether he’s worried he’ll never see me again or really does just want to lavish every inch of my skin with attention, but he undresses me with an agonizing lack of haste—first my shorts, then the bra, then finally the matching panties, which make him groan when he sees them.
“Did you know what you were doing?” he demands, moving down so his head was between my legs. “Did you put these on knowing they’d drive me crazy?”
“Maybe,” I tease.
“You are definitely on the naughty list,” he tells me, and then his hands are pushing my thighs apart and his mouth is on me and I can feel his lips and tongue making me wet right through the lace. Eventually he drags them down my legs and tosses them aside, circling his tongue right over my clit until I’m so close to orgasm I could weep. He drives me to the brink of insanity, taking me right to the edge of a climax I’m desperate for, and then backs off again.
“Please,” I whisper, clawing at my comforter.
“Please what? You have to ask for it.”
“Please let me come.”
“Do you think a naughty girl like you deserves it?” he asks, sliding two fingers inside me.
“Yes!” I cry out, both in pleasure and in answer to his question.
He laughs and gives me what I want with his mouth and his hand and tongue and I’m rocking my hips beneath him, shameless and needy and moaning so loud I’m positive the neighbors can hear me.
But I don’t care—it’s the best orgasm I’ve ever had.
When my body stops its rapturous pulsing, I push his head away and scoot back. “Stop, stop,” I say, totally out of breath. “I can’t take any more.”
“Oh, but you will.” Michael stands up and removes his cufflinks, and it’s so fucking hot watching him, my toes curl. When he pulls out the knot in his tie, I bite my lip. He’s just starting to unbutton his shirt when I hear a voice in the living room.
“Harlow? Where are you?”
Michael and I exchange a surprised look.
“Expecting company?” he asks, his hands paused.
“No!” I stage whisper. “It sounds like my boss, but I have no idea what she could be doing here!”
“How did she get in?”
“She must have kept a key. This used to be her place, remember?”
“Hey!” Willow knocks on my bedroom door. “You in there? Get dressed, we’re going out!”
“Um, one second!” I scramble to find clothes as Michael laughs silently, shaking his head. “I’ll be right out.”
I manage to tug on underwear, my shorts and tank, and a robe that was hanging on the back of my door in about ten seconds. Putting a finger over my lips, I look at Michael, and he nods. Then I open the bedroom door just enough to slide out, pulling it shut right behind me.
Willow is standing in my living room, hands on her hips. “That’s not what I had in mind for a festive holiday party outfit,” she says. “Can you put something else on? And maybe brush your hair?”
I pat my bedhead hair and tighten the robe around me. “What festive holiday party?”
“It’s a Christmas party hosted by Laura Thompson from Reid’s office, and it’s always super fun. Plus, there’s someone there who wants to meet you.”
“Who?”
“A guy.” Willow’s expression is sly. “Laura Thompson’s little brother. She showed me his photo last year and he’s hot as hell. I know he’d be perfect for you. I don’t need to remind you that I’m a spectacular matchmaker, do I?”
“No, but—”
“Then hurry up, we’re already late. Reid’s waiting for us in the lobby.”
The last thing I want to do is leave my apartment to go meet someone’s little brother at a Christmas party. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not feeling well.”
“You’re feeling fine, you’re just depressed. Although nicely done on the Christmas tree.” Willow gestures toward the spruce in the corner. “That’s a step in the right direction.”
“I’m not depressed, I swear. And you have to go now.” Taking her by the shoulders, I spin her around and walk her toward the door. “Bye. Say hi to Reid. Have fun at the party.”
Willow sighs as she steps into the hallway. “Fine. But if that super hot guy is there and asks about you, you’ll be sorry you spent the entire night holed up in this apartment.”
“Maybe.”
“You can’t just retreat, Harlow. You have to go after love if you want to find it. You’re not just going to look up and find it standing there.”
It almost makes me burst out laughing. Maybe I hadn’t found love tonight standing there in the lobby, but I had found a damn good time. “Night, Willow. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Drive carefully in this weather, okay?”
Before she can try to drag me out again, I shut the door in her face, put the chain on, and rush back into my bedroom.
I close the door, toss my robe aside and lean back against the wood. It feels extra cool because I’m still burning up from that orgasm. “Hi.”
Michael smiles. “Hi. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, my boss was just … it doesn’t matter.”
“Come here,” Michael says crooking his finger at me.
6
Michael
While Harlow stepped out to deal with whomever it was that stopped by, I lay there trying to make sense of what the hell is happening.
How did this girl, whom I just met, manage to get me to break all of my rules? I never fuck on the first date. And I usually spend a good amount of time making sure I don’t end up with a stage-five clinger.
Still, I can’t seem to help myself.
“Kiss me,” I demand.
And she does.
It takes me no time to get hard again. The second I saw those brown eyes after she closed the door, flushed and still glowing a little after she came on my tongue—it’s all I need. She tastes like sugar and spice and everything fucking fantastic.
“You have too much on,” Harlow says as she stands at the edge of the bed right between my legs.
“Yeah?”
“Definitely.”
“Well, what are you going to do about it?”
She grins. “I’m thinking that maybe we should remove some of it.”
“Just maybe?”
Her fingers move to the buttons of my dress shirt. She slowly pushes each one out of its hole, moving down lower and lower. I groan as she lets her nails scrape down my undershirt, loving the way her breath hitches when she feels the muscles beneath.
Harlow drops to her knees. “I need to be eye level,” she murmurs, her voice thick with desire. I swear, I’m going to blow like a teen on prom night if she wraps that fuckable mouth around my cock.
I close my eyes for a second, thinking of anything unsexy to try to get a grip.
Spiders. Pizza. Elephants.
Then she makes a low moan and there’s not a damn thing I can think of to reduce how fucking turned on I am.
“Promise me you’re not crazy,” I find myself saying, because this girl is pretty damn perfect. Not that I think crazy people realize they’re nuts, but I’m praying she’s not. My last girlfriend was a money-grubbing bitch. All she wanted was the family money and status.
It’s why I’ve sworn off dating anyone who knows who the hell I am.
Michael West, heir to the West Investment millions.
She looks up through her sooty lashes. “I’m not. Promise me you’re not an asshole who is going to treat me like a pariah tomorrow.”
I take her chin in my hand, forcing her to look at me. “I promise.”
“Good, then you’re still overdressed and I’m very much wanting to get back where we were.”
“Me too, baby.”
Fuck, I’m callin
g her baby. And not in that condescending way that some dudes do. The way I say it is like all that happened tonight was what was meant to. Like some fucking Christmas miracle is happening and Santa brought me exactly what I asked for.
A beautiful girl with red bra and panties that I want to ride all night.
Harlow goes for the button of my pants and I stand. That right there is a sight. She’s on her knees in front of me, the perfect height to take my cock right now.
And then she brings her face right there. She hooks her fingers in my pants, taking the boxer briefs down with her.
“Merry Christmas to me,” she says with a look of awe.
Yeah, that’s every man’s fantasy right here. A girl who looks just as turned on to suck my dick as she was when I was eating her out.
“I think we were both on the nice list,” I say as I run my fingers through her hair.
“Let’s find out.”
Harlow doesn’t hesitate. Her perfect lips wrap around my dick and she takes me deep. “Fuck.” I let out a groan, head falling back as she sucks.
I’ve always been more of a giver when it comes to sex. I get turned on by the woman getting off, and I love nothing more than pushing her past her limits. Right now, though, it’s really nice to receive. Her hot mouth is exactly where I want to be. Harlow’s fingernails scrape against my thigh, sending a myriad of sensations through my body.
She bobs her head up and down, and then I slip my fingers in her silky brown hair. “Let me fuck your mouth.”
Harlow moans and I take that as permission to do as I please. God, this is best fucking night.
I start to move my hips, her hands now gripping my ass. “You look so hot on your knees with my cock in your mouth.”
She takes me even deeper and the surprise of it almost makes me lose it.
I jerk my hips back, not wanting to come too early and then I pull her up. “I want you.”
“I want you too.”
“We can stop now.” I give her another out.
Harlow’s big brown eyes are filled with desire. “No, no stopping.”