“Yeah, Ben’s coming by when he gets changed after work,” Layla said.
Emma gave a small squeal. “Ben? You’re still seeing him, then?”
“I haven’t scared him off yet … This place smells less like piss than it did the first time I saw it, Em.”
“I’ve been here cleaning every day,” Emma said. “Cole comes after work. It’s way more work than we realized.”
“Well, it’s looking a lot better.”
The creak of the ancient front door opening made them both turn that way, and Cole smiled as he came in.
“Hey,” Emma said, smiling broadly.
“Hi, babe.” Cole crossed the open wood floor and kissed Emma. “Hey, Layla.”
“Hi.” Layla dipped her roller into the paint tray. “You’re sure you want me to do this? I’ve never painted anything but my nails.”
“Go for it,” Emma said. “There’s a drop cloth.”
Cole started cooing at Emma and Layla turned toward the wall to roll her eyes. Those two were a bit much. She thought about the real estate purchase contract she needed to finish at work. The firm’s client was doing a land swap for a downtown parcel, and it was a fairly complex deal. Though she enjoyed the challenge, she’d been having a nagging restlessness over working for corporations lately. All she really got out of it was money.
An arm reached around her waist and Layla jumped. She knew from the familiar feel of the hard chest against her back that it was Ben.
“Hey,” he said, his breath warm on her ear.
“Hi.” She crouched to set the paint roller in its tray and smiled when she looked up and saw all his large arm muscles, thanks to his old gray Chicago Marathon t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. She checked out the rest of him and paused for an extra second on his large thigh muscles, which bulged in his black athletic shorts.
She stood, tilting her chin up, and Ben took the hint, bending down to kiss her. Layla wrapped her arms around his neck, reveling in his sandalwood scent.
When they pulled apart, she reached for his hand and led him to the other side of the cavernous room, where Cole and Emma were painting.
“Guys, this is Ben,” she said.
“Ben, it’s so great to meet you!” Emma said warmly, reaching up to hug him. “Wow, you’re tall!”
Layla’s eyes shot to Cole, and from his glare she was sure he liked seeing Emma hug Ben about as much as she did.
“So this is the future bakery?” Ben asked, sliding an arm around Layla’s waist.
Emma’s eyes glistened with her usual enthusiasm. “Yes! What do you think?”
Ben studied the high ceiling and considered. “Looks like plaster and lathe, how old is it?”
“Um, I don’t know,” Emma said.
“Are you using a contractor?”
“There’s nothing here we can’t handle,” Cole said, moving to stand next to Emma.
“That’s good, it’ll save money,” Ben said. “You do wiring?”
Cole looked reluctant. “No.”
“Have you had it looked at?”
“No, should we?” Emma looked concerned, and Cole glared at Ben.
“You mind if I look at your meter and breaker box?” Ben asked.
“I thought you were a cop.” Cole narrowed his eyes skeptically.
“I am, but I worked for a building contractor summers in college,” Ben said, walking across the vacant room. “This the door to the basement?”
“Yeah, I’ll go down with you,” Emma said.
Layla didn’t even want to know what was in the basement of the building that was a poster child for condemnation. Probably stuff with lots of legs. She kept painting in slow, even strokes, hearing Ben and Emma walk back up from the basement and into the kitchen.
They came back in after a few minutes, and Emma’s brows were furrowed.
“What’s the matter?” Cole asked, walking to her side.
“I just … I think I might have been a little too impulsive about this building,” she said, rubbing her temple.
Cole shot Ben a dirty look.
“Look, it might not be a big deal, I just think you need to get it looked at,” Ben said to Emma.
“What?” Layla asked, putting down her roller and walking over to them.
“If this is gonna be a bakery, she’s gonna need to upgrade the electrical service,” Ben said. “Between air conditioning and commercial ovens, there’s no way the service here will be enough. And I saw knob and tube wiring in the basement, which won’t get past inspection.”
Emma groaned and rubbed her temple some more.
“But you guys knew you’d have to put money into this place,” Layla said. “It’s a disaster. Maybe you should get a contractor to manage the remodel.”
“I don’t have a contractor or new wiring in the budget!” Emma’s eyes were huge and brimming with tears.
“Wait a minute, we can manage this on our own,” Cole said, reaching for Emma’s shoulders. “You can’t let this guy come in here and tell you we need an electrician and just take it at face value.”
Ben arched his brows at Layla and gave her a small grin. He wasn’t ruffled by Cole’s rudeness, but she was.
“He knows what he’s talking about,” she said sharply. “You two don’t know shit about remodeling an old building. You should have done due diligence and you didn’t, and you’re just pissed that you’re getting called on it, Cole.”
“What?” Cole’s face twisted with anger as he turned to Layla, glaring.
“Okay, let’s all keep cool,” Ben said, his arm brushing against Layla’s as he moved closer to her. “Tensions can run high when you’re under stress, and opening a business is stressful. I shouldn’t have offered my opinion when you didn’t ask for it. I’ll just paint with Layla.”
“No, I’m glad you said something,” Emma said, sighing.
“What qualifies him?” Cole asked Emma, his voice still agitated.
“He’s done all this before on house construction,” she said. “And he owns apartments and does all the work himself.”
“You do?” Layla turned to Ben.
“Just the building I live in,” he said. “It’s a four-plex and I live in one of them.”
“I want to call an electrician,” Emma said to Cole in a low voice.
“Okay, we will.”
“We’re just gonna paint,” Layla said, pulling Ben by the hand. He gave her an apologetic look as she handed him an unused roller.
“Looks like I made quite an impression with your family,” he said.
“Cole’s not family,” Layla said. “And Emma needed your advice. I believe in telling it like it is.”
“I believe I’d like to know what you’ve got on under those sweats.” Ben gave her a sexy smile, and Layla flushed under his gaze.
“Maybe you can come home with me later and find out.”
“Maybe?” Ben’s voice was amused.
“If you’re good.”
“Guess you’ll have to go to bed alone, then, because you don’t make me want to be good.”
“Is that right?” Layla’s body heated as Ben reached around her hips to pull her close.
“Oh, yeah,” he said in a low tone. “If it was my two weeks, you’d be getting fucked more than once tonight. Bet you’re glad you don’t have to deal with that.”
“You guys don’t have to stay if you’d rather . . . do something else,” Emma called from across the room. “Really, you can paint another night.”
“No, we’re painting,” Layla said, breaking away from Ben and reaching for a new roller. He winked when she handed it to him and she felt the burn of his sexual energy coursing into her.
She forced her mind back to the land swap deal as she painted what had to be the biggest wall in all of modern architecture. Aggravation set in when she stepped back after 45 minutes and saw that Ben had covered more than twice as much space as she had.
“You guys have brushes?” Ben yelled to Emma and Cole.
“Back in the kitchen,” Emma called from atop the ladder she was painting from. Ben walked that way, and Layla decided to follow him and check out the kitchen since she hadn’t seen it yet.
Ben was sorting through a pile of brushes when she entered. It was a wide open room, with dilapidated counters along one wall and not much else. Layla wondered how Cole and Emma were going to transform this space into a kitchen.
“Wow, this is quite a project,” she said.
“Yeah. My building needed a gut reno when I bought it,” Ben said. “Took me six months.”
“What made you want to do all that work?”
He shrugged as he selected a brush from the pile. “I like working with my hands, and it gives me financial security. It was a good investment.”
“You like working with your hands?” Layla approached him with a coy smile.
“I can do some pretty great things with my hands, boss. Want me to show you?”
Layla was sure her face gave away her answer as she gazed up at him from just a foot away. She reached up to the taut ridges of his biceps, and as soon as her fingertips touched his skin, Ben scooped his hands beneath her ass and picked her up, his mouth crushing into hers as he pulled her body against his.
She moaned against his lips, surprised by his force. He carried her to the counter, sitting her on it, his lips never leaving hers. He wound one of his hands around her ponytail, tugging it back to expose her neck and chest. His mouth slowly worked its way from her lips to her jaw line before he kissed her neck with an intensity that made Layla wrap her legs around his waist, pulling his hips against her.
His other hand had wandered beneath her shirt, and he teased one of her nipples with his fingertips. He was gentle at first, but then he squeezed so hard Layla gasped, the scruff on his cheeks scratching her neck at the same time.
When Ben scooped a hand over her ass again and pulled her body tightly against his, Layla felt his hard erection pressing against her stomach through his jeans. She reached for his cheeks, wanting to kiss him deeper, get closer. Something about knowing he wanted her so badly made her even hotter that wanting him did.
“You feel so fucking good, Layla,” he said, his voice a rough growl against her lips.
“Ben—”
“Oh, sorry.” The unexpected sound of another voice made them both freeze.
Layla looked around Ben’s shoulder and saw Cole looking embarrassed as he studied the floor. Ben pulled away, disappointment etched on his face.
“Um, we were just . . . catching up,” Layla said, sliding down from the counter. She had a flash of déjà vu from when she’d caught Cole finger banging her sister on a kitchen counter last year.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just came in for a brush,” Cole said, crossing to the folding table they were sitting on. He grabbed one and left the room.
Layla laughed nervously when they were alone again, but Ben gave her a dark, hungry look as he adjusted himself.
“We should go finish painting,” she said.
Chapter 7
Ben hadn’t asked Layla if she wanted him to come over when they’d finished painting, he’d just automatically followed her home.
“Hope you’re hungry, I called for delivery from the 24-hour deli,” she said when he walked in her apartment. “It’ll be here soon. Do you mind waiting for it while I go take a shower?”
“No, go ahead.” He ran a hand through his hair as he sat down in a leather recliner. Tension had taken hold of his entire body. His craving for Layla was with him every day now, from the moment he woke up hard until the moment he drifted into fitful sleep.
He’d felt the primal need to get off regularly since adolescence, but had never felt that only one woman could sate it until now. It was unnerving, being under Layla’s thumb like this. It had taken every ounce of his self-control not to ravage her in the back of her sister’s bakery.
At the sound of the doorbell, he stood and adjusted himself. He grabbed his wallet and tried not to grin as a pimpled kid stared up at him from the doorway, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.
“Uh . . . order for Carson,” he said, his voice cracking.
“Yep, how much?” Ben said.
“The lady who called paid over the phone.”
Ben shook his head as he reached for the bag and handed the kid a tip. “Well, here.”
“No, she took care of that, too, sir. And she said to make sure we used light mayo, and we did. Have a nice night.”
“You, too.”
Layla emerged from the bathroom, a fluffy pink robe hanging open over a black tank top and the boxers Ben had given her. He let his mouth drop open as he studied her wet, wavy hair and bright smile. She wore dark-framed reading glasses, and there was something about seeing her so raw and fresh that made Ben want to rip the robe off her then and there.
“Let’s eat,” she said.
He knew it must seem like he was brooding as he ate the pastrami sandwich and stared at her in silence, but his thoughts had drifted to her sharp inhale when he’d pulled on her ponytail earlier this evening. He remembered her asking if he wanted to tame the untamable, and he knew he didn’t just want to tame her, he wanted to own her. He wanted to be the only one who made her breathy and hot like she’d been earlier.
“You’ll stay the night, right?” She got up from the table and didn’t even wait for his answer. “I have to go brush my teeth.”
“Where’s Prince?” Ben asked, looking around the apartment for the hound. He’d stayed the night before, too, taking Prince out when Layla fell asleep on the couch.
“With Travis and Jill.”
“How’d they get in to get him? Did you leave the door open?”
“No, they’ve got a key. They’re the only ones I gave the new key to.”
Ben stripped down to his boxers and stretched out on the silky sheets of Layla’s bed, his feet hanging off the end. He rested a forearm over his eyes, telling himself he could handle this setup for a few more days. Did Layla know how crazy she was making him?
He heard movement next to the bed and lifted his arm. Layla stood close to him, and she took her glasses off and sat them on a bedside table. She even made that look good in a naughty teacher sort of way.
They locked eyes and Ben saw something he’d never seen in Layla’s expression. She almost looked uncertain, and he reached for her hand, lacing his fingers loosely with hers. Slowly, she swung a leg up over him, climbing on top of him and settling her hips against his. Her vanilla coconut scent and the feel of her body against his made Ben’s cock spring to life.
He laid his hands on the bare skin of her thighs, stroking her gently and allowing his fingers to creep under the edge of his boxers, which it drove him wild to see on her.
Layla’s big brown eyes were full of seduction as she tipped her head back and let her hair fall behind her. She lowered herself and brushed her lips against his, running her tongue across his lower lip. He unconsciously gripped her hips and pulled her against him.
Her warm mouth trailed its way to his chin, then his neck, and soon he felt Layla nipping and licking at his chest. His breath quickened at the sensation and he slid a large hand from her hip up the length of her spine, pushing up beneath her shirt.
He felt and heard her slight moan against his chest, and the sensation shot straight to his balls. Her mouth wandered lower, to his stomach, then the waistband of his boxers, and Ben sucked in a breath of anticipation.
Lifting his head to watch her, he saw the two perfect swells of her large breasts as she lowered her full pink lips to his inner thigh, kissing it. He looked up at the ceiling and let out a ragged exhale from the feel of her mouth on him. She crept higher, and soon he felt her kissing his legs through his boxers, the fabric pulled taut by his hard cock.
As soon as she pressed her face between his legs, Ben wrapped his fingers around handfuls of the satin sheets, groaning. She reached for the waistband of his boxers and pulled them down slowly, h
er eyes widening when his cock sprang free.
He hadn’t thought this was happening tonight, but fuck, was it a nice surprise. He hoped Layla had condoms, because he didn’t. It’d been close to two months since he’d had a woman, and his cock throbbed with desire for the one whose hair was tickling against his legs as she pulled his boxers off.
Ben was breathing hard as he watched Layla climb out of bed and turn her back to him. She hooked her thumbs into the boxers she wore and slid them down her round, perfect ass cheeks. His mouth dried as he watched, entranced by the sight of her. She was going to strip for him. Fuck, yes.
She let the boxers slide down to her feet, and then she stepped out of them. Her ass was everything Ben had known it would be, but it was so much better to see it than just dream about it. Those tight, round cheeks were begging him to sink his fingers in. Then she turned around, and he let his mouth fall open as he looked at her.
She lit him on fire and melted him at the same time. He wanted to just look; to memorize every curve and line of her, but she climbed back between his legs.
“Are you sure about this, baby?” he asked softly. Layla smiled up at him coyly, her breath on his balls making them tighten until he groaned. Her tongue ran up the length of his shaft, and he ran a hand into her hair, gripping it.
She moaned as her lips slid down his throbbing length, and Ben groaned loudly as his hips pushed toward her, outside of his control.
“Fuck . . . you’ve got to stop, baby. I can’t last long like this.” His words only seemed to encourage her, and Ben twisted the sheets, his knuckles whitening, as she took nearly all of him in her mouth and started moving faster.
“Layla . . . stop. Fuck.” He reached for her shoulders and stopped her. “Come here. Get on your back. Now.”
“No. This is what I want. Let me do something that’s just for you.”
“No—”
“Yes. It’s my two weeks, remember? I want you to come in my mouth.”
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