by Selena Blake
5
The next morning, Teo sat on the edge of Jill's bed, a cup of coffee in each hand and watched her sleep. After their sex marathon, she'd taken out the remaining bobby pins to let her hair free. Now the dark tresses snaked across her pillow.
Hands pressed together like she was praying, she snuggled deeper. She was beyond beautiful. So innocent and lovely and...naked.
Down boy.
He'd given her a hell of a workout last night, but she hadn't complained. Just the opposite in fact. His chest puffed up with pride. As he watched her sleep with the sheet caressing her hip, he was tempted to put the coffee down and snuggle up behind her.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd stayed in bed all day. Did she have plans? Did she ever take a day off? Her staff seemed thoroughly capable and they'd opened her store this morning.
No one had batted an eye when he'd shown up so early, ordering two coffees to-go.
Jill stretched out a hand as if she were reaching for him. Finding the bed empty and cool, she paused and then rolled onto her back, giving him a view of her amazing tits. He'd seen enough in his day to know that hers were fake and he wondered why. She didn't seem like the type. But then, he'd only known her for three months.
There was plenty to learn, except, he was just getting on track with his business. His time was going to be dedicated to his dogs twenty-four/seven. They were keeping things casual, which, if he was honest, he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. But she hadn’t booted him out into the cold in the middle of the night, so he considered that a good sign.
“Good morning,” he said, keeping his voice soft so he wouldn't startle her.
She smiled before she opened her eyes.
“Good morning.”
She blinked up at the ceiling and then she took a deep breath. “Is that coffee?”
She sat up, not bothering with the sheet. Considering how thoroughly he'd investigated her gorgeous body last night, he was relieved that she wasn't suddenly shy.
“Yep. I asked Tracy what you like.” He handed over the mug. “Drink up before it gets cold.”
She took the cup with a grateful expression. “What time is it?”
He opened his mouth but then closed it again. He'd been in the military so long that he forgot civilians told time differently. “Seven thirty,” he amended.
Her eyes went wide and she practically tossed the coffee aside. He caught it before it teetered off the nightstand.
“I’m so late.” She started to bound out of the bed, but he put a hand on her shoulder.
“They have everything under control.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I believe Tracy’s exact words were ‘we’ve got her covered and she better not show her face till noon.’ ”
Jill sighed and her spine lost some of its rigor. “They’re the best. I don’t know how I’d survive without them.”
“You can get them a fruit basket for Christmas,” he murmured and handed her the coffee again. She took a big sip and sent him an appreciative smile.
“Thanks for this. I’m good for nothing until I’ve had at least a cup.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he said.
“I was an army brat,” she announced, a knowing twinkle in her luminous green eyes. “I speak military time.”
Just one more reason to adore her.
He took a hearty sip from his cup, pushing that line of thinking away.
“What are your plans for the day?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I could go in to work... But it seems I’ve been ordered to stay away.”
“Or?”
He sat his cup on the stack of old suitcases next to the bed.
“Or I could seduce you into the shower with me.”
He leaned across her lap, bringing her within kissing distance. She was something else. Not the least bit shy or prudish. Her free nature was refreshing.
“I like option B.”
She grinned and sat her coffee cup next to his. “I have to warn you, though. It's the world’s smallest shower.”
He brushed his lips over her shoulder and she trembled. “That's okay. Just means we'll be closer.”
She made that delicious moaning sound deep in her throat and twined her arms around his neck.
“Are you sore?” he asked and then trailed kisses up her jaw.
“A little. It was completely worth it, though.”
“Oh yeah?”
He was glad to hear that. Somewhere after he'd gone down on her he'd lost his mind and fucked her like an animal. He had no idea how long it'd gone on, but it had to have been at least an hour. The best hour of his life.
“You know you're a god in bed.”
He pulled back, brows raised. He'd never had any complaints, but... “You're really good for my ego.”
“I don’t think it needs any help.” She laughed, pecked him with a kiss and then scooted from beneath his arm. “Give me a minute.”
While she disappeared into the bathroom, he picked up his coffee cup and studied the items on the bookshelves. Pictures, mugs, a pair of baby shoes dipped in copper.
The space right outside the L-shaped bookshelf was devoted to her clothing. Two racks lined one wall. At least three dozen pair of shoes were displayed beneath and an ancient vanity sat against the other wall. She was eclectic and quirky. He liked that. He liked how she always surprised him.
He'd studied her for three months and never once suspected she had the most gorgeous tattoo across her lower back. Or that bellybutton ring. And the fact that she shaved her pussy...
Down boy.
“What'd you do with the body butter, sailor?”
He pivoted and took in the curvy bombshell standing in the bathroom doorway. Sweet Mary—
“I'll get it.”
An up close and personal shower turned to breakfast. Teo was amazed that there was no awkward morning after vibe between them. Just an easy going camaraderie and heated looks.
Breakfast turned into a game of Scrabble on her coffee table. He knew he should bug out and get back to the farm. There was a ton of work waiting for him. Kennels to build, fences to run, a house to set up. Work went slower when hands weren't as plentiful. He was unaccustomed to working without his Team.
But watching Jill strut around her loft in fuzzy socks and clingy workout pants was better than being outside in the cold, smacking his thumb with a hammer. Besides, Dylan'd offered to help out this weekend.
She settled on the opposite side of the coffee table, leaned against it with both arms which only plumped her breasts.
“You're cheating already,” he announced as he set up the board.
“How's that?”
He loved how easy going she was, how she didn't take offense and knew that he was kidding.
“You're distracting me.”
One of those perfectly plucked brows quirked up. “Oh yeah?”
She glanced at her tiles, rearranged a few and then a slow smile curved her lips.
Ugh-oh. He was starting to recognize that smile.
“What do you say we make the game a little more fun?”
“How?”
A gust of wind shook the old windows and they both looked outside to see the leafless crepe myrtles quivering in the cold. The Christmas lights danced in the daylight, as did the wreaths adorning each of the streetlights.
“Naughty words are double points.”
His gaze snapped back to her. Then he huffed out a laugh. “You are one big surprise.”
“Yeah?”
He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees to study his tiles. “Yeah. I like it.”
“Good.”
“Let's do it. You get to go first.”
“Perfect.” She purred the word and started laying down tiles.
Breast.
He felt his brows hike north.
“You're a boob man,” she quipped and jotted down her points on a notepad.
“What
makes you say that?” he asked, studying his tiles again.
“You're always staring at mine.”
He grunted; she had him there.
“Well, yours are exquisite.” Especially in those little sundresses she'd worn back in September. The thin material had left little to the imagination.
“Mine aren't real,” she said, her voice soft and dejected.
“Doesn't mean they're any less spectacular.”
He laid down the word brook.
She counted up his points and wrote the number down. But then, instead of taking a turn, she stared at him.
“What?”
“Most guys ask why I got implants.”
“I'm not most guys,” he said quickly—perhaps more sharply than he'd intended.
“No. You're certainly not.” There was something wistful, almost dreamy in her tone. Her gaze turned thoughtful.
“Besides, if you want to tell me, that's your business.”
“I was super flat,” she said, studying her pieces again. Over and over she rearranged them, checked the board, chewed her lower lip as she thought.
Free from makeup, hair down, and wearing casual clothes, she was something else. Pure, perfect, innocent. Thoroughly charming.
“Fuck”, she said and laid out her tiles. “Double points.”
He got the impression there was more to the story and she had more to say so he kept quiet and put together his next word.
“It was an ex-boyfriend's idea,” she murmured as she watched him.
He glanced up from the board. She had her chin propped in the palm of her hand and seemed lost in thought.
When Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer came on the radio she brightened a bit.
“An ex’s idea?”
She shrugged. “I complained about it one too many times I guess. He convinced me to go for it, that he'd support me, nurse me back to health and all that. At least he was honest about that part.”
Teo put down his next word.
“Nice. Double points.”
“Are you sad you had it done?”
She shook her head immediately. “No. I like that my top matches my bottom.”
He cocked his head trying to figure out what she meant.
Jill laughed softly. “I have wide hips, I know that. And I have a caboose. But when I was flat up top, I looked disproportionate and it was hard to find dresses that looked good. My tops were a size small and bottoms were a large. Major PITA.”
He laughed at her exacerbated expression. “Well, you look great.”
“Gracias. It's the boobage.”
“It's your smile.”
They sat there for several long moments, staring at each other. He was completely mesmerized. When had he ever been mesmerized by anything?
Except the connection with her was so strong, so natural and magnetic.
The spell dissolved when she looked away.
“Hoof.” She laid down the word. Triple word score too.
“Nice.”
Being with her was nice. A dream really. A reward even…for all the hours of training, planning, fighting and living on too little sleep.
6
“So where's Mr. Handsome today?” Tracy asked Monday afternoon.
Jill smiled at Tracy’s nickname for Teo. It was hard to believe that they’d been burning up the sheets for almost a week. So much for getting the SEAL out of her system. They couldn’t seem to stay away from each other.
“Building a dog kennel I guess.” He had lots of building projects on his to-do list.
Tracy frowned as she made a caramel mocha in a to-go cup. “Why?”
Jill restocked sugar and honey packets in the fix-it-yourself section. “Because he's going to breed and train working dogs.” She couldn't wait to see the farm. Even though it was only five minutes outside of town, she hadn't had a chance to visit yet but Teo made it sound picturesque.
They’d discussed his time in the SEALs and his work with the K9s that made house pets seem so ordinary. When he talked about the dogs and his plans for them, how they’d protect people and sniff out bad guys, he had a youthful exuberance that was contagious. She found herself excited to meet the dogs and see them work. It all sounded so amazing.
“Cool.”
“It is cool. Did you know—”
“Don't look now,” Tracy interrupted in a faux whisper. “Lover boy's here.”
“You mean, Lover Man.” After a dozen orgasms, he'd proved he was all man. Hard, strong, powerful.
Jill's heart thumped out a happy rhythm when Teo walked in. He looked like her teenaged fantasy in his dark sunglasses and a black leather jacket.
“That's quite an endorsement.” Tracy smirked, her brown eyes alight with mischief.
Jill called out a greeting and then turned back to Tracy, mouthing the words god in bed. Tracy snickered as Jill poured Teo a cup of coffee.
She couldn't help it. After a hot date to an up and coming local restaurant, an evening in snuggled on her couch, and way too much time in her tiny shower, Jill was thoroughly smitten.
It was amazing that she'd spent most of her free time with the man since that first night he'd come over and she was still so excited to see him. But there was no denying the giddiness bubbling through her veins.
As she was skirting the counter to deliver his coffee, Dylan Harper came through the door and shot her a smile.
Two SEALs in such a small space should have been illegal; they certainly sent her pulse skyrocketing.
“Afternoon Dylan. Black coffee?” she asked as he sat across from Teo.
“Please. Thanks.”
“Thank you,” Teo said, sending her a private smile.
Mercy me. She fanned herself as she circled the counter. A sizzle of awareness swept over her shoulders and she was sure that Teo was watching her every step. She'd become accustomed to that special awareness as he watched her move through the loft.
“Amazing gracious,” Tracy hissed beneath her breath. “Fine. Fine. Fine. Think they'd date a sista?”
Jill grinned at her right-hand woman. “Dylan's practically engaged and I'm not sharing.”
“Do they have a friend?”
“Maybe. I’ll ask.”
She wasn't about to admit that she was trying her hardest to keep things casual with Teo. But what woman in her right mind wouldn't be thinking of a future after such an explosive weekend? He'd offered to help her get the Christmas tree for the shop. And then he'd strung lights in the window, put a bow on the top of the tree, taste-tested a new peppermint mocha she was thinking of offering.
And he hadn’t stopped there. He’d surprised her with a little tree for her loft. They’d made love beneath the shimmering lights, breathing in the fresh Frasier.
For a man who'd so readily agreed to a fling, he sure was sticking around. Something no other man and her life had done for more than a week. Well, except for JackAss. But he'd only been around long enough to talk her into a boob job and then steal all her savings.
But she wasn't going to think of that walking-talking-turd right now. She had coffee to fill and muffins to heat.
The bell over the door dinged again and Jill greeted the newcomer. She recognized the woman from the movie crew who'd swept through a few weeks back. A burst of cold air came in with her.
“Welcome back,” Jill greeted as the curly haired woman approached the counter. She’d hoped that the crew would need hot beverages and snacks, but word was they had hired a catering company.
“Thanks. Can I get four coffees to-go? And do you do pending coffee?”
Warmth suffused her. “We certainly do. Thank you for asking.”
“Great. Four of those.”
Jill rang up the order while Tracy poured the coffee. Then she used a Sharpie to put a black dot on the bottom of four to-go cups and set them aside. She'd learned early on that chaos reigned behind the counter and the black dots came in handy when cups were moved in the daily shuffle. It was nice that her customers wan
ted to help provide a hot drink for those who were less fortunate.
“How's the filming going?” she asked, making conversation.
“Good. If you hear explosions this evening, don't be alarmed.”
“Yeah, they sent out a notice about that.” Jill secretly wanted to cut out of work early to watch the action. It wasn't every day that a movie was made in her town.
“Let's just hope the weather holds,” the woman said as she added cream to one of the cups. Tracy offered her a cardboard carrier and then the woman was on her way.
“Go on. I know you're dying to catch a glimpse of what's his name,” Tracy said, waving Jill on.
“His name is Fletcher Erickson,” Jill chided. Tracy didn't keep up with Hollywood, a fact Jill had come to terms with months ago.
“Would you guys like anything else?” she asked Dylan and Teo. A midnight brow lifted and Teo shot her a smirk that said he'd like a side of her.
She did her best to keep a neutral expression in place.
“No, thank you,” Dylan said.
“A muffin would be great,” Teo said, but the glimmer in his eye said he wasn't talking about blueberry pastries.
Forcing her shoulders back, she straightened her spine and called out the order to Tracy.
A half hour later, the guys stood and Tracy hip checked Jill. “Go. We've got this.”
“Are you sure?” She hated being short staffed. Customers didn’t appreciate it either. But then the place had been dead all afternoon. Whether it was the brutal cold snap or the movie keeping people away, she wasn't sure.
Celeste came through the back with Jill's coat and scarf. Tracy produced another flat of coffee with little creamers and sugar packets.
“Okay, I'm going.”
In front of her shop, Teo and Dylan stood on the sidewalk talking about something. She bundled up, grabbed the coffee and tossed her apron at Tracy.
“Incorrigible,” she muttered beneath her breath, but shot her friend a grin as she exited.
The cold air stole her breath. Teo must have felt her gaze because he turned his attention to her almost immediately.