“Good.” Sydney breathed a sigh of relief. “Just keep telling yourself that and you’re all set. Now, I have to know. Does he know what to do with his equipment?”
Hailey just looked at her friend and Sydney cursed.
“Dammit. You have all the luck. I have to go. There’s a triple-chocolate cheesecake out there just crying my name.”
Hailey laughed and hugged her friend, then watched as Sydney left her home. The quiet soon irritated her though, and all she could think about was Gage. What was he doing? Was he still working? No, the sun had set. Was he at home, doing a terrible job of cooking? When she’d seen the vast amount of frozen and pre-prepared dinners in his refrigerator, she’d been shocked. No wonder the man had no fat on him. He could barely boil water.
Maybe she shouldn’t have been so keen to give them space. She could have made time for him tonight. Take it slow, Sydney had said. Hailey sighed. She needed to stop obsessing over the man. Surely he had better things to do with his time than think about her every five seconds.
Suddenly depressed at the thought, she fixed herself a cup of tea and plunked down to finish her half-read romance. The hero had blond hair and green eyes, so maybe she would have a few minutes of her Monday without Gage’s face superimposed over everything.
“Put the phone down, shit for brains.”
Gage glared at Derrick. “You know, if you’d get a woman of your own, you’d be much less of a pain in the ass. Do you want Sydney’s number or not?”
“Not if it’s an excuse for you to call your new girlfriend. Damn it, Gage. You agreed to meet her again Tuesday night— tomorrow night. You call her before that, you sound desperate.”
“I am desperate,” he growled. Desperate to be inside her again, desperate to talk to her, to look into her face when she laughed.
“No, you’re not. You, my little brother, hold the upper hand. You just spent the past weekend with your dream woman. You want to appear in control, or she’ll know she has you by the balls. You’ll note she hasn’t called you, has she?”
No, she hadn’t. And the fact bugged the hell out of Gage. Yes, they’d agreed to meet again tomorrow night. But for the life of him, Gage hadn’t been able to push Hailey out of his mind. The way she smelled, looked, tasted…
“Shit, Gage, get a grip,” Derrick muttered, glancing away. Gage flushed, realizing he had the mother of all hard-ons.
“Please. It’s a natural reaction when thinking about a beautiful woman. One you seem to have whenever you’re thinking of a certain redhead.”
Derrick stared. “You’re telling me you have her number.”
“Hailey has her number. Sydney’s her best friend.”
“Hell. Then you can’t screw this up. Not until I’ve at least talked the woman into a date. Look, Gage. Go easy. Meet with Hailey again tomorrow, and for God’s sake, don’t scare her off.”
“Thanks for the concern.”
“I am concerned. And not just for myself. You’re different about this one. Way too enamored.” Derrick frowned. “Maybe you should invite her for a Saturday breakfast, so the rest of us can have our say.”
“No way in hell.” Gage shook his head. “I’m trying to win her over. Sex will do it, a few hours with Mom and Dylan and she’ll run, not walk, away. And then there’s you.”
“What about me?” Derrick grinned. “Women love me.”
“Until you open your mouth,” Gage muttered.
“Fine. Do what you want. But hold out until tomorrow. And whatever you do, don’t bring her flowers or candy or some shit. You’ll look too eager, I’m telling you.”
Tuesday night, at ten to six, Gage stood at Hailey’s door with a bouquet of flowers in hand.
When she opened the door and blinked at him in surprise, he wondered if his brother was maybe right. But as her gaze fell on the flowers, her eyes misted and she had to clear her throat to speak.
“Follow me.”
He grinned. Derrick, you’re the dumbass. He took a few steps inside after closing the door and found he approved of her place. Like his apartment, she had ivory-colored walls and dark brown furniture. A denim couch and loveseat sat around a scarred, knotty coffee table. She had several framed pictures on her walls, of places, actual photographs.
Noting his attention, she blushed, a becoming rose that made him want to bend her over the nearest table and ride her hard. God, the woman had only to breathe and he wanted her.
“Those are places I’ve wanted to visit. And I’ve actually traveled to London, been inside Harrods even.”
“Harrods?” He felt stupid for asking, moreso when she shook her head and mumbled it wasn’t important.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“What I’d like is for you to look at me,” he said gruffly. “What’s Harrods?”
“It’s a high-scale department store.”
“In London, a place you’ve always wanted to go and finally went.”
She smiled at his understanding. “Well, yes.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard.”
Hailey chuckled. “Why is it I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you?” As soon as she said it, she turned scarlet.
He grinned. “Good. I thought it was just me.” He felt harder than a pike, and brought her closer to him. “I would have called you last night, but was told it would make me look stupid.” He kissed her, and all the blood left in his body raced to his cock.
“Hmm.” She nuzzled his cheek with her face, and his heart dipped, fell, and broke at her feet. “Funny. I was told to take it easy. To go slow.”
“So let’s.” He unfastened his jeans and withdrew his cock. “Why don’t you show me how slow you can go?”
She licked her lips and stared down at him, and met the challenge in his gaze with one of her own. “Ten bucks I can get you off in under a minute.”
“Shit. I’d like to take that bet, but…”
She grinned and went down on her knees, like his deepest, darkest fantasy come to life.
“No, Hailey. You have to be naked, so I can watch your tits, see you touch yourself and come when I shoot down your throat.”
“Next time,” she whispered and took him deep.
He groaned and couldn’t help shoving himself deeper, rocking at the surprising expertise of her tongue, of her lips. She fondled his balls, her hands whisper-light, and he felt his climax rushing at an incredible, embarrassingly fast pace. Gage closed his eyes and let out a breath when she cradled him in her hands, and when she increased the pressure on his balls, he hissed his pleasure.
Hailey closed her eyes and began teasing him, sucking on the crown of his penis, licking beneath the head and moaning, as if she gloried in his shudder. She took him deeper and deeper, fitting her mouth to his thickening length.
“Fuck, Hailey,” he rasped. “I’m not going to last long at all, baby.”
She sucked harder, and his subtle thrusts increased as she caressed him. The little witch ran her fingers under his sack, and he felt his balls grow harder. He groaned, and she intensified the frequency of her strokes and licks.
His shaft slid through her lips like butter, the moisture and warmth of her mouth incredibly erotic.
Gage fisted his hands in her hair and began thrusting deeper. “Oh, Hailey, baby,” he gasped. “That’s so good, baby. Oh, yeah.”
She dragged her nails up and down his inner thighs, then circled his muscular thighs to grip his ass, pulling him into her as he thrust.
She was so sexy, so hot, and so his. He pumped and began shortening his thrusts, his ass incredibly taut, his balls impossibly hard.