Maid to Fit (13 page)

“Well, I’m working on that. I have an interview next week with a different firm. Same
pay but hopefully less hours in the office. I’d like to be there with Addie a little
more, you know?” Kayla replied, looking down at her hands.

“Does that mean I should start looking for someone else to
service?
” he asked with a smile that seemed more forced than his normal mischievous one.

“Your help was supposed to be a temporary thing. The idea was that once the house
was back under control I could pick up and take it from there, especially if I get
this other position,” she said, meeting his amazing blue gaze. “I kind of like you
being around, though. You’re great with Addie, and honestly it’s kind of nice to be
spoiled with dinner and a clean house every night. I find I like being pampered.”

“You’ve been gone all week. I’m willing to make up for the pampering you missed while
you were away.” He leaned forward and captured her lips. His mouth was firm and made
every nerve in her body come awake. “Let me bathe you and put you to bed tonight,
Kayla.” He took her mouth again, a little more aggressively this time.

As much as she wanted the passion and pleasure his kisses promised, she couldn’t give
in if it meant losing him…losing his
help
. He was simply amazing and would not be easily replaced as either an employee or
a friend. The way he had so effortlessly helped ease her fears over the care her mother
was receiving at the nursing home, the way Addie absolutely adored him… Right now,
Kayla needed those things from him more than she needed sex—or at least just as much.

“Then what happens afterward?” she asked. “I don’t want awkwardness, you know?”

“I’ll be around when you
need
me. All you have to do is call. The date tomorrow night is nonnegotiable, though,
regardless of what happens tonight. You already promised me that.” He caught the side
of her neck and broke the last of her resistance with a kiss that had her contemplating
if there was enough room in the cab of his truck so she could take him where he sat.

When he finally released her mouth his breathing was ragged, which only ramped up
her own level of excitement. “I share an apartment with Ian and Seth, so your place
or a hotel?” he asked.

“Addie’s gone all weekend, but she can’t know about this. Promise me, Ronnie,” she
said, pulling herself up onto the seat so she was eye level and almost facing him.

“It’s your place to tell her, not mine. Whatever you think is best.”

His kisses were like lukewarm water over the ice around her heart. He’d melted her
resistance to his advances. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back
as a way of telling him how much she wanted him, with everything in her, even as she
worried about losing the part of him she already had—his friendship.

She finally released him and sat back, even though her body burned for him. But sanity
had returned. She didn’t want to lose his friendship, or ruin the friendship Addie
was developing with him, or lose his much needed help in her life.

He stared at her, moving his gaze between her eyes and her mouth.

“I’ll follow you home if you want. If not, then I still get my date tomorrow,” he
said when she remained silent.

“Let’s wait and see how things go tomorrow,” she said, unable to meet his intense
gaze for fear she would throw all sanity to the wind and seek more of the pleasure
in his kiss.

He kissed her temple and said, “I thought so. I’ll be here when you are ready, but
I’ll see you tomorrow night for sure. If you change your mind about tonight…all you
have to do is call.”

With that, he opened his door, climbed out and helped her to her car. After opening
her door, allowing her to get inside and then closing it, he walked back to his truck
and waited for her to leave first. When she watched his headlights turn off onto another
road in her rearview mirror, she felt so disappointed. Monday would mark his fourth
week working for her, yet it felt like she’d known him forever. She enjoyed his company.
And his kisses.

She made it home, ran herself a bubble bath and poured herself a glass of wine. Just
as she was about to step into the steaming tub, her cell phone rang. Sighing, she
headed back into her bedroom and grabbed it off her nightstand. Seeing Ronnie’s name
as the caller, she answered as she made her way back into the bathroom.

“Tell me you aren’t working and I’ll leave you alone,” he said as she stepped into
the mound of fragrance-filled bubbles.

She managed to sit down in the steaming water after several gasps at the shocking
temperature and the pleasure of the indulgence. “No…not working,” she said, managing
to situate her neck pillow with one hand without dropping the phone or sloshing the
water too much.

Finally settled, she was able to focus on the silence filtering through the phone.
“Are you still there, Ronnie?”

“Yeah. You’re taking that bubble bath you talked about, aren’t you?” he choked out.

“Yes. I’m not working, I swear,” she said.

She could hear several sharp intakes of breath come through the phone and finally
he said, “Does it feel good, Kayla?”

Five carefully chosen words in his sexy, low-toned southern drawl and she was as effectively
turned on as when he had kissed her. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Ask me to and I’ll come over and wash every delicious inch of you,” he offered.

“I don’t want to mess things up. Life is good now that you’re here and I’m afraid
being with you romantically will ruin all that. I just can’t risk it,” she managed
to say, even though every part of her wanted to beg him to come over as quickly as
possible.

“I’m a big boy. If you decide being with me is a one-time deal, I can take the rejection.
I will be your friend and I will help you out whenever you need me so you don’t need
to worry about risking anything. If this is really just a polite way of saying you’re
not interested, though, then can I at least ask a favor?”

Casual sex had never been one of her strong suits. Being intimate with someone always
led to romantic feelings on her part, at least if her past was any indicator. Could
she go into this knowing sleeping with Ronnie wasn’t the next step in a relationship?
Knowing it was sex for the sake of sex?

The idea would have held water if not for the fact that she already liked Ronnie,
as a friend and potentially more….

“What’s the favor?” she asked.

“Touch yourself…and let me hear you enjoying it,” he said quietly.

She closed her eyes. The silence only created more tension between them. She attempted
to relax down into the water, but the desire in his voice and his explicit words were
too much to take.

“Ronnie, I can’t do that…with you listening,” she whispered.

“You deserve pleasure, Kayla. I have a key to your house. I can come over and touch
you myself or you can do it. I want to hear your voice, one way or the other. I missed
it this past week. I know that sounds a little crazy but I called on Wednesday because
I couldn’t go another day without hearing your voice,” he said.

“Do you swear this thing between us won’t change what we’ve got?” she asked. “Addie
really looks up to you, and if I screwed that up for her…I’d never forgive myself.”

“You’re the boss. You tell me how things work between us. I’ll just keep doing what
you hired me to do and wait for you to tell me what, if any, additional
services
you need from me,” he said. She could just picture that grin.

“I’m serious, Ronnie,” she said.

“So am I. You hire people to care for your mother and you hired me to help take care
of your house and Addie, but who takes care of you, Kayla?” he asked in a serious
tone. “I’m offering to take care of you in whatever way you need me to, for free,
if you’ll just let me.”

Please, please don’t let this be a mistake.

“How long will it take you to get here?” she asked breathlessly.

“I’m already on my way. Stay right where you are…exactly as you are,” he ordered and
disconnected the call.

Waiting for him conjured up a mix of emotions. Those feelings included one part anxiety,
one part desire and one part anticipation. As a bigger girl, she’d always felt like
she had to settle for men with equal physical flaws or personality imperfections.
Ronnie had neither of those issues. From what she had seen, his body was the stuff
from magazines and his personality was made to fit hers perfectly.

Just as she finished up her glass of wine she heard him at the door of her master
bathroom. “Kayla, are you still where I told you to be?” he asked through the door.

“Yes,” she replied. Her heart was going to beat out of her chest. He was seconds away
from seeing her in all her naked glory.
All of it.

Swallowing, she looked toward the door as she heard his footsteps approach. What if
he took a look at her, discovered she was bigger than he’d thought and changed his
mind? Nervousness caused a fluttering of anxiety to filter through her.

He knocked then turned the knob and opened the door. His gaze met hers and then took
in what he could of the rest of her body around the mountain of bubbles. He leaned
against the doorframe and just stared at her until the scrutiny got to her.

“What?” she asked self-consciously.

“My mind has conjured up images of your body since the very first day I walked into
your office. I knew it wouldn’t disappoint. Move the bubbles away…let me see you,”
he said.

The intensity of his gaze forced her to swipe her arm across the surface of the water
to create a window to what lay beneath and then wouldn’t allow her to look away until
his eyes left hers to see what she’d revealed. He continued to peruse her body while
he walked over to the edge of her garden tub. He kicked his boots off and then pulled
his shirt over his head revealing a chiseled chest like a warrior of old.

“God help me, Kayla. Your body was
made
for sex,” he said on a sigh. Kneeling down at the edge of the tub so that even facing
her he could see most of her body, his eyes spoke of his appreciation.

Was he serious?
He looked like the sculpture of a god, while she looked more like the real-life version
of Betty Boop.

“I’m overweight,” she blurted out.
Well done…draw more attention to the fact.

“No, you are curvy and…
perfect
. Some men may like skin over bones but I personally prefer to be up against something
with a little give. Someone I can enjoy. And you are that for sure…like a fantasy.
Your breasts and hips are gorgeous,” he said.

His eyes finally met hers again. He put his hand in the water and touched her thigh
then slid his fingers up to grip her hip. He continued on to the very core of her,
which already burned for his touch. He watched her every expression as his fingers
began an erotic brand of torture.

A fantasy was pretty accurate. He was the stuff of dreams between his blazing blue
eyes, his beautiful chest and arms and his touch, which was so intense it nearly brought
her to tears.

“Slide down and lie back against your pillow and close your eyes,” he said. “I can
keep this up for as long as it takes so don’t even try to fake with me, Kayla. This
isn’t about anything but feeling your body submitting to my touch and the pleasure
I can give you.”

Knowing her attempts to look sexy had failed because his touch threatened to make
her come undone, she managed to scoot down. When she settled back against the tub
and the pillow, his fingers resumed their exploration for a brief moment as he perused
the length of her body. His gaze stopped on her feet then came back to meet her eyes.

His fingers stopped their insatiable rhythm. He slid his hand down the inside of her
thigh, gripped the knee of the leg farthest from him, raised it out of the water and
rested it across her other bent leg. Then he captured her foot between his large hands.
He rubbed it in such a way that shivers of desire shot up her legs to replace the
pleasure of his fingers with an equally wonderful sensation. She watched as he leaned
in close to her foot until she could feel his breath on her ankle. Surely, he didn’t
mean to…

“Ronnie, what are you doing?” she choked out.

“I like
everything
I see and I plan to enjoy myself…indulge in all of the things I’ve fantasized about
doing to you since last weekend when you kissed me. I swear I think I’ve been hard
all week. You can bring a man to his knees with kisses like that, Kayla. Now if you
don’t want to see the extent of my perversion where you are concerned, close your
eyes. But don’t stop me. Please,” he finished with a groan.

He gripped her ankle with one hand and rested his elbow on the edge of the tub while
holding her leg up a little higher. Then, as he stared her in the eye with that grin
of his that did funny things to the backs of her legs, he leaned forward and placed
an open-mouthed kiss on the arch of her foot. The noise that escaped her only brought
another grin from him and then another open-mouthed kiss that ended with a slight
nip and then a sucking motion.

“Ronnie, please,” she whispered as her hands left the water to grip both sides of
the tub.

Sliding his free hand back to her overly sensitive center, he said, “You like this,
don’t you? I can tell because when I do this,” he said and placed another open-mouthed
kiss on the arch of her foot, “I can feel your body’s reaction to it…right here.”
He rubbed her hardened nub.

Then he proceeded to repeat the process again and again. The two equally fantastic
sensations suddenly had her tension releasing in such a way that her whole body began
to shake. Shock waves of passion and pleasure traveled out in all directions at once
and left her crying out with each spasm. When she was able to get her breathing under
some control and open her eyes again she found him watching her face with that amazing
grin of his.