Roommating (Preston's Mill #1) (12 page)

“Chris! Heather!” The voice called out from the opposite
side of the street, and Heather turned to see Jace and an attractive brunette
getting into the town truck that Jace drove.

Heather recognized Isabella, whom she remembered from high
school, and she waved over at both of them.

Jace and Isabella seemed to be going somewhere, so they
didn’t stop to chat. When they’d driven off, Heather said, “They seem to hang
out a lot for people who aren’t dating.”

“I’m thinking that Jace wants to change that.”

“I don’t think Isabella has ever thought about him as
anything but a friend.”

“Yeah. That makes it kind of awkward for Jace, doesn’t it?”
Chris seemed more amused than sympathetic.

“You shouldn’t laugh at someone else’s romantic woes,”
Heather chided, smiling up at him rather sappily. Her excitement had definitely
outpaced her nervousness, and she couldn’t look away from his familiar face.

“Yeah, but my romantic woes seem to have taken a definite
upward swing.” They’d reached the side of the river, where the town had built a
cute little boardwalk. Chris reached out and put his hands on her hips to pull
her closer to him.

“Remember we’re taking this slow.” She said that mostly
because she thought she should. She didn’t want to take it slow at all. She
wanted him to kiss her, touch her, make love to her. She never wanted him to
stop.

“I remember,” he murmured. He leaned down and spoke in a
thick, enticing voice against her ear. “I can go as slow as you want.”

Her breath hitched, and her hands moved of their own accord,
pressing eagerly against his chest and holding on to his shirt.

He was smiling as he leaned into her. “Is this too fast?”

“No,” she admitted. “This is just right.”

He kissed her, and her nerves and her lingering fears of
abandonment were completely forgotten.

The last time they’d made love, it
had been wild and frantic.

This time, Chris wanted slow. He wanted to touch and learn
and savor every inch of Heather. And as far as he was concerned, sleep was
highly over-rated. They had all night.

And it looked like part of it was going to be spent trying
to get home with a raging hard-on.

As much as he hated to, he ended the kiss. Resting his
forehead against hers, Chris took a minute to catch his breath. “I know the
walk here seemed like a good thing, but right now, all I can think about is…”

“The long walk home?” she said with a soft laugh.

“Do you think anyone would notice if we just ran across
town?”

“This is what happens when we laugh at someone else’s
romantic woes. Remember that.”

Chris laughed, and then reached down and took one of her
hands in his. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

Home. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about having one of
those in over three years, and right now it just seemed to fit perfectly. The
apartment with Heather—while not perfect—was a home in every sense of the word.

And if they didn’t get there soon, he was pretty sure they’d
get arrested for doing something indecent in public. Behind him, Heather
giggled as he walked briskly—no doubt reading his mind. He wanted to comment on
it, but that would mean wasting time.

By the time they reached his truck, he was a little out of
breath. When they climbed in, rather than starting the engine, he leaned in and
kissed her again. And even though he swore he’d go slow, it didn’t seem to be
what either of them wanted right now. It was deep and erotic and oh-so-wet. The
feel of her tongue teasing his nearly had him pulling her into his lap and
making good on the thought of them being indecent in public.

“Chris?” she murmured against his lips.

“Yeah?”

“Drive,” she said, even as her nails were raking against his
scalp and leaning in for another kiss.

“Baby,” he growled softly, “I’m gonna need to keep my eyes
on the road for that.”

“Well, damn.”

He knew exactly how she felt.

Clearing his throat, Chris pulled back, quickly got situated
and pulled out of the parking lot. They drove in silence, even as he was
mentally cursing every red light and stop sign. Ten minutes later, they pulled
up to Preston’s Mill, and as soon as the truck was in park, they were quickly
climbing out.

At the front of the truck, Chris took Heather’s hand and
pulled her with him up to the building, inside and up the stairs. Their door
was in sight and he was fumbling with his keys when…

“There you two are!” Estelle said, stepping out into the
hallway. “I was wondering…”

“Not now, Estelle!” they yelled in unison as they all but
ran the last ten feet to their door. Chris hastily unlocked it, and as soon as
they were through the door, he slammed it shut and reached for Heather. She
instantly stepped into his arms, and this kiss was just as hot and carnal as
the one in the truck minutes ago.

And then Chris remembered…slow.

Clearly, that was going to be difficult for both of them
because it didn’t take much for them each to lose control. And as much as he
hated to—again—he broke the kiss and gave her a lopsided grin. “We said slow.”

Heather nodded, licking her lips slowly. “I know.”

“That wasn’t feeling slow.”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

He was about to make another comment, when Lucy started
barking at the two of them. Chris knew the right thing to do—the gentlemanly
thing to do—was to offer to take the dog out, but he needed a moment.

“Why don’t you take her out,” he suggested, “and I’ll…I’ll
pour us some wine.”

Heather smiled. “I’ll be back in five minutes.” Then she
gave him a quick kiss on the lips and reached down to scoop up Lucy.

While she was gone, Chris did pour them each a glass of wine
and then carried them to his bedroom. He thought about putting them in
Heather’s room, but he had the bigger bed, and in order for him to do all the
things he wanted to tonight, he wanted the space to spread out.

He took a minute to straighten up the space, pull down the
blankets and turning off lights, leaving only one small bedside lamp on. Looking
around, he suddenly felt nervous. Everything looked neat. Clean. He wished he
had some candles. Then he thought about setting up his iPhone and playing some
music, but didn’t think there was time to figure that all out. Then he shook
his head with disbelief. This was probably the first time he’d ever even
remotely tried to set the scene for seduction.

And, really, it seemed crazy, since they were both clearly
already seduced.

“Nice room,” Heather said from the doorway, and Chris turned
in surprise. He’d never heard her come back in.

He grinned and shrugged. “Thanks.”

She walked toward him, until they were toe to toe. They
simply stared at one another for a long moment—Chris’s hands on her waist, her
arms looped around his shoulders. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

This time when he bent to kiss her, it was slow. The kiss
was soft. Gentle. Almost chaste. His hands began to skim up her ribcage, taking
her top with them. Lazily, Heather raised her arms over her head and let him
take the garment off. She stood before him in white lace, and it looked
magnificent.

After looking his fill, he lifted his hands to her breasts
and gently caressed them, kneaded them, until she was panting. Her head lolled
back, her lips parted, and she looked so damn sexy that he needed to think
about lumber inventory for a minute to get himself back in check.

They moved together as if their steps were choreographed—turning
together as the rest of their clothes fell away. Chris gently guided her down
to the bed and covered her body with his. They both sighed at the skin-on-skin
contact.

He kissed her lips, her cheek, her throat.

He gently fondled her breasts before letting his mouth
replace his hands there.

And as he teased and laved at her nipple, his hand slid down—memorizing
her curves as he made his way down and honed in on where she was hot and wet. For
him. He growled with approval at the same time Heather sighed his name.

It was all the talking either of them did this time. Like
him, she seemed content to let her hands explore him this time and rather than
speaking, they simply enjoyed the sensation of just feeling.

And she felt so damn good.

Sliding one finger, and then two, into her as she slowly
pumped her hips was perfect. The way her back arched to press her breast more
securely against his lips was beyond sexy. And when he heard the catch in her
breath, right before she came for him, it was the most erotic sound he’d ever
heard.

He covered her lips with his quickly, right before he
reached over to his nightstand for a condom. Leaning back, he looked down at
her sprawled naked across the bed. All he could think of was how perfect she
looked there and how this was where he wanted her to be, always.

“Chris,” she whispered, a plea. “Please.”

With the condom on, he came down slowly on top of her again,
relishing how her legs wrapped around him. Heather’s hands raked up his back
and into his hair again, to pull him down for another kiss as he slid into her.

In and out. In and out. Slowly. Each entry was ecstasy,
while every retreat was almost more than he could bear. Her hips raised to meet
his and he nuzzled her neck. “Let me love you,” he whispered. “Just let me love
you.”

“Yes,” she sighed.

Unable to help himself, he quickened the pace—had to. It was
almost beyond his control. Heather met him thrust for thrust. Her legs
tightened around his waist and Chris pulled back and met her gaze, loving the
look on her face as she came.

And only then did he allow himself to go over the edge,
crying out her name as he did.

For long moments, neither spoke. They each took that time to
catch their breath. Chris rolled to the side, pulling Heather in close beside
him. Her hand rested over his still rapidly beating heart, and he held it
there.

There was a small noise next to the bed and he looked over
to see Lucy sitting there staring at them.

“We’re really going to have to do something about her,” he
said softly. “I don’t think I like having an audience every time we make love.”

Heather chuckled softly. “I’ll have a talk with her
tomorrow.”

Chris kissed her on her forehead. “Maybe you should do it
tonight.”

She yawned. “Tonight? Why?”

“Because I’m not quite done exploring you yet.”

Heather’s eyes went wide, right before his words sank in. Then
she gave him a sexy grin and said, “Lucy, we have to talk!”

***

Two weeks later, Chris walked in the
door after work and smiled. Heather was in the kitchen feeding Lucy, and
something was cooking on the stove. She turned when she heard the door close. “Hey!”
she said with a smile.

He walked right over to her and kissed her soundly. “Sorry
I’m late.”

“It’s fine. I stopped to do some grocery shopping on the way
home so I just got in a few minutes ago myself.”

“Something smells good. What are you making?”

Walking over to the stove, she gave the skillet a quick
shake. “It’s a Chinese stir-fry with shrimp and scallops. I’ve got some rice
going too.”

“Sounds good.” He walked over to the refrigerator, grabbed a
beer and looked around to see if she was drinking anything yet. When he spotted
her glass of wine, he knew she was good. “You know, you still have never made
me any cookies.”

She looked surprised. “Why would I?”

“I don’t know. You make them for everyone else. I’m a big
fan of cookies, you know.”

She laughed, her expression fond. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I saw your dad’s car at the office today. I was going from
the Martin job to the Lawson one and didn’t have time to stop in. Is he doing
okay?”

For the next few minutes, she talked about her father and
his health while she continued to cook. Chris set the table and then played
with Lucy for a bit. This was their routine now, and even though it was far
more domesticated than anything he had ever imagined for himself, he was loving
every minute of it.

“I’m going to take her out while you finish cooking,” he
said.

“Thanks.”

As was their habit, he and Lucy made their way downstairs
and out the front door where she wandered the yard and did her business
quickly. By the time they were back up in the apartment, Heather had their
dinner on the table. Chris gave Lucy a treat to keep her busy while they ate.

“So I was thinking,” Heather said as they sat down, “Dad is
really feeling a little left out of the loop because of his recovery. What if
we had him over for dinner one night?”

That surprised Chris. Not that he didn’t want Tom to come
over, but they hadn’t talked about how they would handle things in front of
him. “And you’re comfortable with that? With him being here…with us?”

She looked at him oddly. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I just thought that since we…I don’t know…I guess I wasn’t
sure you were comfortable with him knowing about us.”

Then she gave him a patient smile. “I’m not ashamed of us,
Chris. And I’m not trying to hide it. I know we’ve been busy at the office, and
you’ve got a lot of job sites to manage right now so we haven’t exactly been
out on the town but—”

“I’m not ashamed or trying to hide us either,” he said
quickly. “I just don’t want to shock Tom or freak him out. I mean, this was all
his idea—us living together—but I’m not sure whether he’s prepared for what
it…led to.”

“Us being lovers?” She wasn’t angry. If anything, she was
smirking at him.

“I was going to say that he didn’t think it would lead to us
being boyfriend and girlfriend,” he countered.

“Boyfriend and girlfriend? What are we, in high school?” she
teased.

Okay, she had a point. That did sound a little ridiculous. “How
about we just say we’re together. Lovers is going to have people thinking
thoughts that I don’t want people imagining about us.”

“Naked thoughts?” she said with a laugh.

“Exactly! And the only one who is allowed to think of you
naked is me.”

“Right back at ya.”

“Good. As long as we’re clear on that.” Then he turned and
looked at Lucy and shook his fork at her. “And that goes for you too. If you
don’t quit sneaking in the room or scratching at the door, I’m going to get you
a kennel and keep you in there!”

“She said she was sorry,” Heather said, unable to hide her
amusement. “And that accident she had in your shoe? Well, that was more
upsetting for her than it was for you.”

“Was it upsetting for her?” he mocked playfully. “Because I
was the one with poop on my foot, not her.”

“And the whole incident with Flo…”

Chris held up a hand to stop her. “Just…don’t. It’s still
too hard to talk about it.”

Heather rolled her eyes. “It’s just a small tear! I told you
I’d fix it.”

“It’s not the tear that hurt but the intent.” He glared over
at Lucy. “She’s pissed at me and she went right for the jugular.”

“It’s just a chair.”

He gasped dramatically. “And my foot. Let’s not forget about
that, shall we?”

And then they both burst out laughing. And yeah, he really
was kind of annoyed that in this whole great new phase of life Lucy was
seriously messing around with him, but he hoped she’d get over it. Sooner
rather than later. Who knew a dog could be so spiteful?

“Maybe the two of you can watch some TV together after
dinner. I’d really love to take a nice bubble bath. It’s been ages since I’ve
soaked in that wonderful tub.”

Chris remembered the last time she’d done it. “And I’m
supposed to settle for snuggling with killer over there while I know you’re
naked and covered in bubbles only a few feet away? How is that fair?”