Various States of Undress: Virginia (15 page)

Dex took it, and he knelt beside her on the bed, facing her. He leaned down to stroke a strand of hair from her cheekbone. His fingers drifted across her jaw, down her throat, featherlight, and he lifted her hand to his lips. When he turned it over and kissed her palm, she sucked in a breath. Encouraged, he swirled the tip of his tongue on her wrist, his breath warm on her skin.

“Mm.” She reached up and cupped his jaw, staring into his eyes. As he continued his hot, wet little kisses, working his way up her arm to the sensitive crook of her elbow, he watched in fascination as her mouth fell open and her hand dropped away from his jaw to clutch at his bicep. “Please,” she whispered. “I want to touch you.”

Dex released her hand and she sat up. Her hands roamed over his chest, down his rib cage and lower, until her palms rested low on his hips, pausing there. It was his turn to suck in a breath as she got to her knees and pressed herself against him, her belly pliant against his aching hardness. Her fingers slid around his hips and then dragged up his back as she raised her lips to his. He took them, kissing her slowly, his tongue lingering inside the sweetness of her mouth as his desire spiraled higher and higher. When she began to undulate against him, he groaned, reaching for the fullness of her hips, lifting her against him. She opened her eyes. They were glazed with lust. “Closer,” she said, panting. “I have to be closer to you.”

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, and laid her on the bed.

Settling between her parted thighs, he bent to kiss her again, his tongue plunging into her mouth as his hands slid under her back. He lifted her body up until they were skin to skin, her breasts snuggled against his chest. His heavy cock pushed into the softness of her abdomen, and her hips shifted under him restlessly as she gripped at his shoulders.

Dex broke the kiss and burned a trail with his tongue down the side of her neck, reveling in her responsive low moan. He focused his attention on her breasts again, but she started to move against him, little rhythmic rolls of her hips, and, as his tongue slid around a nipple, his cock slid against her belly and then lower, until he was lodged against the front of her panties. “Condom,” she gasped, and Dex reached for the box, ripping it to shreds as he pulled one out and rolled it on.

Her fingers slid into the sides of her panties, but Dex brushed them away, curled his hands around the silky fabric, and pulled the panties off her body. Then he parted her thighs and opened her slowly, his thumb sliding back and forth against her wet heat, slowly at first, and then faster . . . faster. As he sank a finger inside of her, she threw back her head and pushed against his hand. “Yes,” he whispered, watching her head writhe back and forth as she came. She'd come so quickly—and just the thought that she'd been that ready for him made him even harder.

When she lifted her head and stared at him with glassy eyes, he slowly removed his hand and raised her knees up, dragged his fingers down the backs of her thighs, and then cupped her ass. Finally, gloriously, he pushed the tip of his cock inside of her, and when she let out a breathy “ohhh,” he pushed again, farther and farther into her tight heat until he was encased. “Okay?” he murmured. She nodded and let her arms fall to her sides.

Dex covered her body with his and buried his open mouth in the side of her neck. He pulled his hips back and thrust slowly forward. She moaned again, grabbing at his back. “Take me,” she whispered—and he couldn't go slowly anymore. Gathering her in his arms, he thrust into her, every stroke deeper and deeper until she cried out, her legs squeezing around his back. Her felt her contract around his cock, and, with a long groan, he let go, bucking against her, coming hard. Wave after wave crashed through him, and he shuddered against her, lost in her arms, her scent, her skin.

Her breasts pressed against his chest as she panted, and her hands stroked his back, eventually falling away as her body relaxed. With great effort, he braced himself and rolled to the side, taking her with him. They were half off the bed, but, completely spent, he couldn't move any closer to the middle, so he braced one foot on the floor and gathered her against his chest, smiling as she dropped a kiss onto his collarbone. “Oh, sweetheart,” he rasped out. She shuddered.

“You cold?” he asked.

“Hardly,” she murmured against his collarbone. It's your voice—it's so sexy, I sometimes get a little shiver when you talk.”

“Mmm,” he responded, deep in his throat. She shivered again, and then, her face still buried, she gave him a little lick. It turned into a longer lick, and she raised her head with that naughty grin he was beginning to love. He winked at her. “Give me a few minutes.”

“Oh, I think you just proved that you're worth the wait,” she said, her fingers trailing up and down his belly.

“You think so, huh?” He kissed the top of her head. “You are too, and I would have waited much longer—but I'm really glad that the wait ended today. It was getting very tiresome walking around Lilah's, constantly worrying that I had a hard-on.”

Her head snapped up and she began to laugh. “Hard-on? I haven't heard that expression since—like, my freshman year of college.”

“So? Guys my age still say it.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “Just not around women they're not comfortable with.”

“You're comfortable with me?” she asked.

“Completely.” It was the truth—at least right now, when it was just the two of them.

“Well, I think you're amazing. In all kinds of ways.” She gave him a radiant smile and snuggled back against his chest. Dex held her close, his heart swelling with something unexpected. It was pride. He relaxed, half closing his eyes, listening to the sound of her breathing. He was content to just be there, in the quiet, and look at her.

A moment later, out of the corner of his eye, Dex saw a large shadow close to the ground, and he glanced at it quickly, not wanting to take his eyes from Virginia. “What is that?”

She raised her head briefly and chuckled. “Junior Mint. He's a cat. Mostly harmless.”

“Oh. Not interested in him right now.”

“He's interested in you, though,” she said against his chest.

“That may be, but getting scratched is not something I'm looking forward to.”

“Oh, he won't hurt you. Probably.”

After a moment, she lifted her head again, her eyes dancing. “It feels good to have a lot to look forward to, doesn't it, Dex?”

He smiled back, knowing from the sweetness of her smile that she wasn't talking about the cat. “Yes. It's a good feeling.” It was, but he couldn't help but wonder what would happen long-term. His road ahead was a lot more complicated that hers. It included moving to London, and he ought to tell her. When they barely knew each other, there was no reason to, but now? He should. Not
right
now because he didn't want anything to deflate the amazing intimacy, but he would tell her . . . soon.

Chapter Eight

S
URROUNDED ON ALL
sides by circular racks, Virginia stood in a sea of men's suits on Monday morning, sipping a coffee and attempting to ignore Ruston, who hovered across the sales floor near a display of ties. He'd just finished arranging them by color, but there was no way she was going to let them stay that way. That tie display—along with the rest of the menswear layout—was going to get a drastic makeover. Pretty soon the rows of racks would be replaced by themed areas. The glass-topped cabinets? Turned into platforms for new mannequins. The circular racks that held every size of each style? Swapped for single racks hung with a variety of options, each sporting a theme. Club wear. Business casual. Fun weekend. Have-to-go-to-a-wedding-and-just-want-to-be-comfortable wear.

Right now the menswear department looked like a library arranged by pinstripes and wool. But when she was finished, menswear—and the rest of Lilah's—would be a celebration of the art and fun of wearing clothes. Young in spirit, unique, and affordable. That was what she and Dex had decided sometime late Sunday afternoon amidst empty boxes of Chinese take-out food.

Somehow over the weekend they'd managed to pry their bodies apart long enough to come to an agreement about her grand plan for Lilah's, and after they had, they'd taken a long, heat-filled look at each other and tumbled right back into bed. Her lips were still swollen with kisses, and every time she thought about his large hands on her body, fresh waves of desire swelled low in her belly. She felt changed. She felt womanly and confident, but, because she couldn't stop thinking about Dex, she didn't have a shred of concentration right now, if she were being honest with herself.

She needed to hurry and make the rest of her notes before he came in to work because once he did, all bets were off and her senses would go on overload. Even now, as she conjured up a mental image of him stretched across her bed with a satisfied grin, she blushed all over, and the notes scrawled on the notebook in her hand looked like gibberish. He was so hot in bed, so smooth and in control. God, he'd barely broken rhythm when Junior Mint had jumped on the bed, hissed in surprise, and swiped at his face. The cat had missed, but it'd managed to scratch his neck, and he'd just given the cat a gentle shove and gone right back to rocking Virginia's world, even as she'd attempted to apologize for the cat. That apology hadn't lasted more than few seconds, though, because he'd done wicked things with his tongue that had stolen her breath away.

Letting out a half sigh, half giggle, Virginia walked across the depressing gray carpet to the far end of the sales floor to examine the second-story windows. They were too small to do full displays, but maybe if she had lights put up, she could position some sexy male mannequins in each window. Bingo. She set the coffee on a wide windowsill, pulled the pen from behind her ear, and began to write.

A second later, Ruston was at her shoulder, making her jump. “Making progress?” he asked, picking up her coffee and running a finger along the sill as if the cup had left a ring.

“Yes. Random question. What's under the carpet, Ruston? Is it hardwood?”

He blinked and clacked his teeth—his go-to move when he didn't want to answer a question, as she was quickly discovering. “Hmm. I don't know. I'm afraid it's a mystery.”

Yeah, sure
. With a smile, Virginia walked to a corner and picked at the ancient carpet with her fingernails until she was able to lift up an edge. Underneath, she discovered a wide-plank floor, dulled with age. “Excellent. Mystery solved.”

Ruston watched with disapproval as she tamped the carpet back down with her foot. “Are you planning—?”

“To refinish them? Yes. Not during business hours, of course.” She smiled at him again and took the coffee from his hand. “Thanks for holding that.”

“May I ask what else you're planning? As store manager, I'd like to keep abreast of things.”

Virginia held back a sigh. He'd said the same thing at least twice already this morning, and she'd given him the same answer—that she and Dex had just finished the final prospectus and it wasn't printed yet. But she knew that if she didn't throw Peanut a bone, he wasn't going to let up. “More than likely, Ruston, this floor will be rearranged to reflect customer needs and interests.” She pointed back toward the accessories section, which sat directly across from the elevator. “For instance, when customers walk in, we want a full display that showcases the latest and most exciting stock. Not ties and belts.”

“Ties are impulse purchases,” Ruston said with a snip in his voice. “They need to be near the register. That's merchandising one-oh-one.
Anyone
who knows even a little bit about retail knows that.”

His implied words—
you're an idiot
—hung in the air, and Virginia stared at him a moment. “You have no idea what I know about retail.”

“Exactly,” he replied and then pursed his lips. He stared back for a moment and then cocked his head to the side. “I have no idea because I have yet to see—”

“All right, Rusty. Come here.” She shook her head and walked toward the racks of belts, which hung like long, limp black snakes. “I mean, look.” She ran her hand through them, causing them to swing back and forth. “Is this exciting? If you were a customer, would you step off the elevator and say ‘Ooooh, I've gotta have a new plain back belt. I can't
wait
to get my hands on one of these beauties.'”

Ruston narrowed his eyes. “Men are utilitarian shoppers. They don't care about belts. They just know they need them, and the older a man gets, the less he cares.”

“Exactly!” She slapped her notebook down on top of a row of ties. “It's our business to encourage them to care. In order to sell stuff. And selling stuff—correct me if I'm wrong—is your entire job.” Her voice was getting louder, but she couldn't seem to stop. “So if—”

“You think my job is easy?” Ruston interrupted.

“No! That's the point. We have to be creative, stay ahead of the curve; we have to—”

“We? You say that often, but I don't feel as if
we
has anything to do with me. Or anything to do with our customer base.”

“It will! If you would just untighten your ass for two seconds,
we
could work together.”

The elevator dinged open and Silent, who had been standing nearby, moved in front of it. At the same time, Ruston took a step back, spluttering. “My ass? My
ass
?”

“Yes! Your ass is—” Virginia stopped herself and craned her neck to see around Silent's broad back. Dex stepped around him, an amused smile on his face. Her heart flipped over and she caught her breath. He was so handsome, even with the cat scratch on his neck. She blinked to clear her mind. Oh, God. How much of that argument had he heard? He'd asked her to be patient with Ruston.