Page 35 of Stroked by (Stroked)
This delicious man standing in front of me is actually available, and he wants me?
And just like that, the throbbing in my body starts up again, my mind draws a blank, the only thing running through it are thoughts of Reese naked and on top of me.
“What did you say?”
“It’s a lie, Paisley.” He cups my cheek. “The only relationship I have with Bellini is a working one. There is nothing romantic between us.”
Annoyingly my head presses against his hand, and I revel in the way his thumb rubs adoringly along my cheek. Before I know it, both his hands are cupping my face, and his head is lowering toward mine.
No, this can’t happen, despite how much I want it to. He’s my boss. I can’t lose this job, even if the man in front of me smells so divine I could orgasm multiple times. From his smell alone.Virile. Sexy. Edible. Available.Stop! Boss. Boss. Boss. Boss.
Basic stranger danger instincts register in my head, and I snake my arms between us, with my forearms, I throw his hands off my face while simultaneously slamming my forehead into his for an epic headbutt, sending him backward a few steps.
Pain radiates through my skull as I realize the wrong instincts kicked in—once again—andI abused the man.
He holds his head where I smacked him and gives me a dazed and confused look.
Oh God, not again.
I didn’t mean to headbutt him. I was just trying to get away as quickly as possible before I did something incredibly stupid. Too bad for me, I still did something incredibly stupid.
We stare at each other, not saying anything, while he searches me for answers. I will myself to say something, anything to get this moment over with.
Instead of apologizing like any other Chuck Norris impersonator, I hold up my bag to my ear and say, “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” he asks, still holding on to his head.
Digging through my bag, I find my phone and then give him the universal “one minute” finger for hold on. “Hello, oh hey, yup, give me one second.” I cup the fake call to my chest, like I’m blocking off the speaker and say, “Sorry, I have to take this. Got to go. Okay, talk to you later, Reese.” I point to his forehead. “Ice, rest, and Tylenol. See ya.”
I walk toward the front door, pretending to talk on the phone as Reese calls after me. “This isn’t over, Paisley. I know that’s a fake phone call.”
My eyes squeeze shut from being caught, but I continue to move out the door. If I’m faking a phone call, I will see it through, despite not fooling anyone.
Chapter Ten
**PAISLEY**
“I’m so tired I think I’m about to pass out,” I say into my phone, while trying to navigate the streets of Los Angeles in the early morning dew.
“But I made you coffee . . . with love. You should be alive and ready for the day.”
“With love? What is with love?”
“You know, stirring in your cream while naked,” Jonathan says with laughter.
I roll my eyes and turn on my blinker, scoping out the parking lot I’m about to turn into.Please let there be a close spot, please let there be a close spot.
“Please tell me you used a spoon to stir.”
“As opposed to what?” From the jovial way he asks the question, I’m quite sure he knows what I’m talking about.
“I swear to you, Jonathan, if your naked dick went anywhere near my coffee I’m going to make sure you’re never able to get it up again.”
Chuckling, he answers, “You think so low of me, Paisley. It truly hurts me.”
“You’re fine,” I tell him. Pulling into the parking lot, I start searching, hoping and praying for something close. I can barely turn the steering wheel, let alone drag my carcass across the early morning asphalt.
After I left Reese’s house in a state of panic, I spent the entire evening replaying our time together over and over in my head. From the moment he saw me at the beach, his blatant perusal of my body, to the way his bare chest burned against my back while he was helping me cut those damn peppers. I couldn’t erase the images out of my head, causing me to toss and turn endlessly until the wee hours of the morning. When I finally fell asleep, my alarm started ringing, letting me know I had half an hour to get ready before I needed to meet Bellini, Reese, and Jasper at the pool to go over some logistics.
