negotiable.”
“If you’re referring to Bud Masterson, you’re right. Non-negotiable.”
Anna snorted. “You don’t have to worry about him. I think I may have even told him I had to leave because I’d forgotten my mother was dying. Or maybe I just thought it, but still I would have shamelessly used the excuse, if needed.” Remembering the few-toothed man with his dirty wife-beater shirt made her whole body shudder in disgust. She could only imagine taking the place and waking up to see him standing over her in the dead of the night. Getting himself off, no doubt, while she slept unaware. Those were the kind of squicky vibes she’d gotten from him.
“Anyway, there aren’t any empty apartments in town. I tried to go out of town today, but you know how it is. We’re surrounded by tiny little cities. Most of them are a quarter of the size of Trenton. There aren’t any complexes in places where most of the buildings were built back in Laura Ingalls’s time, not within a suitable driving distance for me.”
He snorted and gave her a squeeze. One she took as more reassuring then sexual, and she let herself sink more fully into his arms. “Are you saying Trenton is old?”
“Most of the houses have either fallen in or are about to. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely part of the old-time charm. It’s one of the reasons I love living here. I can move to Chilicothe, but I don’t relish that long lonely drive day in and day out, and I certainly don’t want to go back to Kansas City because I just got this job—”
Anna found her face turned and Colton’s lips covering hers mid-sentence, an action she was coming to learn meant shut up. She did tend to ramble when nervous, and if there was ever a time to be nervous, naked in a bathtub with an equally naked, sexy man made nervous an understatement.
He ended the oh-so-tender kiss a few seconds later, and it took her long, many pounding heartbeats to recall what they’d been talking about.
“Don’t forget the prank phone calls.” Oops. Based on the sudden stillness behind her and the way his fingers stopped stroking the delicate skin of her inner thigh, she’d said the wrong thing.
“What prank phone calls?”
She licked her lips. “Not really prank, per se. The one this morning I didn’t get to before they hung up.” Remembering why she hadn’t gotten to the phone made her cheeks heat. “It wasn’t a number I knew, and I…” she squirmed in the space between his legs. No way would she tell him why she hadn’t gotten to it in time. “I was busy and forgot to call it back.” She rushed out the explanation, hoping he wouldn’t press her for more. “Then later it was an unknown number and no one answered.” She shrugged.
“Give me the number later, I’ll look it up.” He was still tense behind her, but his fingers began to wander again, and she found herself inching closer to those oh-so-tempting tips.
One hundred percent slut. And yet, neither of them has ever made you feel like a whore or anything other than cherished. Which was weird in and of itself since she’d only been in their presence a handful of times .
“Anyway you see my housing dilemma,” she said, getting back to the crux of the problems she had.
“So you’ll stay here with us.” He said this so matter-of-factly, it was as if he expected nothing less then her total commitment.
Part of her wanted to acquiesce.
“I feel so dumb.” Yet she relaxed into his chest as if they’d been a couple for a long time. “And if I didn’t know better, I’d think you orchestrated this whole thing so I’d have to come live with you.”
His bark of laughter disrupted the water and sent some splashing dangerously close to the edge of the tub. “Yes, yes we did this on purpose. Bought the house out from underneath you, made it so there were no apartments available in the area, had you semi-arrested, and caused your tire to go flat so you’d have to come crawling to us. All
“If you’re referring to Bud Masterson, you’re right. Non-negotiable.”
Anna snorted. “You don’t have to worry about him. I think I may have even told him I had to leave because I’d forgotten my mother was dying. Or maybe I just thought it, but still I would have shamelessly used the excuse, if needed.” Remembering the few-toothed man with his dirty wife-beater shirt made her whole body shudder in disgust. She could only imagine taking the place and waking up to see him standing over her in the dead of the night. Getting himself off, no doubt, while she slept unaware. Those were the kind of squicky vibes she’d gotten from him.
“Anyway, there aren’t any empty apartments in town. I tried to go out of town today, but you know how it is. We’re surrounded by tiny little cities. Most of them are a quarter of the size of Trenton. There aren’t any complexes in places where most of the buildings were built back in Laura Ingalls’s time, not within a suitable driving distance for me.”
He snorted and gave her a squeeze. One she took as more reassuring then sexual, and she let herself sink more fully into his arms. “Are you saying Trenton is old?”
“Most of the houses have either fallen in or are about to. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely part of the old-time charm. It’s one of the reasons I love living here. I can move to Chilicothe, but I don’t relish that long lonely drive day in and day out, and I certainly don’t want to go back to Kansas City because I just got this job—”
Anna found her face turned and Colton’s lips covering hers mid-sentence, an action she was coming to learn meant shut up. She did tend to ramble when nervous, and if there was ever a time to be nervous, naked in a bathtub with an equally naked, sexy man made nervous an understatement.
He ended the oh-so-tender kiss a few seconds later, and it took her long, many pounding heartbeats to recall what they’d been talking about.
“Don’t forget the prank phone calls.” Oops. Based on the sudden stillness behind her and the way his fingers stopped stroking the delicate skin of her inner thigh, she’d said the wrong thing.
“What prank phone calls?”
She licked her lips. “Not really prank, per se. The one this morning I didn’t get to before they hung up.” Remembering why she hadn’t gotten to the phone made her cheeks heat. “It wasn’t a number I knew, and I…” she squirmed in the space between his legs. No way would she tell him why she hadn’t gotten to it in time. “I was busy and forgot to call it back.” She rushed out the explanation, hoping he wouldn’t press her for more. “Then later it was an unknown number and no one answered.” She shrugged.
“Give me the number later, I’ll look it up.” He was still tense behind her, but his fingers began to wander again, and she found herself inching closer to those oh-so-tempting tips.
One hundred percent slut. And yet, neither of them has ever made you feel like a whore or anything other than cherished. Which was weird in and of itself since she’d only been in their presence a handful of times .
“Anyway you see my housing dilemma,” she said, getting back to the crux of the problems she had.
“So you’ll stay here with us.” He said this so matter-of-factly, it was as if he expected nothing less then her total commitment.
Part of her wanted to acquiesce.
“I feel so dumb.” Yet she relaxed into his chest as if they’d been a couple for a long time. “And if I didn’t know better, I’d think you orchestrated this whole thing so I’d have to come live with you.”
His bark of laughter disrupted the water and sent some splashing dangerously close to the edge of the tub. “Yes, yes we did this on purpose. Bought the house out from underneath you, made it so there were no apartments available in the area, had you semi-arrested, and caused your tire to go flat so you’d have to come crawling to us. All
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