“Why are you frowning?”
“What hospital job?” I repeated.
“I run the coffee cart. Not sure whether you’re aware of this or not, but working the front counter at a bakery doesn’t exactly keep a girl in high heels and makeup. So I supplement.”
His eyes skittered away from mine as he said it, and I realized the second job wasn’t for something so frivolous as extra baubles and styling products.
“How much do you need?” I asked.
He began to climb off me, but I wrapped my arms tighter around him until he settled.
“Nothing. It’s fine. Things are just extra tight right now since my brother isn’t around to help anymore. I have a new job starting this weekend that will cover it anyway.”
“Let me help you,” I insisted. While we’d been dancing around each other for months, now that I had him here, in my home and in my arms, I wanted to take care of him. I didn’t want him to want for anything if it was in my power to give it to him.
“What… what is this, Ch…Evan? Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t even like me.”
I pulled one arm from around his back so I could trace his puffy bottom lip with my thumb. The skin of his jaw was baby smooth, and I wondered if he could even grow a full beard yet. He was so damned young.
“Not true,” I said, my voice deeper and rougher than I’d intended. “I do like you. In fact, I like you very,verymuch, Stevie.”
His eyes nearly popped out of his head in surprise. “That’s not possible. You’re…you.” He gestured to me as if it were obvious. “And I’m… allthis.” He gestured first to the bright yellow sweater set he wore that seemed to be covered in raccoon hairs. Then he indicated his face that could only be described as kiss-roughened and lip-gloss-smeared. He was stunning as usual.
I lifted a brow at him.
Stevie suddenly gasped. “You’re drunk! Oh my god,” he said, scrambling off me and backing away until he ran into the wall with a squeak. His accusing index finger jabbed at the air. “You’re on something. What is it? Should I call an ambulance? Should I call the fire house? I could call Luanne at the sheriff’s?—”
“Please come back,” I said as calmly as I could manage. Seeing him next to the umbrella stand that held walking sticks and a golf umbrella reminded me just how small he was, and that fired up every protective instinct I’d ever had for the young man. “I want to hold you so badly. I’ve been waiting a long time to touch you, sweetheart. And I’m neither drunk nor high. Come here.”
He took a hesitant step closer. “You sure? Because you’ve never even flirted with me before.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I slid off the couch and began knee walking toward him. “What do you call my daily visits to Sugar Britches?”
Stevie tried to take a step back again, but the wall was still there. “I call that needing a caffeine fix.”
I fell onto my hands and crawled the rest of the way. “I prefer soda.”
“You do?” he asked in a whisper, freezing where he stood in utter disbelief.
“Seeing you is what really starts my day and boosts my heart rate,” I murmured as I reached him and ran the side of my face up the leg of his jeans. “Not the coffee.”
His hands threaded into my hair. “You’re like a lumberjack mixed with a silver fox.”
“Let me suck you off.” I couldn’t keep my hands off him. He needed to be naked. His cock needed to be on my tongue and in my throat. Right now.
Stevie was panting, breaths pulling in and out of him quickly. I noticed his hands tremble against my scalp.
“Yes,” he breathed. “Please.”
5
STEVIE
Ohmygod.Oh my god.OH MY FUCKING GOD.
A whisper in my head that sounded particularly Sassy-like suggested I admit to the status of my virginity before letting Evan in my pants.
Sassy could go to hell.
