Naughty Little Wishes (Birthday Dare) (11 page)

Drew sat her on the edge of the counter. “No, we were talking about me making you breakfast.” As he slid his hands up from her knees, she followed his lead and opened her thighs.

“I think I get it now.” Tab shrugged her robe off her shoulders and slid down the straps of her nightie. “Am I with you now?” She cupped her breasts and tweaked her rosy nipples, sighing with self-pleasure.

“You read my mind.” He knelt down between her legs. Her wet pussy and swollen clit made his mouth water. He licked up her seam and tongued her clit. She writhed, and he held her hips, plunging deeper, savoring her moans and the taste of desire. Breakfast served.

…

Drew leaned back in the chair and analyzed what he saw on the presentation screen. “So essentially, you’ll need to extend training.”

The head instructor for the facility nodded. “The new groups we’re bringing in have a mix of seasoned former military, federal agency types, police officers, we even have a bounty hunter in the mix. Different skill sets, different knowledge. All good, but it’s not just about if they can earn a spot. They also have to earn respect from the professional standing next to them who might think their experiences make them more qualified. You want a team walking out of here when training is done. You’ve got to give them more time to gel.”

From the expression of the other instructors and heads of the facility sitting around the table, they agreed.

Drew jotted down notes to discuss with Devin. “All right, show me the plan.”

One of the other instructors got up to continue the presentation. While he set up, Drew glanced at his phone. A text had come in but he’d ignored it. If it pertained to urgent business, someone would have pulled him out of the meeting.

Tab.

Since he’d arrived two days ago, he’d stayed in constant motion. He had to lean out his time so her tailor friend got cut from the schedule. He’d brought the suits with him to keep the peace. He’d suspected trying to squeeze the guy in wouldn’t work, but he’d wanted to keep her happy. An unstoppable grin tipped up his lips. And he’d left her very, very happy. Focusing on breakfast during their long weekend might save his ass when she confronted him about the change.

He tapped open the message and flipped through the accompanying photos. Tingles of shock rained over him. In the selfie, Tab wore a wet, white dress shirt and one of his red ties, naked breasts and hard nipples clearly visible underneath the fabric. The next ones showed her lying in his bed only wearing what looked like one of his suit jackets and her covered in…
whipped cream and strawberries
.

Drew broke out in a sweat. He loosened his tie and popped the top button of his shirt.

“Mr. Bode, are you okay?” Everyone around the conference table stared.

Hell no, he wasn’t okay. If his dick got any harder he’d fucking implode.

He turned off his phone. “I’m fine. Can someone please hand me a water?” He accepted an ice-cold bottle and gestured to the screen. “Keep going.”

Water glided down his throat, but only a freezing cold shower could combat the lingering image of the third selfie. Tab in nothing but a tie and strategically placed Fruit Loops.

Chapter Sixteen

“Tab, this is a bad idea.”

“Oh please, you’re being dramatic. You make it sound like I broke in. I’m staying here, remember?” Tab readjusted her Bluetooth headset and laid her purse on Drew’s bed. As she slipped her cell into the back pocket of her cutoffs, the knot tied in the white dress shirt she’d taken from his seemingly unlimited supply brushed over her belly button.

“You’re crossing all kinds of boundaries.”

“I don’t have a choice.” She went into his custom, walk-in closet carrying a large, boutique shopping bag. “He’s not cooperating.”

She’d thought they’d crossed a bridge of understanding, but Drew decided to retreat. He’d cancelled his suit fittings in Montana and refused to respond to her calls and messages. A smile pulled at her lips. The texts she’d sent him ought to prompt a response. Especially the new one she’d sent.
The red tie-kini
. The top part had shaped up easily. Knotting the ties together to create a string bikini bottom had taken work, but it turned out better than expected. Maybe she should keep it as a prototype to share with one of her designer friends.

Jasmine sighed. “You should give him more time.”

“I’m leaving for Miami tomorrow. I only have today to sort through this mess.” Tab skimmed through the brown suits hanging on the bottom left. The endless row of starched, white, button-down shirts above them almost blinded her. “He’s stuck in a fashion rut. He needs my help.”

“And how, exactly, does you sneaking around the man’s bedroom in fairy-godmother mode, waving around your fashion wand help anything?”

“It’s a push in the right direction, and what’s the big deal? I’m only changing out his ties.”
And a few suits and possibly a few dress shirts.

“Without his permission.”

The heels of Tab’s gold, thong sandals slapped against the wood floors. “We have a deal and I’m living up to my end of it. He agreed to do this.”
Sort of.

“But he’s not there. You can’t change things and not expect trouble.”

“He’ll like the changes.” She slid one of the wood horizontal cabinets out of the wall.
Jackpot.

Red stripes, burgundy paisleys, and the predictable red holiday ties for Christmas and Valentine’s Day hung neatly on hooks attached to sliding racks. She pulled one out of its place and held it up.
Cartoon Easter bunnies?
She cringed.
This one definitely has to go.

“You’re not paying attention to me, are you?”

“No, I hear you, but I’ve got this covered. Stop worrying.” Tab took all the neckties off the rack and dumped them on the floor. Done purging, she reached into the boutique bag. Cool silk slipped through her fingers and she shivered with delight. Geometric patterns, colorful stripes, fashionable solids, how could he not like these?

“Covered, huh? Sure you do. That’s the same thing you said when you pierced your hoo-haa.”

“Really Jasmine? How can you expect me to take you seriously when you use words like hoo-haa? It was a clit piercing, and you dared me to do it.”

“I dared you to get a piercing. I didn’t specify where, and it doesn’t matter what word I use. It was a bad idea, like now, which was why you removed it.”

“No, it had to go because Cousin Lacey called me out, and Daddy threatened to cut off my college tuition. Do you know she still doesn’t get why no one tells her anything? I swear, just because she’s naturally horizontal ninety-four percent of the time doesn’t mean the rest of us are.”

“Ninety-four? Don’t you mean ninety-nine?”

“Nope, but the other six percent you don’t want to hear about unless you’re heavily medicated, trust me.”

“You’re so bad.” Jasmine laughed. “But we’re not changing the subject. Why are you so adamant about this? You said you wanted to help Drew close the deal. Making over his closet was a benefit you threw in. You also just started kinda-sorta sleeping with him. Maybe this time you shouldn’t push so hard. There could be a good reason why he’s not on board with making changes. Stop trying to fix him. He’s not broken.”

Tab bit back her argument. Drew battled the past through his obsessions, being over-controlling and rigid, and not showing his feelings. It was as if wearing the same clothes provided armor for him. Why? She didn’t know yet, but she’d find out. Her clients usually started opening up once the transformation began.

Drew’s not your client.

Tab tucked the last tie in place. He needed to know people cared about him, she cared about him. Not backing down in this was her way of showing it. Curiosity pulled her to the drawers built into the wall. As she opened and closed each one, the smell of cedar and laundry soap mixed in with the lingering scent of Drew’s cologne drifted into the air. She opened the third one.
Oh, yeah.
Those could stay. Smiling, she closed the drawer and went back to the ties.

“You’re not listening to me, are you?” Jasmine said. “I’m the last person to tell you not to mix business with sex, but if you think playing naked fairy-godmother-with-benefits will gain points with him, you’ve inhaled too much magic sexy dust.” Murmurs from a deep masculine voice came through the phone. Jasmine giggled. “In a minute, Ethan. What did I tell you about ear hustling my conversation?” Loud smacking kisses came through clearly over the phone.

She sounds so happy.
A wistful pang of longing tugged in her chest. She wanted Drew to come back so they could pick up where they left off—getting to know each other without arguments getting in the way. She wanted to look in his eyes and know thoughts of Shana hadn’t consumed headspace he could use for something else. Like planning to have a life not locked down by restrictions. Doing this without him might make him a little upset when he came home, but she’d come up with something over the weekend. A smile pushed away the sadness. Maybe the tie-kini had other uses.

“Sorry, Tab. So, have I gotten through to you at all about this?”

The colorful ties stood out, bold, beautiful, meant to be paired with new things. “I vote for inhaling more sexy dust and twerkin’ and swervin’ my ass down the road of forgiveness.”

“No you didn’t just use swerve and twerk in the same sentence.” Jasmine’s laughter fueled hers.

“Oh yes, I did. In fact, I’m swervin’ and twerkin’ right now.” She danced to the imaginary beat and added in a booty shake. “And if I have to use what I got to put a spell on him…” A strange sensation tingled along her spine. She looked over her shoulder, and her heart jolted to triple time. Drew, a total package of handsome…albeit, unhappy handsome blocked the doorway.

“Tab… Tab, are you there?” Jasmine called out.

“Hey, Jasmine. Gotta go. Bye.” She took the earpiece out and laid it on a shelf stacked with T-shirts. “You’re back early.”

“My meetings kept getting…interrupted.” His voice remained calm, but irritation blazed in his eyes. He moved in slowly.

She took a step back and held up her hands. “Hold on a minute. If you would have answered my messages about rescheduling the tailor, I wouldn’t have had to do it.”

“You mean you wouldn’t have decided to send me naked selfies of you.”

“I wasn’t naked. I had clothes on.”

“Yeah. Mine.”

Even angry, he looked good. She’d missed him so much. The argument she’d prepared for this moment tangled with the urge to throw herself at him and plant a hello kiss on his lips.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Really?” He smirked with a disbelieving look and glanced at the open tie cabinet. “You came into my bedroom…”

“You said to make myself at home.”

“And you went through my closet.”

“No, I went through this cabinet to look through your ties.”

“What do I have more of, boxers or briefs?”

Lie…lie…lie. No…no…no
. Her inner saint battled with the same evil twin that had gotten her and her hoo-haa in trouble ten years ago. “Well, I had to look around to find your ties.” That was good. Somewhere in between confirm and deny.

Pinning her with a sexier male version of Jasmine’s arm-twisting truth-stare, he stepped within inches. His cologne surrounded her. The heat of his body radiated over her. Her knees grew weak. “What do I have more of, boxers or briefs?”

“Briefs.” She dropped her gaze. A distinct ridge grew underneath the zipper of his slacks. She swallowed dryness from her throat. “No plans to change that.”

He took off his burgundy tie and held it up. “What about this one? Does it stay or go?”

Everything should go, the tie, the shirt. “That’s up to you.”

Drew dropped it on the pile and crowded her space. “And what should I do about you?”

“I don’t understand.”

He grasped her hips. Dread and awareness played tug-of-war in her middle as he leaned near her ear. “Wrong answer.”

Chapter Seventeen

He’d awakened after very little sleep, highly pissed and horny as hell, to find a selfie of her in nothing but his ties knotted over her breasts and hips. He’d delegated tasks, made the necessary approvals, and left. What he’d say to her had played in his mind the entire flight home. She’d gone through his closet without permission. Worn his clothes in ways that guaranteed him sporting wood every time he’d put them on. Used sexy photos to do what? Convince him? Drive him crazy so he wouldn’t notice her carting off his clothes? He wasn’t one of her causes in her crusade to change the world one closet at a time.

The image of Tab bent over, moving her ass in tiny shorts to her own sensual beat flashed into his mind.
Fuck it.
Having a conversation about boundaries could wait.

Drew claimed her mouth. It wasn’t about finesse or taking it slow, but about making up for all he’d lost because of her. A lost temper, loss of sleep, loss of control, lost moments of sanity over those damn selfies. All he could think about was the softness of her mouth, the silky feel of her skin. What it felt like to be inside of her. He should have deleted the photos, but he kept looking at them. He ended up with a hard-on no amount of hand jobs in the shower could take care of. He had to put his ass on the company jet to find relief in the source of his pain.

He tore apart the knot at her waist and touched skin that was even silkier than he remembered. He kissed her harder, and she dueled with his tongue glide for glide. She reached for his belt buckle. He grabbed her hands. If she touched him, he’d come like a virgin school-boy.

“No, not yet.” First he’d drive her crazy and senseless to the point where the only thing that came out of her mouth was his name over and over again. He dragged down a tie from the rack and looped it around her wrists. A hint of excitement penetrated the haze of desire in her gaze, and his heart stuttered in his chest. “You like being tied up?”

She swallowed. “Maybe a little.”

The look in her eyes said more than a little, totally in line with the
hell yeah
in his mind. He pushed apart the suits behind her. Raised Tab’s hands above her head, and tied her to the closet rod. “You should have told me. We could have done this a long time ago.”