Welcome To Winterville by Carrie Elks

17

Holly had the worst case of morning-after breath. Josh was thankfully still asleep, with one hand behind his head, the other down at his side. The sheets were tangled around his waist, revealing his perfectly sculpted chest, the early morning sun making his skin look warm and inviting.

He was breathtaking, but he definitely didn’t need to be anywhere near her breath right now. Tiptoeing to the bathroom, she brushed her teeth thoroughly before pulling on his t-shirt and padding toward the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

Josh’s makeshift office was set up in the corner. His laptop was closed, his papers neatly collected in a pile.

Unlike him, she’d always been a messy worker. The only order she had in her life were numbers. If he laid his eyes on her office, he’d probably have a fit.

Before she could reach for a glass, the silence of the room was interrupted by the shrill ring of his phone. Not wanting it to wake him up – because, let’s face it, he was way too pretty when he was asleep – she reached for his phone and pressed the end call button.

Except her finger slid, and she accepted the call.

Dammit!

“Joshua?” a female voice asked.

Holly blinked as the screen flickered to life. It was a video call? Double damn. An older woman appeared on the screen, her face perfectly made up, her silver-blonde hair beautifully styled around her broad brow.

“Sweetie, are you there? I can only see the ceiling.”

Holly froze. What the hell should she do? End the call and wake Josh up? She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to imagine that conversation.

“Honey? Can you hear me?” Then a mutter, “Maybe I’m not doing this right.”

Exhaling heavily, Holly pulled the phone toward her, simultaneously smoothing down her hair with her other hand.

“Um, hey. Josh isn’t available at the moment. Can I take a message?”

The woman didn’t bat a lash. “I’m Josh’s grandma. You’re new. And I see you’re wearing his t-shirt.”

* * *

He could hear talking. And laughter. Josh rolled over on the bed, frowning when he saw Holly wasn’t there. But it was definitely her voice he could hear. Maybe she was on the phone with one of her cousins. He grabbed his shorts and looked around for his t-shirt, wondering where the hell he’d thrown it last night.

Ah well. He’d find it later. Right now he needed a glass of water.

The voices got louder as he walked down the hallway to the kitchen. Holly laughed again, and it made him smile. Damn, he was an idiot for that woman.

“Every woman should have her own bank account,” Holly was saying. “And her own credit card. You should get one today. Seriously. Not because you have anything to hide, but because you’re a strong, independent woman.”

“I’m too old to change my ways.”

“You don’t look a day over fifty.”

His grandma laughed. Wait! His grandma? With a sense of foreboding, Josh pushed open the door to the living area.

Holly was leaning on the breakfast bar, his t-shirt barely covering her sweet behind. She was holding his phone, grinning into the screen, her face propped up on her palm.

“I knew I liked you,” his grandma said.

“If you like me, get a bank account,” Holly replied to her. “You can do it over the internet. I’ll send you some links.”

Josh cleared his throat. “Good morning.”

Holly looked over at him, her eyes wide.

“Is that you, Joshua?” his grandma asked.

He frowned at Holly. “Um, yeah, Grandma, it’s me.”

Holly lifted an eyebrow at the screen. “I won’t put him on the screen, he’s practically naked.”

Jesus Christ.

His grandma laughed. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Holly held his phone and walked toward him, a grin on her face. Thank god the screen was facing her and not him.

“I wouldn’t be practically naked if somebody hadn’t stolen my t-shirt,” he pointed out.

Holly was close enough for him to grab the hem of his t-shirt. He folded it in his fist, giving it a yank.

“Actually, he does want to talk to you,” Holly said, turning the phone around and shoving it toward him. “There he is.”

“Oh! He really is naked.”

“I’m wearing shorts,” he reassured his grandma, taking the phone from Holly’s hand as he shot her a dark glare.

Holly smiled wickedly, grabbing the t-shirt and pulling it over her head. “There you go, Josh. You can have it back now.”

She was standing naked in front of him. Her long dark waves tumbled wildly over her shoulders, the tips grazing the swell of her breasts. Her nipples were hard and dark, her skin almost glowing beneath the kitchen lamp.

She’d never looked more beautiful. He swallowed hard, his fingers curling around the t-shirt.

“Grandma, I have to go.” His eyes stayed on Holly’s. Her lips were parted, tiny breaths escaping from them.

“You can’t. I called you to talk about when you’re coming back.”

“I’m going to get dressed,” Holly mouthed. She brushed past him, and he turned the phone just in time so his grandma couldn’t see the naked woman walking through his kitchen.

He was a gentleman, dammit. Even if Holly was trying to lure him over to the dark side.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back yet.” He watched as she walked through the door, her plump behind swaying. His mouth felt so dry he could light matches with it.

“Will it be before Christmas, do you think?”

“I have no idea.” Right now he couldn’t think past the next few minutes.

“Is Holly still there?”

He slowly brought his eyes back to the phone. “No, she’s gone to another room.” His bedroom. With his bed. Where she was probably laying naked right now.

“I like her, Joshua. I like her a lot. You should ask her to marry you.”

Dear God, give him strength. “Grandma, I have to go.”

“Of course you do, sweetie. Call me back later when your other brain is working.”

He rolled his eyes and ended the call, stalking back to the bedroom, his t-shirt coiled in his hand like a weapon.

He was annoyed. And turned on. Not to mention ready to show Holly exactly who was boss.

From the way she smiled sexily up at him from his bed when he exploded into the bedroom, she was ready to find out, too.

* * *

“How did you end up talking to my grandma anyway?” Josh rubbed a towel over his hair as he walked into the kitchen. He was late for his first meeting of the day, but right now he didn’t care.

Holly was making coffee. Which wasn’t difficult, since it involved loading capsules into the machine and pressing a button. But he still liked watching her do it. Like they were a normal couple, getting ready for the day together.

Holly grabbed a cup and slid it beneath the spout. “I thought I should talk to her and ask her when she’d be available for our wedding,” she said, her voice giving nothing away. “Since we’ve had sex and all.” She tipped her head to the side, her gaze catching his. “You are going to make an honest woman of me, aren’t you?”

“I don’t think anybody could do that.”

“Yeah, well I was hoping for some kind of heirloom engagement ring or something. I figure your grandma was the one to hit up.”

He leaned on the counter, taking the cup she passed him. “How did you really end up talking to her?”

“Your phone rang and I thought I’d rejected the call, but I accepted it by mistake. I kind of panicked.” She wrinkled her nose. “Sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter. And by the way, she already asked when we’re getting married.”

“Does she ask that about every woman you date?”

There was something in her voice – an inflection – that sounded almost vulnerable.

“Do you want to know about my dating history?” he asked her. “Because I’m an open book.”

She pressed the machine again, this time filling her own espresso cup, before lifting it, steaming, to her lips.

“I just want to make sure nobody else has that heirloom ring. It’s all mine.”

“If you come over here you can ask me anything.” He sat down on his office chair, spinning it around to look at her. Holly put her empty cup down on the counter and slowly walked around it. Even dressed, she turned him on like nobody else could. Her jeans were tight, nipping in at the waist, where her cashmere sweater hugged her perfect curves. He patted his legs, and she sat down on them, facing him so her thighs were straddling his.

And he wanted her all over again.

“You ask, I’ll answer.” He kissed her neck with soft lips.

“Don’t you have a meeting to get to?” she asked him, her brow arching.

“I’m the boss. They’ll wait.” He grabbed his phone and quickly typed something on the screen. “In fact, it’s canceled. So go ahead. Ask me what you want.”

“Have you ever been engaged?” Her voice was tight.

“No.” He slid his hand down her side, his fingers caressing the sliver of skin between her sweater and her jeans.

She inhaled sharply. “Have you ever lived with a woman?”

“Apart from my mother and grandma?”

“Yes.”

He trailed his lips up her throat. “Yes.”

She tipped her head back to give him better access. “For how long?”

“Six months.” He grazed his teeth along her sweet jaw.

“Why did it end?”

“Because I’m an asshole who forgets birthdays.”

“You forgot her birthday?” she asked, shocked.

“Yep.” He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth. She tasted of warm coffee. Bittersweet.

“Don’t you have an assistant for that?”

“She forgot, too.”

“You should have fired her.”

“I gave her a raise. The relationship would never have worked long term. It’s all good.” He curled his hands around her waist, pulling her closer, until her breasts were pressed against his hard chest.

“Is she the only woman you’ve lived with?”

“Yep. Until now.”

“I don’t live with you. I’m just staying over.” She ran her fingers over his hair. He closed his eyes as she raked his scalp with her nails.

“I didn’t mean this. I meant the future.” He slid his hands beneath her sweater, drawing circles on her taut stomach.

“Do we have a future?” She gasped as he traced her breasts. “You said it yourself, only one of us can win. Which means the other’s going to lose, and whoever loses is going to hate the winner.”

He looked up at her through his lashes. “You’ll hate me?”

“I meant you’ll hate me, since I’ll be the one winning.” Her eyes widened as he rubbed the pad of his thumb over her nipple.

“I could never hate you.” His smile was soft. He buried his face in her neck, breathing her in. She smelled of his shower gel. He liked that a lot.

“Did you know your grandma doesn’t have her own bank account?” Holly gasped as he grazed his teeth across her neck.

“Mmm.” He didn’t want to talk about his grandma right now.

“She should. I told her that. It doesn’t matter how much you trust your spouse, you should always trust yourself more.” The last few words came out strangled, as he traced his fingers up her inner thighs. “Don’t you think?”

“I’ll give her your email address. You can tell her about it in more detail.”

Holly smiled. “Too late. She’s already given me hers. I’m sending her a few different accounts to choose from.”

Josh blinked, his fingers stilling. “She’s going to open one?”

Holly shrugged. “That’s what she said.”

He swallowed a laugh, because in one video call Holly had managed what he’d been trying to get his grandma to do for years. “Okay. Can we stop talking about her now?”

“What do you want to talk about instead?” Holly ran the tip of her tongue over her lip, their eyes catching.

“I figure we should stop talking.” His voice was low. He cupped the warmth of her with his palm. “And start doing.”

“Oh no, buddy. Not again.” She shook her head. “I’m broken, remember. Any more action down there and I’ll be raw.”

“I have a very soft tongue.” He gave her a crooked smile. He needed to taste her again. “And you’ll get to rest tonight. Since you won’t come over and stay with me.”

“I told you, I have a family thing.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“You need a break as much as I do. You said it was like somebody had set you on fire down there.”

He circled his thumb softly against her, through the smooth fabric. Her lips parted as her dark, needy eyes met his. “Joshua…”

“I only get called that when somebody’s telling me off.”

“I am telling you off,” Holly insisted. “If we do this again, I’ll probably die.” Her legs parted as he slid his hand along her waistband. “Dear God, what are you doing to me?”

He chuckled. “The same thing you’re doing to me. I just want to taste you. That’s all. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Okay.” Her eyes flashed as they met his. He dipped his fingers inside the waistband of her jeans, beneath her panties, swallowing hard when he felt how slick she was. The next moment he was dragging her jeans down, lifting her onto his desk and burying himself between her sweet, taut thighs.

With the gentlest of touches and kisses, he swallowed down her pleasure, feeling his own desire rush over him as she begged for more, his teasing almost-licks sending her into a frenzy.

Sure, she wouldn’t be here with him tonight, but he’d make sure she wouldn’t be thinking about anybody else.

And for the rest of the day, he’d remember exactly how good she tasted.