Hands On by Christina Crooks Read Free Book Online Page B

satisfaction.
    “Not so bad?” He mock-scowled, narrowing his eyes fiercely.
    She flicked at him with a nail. “Silly. You know you’re amazing.”
    Her contented sigh had him hard and ready again. What was it about her that made him sappy and tender one moment, then dying to pound into her the next?
    He groaned and turned away.
    The thin line of her fingernail traced fire down his side. “You okay?”
    He hadn’t had a woman in far too long. “Yeah.” He wasn’t going to push himself on Ginnie. Nor was he going to hug and cuddle with her. Neither of those two courses of action would end well—for either of them.
    Harry pushed aside a stab of regret. His reaction was simply a result of long abstinence after the horror of Jaye Rae.
    Being alone too long had given him a big, dripping case of the saps.
    Harry sat up without looking at Ginnie and reached for his clothes.
    Ginnie sat up too. “Something I said? Something I did.”
    “Not at all.”
    He made himself keep putting on his clothes. “It’s getting late. I imagine that after the day you’ve had, you need to get some sleep.”
    She’d pulled the cover up over her body. “I don’t sleep with men like this. Spontaneously. The same day I meet them. Or the same month, even.” She looked at him searchingly. “You have to believe me. I don’t know what came over me.”
    “I believe you. And you don’t need to make excuses. It was wonderful. You’re wonderful.” He hesitated, then mentally shrugged. He sat back down on the bed. “Come here.” He opened his arms.
    She looked at his open arms, then his expression.
    Then she stood, drawing from him an unwilling grunt of appreciation as the cover slid from her body. She swung her shapely legs over the edge of the bed, stood and walked to him.
    Ignoring his arms, she leaned over—her breasts tantalizingly close to his face—and kissed him on the forehead. “I have a phone call to make, but you’re right. Sleepy-time for me.” She yawned, pulling her panties and jeans on casually, as if she were alone in the room.
    Harry remembered to lower his open arms. “Uh. Very well.” He finished dressing, oddly disconcerted. Now she was acting exactly as he’d hoped she would—casual.
    As her nudity disappeared, he pondered what to say. He should say something romantic. Something kind. It wouldn’t be difficult. He liked her. Soft emotions had the words perched on the tip of his tongue.
    And yet she’d refused a hug.
    Harry shook his head violently. Just as well. It might make him vulnerable, and he’d certainly make himself look foolish offering her affection she clearly didn’t want.
    She’d dressed and walked to the bedroom’s doorway by the time he pulled on his sweater. “Hey,” he called after her.
    She turned. “Yes?”
    Harry thought for a moment. “You can use this room. The bathroom’s right off the hallway. It has overnight supplies.” At her questioning look, he explained. “I keep multiple overnight bags packed for business trips. I hate to pack.”
    They stared at each other. “Got to make a phone call,” she finally said.
    “You’d mentioned that.”
    She took a step backward, then another, a half-smile making her mysterious and alluring. He couldn’t help but smile back.
    It wasn’t until he pulled on his shoes and heard her voice in his living room again that he remembered how she’d said she had no one to call except the property management lady. And Ginnie had already made that call.
    Frowning, Harry felt the accustomed but oppressive weight of suspicion descend on him again. Ginnie didn’t seem like a schemer. She probably wasn’t calling an ex-boyfriend, or worse.
    Probably.
    Long ago, he wouldn’t have dreamed of eavesdropping. In a time before Jaye Rae, just the suggestion would’ve offended him.
    Harry glided to the doorway, walking lightly. He cursed the soft roar of rain on his roof that made it difficult to hear.
    “…not too late. Oh good. Yes. The storm