Lipstick on His Collar by Inez Kelley Read Free Book Online

him I’m taking a shower, studying then going to bed. Same routine, every night.”
    The harsh fluorescent lighting shimmered off Bram’s midnight hair as he shook his head. A few scattered silvered strands picked up the light and reflected like stars in the night sky. Mr. Mancos, the tightwad Laundromat owner, refused to have the ancient ventilation system fixed and wouldn’t allow her to turn on the air conditioning until spring, so the heated air registered near tropical even as bits of snow twirled in the wind gusts outside. Bram had pulled his dark brown sweatshirt off and now sat in a thin gray tee shirt with an unfamiliar sports logo blazoned across his chest. The swirled lettering stretched taut and she forgot all about her garlic shrimp.
    “He’s a stalker. You need to go to the police.”
    “I have.” Wiping her mouth on a rough paper napkin, she pushed her takeout box back on the counter and leaned against the window. The wide windowsill base made the perfect low seat and prevented Jason from seeing her face. “He isn’t breaking any laws yet. Technically, his car is parked in front of his office so he can sit there until rigor mortis sets in if he wants. Everything he does has an alternative, logical explanation to the police. Even if you write it all down on paper, it reads like a courting ritual rather than a stalker-mess. The cops believe me, but they can’t make him stop. Jason has to do something to… Well, I don’t want to think about that.”
    The wheels of the chair squeaked as Bram rolled closer to her perch on the window ledge. He set his carton beside hers and glanced at her elbow. “That’s bruising already, lady. I’d say he did something and you need to press charges before you end up a statistic.”
    “Another month and I’ll be hundreds of miles away from here…and him.”
    She was normally alone as she tallied the day out. Jason had kept her company a few times, but now she made sure the door was locked and that she kept her back to the window. Sitting here in the over-bright lights, with the cold, black night shining through the glass, made her too aware of how vulnerable she usually was. Jason was always out there watching her. But she didn’t feel that way tonight, not with Bram here.
    Two industrial dryers still hummed, his late-started laundry tumbling in a soft drone. Heat baked them both, glistening in a fine sheen across Bram’s forehead and upper arms. One hot July night bloomed in her mind and the junction of her thighs grew damper. Sweat was sticky and disgusting…unless it was with Bram and came from the flushed glow of multiple orgasms. If she couldn’t convince Bram to come upstairs after this, she was going to end up a puddle of frustrated goo. Again.
    He sipped his soda, the thick Styrofoam cup pale against his dark skin, and her sight fastened on his lips, locked around the straw. The memory of her aching nipples in his mouth blazed across her mind. He’d tightened his lips and sucked the entire areola. She’d bucked and fisted her hands in his hair and he’d just kept sucking, nearly making her come just from that. She’d marked his back with her nails when he’d finally stroked her clit and brought her to a mind-blowing climax. He hadn’t stopped until she was wringing wet with sweat and limp from orgasms. Damn, she loved a man on a mission.
    Wonder if he’s up for a repeat performance? “It’s a long drive back to your hotel in the dark.”
    The knowing grin sliced an ornery dimple into his cheek. “It takes less than ten minutes.”
    “Yeah but…my apartment’s just upstairs.”
    “You live above the Laundromat?”
    “Part of the deal. I live rent-free if I manage this place. It fit in well with school so, yeah, I live upstairs.”
    “School, you’ve mentioned that a couple times. What are you studying?”
    “Communications. I’m actually done except presenting my master’s thesis. I’ve been job canvassing for a few months and I’m