“It’s hard to have sex if you’re on the couch,” she said, muffled against his chest. He laughed quietly before turning her loose. Taking her face in both his hands, he leaned down for a kiss. He pulled back so he could look into her eyes.
“I told you from the beginning I didn’t like this place,” he said. “Today was its last chance. It failed. I’m sure you can stay at Sam’s if you don’t want to stay with us.”
“I’ll stay with you.” He brushed his lips against hers one more time.
She opened the broom closet where her boxes were stored. It took them until the early afternoon when they finally had the last box shoved into Parker’s SUV. She followed him in her car to the bar.
They hauled some of the boxes into his office. Others went upstairs where she unloaded them in his room. He worked at emptying half of the dresser and closet while she worked at filling them up. They finished around dinnertime. He heard her phone vibrate as they lay next to each other on the bed, exhausted.
“Karlie wants to know if we can meet them at the fish place by the tux place,” Astrid said.
“Yeah, that’s fine. It’s scary that I know exactly where that is. When?”
“Seven.”
“I need to run through the shower,” Parker said, sitting up.
“I could respond with seven thirty? That would give me time to cowgirl you and still get a shower,” she said. “We could shower together. I’d like to find out what all this hoopla over shower sex is about.”
“Seven thirty it is,” Parker said with a laugh. “Come on, you can cowgirl me in the shower. That way we get the best of both worlds.” He pulled her up. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she looked up at him.
“Donnelly,” she said. “I like how you think.”
“Aaronson,” he said. “I like your enthusiasm.”
* * *
“You know there’s girl stuff all over the apartment, right?” Liam asked, sticking his head into the office. “And why are there curtains with ponies on them hanging in our room?”
Parker had to stifle the laugh that threatened to erupt. The twins had been staying with friends when he moved Astrid in. She had already been here almost a week, but they were still yanking his chain about it every chance they got.
Astrid became a part of their world as if she had always been there. As a joke, she must have hung the curtains this morning before they got back.
Ronan followed Liam into the office, both taking a chair on the other side of his desk. Liam met him with his typical smirk while Ro just smiled. Parker couldn’t help thinking how that summed up his brothers perfectly.
“Astrid’s going to be crashing with us for a month. You might as well get used to it,” he said. He looked back down at the bills on his desk.
Parker knew he should have at least warned them, but he knew they wouldn’t mind. They both adored Astrid and loved having her around. She already catered to their needs like a mother hen. She hauled them around, helped with Ronan’s art projects, and steered Liam’s libido in a positive direction.
“Great,” Liam drew out in all of his dramatic glory. Parker was already rolling his eyes at whatever his next statement would be. “How are we expected to get any sleep with all the moaning and banging going on?” he asked, spreading his hands apart in mock concern. “Ro, I’ll bet you ten bucks she’s still here in the fall.”
“Yeah, not taking that bet,” Ronan said, his lazy smile turning into a grin.
“Don’t you have someone else to irritate?” Parker growled.
“Notice there was no denial,” Liam answered. He added squeaky bed frame noises at the end.
“Get out,” Parker said and rose out of his chair. Both Liam and Ronan shot for the door before he could make it around the end of the desk.
They were both laughing when they almost ran over Astrid walking into the office. With a quick apology, they headed out the back door leaving Parker glaring at them from the office door. He would like to pop them both. But he had to admit, she had been a little loud in her appreciation of his wake-up call this morning.
“What did they do this time?” she asked, following his gaze to the slamming back door. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rose on her toes to kiss him. His hands ran down her ribs until they were firmly under her ass. He lifted her and her legs snugged around his waist. She looked at him with those lust-glazed eyes he had become so fond of.
“This probably isn’t something we should be doing in the hallway,” she said. Parker stole another quick kiss before setting her back on the ground. He was growing to love this cohabitation thing since the benefits were mind blowing.
“Fine,” he said, pulling her into the office behind him.
“No, Parker.” She laughed. “I have to work on my paper and everyone will be here any minute.”
