AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s no problem. I’m fine.”
Sean took a break from the disappointment of listening to himself try to speak and closed his eyes. Inhaled. Exhaled. Opened them. “Let me take your c-coat, huh?”
“Sure.”
He took her coat, but then he didn’t know where to put it. The closet overflowed with his mom’s things. He ended up hanging it over a chair.
“Wuh-want m-me to t-take yuh-your juh-jeans? I c-can throw them in the d-dryer.”
Katie smiled shyly. “I think we’d better wait to get my pants off until a little later.”
“I d-d-didn’t m-mean—” He raked his hand through his hair, which he had at least combed. “I’m n-not used to c-company, and—”
She reached out and stroked his forearm, a quick, light touch. “Relax. I’m not company. Not really.”
He wrapped his fingers around hers, grateful for the excuse to touch her.
“So you finished the program-thing?” she asked.
“Yeah. Ssorry it t-took me so long.”
“Did you sleep at all? You look tired.”
“Some.” He’d grabbed a couple of hours here and there. “What about you, d-did C-caleb give you a hard t-time?”
“He was pissed, but I talked him out of pulling both of us off the job. It helped that Judah insisted he’d only work with us.”
“Me t-too, huh?”
She grinned. “I told him to say that. We worked it all out before I talked to Caleb.”
“Has Judah gotten any more m-messages?”
“Not that he’s telling me about.”
“Are we on the road tomorrow?”
“Yeah. We’re meeting with Judah at the hotel before his show. It’s a nine- or ten-hour drive to Iowa City, so I booked us a flight. Is that okay?”
“Sure. Out of C-columbus?”
“Columbus to Des Moines, and then we’ll still have to drive.” She smiled and caught his eye. “I rented something b
ig in case we needed room to spread out.”
Heat flashed between them, and he squeezed her hand. Despite his abysmal failure to approximate normal human behavior, she didn’t seem unhappy with him. Far from it.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sean stepped closer and put his hands at her waist. “C-can I k-k-kiss you hello?”
“Absolutely.”
He lowered his head to kiss the corner of her mouth that had begun smiling. Then he kissed the other corner, and she put her arms around his neck. He ran his hands down her back, over the curve of her ass, and his fingertips registered a familiar ring shape through the cold, damp denim of her jeans.
“You brought c-condoms?”
“Oh! Yeah, I guess I did. Ellen’s idea of a joke. She shoved them in my pocket when she stopped by the office.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Ellen knows we, uh …”
