“I’m a Harvard graduate with a master’s in business finance. Besides operating Hazelle House, I did my research and made some excellent investments. I’ve done well.” He leaned forward and touched her knee. “I wasn’t raised with wealth, nor was I born with a spoon in my mouth. I enjoy having Hazelle House and living this life, but I also know what it’s like to live in base housing that is one step away from condemnation. All of this”—he waved a hand around the room—”makes life comfortable, but it doesn’t define me, and I don’t want it to in your eyes, either.”
Her warm hand covered his, and she smiled. “That’s pretty freaky, you know.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Your pretty face tattles on you.”
She snorted. “Grinnie used to tell me years ago, ‘Just try and tell me a fib, Bunny girl. All I have to do is look in your eyes.’ And she was usually right. What is your full name?”
“Joseph Priestly Hazelle.”
“Priestly?”
“It’s a family name,” he murmured, happy to see the sparkle back in her eyes. “What’s your full name?”
She shook her head. “You’ll laugh.”
“Come on, it can’t be worse than Priestly.”
“Bunny Bloom Carrigan,” she said quietly, and her cheeks did, indeed, bloom with color as she said it. “My mother said sentimentality came honestly to her since her family roots are all Irish. She was a lovely person.”
Was.
“I’m sorry,” he said, squeezing her hand in his. “Recently?”
With a shake of her head, she said, “When I was in high school. She complained of a bad headache one morning. I got a call to come to the office later in the school day and my father was there waiting for me. Told me she’d had a stroke, and she was gone. Just like that,” she whispered. “With all the secretaries and the principal standing there gawking.” She shook her head and then bit her lower lip as she gazed at him. “He wasn’t the kind of man to stay single long. He remarried three months later, and I gained a stepmom and five step-brothers and sisters,” she added, scrunching up her shoulders and shaking her head.
That was a lot to sort out, and he planned to.
“How’s your neck?” he asked huskily.
She switched off the heating pad and laid it aside. “Better,” she said and then demonstrated that by cautiously turning her head from side to side and up and down. “It might stiffen up a tiny bit by morning, but I’ll call my massage therapist and get in to see her.”
“Here, let me,” he said as he got up and moved over to the couch cushion beside her. He motioned her to turn so she faced away from him. She hesitated for a moment, but when he smiled at her, she turned without further question.
“Tell me if anything I do hurts.”
She nodded and then quickly added, “Yes, Sir.”
Glad she couldn’t see the grin on his sappy face, he began to gently massage her well-defined shoulders. As she relaxed into his touch, he moved farther down, massaging the tight muscles around her shoulder blades and then upward. He used a careful touch on the back of her neck, watching for hints of discomfort. Her breathing slowed after a time, and she loosened up. Her appreciative moan sent a lance of need to his cock as he slid his fingers up into her hairline.
He began plucking the pins holding her tremendous mass of curls in place, gathering them in his palm as he encountered them. “You have so much hair, fiammetta.” I want to drown in it.
“Sorry, it’s a mess to deal with sometimes.”
“But it’s beautiful,” he murmured, pressing a thick lock to his nose and breathing in her sweet, slightly herbal scent.
“It wouldn’t behave when I was styling it earlier, so I just pinned it all up to control it.”
His body shook with his chuckling. “Perhaps I should do that with you when you won’t behave.”
She giggle-snorted. “You could try, Beastly.”
“Beastly?”
“Yeah, I just made it up. It’s your nickname from now on. Priestly sounds so staid and well…boring. But Beastly spanks bad girls’ heinies.” Her shoulders bounced with her laughter, but when he leaned forward and lightly bit down on her neck, she squealed. The sound started out playful but ended a little breathless, and he was encouraged. He gave her just a few more gentle squeezes to make sure she wasn’t tightening up after their brief play and then reached for the remote on the coffee table.
He flipped through the satellite music channels until he found what he wanted, turned up the volume, and then stood and held out his hand to her. “Come here.”