'Did it hurt just then, when we were … ?' God, what to call it? 'Fucking' didn't seem right but 'making love' was too loaded. 'Shagging?' Too Austin Powers.
'Just now? I had way more important things on my mind.' He squeezed her closer. 'And on my body. And in my hands.' Then he kissed her tenderly, sweetly. 'You're a hell of a distraction, Elizabeth Blake.'
His words thrilled her. Who was this man? The guy holding her now, kissing her so gently, was not the Dan from the bar. And neither was he Dan the door slammer. Crikey. How many sides to this bloke could there be?
'Thanks, big guy.'
'Oh yeah,' he moaned. 'Call me big guy again.' Lizzie laughed, walked her fingers down his chest, over his flat belly, to his cock and underneath. Gently she cupped his balls, loved the softness and the tender weight of them in her hand.
'Maybe that can be your new nickname,' she teased. 'People will just think I'm referring to how tall you are. And how tall is that exactly?'
'Six foot four last time I checked.'
Lizzie took him in her hand. 'I've always had a thing for big men.'
'I bet big men have always had a thing for you.'
She hesitated. 'Not so much.'
'You are shitting me.'
'It's been a dry season in Lizzie land, so thanks. Or maybe we should thank Ry and Julia.'
He sniggered. 'For fuck's sake. Don't talk about them when you're doing what you're doing. It could get kinda weird.'
Lizzie laughed so hard her chest ached. When she finally got it under control, happiness bubbling away inside her instead, she slapped her hand on his stomach. 'You gonna cook me that steak now or are we gonna skip right to dessert?'
'Let's have a shower and then I'll give you whatever you want.'
Lizzie decided it was the best post-sex steak she'd ever had. She ate it hungrily, not caring that there wasn't a salad leaf to be seen.
Of course, it didn't hurt that Dan was sitting right across from her, shirtless. She was content to sit and watch him eat, observe the way the muscles in his arms and shoulders bunched and moved as he cut his steak. She gazed at his face as he chewed and smiled at her at the same time. There was a shine in his eyes that she had seen once before, in the middle of last winter, across the bar at the pub.
Lizzie forked the last piece into her mouth and chewed voraciously.
Dan raised his eyebrows. 'Hungry?'
'Yeah. Pity you burnt the potatoes.'
'Sometimes I find a good piece of meat is enough.' Dan pushed his plate into the middle of the table, crossed his arms in front of him. 'By the way. You look good in my shirt.'
Lizzie glanced down at his black shirt, loose on her shoulders and bunched in her lap. Only a couple of buttons were done up and the rest draped open. 'This old thing?'
Dan stood abruptly, came to her. He reached down and yanked the shirt open. Two black buttons popped off and hit the floor with tiny pings. He found a nipple, already hard. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bedroom.
'Time for dessert.'
Dan opened his eyes. The summer day poured through the window, streaking through the wooden blinds and creating lines of light and shadow on the rumpled sheets and tangled limbs on the bed.
In the sleepy, drunken haze of the second full night's sleep he'd had in four months, it took him half a minute to remember exactly where he was. And that he wasn't alone.
He turned on his side, shifted the pillow under his head, and watched Lizzie while she slept. She looked dead to the world. Her blonde hair was flattened on one side and sticking up on the other, and one arm was thrown up on her pillow, framing her head. When he looked a little closer, at her silken skin, he could see the tiniest of freckles scattered on her nose and cheeks. Her plump lips, pale pink, had fallen slightly open in her sleep. There were worse things to wake up to, he decided. Far worse.
She was still in his bed. Naked, if he remembered correctly. Dan couldn't remember if they'd had a discussion about her staying the night but here she was and it didn't feel weird. Normally he'd been the number one signed-up member of the middle of the night, post-fuck dash, made all the easier by his usual policy of never inviting women back to his place.
But that was then. The minute he'd invited Lizzie over for dinner he'd smashed that tradition into a million pieces. Dinner? Jesus, when did he start cooking for women? When the only place in town to eat was the place she worked, that's when. And cooking her a meal at his place meant anonymity and no questions, which was exactly how he wanted to keep it, still.
Lizzie shifted and the soft sheet that was barely covering her body slipped down onto her ribs as one arm stretched up in a yawn. The move exposed her breasts and, damn it, he was a breast man. Last night he'd loved the feel of her in his hands, large and full, with nipples the colour of pale pink roses. And he'd been driven crazy by how she reacted when he held her, a growl, a moan, her nails digging into his back.
He leaned over, careful not to touch any other part of her body, and hovered above her breast. He checked to see her eyes were still closed and then he teased one nipple with his tongue, flicking the nub, swirling around the areola, finally sucking it into his mouth.
When he heard her moan, he sucked harder, nipping her. She stirred, moved closer to him, nudging a knee into his groin.
'Morning,' he murmured against her skin.
Lizzie's arms were around his neck in a flash and she found his mouth, played with the hair at his neck. She planted a tantalising kiss, then bit his bottom lip.
'Hey big guy.'
'Hey.'
How'd you sleep?' she asked.
'Good. You?'
'Good too.' A very satisfied smile played on her lips. 'I really like being woken up like that.'
'Anytime, baby.'
'What's the time?' she asked sleepily, looking around the room for a clock. Dan reached over her to grab his mobile from the bedside table.
'It's ten.'
Lizzie pushed him off with full force and sat bolt upright. 'Fuck. I'm late for work.' She kicked the sheet off her legs and dashed for the hallway. 'Can you find my clothes? I have to get home and change. Shit shit shit.' Her voice disappeared into the bathroom.
He knew she took her job seriously but Dan seriously doubted that Ry would give her the sack for being late just once. He would make sure Ry didn't. He sat up, grabbed his phone and found Ry's number.
'Danny Boy.'
'Hey, Ry,' Dan replied.
'You good?' Ry asked.
'As a matter of fact, I am. The phrase "fucking awesome" comes to mind, as a matter of fact.'
'Jesus. What's happened to the grumpy shit I've come to know and love?'
'Still here. Hey,' he lowered his voice. 'I need to tell you something. Elizabeth's gonna be late for work. Don't give her shit about it, okay?'
'What's happened? Is she all right?' Ry's voice had lost its humour.
'She's … fine.' Fine? God, she was more than fine. Unbelievable. Combustible. Gorgeous. 'She's running a little late.'
'How do you know she's going to be late for work?'
Dan wasn't sure what to do next. He figured he had two choices. He could either answer Ry's question or deal with a furious-looking Lizzie, who was now standing in his bedroom doorway, totally naked, hands on her gorgeous hips, giving him the death stare. God, she was incredible.
'Who are you talking to?' Lizzie whispered through gritted teeth.
'Who's that?' Ry asked down the line at the same time.
Dan thought for half a moment, and realised the longer he left them both hanging, the longer he could look at Lizzie's body. And he wanted to check out every damn inch of her, from her bright red painted toenails to her blazing blue eyes. And, holy hell, everything in between.
'Dan!' Lizzie insisted.
It was then he decided to leap right in, all guns blazing. He was bloody well stoked that he had Lizzie still naked in his house. He wasn't going to hide that from anyone. So what the hell.
He put the phone back to his ear. 'Listen up everyone. Ry, Elizabeth is going to be late for work because she is still naked in my bedroom.' He watched as Lizzie's face turned white. 'Elizabeth, I'm telling Ry you're going to be late for work and that he'd better not give you any shit about it.'
'Okay.' Dan could hear Ry's laughter as he ended the call. Dan tossed the phone onto the end of the bed, crossed his arms and waited. Lizzie had stopped her death glare and now wouldn't look at him at all. She'd dropped to her knees and was scrambling on the floor for her clothes.
He patted the space next to him. 'Baby, come back over here.'
Lizzie sat on the end of the bed, her back to him, and began pulling on her knickers and jeans. He could see a faint, horizontal tan line on her back from her bikini and he fought the urge to grab her and run his tongue across it.
'Elizabeth?'
She stood and jerked her top back on hurriedly. He opened his mouth to tell her it was inside out. One look at her face and he decided against it.
'I. Cannot. Believe. You. Just. Did. That.' She spat out every word.
'I've got nothing to hide. C'mon back over here.'
She turned to him, her face furious. 'You've got nothing to hide? Of course you don't. Have you ever thought that I might?' She stormed to the door and turned back one last time.