“Want me to?”
Wordless, I nodded.
He unhooked my bra, baring my breasts. My jacket and sweater framed them, and I felt—for once in my life— beautiful enough to be photographed, an erotic display. And it was all for him. His eyes flared as if he shared the thought. A dark flush swept his cheekbones as he lowered his head, bringing my nipple to his mouth. The first lick made me cry out, and when he used his teeth, I tangled my hands in his hair.
“Rob,” I breathed.
“Be still. Let me taste you.”
“Mhm.”
I couldn’t have argued if my life had depended on it. He sucked and licked, bit gently, back and forth, until both throbbed with equal need. Longing shivered through me, so sharp it sank its teeth in like pain, but I couldn’t stand for him to stop. Then, unbelievably, he did, with a final kiss to each of my nipples.
While I trembled, he fastened up my clothes. “There, now you can go.”
“Seriously? You want me to leave? Now?” God, I sounded so breathless.
“Not at all,” he whispered. “But anticipation, remember? By the time we fuck, Lauren, you’ll want me more than anyone who’s ever been in your bed.”
My only consolation was that he was shaking, too, and he clenched his right hand into a fist so tight, his knuckles burned white, like the bone beneath. Trying to tempt him, I blathered something incoherent about that already being true, but he only kissed my forehead and escorted me to the truck. Rob started it, and we sat in the dark cab, waiting for it to warm up. His sweetness combined with this teasing... Damn, it might be the end of me. I’d never been one for delayed gratification.
It took all my willpower not to beg for sex, so this game he was playing—it was definitely working. My only consolation was that when I leaned over to kiss Rob goodbye, his shoulders were as tense as two slabs of granite. At least I’m not suffering alone. That assurance let me drive off, cautiously, into the snowy evening. Twenty minutes later, I pulled into my driveway. My mom’s car was there, but the lights were out. I guessed she must be with Stuart.
I changed out of my work clothes, then sat down at my laptop. Over the years, I’d built enough websites that I could do this in my sleep. With stock photos and Photoshop, I pulled together some graphics, then started coding. I hated Flash sites, so I worked in CSS, putting together a basic template in earth tones...drop-down menu, there we go. Finally, I added rugged photos of lumber and men at work to set the tone. When I had the chance, I’d take some pictures of Rob to spice things up.
A couple of hours later, I finished the basic template. Products needed to be added to get the storefront working and Rob had to create the content—I figured I’d help. If he liked what I’d done on the free hosting that came with my mom’s internet, then I’d register a domain and pay for permanent hosting. Stretching, I stood up from the computer.
After showering, I got in bed to watch TV. I was nearly asleep when the text came in. Thinking of you.
I hoped that was as dirty as my imagination painted it. So I sent back, Me too. And it’s SO good. See you in the morning.
The next day, I was eating breakfast when my mom got in, but she wasn’t in the same outfit. So she’s got clothes at Stuart’s place. Wonder if he has some here. But it wasn’t my business, and I wasn’t the kind of person who would freak out about my mom finally having a life. Yet I couldn’t resist teasing her a little.
“I hope you were careful. You could ruin your life with an unplanned pregnancy.”
She grinned. “Do you really want me to answer that? I will.”
“Never mind.” God, it was so weird to have my mom responding when I joked around like this. But it was good, too, like seeing a statue come to life. That didn’t mean I wanted any more information on this topic, though. So I hurriedly dumped my bowl in the sink and washed it out. “I’m going to Rob’s. See you later.”
“How are things going?” she asked.
“Good, I guess. He doesn’t want to rush.”
I let her make of that what she would, but my mom apparently had lines she wouldn’t cross, either. “Well, I think it’s sweet he’s taking things slow.”
Aside from the sexual frustration, I didn’t really mind. Rob didn’t make me feel like his interest would wane as soon as he got into my pants. So in that sense, his approach was working. I already believed he wanted more than my body.
“It’s...endearing,” I admitted.
“Does tomorrow night work for you?” my mom asked, changing the subject.
I cocked my head, trying to follow the sudden skip. “For what?”
“Karaoke.”
Oh. “Rob said yes. I still have to ask everyone else. But for us, sure. Looking forward to it.”
“Me, too,” Mom said.
Waving to her, I got all my tech gear, bundled up and drove to Rob’s place. Though it was early for a Saturday—before ten—he was already watching for me. I parked in the garage as the doors opened, and he helped me unload.
“What is all this?”
“My laptop and a decent camera, plus various cables. I hope you like the site. Oh, and we need to talk about the name. I was thinking ‘Rob the Builder’ might be cute, but it’s also really close to that kid show—”
He cut me off with a kiss. “Good morning.”
“Heh, sorry. Morning. I’m just excited.”
“You’re adorable.”
He carried my bag into the house, where I set up my computer so I could walk him through the website features. “It’s really customizable, so if there’s anything you don’t like, it’ll be easy for me to change it. Obviously we need to add pictures, content, products, but...what do you think?” I slid the laptop to him so he could explore.
After a few minutes of clicking around, he turned to me with an astonished expression. “This is so impressive. This would’ve cost thousands of dollars, wouldn’t it?”
“Maybe. Hundreds more likely, because I started with a free template, so a lot of the heavy lifting was done. I just—”
“I can tell you worked really hard. I love it. And thank you.”
“Awesome. Now I have an idea how we can both get what we want today. While you’re working in the kitchen, I want to film you. If possible, unless it’ll be too distracting, explain what you’re doing as you go. Would that be okay?”
“I don’t know why anybody would want to watch that, but sure.”