Excerpt from Turn It On
A muffled curse reached his ears and Ryan swung around, searching for the source. Where in the devil had Max disappeared to? A crash sounded from behind a door in the corner of the kitchen. Ryan yanked it open to find Maxine struggling under the weight of a dislodged shelf. The rest of the pantry goods on it were perilously close to joining a broken jam jar on the floor.
“Damn it, why didn’t you call for help?” Ryan asked as he reached around her to grasp the shelf. He took the weight and she sighed in relief, dropping her arms to her sides for a moment before grabbing at the loose goods and transferring them to another shelf. Ryan clenched his teeth as her ass rubbed his groin and reawakened his cock.
“I did call.” Her voice was gravelly and rough. “For a while. You must have been too far away to hear me.”
“Don’t talk until you get a drink.” The shelf grew lighter as she removed the cans and jars, and Ryan lowered it to waist height and placed it to the side. Maxine remained trapped within the circle of his arms and she eased back, her head on his shoulder.
“Sorry. Need to rest for a minute,” she croaked.
Ryan let her lean on him, massaging her arms to bring back the circulation. This wasn’t how he’d imagined getting to hold her, but who in the hell cared? She was soft and warm, and damn it all, she smelled wonderful. He fought the urge to take advantage of the opportunity and stroke her torso more intimately. Cup her breasts and see if they really would overflow his hands like he’d pictured. A little groaning noise slipped from her lips and he envisioned her under him making those sounds, and his cock hardened even more. Shit, he had to get his mind on other things.
She shifted position and her butt cheek brushed his zipper. His dick jerked in response. Fuck. If he didn’t get some control fast, he was going to explode.
He forced himself to concentrate. “How long were you standing there?”
“Too long.”
She melted against him. Holy shit, there was no way he could survive much more of this. Looking around for a distraction, he spotted the shelf hooks still hanging precariously from the wall. The support screws seemed to have ripped clean out of all six holes at the same time.
Maxine shifted her feet slightly and something crunched.
“Shit. Gramma’s jelly.”
Ryan looked down to see dark purple spreading at their feet, sharp shards of glass poking through the gooey mass. He glanced at the thin-soled slippers she wore.
“Don’t move, I’ll take care of it.” Her cry of surprise rang in his ear as he lifted her, and she whipped her arms out and clung to his neck. The tantalizing sensation of her breasts pressed tight against him made his mouth water, but he ignored the temptation. He stepped to the edge of the pantry, pausing to kick off his shoes before walking to the island and depositing her carefully on the countertop.
“Ryan, I—”
“Sit and relax for a minute. The floor looks freshly tiled and grouted in here, and we don’t want to get Gramma’s jelly all over it. Right?”
She wrinkled her nose at him and nodded.
“Good. Drink this.” He poured her a glass full of tea. “And take it easy while I dump the evidence.” He poured himself a glass and raised it in a toast before chugging it down and retreating to the pantry with the garbage pail.
He needed the drink to cool himself off. The feel of her in his arms, the scent of her body, both drove his simmering desire for her up to a boil. Everything about Maxine attracted him, especially her bullheaded stubbornness in refusing to simply let the shelf fall to the floor.
He dropped the glass pieces into the pail carefully before scooping up the jelly and wiping everything with the wet dishcloth Maxine threw him. He watched her clandestinely through the open door. She pulled off her slippers and deposited them in the sink, her long limbs twisting. Her shirt rode up and glimpses of her bare belly teased him as she wiggled her way around. Ryan took a deep breath and beat down the violent need he felt to lick her skin, starting at her belly button. Damn, he hadn’t been this horny since he was a teenager.
She peered in at him. “Almost done?”
“It’s clean. I’ll check the rest of the shelves while I’m in here.” He held the pail out to her. God help him, maybe a little normal activity would break his train of thought. Anything to keep from heading into no man’s land.
“You don’t need to do that. I just bumped it too hard or something.”
“It’s part of the inspection.” When a confused expression crossed her face, he winked. “I’ve got to check you don’t have any items past their expiration date. They’re a high security risk.”
She laughed and accepted the pail, grabbing his shoes from the floor. “Then I’ll clean these for you.”
They each turned to their tasks. Ryan picked the screws off the floor and compared them to the ones still intact. It looked as if someone had exchanged every screw on the faulty shelf with a slightly smaller size. He took his time to make sure the rest of the room was secure, tucking the remainder of the jelly jars into a solid corner cupboard before rejoining Max in the kitchen. She handed him his shoes solemnly.
“Am I safe? No rancid flour or dangerous canned beets about to make a break for it?”
Ryan shook his head. “Did anyone work in the pantry when they did the floors?”
She frowned. “They weren’t supposed to. Is something wrong?”
He smiled to reassure her. “No, the rest of the shelves are good and sturdy. The one that fell can be fixed easily as well.” Maxine stared at him strangely. “What?”
She reached forward and brushed her fingers down his cheek, drawing them back to show him bright purple. The touch of her hand set the alarms ringing through his body again.
“You’re wearing war paint,” she murmured.
Ryan couldn’t stop himself. It was too much to resist. He circled her wrist with his fingers and tugged her hand toward him. Watching carefully for any sign she wanted him to stop, he brought her sticky fingers to his lips and licked them clean. Heat sparked between them and he leaned closer until their mouths were mere inches apart.
“It’s very good jelly. I’d hate to let it go to waste.”
She nodded seriously, breathlessly, then closed the distance between them and their mouths touched.
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