put your pleasure first when we were an item, so I’ll assume present company doesn’t count. As for lover boy, don’t you worry, honey, he’ll be here Monday morning wearing nothing but a tool belt and that suck-u-licious smile.”
She laughed. “You wish.” Sobering, she admitted, “So do I.” But the odds were next to zilch.
Thad had put her needs first for a short while, but his primary focus was on work. It proved what a nice guy he was, to tell her the truth of his priorities instead of dragging her into a relationship the way so many past jerks had done, Sam non inclusive. True to his word, Sam had always put her first, but that was years ago, back before he realized men were more his style.
As if to contradict the thought, Sam moved between her thighs. He bunched her ankle-length skirt in his hands, lifting the gauzy green material up and away from her legs and planting a wet kiss on her inner thigh. Lissa shot to a sitting position with the unexpected move and the flutter of arousal that accompanied it.
He grinned. “Sean’s not expecting me for another half hour. Would a friendly kitty lick cheer you up?”
“Probably. But I don’t have the time for it. I have another appointment with the Sugar Shack.” Liar. She had plenty of time before the meeting and, since she rarely worked more than a few hours on Saturday, had no plans to spend it in her basement office.
So why was she turning Sam down? He was a god with his tongue. Thad had been just as gifted, but then Thad wasn’t here, offering up his oral services.
Sam slapped her thigh. “You’re a terrible liar, Liss.”
She used to get wet from his love slaps. Even when he’d done it teasingly the last few years, she’d enjoyed a little buzz of sensation. Today, his playful swat made her wish it was Thad’s powerful body sandwiched between her thighs.
Easing Sam aside, she pushed off from the countertop and let the skirt fall down around her legs. “I do have an appointment.”
“Not for another hour, when the candy store shuts down for the night. I heard the message on the answering machine this morning.”
“Oh.” She should have known better than to attempt to lie to him. She just didn’t want his paranoia striking and making him say something ridiculous, like suggesting she’d gone and set her heart on Thad being the one to finally put her front and center. Not that the suggestion would have been so ridiculous, considering that was exactly what Lissa had done.
Really, who could blame her for getting her hopes up? He’d seemed so perfect: hard, bad-boy outer shell with a soft, creamy, nice-guy filling.
“You know the real reason so many nice guys finish last?”
She was sick of the question, but answering it was preferable to thinking about Thad’s creamy filling and bemoaning the fact she’d never gotten to taste it. “So their leading ladies can come in first.”
“The other reason,” Sam said seriously.
She frowned. “I didn’t know there was another one.”
“It’s because they’re afraid to put themselves out there. Sounds to me like you caught Thad on a naughty nice-guy day, which was just fine until his head cleared enough to consider his behavior. He probably felt guilty as hell over hopping into bed with you so quick and came up with the first excuse he could to avoid falling to temptation a second time.”
Lissa’s heart beat faster. Was he suggesting there was still a chance of her being Thad’s number one, assuming his personality measured up to his dynamite body? “You think work isn’t his first priority?”
“Could be it is. Or it could be he’s intimidated by his lust for you. He’s going to be here next week, working on the roof. If you really want a chance with him, use the time to get to know him with your clothes on.”
“I can do that.” How hard could it be to forget the rigorously sculpted torso hiding beneath his shirt? Her sex tingled as the vision of her hands running over his muscled, suntanned chest flashed through her mind. Maybe it would be a little difficult. “Just in case things don’t work out, the kitty lick offer will still be good, right?”
Sam gave the laugh that said she was being her shameless self again. “Give me a few hours advance notice and I’ll have my tongue primed and ready.”
Dark brown eyes glistening with amusement, Nash took a drag from his cigarette while he considered Thad from the opposite side of the wood pub table. He let out a puff of smoke, followed by a bark of laughter. “She thinks you’re a nice guy. Damn, man, now I’ve heard everything.”
Thad hadn’t told the guys the whole story of what went down with Lissa, just that in order to get contracted for her roof job, he had to convince her he was a nice guy. “Go ahead. Yuck it up.” He sent a pointed look Benny’s way. “But remember when you can make bills next month who you owe for landing us another legal job.”
Nash stubbed his cigarette out in an ashtray. “Gertie’s requests might not exactly be legal, but she already took care of next month’s bill. Had such a fine time ogling Benny Boy up, she invited him back for seconds last night.”
“This time she touched.” Benny winced. “We’ve got to have an age cutoff. I can’t handle being stroked by an eighty-year-old. I just kept seeing the wrinkled faces of the residents in Mom’s nursing home.” With a second wince, he grabbed his mug of beer from the table and took a long drink. He wiped the residue from his blond mustache with the back of his hand. “Christ, I can’t go that route again.”
Thad and Nash gave nods of understanding. The burgers and chips arrived seconds later and the guys fell into companionable silence as they ate. Thad was halfway through his olive burger when Benny asked, “What’s she look like?”
“Who?” Thad questioned, though he knew exactly who Benny meant. The woman Thad had spent the afternoon telling himself he wouldn’t be touching again.
“Lissa.” Benny confirmed his guess.
Thad studied the olive cheese sauce oozing out the side of his burger. “Average.”
“Liar.” Nash popped a chip in his mouth. “She’s hot. I can tell that much by the way you say her name like it’s enough to give you a semi.”
Was the hardening effect hearing her name had on his dick that obvious? Thad sent Nash a quelling look. “Sorry to disappoint you, but Lissa’s”—damned hot. A sex kitten, once she got past the whole good-girl persona. Potentially attached—“a nice girl.”
“Nice girls like to be naughty too,” Benny observed.
“I’m telling you, she’s not worth wasting talk on. She might even be married. She lives with a guy.” Some asshole that would leave her alone with a stranger who was clearly hot for her body. Only, hell, Thad had no right calling Sam an asshole. He had no idea what his relationship with Lissa was, but if she was truly a nice girl, then he wasn’t her husband or lover. “Just lay off the flirting around Liss. You guys know how damned bad we need this job.”
“All right,” Nash agreed soberly. A heartbeat later, his mouth curved in a shit-eating grin. “We promise not to flirt with your girlfriend.”
“For fuck’s sakes,
