He swiped the key through the lock, pushing open the door. “I gave you a hand job last night and my mouth this morning. If slow means we’re doing no penetration for a while, then sweetheart, I need you to take mercy on me. I’m in desperate need of your fist wrapped around my cock.”
“I’d like that.”
“Trust me, I’ve been thinking about it all day. You sitting naked on my lap, jerking me off while I play with your gorgeous, sensitive tits. Bet I can make you come just from that. What do you say we do some experimenting and find out?”
My body buzzed, my breathing speeding. I swear I nearly came just from listening to him talking dirty. The man had hidden talents. “Okay.”
“That’s my girl. Who knows, maybe you could even write a paper on it.”
I burst out laughing. “I don’t know about that.”
He grinned down at me, already lifting my oversize T-shirt off over my head.
“Your pants don’t fit?” he asked, inspecting the hairband looped through my jeans’ buttonhole. The sole means by which I could keep them up, since the zipper was completely out. And these were my loose low-cuts.
“Not much fits since I popped.”
“You need some maternity gear like Lena. Jim said she found some real cute shit,” he said. “You’re spilling out of the bra too. Not that I don’t like the look, but that can’t be good.”
“You and Jim talk about girls’ clothes?”
He gave me a dour look. “Jim was just giving me some hints, what with Lena being further along than you and everything.”
“The clothes aren’t an issue. I can make do for a little while longer.”
“You don’t need to ‘make do for a little while longer.’ I want you comfortable.”
“Weren’t we going to have sex?” I asked, crossing my arms over my bountiful boobs and checking out the room. For some reason I just didn’t feel like looking at him right then.
“Have you touched that money I put in your account?”
“Not yet. I haven’t needed to.”
“Clearly you need to.” He crossed his arms too. No fair—his were so much bigger than mine. The fact that they were muscular and covered in tattoos pleased me just then. To be fair, Ben didn’t seem so happy himself. “What’s going on here, Liz?”
“Nothing. Which is the problem. I thought we were fooling around.”
He just looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
A long-suffering sigh. Then his fingers dealt with the band on my pants in less than two seconds, the denim pooling at my feet.
“Up,” he ordered, lifting me off the ground.
At last, sex. I wrapped my legs and arms around him, refinding my happy. “Were you really thinking about me all day?”
“Yeah, I was. And you’re sure as shit on my mind now.” Lines covered his high forehead. “So tell me, what’s this bullshit about you not touching that money? It’s yours for buying what you need, and clearly you need stuff.”
“It’s for Bean.”
“It’s for both of you.”
“I don’t like taking your money.”
A grunt of disapproval. “You didn’t take it, I gave it to you.”
“It feels the same.”
“Fine. Okay.” His hands cupped my ass, fingers massaging. “I don’t want you feeling weird about this. And relationships are about compromise, right?”
“Ri-i-ght.” Suspicion was my middle name.
“Tomorrow we go shopping and put all the shit you need on my card.”
“That’s not compromise!”
“You don’t like touching that money I put in your account, so don’t. In fact, you don’t have to touch any of my money at all. I’ll deal with it.”
“Ben.”
“Liz. Fact is, you’re probably never going to have the kind of money I’ve got. Since the band started earning, pretty much all I’ve done is invest it. I’m not like Jim with the flashy suits or Mal with the massive beach house and parties. I don’t need much, live pretty simply. Drive the same old truck. I’ve got one expense, but it’s under control.” Dark eyes drew me in. “You’ve made your point. There’s nothing in me thinking you’re into me for the money, okay? Now, I’m not having this discussion with you every time you need something. You and Bean are mine, and I look after what’s mine.”
I took a deep breath.
“We good?” he asked.
“I’ll try.”
“Do more than try. Rely on me. It’s what I’m here for.”
“That was a really sweet thing to say.” My eyes misted up. Crazy-ass hormones. “I guess because I didn’t grow up with much it just … it feels weird even having it there but not having worked for it. Like I stole it or something.”
“Sweetheart, you didn’t steal the money. You stole me. The money comes with me. Okay?”
“Okay.” A tear trickled down my cheek. “I really like you, Ben. So damn much.”
“Christ, what are you crying for? Come here, give me that mouth.”
I did as told. After that, there was more coming than crying that day.