she’d learned to use after giving birth alone and broke. But her new landlord was different. In the few weeks they’d lived there, he always went out of his way to talk to Annie, not just listen to her absently, but to engage.
It wasn’t only that he was nice to her daughter. It was the attention he gave to her as well. He looked at her like he enjoyed what he saw…which hadn’t happened in a long time. Emily felt feminine for the first time in ages. And it felt real. She wasn’t parading around in low-cut shirts and shorts that barely covered her ass cheeks. She might be reading the signals coming from Fletch wrong, though. It’d been a good while since she’d even thought about trying to flirt or gain a man’s interest. She’d gotten used to getting through her life one day at a time, and ignoring everything and everyone around her except for Annie.
But Fletch made her want to try. Made her want to be pretty for him. She smiled into the empty room. Fletch was hot. He was buff and built, and the longish hair curling against his neck made her want to tangle her fingers in it and tug as he devoured her mouth.
Lord, it’d been so long since she’d had any kinds of sexual feelings, it was almost surprising, but it felt good. It probably wasn’t a smart idea to get involved in any way with someone who controlled her rent and could kick her out at a moment’s notice, but she couldn’t help thinking about it. If he crooked his finger at her, she’d probably obey his every command.
Thinking about Fletch made her squirm on the couch. She hadn’t been with a man in quite a while, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a healthy sex drive. Emily’s hand drifted down her stomach and pushed under the elastic waistband of her sweats. Closing her eyes, she imagined one of her favorite scenes from a romance novel she’d read once, superimposing Fletch’s eyes, hands, and body into the dream.
She was lying on a huge bed, naked, while Fletch was standing next to the bed, also nude. In the book, the man crawled over the heroine and ate her to an orgasm, then took her from behind, but in her mind, Fletch took hold of his impressive cock and stroked himself, encouraging her to do the same.
Emily’s fingers swiped through her soaked folds as she imagined Fletch telling her how beautiful he thought she was, and how he couldn’t wait to get inside her. She flicked her fingers faster over her clit, moaning, as dream Fletch’s blue eyes stayed glued to what she was doing.
It didn’t take long, Emily was primed and ready. The orgasm peaked quickly and she moaned quietly as she climaxed, so as not to wake Annie. As her hips jerked and she lightly stroked herself, prolonging the delicious feelings, Emily imagined Fletch’s own orgasm, his hand tightening around himself as he groaned, the sight of her going over the edge pushing him over as well.
Sighing and pulling her hand away from between her legs, Emily stretched, sated. She might not have a boyfriend, but she knew how to take care of herself. She’d been doing it for a long time, and it had always felt great. But tonight was different. Probably because instead of a nameless, faceless hero in her mind, it’d been Fletch. But there was no way a guy like him was single. And if he was, something had to be wrong with him.
Emily tried to put her sexy landlord out of her mind. It was no use wishing for something that wasn’t smart, and probably wouldn’t happen anyway. She might be able to daydream about him, but that was all it would ever be.
Emily fell asleep on the sofa, dreaming about being flung down on a bed and being made love to by a man with bulging muscles and a sexy smile…and feeling safe for the first time in a long time.
Chapter 3
“ W ho is it ?” Emily called through her closed door.
“Fletch.”
Feeling her heart rate increase just at hearing his voice, she tried to get herself under control so she wouldn’t jump him the second she opened
Fletcher Pratt, L. Sprague deCamp
Connie Brockway, Eloisa James Julia Quinn