Key West by Lacey Alexander (top android ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Releasing him, she moaned, arching her breasts into his hands, a wicked little smile reshaping her face.

“Mmm, baby, I love what a dirty little angel you’ve become.”

She licked her lips, looking as if she was trying to draw in every last remnant of his semen, and the sight practically made him hard all over again. “All for you,” she purred.

Slowly, he began to ease down beside her in the bed, never taking his gaze from her eyes. “You’re so beautiful.” Something in his gut pinched as he spoke, though. Because he’d felt those words just a little too much. He wasn’t talking only about her eyes, or her face, or her body—he was talking about the whole package: the angel, the fallen angel, the lover who yearned to suck his cock dry.

She turned on her side to face him, running one hand down his chest. “You are, too,” she whispered.

He let her sweet words permeate him as he lay staring into her eyes, studying the tiny flecks of gold sprinkled in the emerald. The moment was at once intense but comfortable, relaxed, as if the two of them had lain here like this, gazing on each other, a million times before.

“So,” he finally said, “tell me about you and this bookstore of yours.”

She smiled slightly. “It’s my dream come true,” she said. “Both of my sisters are in advertising—they have big city jobs where they wear suits to work every day. But I never wanted that sort of existence. Even so, when I graduated from college with a degree in marketing, I ended up taking a job at a market research company. A good job. A high-pressure job. And I was miserable. Two years later I chucked it all and opened a bookstore in a trendy area near my apartment. It was a risky move, because independent bookstores don’t usually fare well these days with the advent of the superstore. But my marketing skills helped, both with picking the right location and with getting the store on its feet after I opened.”

“So you have a thriving business?”

She nodded, looking proud. “I’m doing very well. Even thinking of expanding—of converting the alleyway behind the store into a courtyard where people can drink coffee and read, and where my book clubs can meet in nice weather.”

He raised his eyebrows. If she’d told him all this a couple of days ago, when he’d only met the timid angel in curls, he might have been surprised. But he’d already seen that underneath her shy shell, Carrie wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted, so he could easily believe her success. “That’s great. What’s the name of your store?”

“The Bookmark. The sign over my door is designed like a bookmark lying on its side, with a cutout wooden tassel hanging down. It’s all very quaint and simple, to match the neighborhood I’m in. Lots of warm colors and cozy easy chairs. We even have a mascot,” she said, smiling playfully.

He tilted his head against his pillow and grinned. “Oh?”

“My cat, Dickens.”

“Aptly named,” he noted.

She gave a small nod. “He’s actually something of an alley cat, a loner, not the sort of cat who wants to cuddle. I started bringing him to the store with me and realized he seemed to enjoy roaming the place—I guess it’s a big jungle of books to him. So he lives there now, and people seem to like stumbling across him, although they’re always let down when he doesn’t want to snuggle up beside them in a reading chair.”

He pushed a lock of her blondish-red hair back from her forehead. “That sounds nice, angel. I’m glad you have something that means so much to you.”

She never broke their gaze. “So, tell me about you and your boat.”

“For people who live in Key West,” he said with a grin, “my story is a typical one. I came down here five years ago with some friends for New Year’s Eve, and when it was time to go home, I just didn’t want to. I couldn’t face going back to the cold and drear. But more than that, I couldn’t face going back to my job.”

“Which was?”

“I was a loan officer for a large bank in Cleveland.”

She flinched. “You? A suit and tie guy? In Cleveland?”

He couldn’t help laughing. “Yep. Born and raised there.”

She shook her head. “From the moment we met, I just thought you fit here. It’s hard to imagine you in…” she glanced down at his body, apparently taking in his tan “…Cleveland. And in a suit and tie. It’s just not you.”

He gave her a look of agreement. “Don’t I know it. The minute I got to this place, I fell in love with it. So, much to the dismay of my parents and friends, who all thought I’d lost my mind, I decided to go on permanent vacation. I traded in my sedan for a motorcycle and used the equity I had in my condo as a down payment for the boat. My family had always been big into sailing—on Lake Michigan—so I had the know-how and I’ve always loved the water. My parents were sure I was washed up at twenty-five, that I was throwing away my whole future. But like I told you, five years later the boat’s almost paid off, and as soon as that happens, I can quit bartending and acting as crew member on the other boats my management company handles out of the kiosk. And from where I’m sitting, things couldn’t be better.”

She smiled. “So you’re content to stay here for life, huh?”

He shrugged. “Why not? The water’s blue, the sun’s bright, the attitude’s laid-back and easy, and there are always people who want to go snorkeling.”

“And I bet there are always women on vacation seducing you.”

He grinned and dodged the question, not wanting to tell her she was right—like before, he wanted her to feel special. “Hmm, did you seduce me or