Spiral of Bliss 01 Arouse Read Online Free Page A

have nothing to lose. “Actually, I’m looking for a job. I was wondering if you need any help.”
    “Oh. Business is pretty slow, unfortunately.”
    “I have a lot of retail experience. I could hold down the fort while you… advertise.”
    “Not a bad idea.” Allie pops the last of the cookie into her mouth and gives me a considering look. “I have been thinking about staying open later on weekends. Try to catch some of the theater and restaurant foot traffic. If you’re looking to work random hours, plus weekends, for very little pay, then you’ve hit the jackpot.”
    Hardly ideal, but I like Allie Lyons. I like her shabby shop and her scary apple-tree costume and the pink calligraphic sign that’s better suited for a questionable massage parlor than a bookstore.
    “Great.” I push to my feet. “When can I start?”
     

     
    “Heart, courage, home, or brains?”
    “What?”
    I hold out the plate of cookies that Allie insisted I take home. They’re rectangular sugar cookies frosted with the words
Heart
,
Brains
,
Home
, and
Courage
.
    I dangle a
Brains
cookie in front of Dean. “I suppose I didn’t need to ask.”
    He takes the cookie and bites into it. “Doesn’t this mean I don’t have brains?”
    “Like I said, I didn’t need to ask.”
    He gives me a swat on the rear, which then turns into a very nice caress. I nibble on a
Courage
cookie and settle in beside him on the sofa. He’s supposed to be watching a baseball game, but apparently the butt-pat got him thinking in another direction because he curves his hand around me to fondle my breast.
    “Shouldn’t you be working?” I ask, shifting around so he can get a better hold on me. “Summer classes end next week.”
    “Work’s all done. Give me a kiss, beauty.”
    I turn my head and surrender to his warm, sugary mouth. Heat shoots across my skin. He tucks a hand underneath my shirt and flicks the clasp on my bra, then cups the weight of my breast in his palm.
    “Oh, wait.” I’ve had the dates of the summer session in my head because I was hoping some jobs might open up if students leave town before the fall semester starts at the end of August. Now something occurs to me, and I ease away from Dean. “Hold on. I need to check…”
    I head into the bedroom, pressing a hand to my stomach. As much as I’d like to start stripping naked right away, I don’t want to be unpleasantly surprised. I pull down my pants and underwear to check things out. Nothing. Good.
    I head back to the living room, then stop. I turn into the kitchen and look at the calendar, do a quick calculation in my head.
    My stomach flutters hard.
    “Liv?”
    “Coming.” Tension tightens my spine as I return to the living room. Dean’s sprawled on the sofa, looking entirely edible with his stubbly jaw and thick, wavy hair. His T-shirt has ridden up a couple of inches to expose the hard ridges of his stomach. His hand hovers over the button-fly of his jeans.
    “Ready?” he asks.
    “Um.”
    He lowers his hand and pushes to sitting. “Um what?”
    “I didn’t get my period.” I rub my palms on my thighs. “Or I… I haven’t gotten it, at any rate. Yet.”
    Something flickers in his eyes, but I can’t read what it is.
    “How late are you?” he asks.
    “A week and a half.”
    “That’s not much.”
    “I’m pretty regular. I didn’t think of it with getting fired and starting the job search again, but when I realized the date…”
    We look at each other. The silence is weighty.
    “The condoms haven’t broken or anything,” I finally say.
    “They don’t have to. And I’m not always wearing one when I come.”
    “You’re not inside me then either.”
    “I don’t necessarily have to be, if it’s close enough.” He stands, fastening the top button of his jeans. “I’ll run to the drugstore and get a pregnancy test.”
    “Wouldn’t it be too soon to register?”
    “Won’t hurt to take one.” He pulls on his shoes, grabs his keys, and heads