Chapter 4
Rohan
Yep, I was going to need a lot of bribes.
“You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Knox was frowning as we stepped over a pile of shoes at the front door and went around a box he’d sworn wasn’t the missing books when we’d toed off our own shoes.
“The cleaning company said I hadn’t prepared them, but the first guy I talked to just hadn’t listened to me. ”
I’d taken in everything the adorably absent-minded author had said and hadn’t said, and I was fairly prepared for the chaos.
“You warned me.” That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to have to provide some incredible bribes, though. “But just so we’re clear, work-in-progress chapters and paperbacks will only get you so far.”
It wasn’t going to get to the bottom of the kitchen table, but it would let him see the kitchen counters and it’d get the weird piles of bubble wrap cleared away.
Knox sighed and frowned at the pandemonium that greeted us as we went into the main living space. “I think that’s fair. We’ll work out the details on the rest.”
If he hadn’t been so obviously turned on earlier, I’d have been worried about his frown.
I shouldn’t have been.
“There aren’t enough blow jobs in the world to get through that mail.” He seemed to think he’d been talking to himself, but it’d been verbal and louder than he’d expected.
He was right, though.
But the sleep sex idea...well, that might get him at least one place setting cleared.
“You’ve got better things to bribe me with.” There was no point in being too subtle and risking the possibility of him not knowing how serious I was. “I’ve got a good idea of what’s in your imagination.”
He couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to blush or tug himself off to a quick orgasm.
“I’ll be...” He looked around and frowned more deeply. “How about you check out the kitchen? I’ll be right back.”
The little slut was going to give himself an orgasm.
I could see it in the way his fingers started to twitch and curl like he could already feel his hand wrapped around his erection.
His very obvious one.
“No.” The word came out low and stern, and it sent a shiver through him. “You’ll stay with me and show me around. We’ve got a few things to negotiate before you get to play with yourself.”
His mouth dropped open, but it wasn’t the bad kind of shock because he licked his lips as his fingers twitched again. “I wasn’t...I...that would be wrong.”
Knox couldn’t manage a convincing denial, so I just raised one eyebrow and glanced down at his bulge. “Would you like to try that lie again?”
“No, thank you.” His polite response had me fighting back a laugh, but he wanted stern and sexy, so I played along. “I’ll be good.”
No, he wouldn’t.
“I don’t believe that lie either.” Thank fuck he couldn’t lie worth a damn. “Your complete inability to lie convincingly is going to come in handy, though.”
Knox just sighed...clearly, he knew I was right about that too.
“If I can’t lie, then you can’t either.” His pout was adorable and made me wonder if he was seeing what I’d do to punish him for being naughty.
“There’s no logic in that whatsoever, but to humor you, I will promise not to lie.” He’d have to learn to trust me on that, but we’d get there.
The side eye he gave me was cute, but I pretended to be so focused on the house I didn’t notice. “You just want help, right? There’s no specific list I’m working from?”
I wanted to make sure one last time before I took over that he actually wanted me to take over.
He did.
Knox sighed again, looking defeated as he took in the kitchen and living room. “I just don’t know how it happened. I don’t even cook anymore. I don’t know where all the dishes are coming from.”
That left me shaking my head, but I could only focus on fixing one problem at a time.
“Don’t worry.” Stepping closer physically as well as deeper into whatever the fuck we were doing with everything else, I reached out and ran my hand over his head. “I’m going to get this fixed and you will focus on words and book stuff and getting me more chapters of Teddy’s book.”
That got a smile out of the easily distracted author I was imagining doing wicked things to. “You like Teddy.”
“I do.” There was no point in denying that. “I used to spend a lot of time on the road and your worlds helped me pass the time. He was one of the side characters I kept wondering about, so I have a vested interest in making sure his story gets told.”
Still smiling, Knox leaned his head into my touch and made a needy sound before getting distracted by the characters in his head. “He’s a very naughty little thing.”
Oh yes, and so was the author writing about him.
“You’ll just have to do your best and try to understand what he needs then.” I shrugged like there was no way around it. “Research is very important.”
That time I got to feel the shiver racing through him and it did incredible things to every part of me.
“Some research is more fun than others.” He inched closer, need and curiosity shining from his eyes as he tested me to see what I would do. “But I believe in being thorough.”
“I think that’s very admirable.” And adorable. “But before you can think about how to handle the research, you’re going to show me the rest of your house.”
The town house wasn’t so big I’d get lost in it, but I wanted him to show me every room so we both knew I could go into them.
Then I’d take over.
He nodded slowly, taking a slightly ragged breath. “Then...then I’ll take a moment before I start working?”
It’d definitely come out as more of a question than a statement, so I didn’t feel bad about shaking my head.
“No, then we’ll decide together what will happen.” Trailing my fingers around his ear and down his neck, I was fairly certain my meaning was clear judging by his moan. “There are several different ways we can get to know one another first.”
Nibbling on his lip, he closed his eyes for a moment and looked like he was trying to steady himself or keep himself from asking something interesting. “Yes, communication is important. We need to get to know one another.”
Yes, because I couldn’t fuck him in his sleep until he knew I wasn’t dangerous.
Or Lori would kill us both.
“And step one is a tour of the house.” So I knew where his toys were. “Then we’ll negotiate step two.”
Knox took in another breath before nodding. “Yes, that’s very logical.”
I was glad he could acknowledge that, but it was easy to see he didn’t like it. “Good.”
Pulling back was automatic since I knew we were going to start walking around again, but his adorable pout had me chuckling and reaching out to take his hand. “Be careful with that drama or it’ll get you a punishment before a reward.”
There was no hiding the shiver that raced through him because I could feel it in his touch even as he tried to hold back a moan. “I’ll...I’ll need to think about what to say to that.”
The adorable nonresponse was definitely telling.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged and gave him a stern look that seemed to do wonderful things to the naughty author. “I have your fact sheet and I’m a very quick reader.”
His punishments and rewards sections were the first things my eyes had jumped to, but I was definitely going to have to read his list in more detail.
Knox gave me a curious side glance but didn’t release my hand. “I’m glad we seem to be on the same page about that.”
Was he still trying to make sure the flirting wasn’t all in his head?
As he wandered around the open-concept kitchen and living room, I tried to think back to what he’d said in the group and in his slightly rambling newsletters. He’d mentioned being confused by people on a regular basis and I knew his confidence in things like dating wasn’t at its peak.
Nothing else came to mind by the time he was leading me upstairs, but that might’ve been because he’d just waved his hand at the laundry room instead of actually opening the door.
“The man at the dry cleaners is very nice. He thinks I’m weird, but he’s very polite and they wash any clothes I bring him.
They don’t just dry clean things like you might think from the title of their business. ”
Was he sending his socks and underwear out to be washed?
His slightly guilty smile as he dragged me upstairs said that was a pretty good guess and was probably costing him a fortune. “And don’t forget, I have five chapters of Teddy’s book to give you.”
Instead of using a shock and awe campaign, his was a shock and bribe strategy.
It would be smart in most situations, but I wasn’t just anybody. I wasn’t going to lose track of the goal...literary or personal...because his house was a disaster.
I’d fixed worse things and wrangled bigger pains in the ass...this was just a different type of job than I was used to managing.
“I’m keeping Teddy’s book and a few other images at the front of my mind. Don’t worry.” I couldn’t help wondering how many people had seen his disaster and walked away. Something about his defeated nervousness said it hadn’t only been housekeepers who’d decided he was too much to handle.
“Good.” Nodding, Knox stood straighter and pointed to a bedroom that was the cleanest place in the entire house. “That’s the guest room. I don’t even go in there, so you shouldn’t have to do anything with it.”
When he said he didn’t go in there, I had a feeling he meant that very literally.
“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.” So, anything he used was chaos and the only way to keep it neat was to avoid it completely?
The hall bath was almost as neat and I couldn’t help wondering how he’d managed that. It was even nicely decorated with dark blue accents. “How?”
I didn’t even have to get a full sentence out before he sighed and tattled on himself. “Lori comes to visit every couple of months. She makes me send her a picture of the guest room and the hall bathroom on a weekly basis.”
Ah.
Smart woman.
“Okay.” With enough supervision and a good bribe, he could keep up with a few things. That was good to know. “And your personal bathroom?”