Page 75 of Stroked Hard
Smacking Hollis on the chest, I say, “He’s only kidding, Mom. The guy only knows how to joke.”
“Not true, I know a lot of other things.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me. If this is his way of trying to win me over, he’s doing a piss-poor job. “But we can talk to those other things later.” He turns back to my mom and holds out his hand. “I don’t think we were properly introduced. I’m Hollis, and you are?”
Smiling brightly, as if the last five minutes had no effect on her at all, she says, “I’m Carla. It’s very nice to meet you, Hollis. Now tell me, do you have eyes for my daughter?”
To my dismay, he pulls her in close to his side, loops her hand through his arm, and walks her over to the couch where they sit down to chat like old friends.
Shit, this is so not good.
“Carla, may I call you Carla?”
“Of course, dear.” She pats him on the forearm. Christ.
“Carla, I’ve been crushing hard on your girl for a while now and sadly, she hasn’t given me the time of day. She doesn’t answer my phone calls and ignores all my text messages. Can you believe that?”
Shooting a glare at me, my mom shakes her head. “I can believe it actually. Although, I did see her flip through some text messages today, maybe they were yours.”
“They weren’t,” I answer quickly, maybe a little too quickly.
“I think they might have been,” Hollis says with a wink. “I might have sent a few inappropriate texts. Did she show them to you?”
“No, I didn’t show them to her,” I answer, sitting across from them in a chair. “Why would I show my mom those?”
“She’s very closed off when it comes to her love life,” my mom offers.
“According to poky over there, she doesn’t have a love life.”
“Can you two not talk about me while I’m sitting right here?” I ask, irritated by the way my mom is getting along so easily with Hollis. Not that I’m really surprised. The man has undeniable charm. Everyone gravitates toward him. It’s hard not to.
“Sure, do you want to leave or do you want us to leave so we can continue talking?” Hollis asks with a smirk.
“Not winning points.”
His eyebrows rise. “But there are points to be won.” Nudging my mom with his arm, humor in his voice, he says, “And here I thought I had no chance at all.”
Giggling, my mom turns to me. “Oh honey, he is a delight.”
Cue giant eye-roll.
“As much fun as this is, our food is getting cold, so I think it’s time you say your goodbyes.” I speak directly to Hollis as I get up.
He’s about to answer when my mom claps her hands together. “Oh, won’t you stay and eat with us? We ordered plenty of food and have egg rolls too.”
Looking at me with mirth in his eyes, he says, “How can I turn down egg rolls? I would be honored to join you. Let me go wash up, I’ll be right back.”
Standing, he lends a hand to my mom, helps her up and then looks around. “Uh, Pooh Bear, would you mind showing me to the bathroom?”
Pooh bear? Don’t care for that nickname.
Through clenched teeth, I say, “Right this way.”
Hollis follows closely behind me, not giving up much space between us. Flipping on the half bath light, I gesture to the small room only to be dragged in it. He keeps the door open and talks lightly as he pins my hips against the wall.
“Do you know how much I missed seeing these fucking perfect pink lips?” Before I can answer, his mouth is on mine, devouring me whole.
I would like to say I pulled away, that I didn’t let him pull me into a Hollis-filled haze, but that would be lying. Just the feel of his hand on my hip has me wanting more. Instinctively my tongue searches out his, parting his lips, allowing him to press further. Talk about mixed signals.
Hell, I can’t even say what’s going on right now.
