The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years #4)

“From you though, right?” He winked up at me.

I slapped his thigh. “Who else? And you don’t even have to be quiet, because she’s passed out.”

Rafe must have liked that idea, because his dick began to swell. I slipped my hand around him, and he groaned. “Take off your clothes,” he ordered.

“Bossy much?” I grasped the hem of my T-shirt and pulled.

“I’m bossy for a reason.” He helped me shuck off my shirt.

“Why’s that?”

He caught my face in both his hands, and those espresso-colored eyes bored into mine. “Because whenever I tell you to take off your clothes, you get the best look on your face.”

“I do?” The proximity of my boyfriend’s naked body made it hard for me to listen, though.

“Yeah,” he whispered, his gaze dropping appreciatively to my cleavage. “Your face says, ‘Do me Rafe. And be quick about it.’”

I closed my eyes and groaned. “That sounds like something my face would say.”

“Yeah?” He pulled me down onto the bed and popped the button on my jeans.

“It does.” I helped him shuck them off. Then, wearing nothing but my favorite black bra, I stretched out on my back. “Are you awake yet?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Good. Because I want you to do me. And be quick about it.”

Chuckling, he rolled on top of me and kissed me.

Thirty-Four

Rafe

“Don’t forget to mention that there’s a sale-ratio trigger on the equity component,” Bella prompted me on our way to Urban Studies.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And then flip back to the diagram that shows how the trust is funded after the first wave of sales.” She tugged me toward the lecture hall. It was time for our presentation.

Outside the door, I spotted Alison and Dani waiting for us. I grabbed Bella’s hand and stopped to give us a second alone. “Hey. I’m happy to give our half of the presentation. And I promise to remember all the nerdy bits.”

She grinned at me.

“But I think you should consider doing it instead.”

Her smile faded.

I put my hands on both her shoulders. “Nobody knows this stuff better than you do. Nobody.”

Bella looked down at her shoes. “Maybe it makes me a coward, but I’m just not ready to stand up in front of that room.”

“Hold on.” I lifted her chin gently. “There is nothing you could do to make me think you’re a coward. Except about spiders, but I’m just going to let that slide.” Her lips twitched. “You’ve worked hard on this thing, and you sound formidable when you’re talking about it. Like, ass-kicking ninja real-estate developer woman. And you look hot in that sweater. If you were ever going to pick a moment to look the whole world in the eye, today’s not a bad choice.”

“I don’t know, Rafe. Maybe you should incentivize me.” She lifted an eyebrow. “What do I get if I do the presentation?”

I laughed. “I know!” I leaned over and whispered very closely into her ear. “An A in the class.”

She gave me a tiny smirk. “I’d rather you slip me the D.”

I leaned in again, brushing the sensitive place right below her ear. “You’re going to get the D no matter what happens.”

“Okay.” She wrapped her arms around me. “I’ll do it. I really want to win this for you.”

I pulled her tightly to my body. “Relax, baby. It’s all good.”

“How do you figure?”

I kissed her cheekbone, then whispered. “I already won. You’re a whole lot more important to me than this contest.”

The look of surprise on her face practically broke my heart. “Nobody ever said that to me before.”

I curved my hand around the back of her neck. “You know, maybe you didn’t plan it this way, but I’m happy to be your first.”

She let out a giggle, then rose to her toes to kiss me.

Pulling herself together, Bella did a fabulous job with our half of the presentation. And, if I was honest, so did Alison with hers. But there were twelve houses competing. So even though I was certain we’d bested seven or eight of them just with our excellent preparation, it was still a long shot.

After the last team was through, there was a five-minute lull while professor Giulios and his guest — Jimmy Chan, the food truck guy — conferred over the scoring.

Then Giulios took the stage, and Bella grabbed my hand. “Ladies and gentlemen, we saw some very fine work here today. In fact, it breaks my heart to know that a certain block of West 165th Street is not truly poised to go under the wrecking ball.” He lifted his clipboard. “We have a second-place winner to announce first. Team Beaumont, you did an excellent job, especially with just four team members.”