Free KeytoExcess by Christie Butler Page B

looked pretty fucking good right where she was.
    Hearing Peter out in the hallway,
Matt turned to him and held a finger to his lips in the “shh” position before
waving him into the room.
    Beer in hand, Peter stepped inside,
raised an eyebrow at the female sleeping in the bed. He whispered, “Isn’t she
your neighbor?”
    Matt nodded.
    “The one you’ve been wanting to…?”
Peter made an obscene gesture.
    Matt nodded again, his engines
revving. “Care to join me?”
    Peter grinned. “If she’s up for
it,” he whispered. “I’ll let you break her in.” He turned and left the room.
    Matt’s cock was doing more than
twitching now. It was growing uncomfortably large in his jeans. There had been
more than one occasion that he had woken in a fevered sweat after pornographic
dreams about the sexy redhead who lived next door. And now here she
was—seemingly ripe for the picking. Clearing his throat, Matt said, “Well, look
who’s been sleeping in my bed.”
     
    Annie’s eyes flicked open wide. She
was on her side, facing away from the direction of his voice. His voice.
Matt Howard—the man who had been haunting her dreams. The man whose bed she was
lying in.
    Oh God. What had she done?
    She squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe
she could fall back to sleep and make this all go away.
    “An-nie.” His voice was soft,
singsongy.
    Behind her, the bed sank under his
weight. Heart pounding, she held as still as possible, utterly mortified that
this was happening. Then the warmth of his hand on her shoulder radiated
through her body.
    “Annie,” he repeated, “what are you
doing here?”
    Damn it. “What are you doing here? You weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.”
    Matt chuckled. “That’s right. I’m
sorry. What was I thinking, coming home early, scaring you to death?” He
lightly squeezed her shoulder, sending her heart racing even faster. “How
inconsiderate of me.”
    No, no, no. Damn his
hypnotizing voice and her raging hormones. How had she thought she’d get away
with this? Now she was mortified and she would lose her key buddy. No
good could come of this. No good at all.
    Matt stroked his thumb under the
collar of her—his—T-shirt, revealing the bare flesh of her neck and shoulder.
Annie’s breath caught. What is he doing? Why isn’t he pissed and
yelling at me?
    Her flesh tingled again, goose
bumps erupting as he traced circles on her heated skin. Her need spiked to a
ten and she fought to hold still, afraid of doing anything that might bring him
to his senses. Maybe some good could come of this.
    “What are you doing in my bed,
Annie?” His voice was even softer, his breath warm on her ear. He made a yummy
noise as he peeled the shirt down a bit farther.
    She really should stop him. Just
because she’d invaded his condo and his bed was no reason for him to think she
would submit to his charms. Was it? Wait a minute. Wasn’t that what she wanted?
She tried to remember his question. “I was tired?”
    His low laugh rumbled through her.
“I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to tell me the truth, okay?”
    He moved closer to her, so close
she could feel the heat from his body, could smell his woodsy scent. Mesmerized
by his soothing voice and stroking thumb, she could only nod.
    “Did you get yourself off in my
bed?”
    “What?” She hadn’t expected that
question. “No.”
    “No?” He slipped the sleeve of the
shirt completely off her shoulder, baring her upper arm, dangerously close to
giving him a peek at her nipple.
    “No,” she repeated. Not yet
anyway. She had planned to get to it though.
    “Look at all these beautiful
freckles.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over her shoulder and neck,
again and again.
    Heat flooded her body, settling in
her middle. Annie could barely breathe. Was it really possible that Matt Howard
was kissing her? She clamped her thighs together, trying to relieve the itchy
need there. “I hate my freckles.”
    “No, no.