Chapter Fourteen
Dear Diary,
Nothing could extinguish the fire that consumed me…
Cole sat on the edge of the bed and his knee bounced. The mirror he stared at on the wall reflected the closed door that kept her from him. The sound of water as it filled the tub calmed him somewhat. She deserved the alone time after all they’d done tonight, but the closer they got to the end of her list, the closer he got to losing her.
He rubbed his chest. The quiet room and the feelings held inside suffocated him. He scribbled a quick note and placed it on the table, in case she wasn’t long in the tub. Drew crashed in the room next door, and never rejected an opportunity to set him straight.
He banged on Drew’s door.
Drew whipped it open and shook his head. “You have a beautiful woman next door and you’re here with me? You have issues, man.” He trudged back to the bed, sprawled out, and switched off the TV. He lay against the propped-up pillow and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.
Cole dragged a chair up to the bed and sat. His knees vibrated with a similar turbulence to his heart, so he stretched his legs out on top of the bed, crossed at the ankles.
Drew laughed when his foot twitched instead. “Give it up man, it’s a lost cause.”
He scrubbed his face and sighed. “I’m screwed.”
Drew chuckled and raised his eyebrows. “Well I hope so, that’s what you brought her here for, isn’t it?”
He planted his feet on the floor. He didn’t need this. “Fuck you. Thanks a lot, man.” Bent forward, tempted to leave, he slumped with his elbows on his knees and stared at the diamond pattern in the carpet.
“Ahem.” He lifted his head to Drew, who held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll stop. Sorry.”
He put his feet back up where he could control his nerves, but his throat tightened. He couldn’t control everything.
“I love her.”
“I know.”
He stared down at his hands while he cracked his knuckles. The slight sting was a welcome distraction from all of the pleasure he’d experienced in the last several days. Never did he think he would be overwhelmed with it or need a break. He scrubbed his hands through his hair, broke loose the stiff strands. “It’s only been six days—”
“Love doesn’t come with a manual. You can’t explain or predict it.” Drew got up and made his way to the fridge and like on all the other difficult days, chose the hard stuff. It was a quick fix, disguised the problem much like a Band-Aid. He poured the tiny bottles of Jack in glasses and handed one over on his way back to the bed. They held their glasses out but didn’t say anything, just tipped their heads back and swallowed.
“Thanks.” He swirled the empty glass around and swallowed again, hard. “I’m gonna lose her.”
“Yes, you are.” Drew set his glass down on the nightstand beside him. “It’s not easy losing someone you have a strong connection with. I can’t change this, make it what you want. I can tell you, you are blessed to have this opportunity with her. Don’t take it for granted.”
He shifted his gaze to the window, at the darkened sky that offered nothing more than a blank slate for troubled minds.
Cole sighed, put his feet on the ground, and leaned forward with his elbows to his knees. Held them down. He had considered the fact that her focus on Drew’s tattoo earlier would bring up the past. “I won’t. Sorry, man. I know this must be stirring up all kinds of shit for you. I wasn’t thinking. Thank you for the support. It has meant the world to me. Finding the missing piece in your life—” He scrubbed his face again with his hand, but couldn’t finish.
“We’re flying in to St. Louis tomorrow and meeting Derek at the bus. Flight’s earlier than you wanted, ten a.m. We fly out again the morning after, Cole, for New York. Have you told her yet?”
He shook his head. He’d offered to make her dreams come true, not throw his own baggage at her. “Not tonight. I better get back to her. She’s probably out of the tub by now.” He set his empty glass down on the dresser and left without confirming the possible heartache his best friend drowned in once again. Drew would want him to go for it while he could. It’s what friends did.
He dragged his feet on the carpet; the retreat back to the room was quiet, as it should be. They were rich rock stars who could afford to book an entire hotel floor, and life on the outside portrayed perfection; only a select few had insight to the real troubles they carried within them.
He stood at the door. The green light flashed, but he couldn’t remove the key let alone open the door to what he’d just admitted to Drew, and himself. He should tell her, but maybe he didn’t have to. There were only five items left on her list, nothing he couldn’t manage in twenty-four hours. Then, she’d leave him. Why add stress she didn’t need? It’s not like he and Alexis were together, not the couple people read about.
He opened the door to silence. The bathroom door remained closed, and his gaze dropped to the light that shined out the bottom. He placed his hand on his stomach, but his feet wouldn’t budge. “You okay, baby?” Her shuffle, now loud enough to hear, calmed him. Somewhat.
She opened the door and ambled about the bathroom with renewed energy. Moisture from the steam coated her skin, exposed around the towel tucked snug at her breasts. She’d washed away her makeup. Even natural, she was beautiful.
“Four in one day Cole, I don’t think I can fly a plane tonight. I don’t want my list to endanger others.” With a contented smile, she wrapped him in a hug.
He lowered his chin to her head and closed his eyes. From her tightened embrace, she could sense something weighed him down. When did it get this way? Not that he cared to complain, but really, how could two people be so right for each other that confessions weren’t necessary.
He forced a laugh and steered her toward the king-sized bed with his arm around her shoulders and of course, leaned in to get a glimpse down her towel. She slapped him in the stomach. He stuck his bottom lip out and rubbed the sting away. “No planes tonight, baby.” He drew the blankets back. “Get comfortable while I go shower. TV, booze, room service, whatever your little heart desires.”
****
He didn’t pin her to the mattress and peel her towel off with his teeth. Granted, they’d had an eventful day and when she lowered into the tub, she was sore, the best kind of sore. She sat on the bed where he directed. The towel squeezed around her but he didn’t respond, just fixed the sheets and covered her legs, kissed her forehead, and left.
She traced the fold in the towel above her breast with her fingertips. Her gaze in the mirror followed its path. She scanned her body but the image before her, at some point, changed. The woman in the mirror displayed confidence, experience, passion.
Grief still lingered under the surface but it no longer hurt. Fate brought her Cole. A man, who gave her his all and did it with a natural charm, didn’t change who he was for her. Time with him changed her in ways she hadn’t imagined. She sat up on her knees, tugged at the towel and held it out to the side, dropped it.
Her reflection in the mirror had altered. The parts of her body she once cringed at now appeared beautiful, as if she were gazing through his eyes. She admired herself and sighed with more contentment than she’d ever allowed herself to experience. The soft mattress hugged her curves as she laid back and relaxed with her newfound freedom, without covers.
The lamp on his side of the bed gave off a subtle yellow glow while she lay there, fixated on the ceiling. Her life and her body had come alive the last several days with the Scandals. Each detail so engrained in her memory, just thinking about it brought every sensation to the surface.
She startled when the light clicked off and the bed dipped beside her. When did he come out of the bathroom? His fresh-showered scent on the other hand, that stole her attention. She inhaled deep. She loved his soap, how the scent of it changed when they got all sweaty. Like hard work and him.
“It’s late. We have to head out in the morning.” He settled in beside her and she curled up into the crook of his arm. “I hoped we could explore a little before leaving but the only flight we could get leaves at ten a.m.”
She snuggled in closer, leaned her bare hip into him, and twined her legs with his.
“Isabelle? What’s on your mind?”
“What did Drew mean earlier, that you could tell me?”
He squeezed her and a tidal wave of sorrow crashed in on her with his embrace. “It’s important this stay with us, important to him. Only people close to Drew know, and he wants to keep it that way.”
“Okay.” That kind of privacy she could relate to.
“Drew is a twin.”
“Huh?”
He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Yep. Had a twin sister.”
She traced her palm down his arm until she found his hand to grab onto. His sympathetic grip eased the instant distress. Had?
“She died at birth. He was born first, loud and wailing. She was stillborn.”
“Oh that’s terrible.”
“Yes, it is. His parents have come to terms with it, had more children. He—” He took a deep breath. “Has always felt the loss, like a part of him died with her. He’s missing someone he never had the pleasure to know. He says he feels some type of twin vibe that’s out of reach, if that makes any sense. He has a picture in his wallet, carries it everywhere. Him and his sister in Kate’s arms, that’s his mom. They look like they are sleeping, peaceful. Only, he is the one truly asleep.”
A tear slid down her cheek, onto his chest. She hurt as if she’d been smacked in the face. She cursed God, or whoever, that she wasn’t going to get to live a full life and Drew’s sister didn’t get the chance to live a single day. “My heart breaks for him.”
“He’s okay, honey, just gets down from time to time. His birthday is the toughest, but we do what we can to help him through it.” Her head bounced on his chest when he laughed. “He’s gotten used to our extreme ways of distraction. You know, strip joints, drunken stupors, sex clubs—” He squeezed her again. “Bungee jumping. He’s okay, really.”
She put her arm over his abdomen and hugged, tight. “Thank you for telling me.”
He squeezed her back and kissed the top of her head. “You’re welcome. Now get some sleep. It’s quite late and we have to get up early.”
****
The red numbers glowed 6:00. She lay on her side and stared at the clock as they changed. A bout of nausea woke her an hour ago, and her body rebelled against the quiet slumber the medicine most often induced. His contented breath and spectacular chest, at rest, soothed the anger that would’ve consumed her on another day.
Her gaze roamed the length of his body, and many times, she neared his skin with her hand, but made a fist and retreated. The sheet just covered the large bulge below his waist. A glow from the early sunrise shined through the edges of the curtains. It illuminated the room enough to make his tattoos and well-cut muscles drool worthy. She bit her lip and scanned the room several times. She could write in her journal but temptation consumed her.
She lifted the sheet and stared at his face, he didn’t stir. Without too much of a jostle, she slid underneath, down to his impressive erection. She grinned. Was this the typical male morning thing, or was she in his dreams?
She leaned over his body, braced her hands on the bed at his sides and lowered her mouth over him, swallowed him in deep. Her cheeks indented as she sucked him hard on the way up, his taste an instant addiction.
“Oh God. Isabelle.”
A cool breeze hit her when he whipped the sheet off. She grabbed his shaft in her hand and stroked in sync with her mouth.
“Fuck.”
The bed sheets tightened under her when he gripped them. The corners of her mouth rose around him and she grazed his skin with her teeth. She followed the path of his well-cut body with her gaze and moaned around his girth when the V at his waist caught her attention.
With her eyes closed, she lowered down his length until her lips brushed against her hand, tightened around his base. His engorged crown touched the back of her throat. He smoothed his hands over her hair and gave a gentle thrust with his hips. She swallowed.
“Fuck. I’m not going to last. If you don’t want my cum down your throat—”
She got up on her knees between his legs and grabbed his wrists, pinned them to the bed beside his hips. She sucked deep, hard, indulged them both.
“Holy fuck. Ahhh.”
His legs stiffened and he balled his hands into fists, swelled further in her mouth. Every vein slid through her lips and warm jets of cum spurted down her throat. She continued to suck, was the ceaseless force that drove his waves to the shore of her mouth. The same as he’d done for her many times. She swallowed to take in all he had to give and a sudden awareness hit her. She did want all of him.
As the tightness in his body faded with every last drop gone, she let go of the suction with a pop. She freed his arms and sat back on her heels. His lax body glistened with sweat. “You taste wonderful.”
He opened his eyes, still filled with lust, and yanked her down on top of him.
“Eeek!”
“Really? Show me.”
He clung to the sides of her face with firm hands and smashed his lips to hers, forced his tongue inside to explore with a hum of delight. She placed her hands to the bed on either side of him and got up. He rose with her, didn’t allow the connection to break.
“I need to use the bathroom.” she mumbled around his lips and he smiled in return.
“Okay, okay.”
She scooted off the bed and was halfway to the bathroom when a pillow hit her in the back. She spun around to see him propped up on his elbows, exposed. “You were right darlin’. I do taste pretty damn sweet in your mouth.”
****
Cole flopped down on the bed when the door clicked shut. He loved her. It didn’t take a spectacular blowjob to confirm that for him but it sure was an added bonus. He stared at the ceiling and scrubbed his face. How could he keep her alive? Were there better doctors his money could buy?
A light tap on the patio door drew him out of what tortured him, losing her. He sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed, glared at the repeated noise but still not able to put his query aside. The mental battle over options weighted him down.
With his toes, he picked up his pants, shuffled into them, and left the button undone. He tiptoed over to the glass door and lifted the curtain back an inch. Dark clouds swept across the sky and drops of rain hit the windowpane. Since when did it rain in California?
He traced the droplet’s path with his finger and tipped his head back with his eyes closed. The big guy answered his prayer. He’d never been the religious type, but the last few days he prayed often, every word to do with her. He repositioned the curtain tightly and rushed over to the nightstand for his phone, entered his password, and scrolled through the lengthy playlist. His fingers worked faster than his phone. He paced. When the right song appeared, he propped the phone up on the table, hit play, and increased the volume. He stood with his hands twisted behind his back. Rascal Flatts sang out the words to My Wish. Would it make her cry? That would destroy him.
The door opened.
“Shit.” He mumbled. Too late to find something else.
She inched around the corner, in a pale-pink, cotton sundress and the cutest confused smile on her face. Without hesitation, she placed her hand in his when he extended his palm out to her. He brought it to his mouth and kissed it. “I have another surprise, not planned but the timing couldn’t be better.”
The curious sparkle in her crystal-blue eyes wasn’t, at all, like anything he’d ever seen before.
“Really? I’m intrigued.”
He brushed her long blonde hair back over her shoulders and smoothed his hands down her bare arms. He could feel goose bumps form on her skin and loved that he affected her so much. “Trust me?”
Her eyes were certain to mirror his, how could she not? A bond, trust, they had it all. “Yes, of course.”
He lifted his hand to the edge of the curtain and peeled it open, impressed with himself. She raised her eyebrows at the window and back at him like she didn’t understand. In that moment, she was now here for him. Her list didn’t register and for some reason, it meant the world.
He smiled and slid the door open, the headiness of her list lifted from his shoulders as he stepped out. Still facing away from her, he held his hands out and tipped his chin up. He spun around slow and extended his hand to her. “Dance with me?”
Now she understood. She followed his lead, and placed her hand in his. The rain was a little cold, but perfect for the heat that generated through their every touch. With each step toward him, her chin rose to hold his gaze. She blinked many times to clear her vision as the rain hit her in the face.
“Are you for real? Have I died already?”
Her tone reflected his inability to make sense of this. How could they accept the idea that this isn’t a forever kind of thing?
He leaned down a little, touched his cheek to hers, and whispered, “If this is heaven, I am in love.” Not quite I love you, but close enough, for now. Before his words derailed their perfect morning, he wrapped his arm around her waist and twirled her around to the music. It did feel like heaven.
She snuggled in and swayed with him, but avoided his statement. They didn’t speak, just danced. He leaned back a little and his hand guided her chin up. He used his thumbs to wipe her cheeks, tears she couldn’t claim as rain.
The desperate need in her eyes lured him in. He kissed her with the tenderness she deserved. His lips touched each side of her mouth, teased them both before he dove for what they craved. The connection. When he broke away, they were both short of breath.
“Isabelle?” He couldn’t stop himself. He scanned his gaze down her body and clenched his jaw.
“Yes.”
“The rain has made your dress completely see through. I also see you are not wearing a bra or panties.” He squeezed her butt and rubbed his erection into her front. The material of her dress cooled from the rain, but he could feel her heat. “If I don’t get inside you soon, I may be joining you in the hospital with the worst case of blue balls they have ever seen.”
She flung her arms around his neck, leaned her forehead on his chest, and laughed. He rested his chin on the top of her head and took a deep breath to calm more than just the belly-aching laugh.
She forced distance between them, hadn’t done that in a while. His pulse raced wild with worry.
“Cole?”
He didn’t speak, just raised his eyebrows.
“Take me inside?”
That was all he needed. He kissed her hard, touched every inch of her as he braced his hands onto her waist and lifted until her legs folded around him. Instant regret hit him about the pants he put on. He would only have to lower her to be embedded in her body. He stepped forward, refused to break their connection, and made his way to the bed. He didn’t close the door. The sound of the rain and now thunder, only added to the moment.
He crawled up to the head of the bed with her in his arms, and placed her down in the middle. He kissed and nipped at her until his lips brushed across the strap of her dress. It needed to come off. She wiggled for him as he peeled the cool wet fabric up her body. He threw it to the floor and lowered himself to her, to lick the dampness from her shoulder. She shivered.
His gaze roamed to the spot above her breast where he once left his mark. Temptation called to him. He drew her damp skin between his lips and sucked.
Nothing in life would ever be the same again without the taste of her on his lips.
“Cole,” she moaned.
He tore himself away and admired his art, his mark. “Perfect.” He stroked the spot with his nose and kissed it before he moved down. The way she rolled her hips into him told him she needed to come. He’d get there, but not yet. There was so much of her he couldn’t leave untouched. He kissed her breast, traced the tip of his tongue around her rose-colored nipple.
“Cole?”
“Hmm?”
“I want my lips on you, too.”
He chuckled. “Honey, if your lips go anywhere near my dick, it will be over. I want to come inside you.” He kissed his way over to her other breast and the corner of his lip rose when she wiggled under him.
“Then get it in me already.”
He ignored her demand and continued his assault. She shivered when he placed soft kisses around her navel and stared at her beautiful, pale skin. She’d be cute pregnant. Images of him with a little pink bundle hit him hard.
“In good time, sassy woman. I’m not done with you.”
Before hope overwhelmed him, he scooted down the bed and used his hands to spread her legs farther apart. Her juices already trickled from her opening. He loved the fact she couldn’t hide her desire; it wouldn’t take much to make her come. Her eyes were half-lidded with lust when he crouched down to swipe her sweet dew with his tongue.
“I will take care of myself if you don’t—”
He pressed two fingers into her.
“Ahhh.”
Her cream drenched his fingers, and her walls spasmed. She refused to wait for him, swirled her hips and rode his fingers. He kissed her inner thigh and withdrew his fingers.
“Nooo.”
He smiled with anticipation. He could take her to new heights she, until now, only wished for. He’d give her that wish and many more.
****
She’d slap him. He would fulfill every need for sure, but to hold back her release like that—torture. Her gaze traveled down his body and up again, on every tattoo and muscle. He was too beautiful to slap.
He traced his finger, already lubricated with her juices, in a circular motion around her nub. When her admiration landed on the tattoo on his bicep, a house restricted in a chain, he eased his way back to her virgin hole. She thrust her hips forward and closed her eyes; the sensation combined with her sexual frustration excited her every nerve ending, and would only be satisfied if he touched her everywhere.
“Cole.” She moaned his name, not able to direct him with words. Pretty sure she didn’t need to.
He laid over her and braced his weight with his elbow. He kept her on edge with every kiss, and swayed above her body as if he was already inside her. His free hand teased her with every motion, dipped inside and then back out again. When he used her cream to roam back around her puckered hole, the erotic sensation overwhelmed her. She grasped at his body to let him know she needed it.
“Okay, baby.” he whispered.
The next time he thrust forward with his body, he entered her with his finger. It burned. The kind of burn that tempted her to tear away, yet demanded to go back for more at the same time. The world around them faded, except for the heat of his touch that radiated through her, branded her.
“Does that feel good, baby?”
“Take me there.”
He eased his finger out, and lifted off her to sit back on his heels. His body trembled. “A-are you sure?”
She got up on her knees in front of him, placed her hands on either side of his face, and didn’t let her attention roam anywhere but into his eyes. “You. Only you. Ever.”
He smoothed one arm around her back and lowered her to the bed with a passionate kiss. They parted but his breath skimmed her lips. “Hands and knees, beautiful.”
She maneuvered into position without hesitation and peeked over her shoulder.
He scrambled through his bag, yanked out a tiny bottle and shuffled back to the bed, kicking his pants off. When he glanced up from the bottle, he wobbled from the pants leg that wouldn’t free him, and stopped. “You’re stunning.”
His words aroused her to the point where, if he didn’t satisfy her now, she’d do it on her own. He climbed on the bed and brushed his hand down the center of her back and over her crevice. She held her breath when the bottle cracked open. Whether from the position or nerves she didn’t know, but her body shook. “Cole?”
“Mmhmm?”
“I’m nervous.”
He stroked his engorged length, coated it with lube, and threw the bottle on the bed. He cradled her around the waist, hoisted her up so they were on their knees, her back to his chest. She peered back over her shoulder and their gazes locked together.
His soft kiss calmed her. “I won’t hurt you, baby. Say the word and I’ll stop, no hard feelings.” He continued to caress her skin with his lips. Her muscles relaxed, and her body craved more. At this point, he could do anything.
He caressed his left hand up her side and around her front, to roll her nipple between his fingertips. She wished there was a mirror in front of them; the erotic image they must portray kept her on edge—a constant state she’d experienced since day one from being near him.
He fell forward with her in slow motion. She stopped when in the position he’d asked, but he used his weight to lower her further.
“No, baby. Change of plans. On your stomach. I want to be close to you. The kind of close where my body, my breath, becomes yours.”
With the light touch of his fingertips, he urged her tailbone down until her stomach touched the cold sheets. He lay on top of her, but supported his weight with his elbows on either side of her shoulders.
The warmth of his body and touch of his lips down her spine relaxed her, their bodies melted together. He rubbed the crease of her butt with his lubed cock and she moaned. Within moments, she pressed back into him, in quest of the exotic friction. He massaged down her body with one hand and teased her opening.
“Oh, yes. I need you. There.”
She envisioned his smile on the heated skin between her shoulder blades.
“I need you, too, baby.”
She inched back and the lube made it easy for his finger to slide in deeper. It burned but she wanted more. How could she possibly want more? She did. He stretched her with his finger, more when he inserted a second.
“You okay, baby?”
It hurt, but she couldn’t to tell him to stop. Didn’t want to. Her body had a mind of its own as she lifted her hips. “More, Cole.”
He chuckled and withdrew his fingers. He leaned down on his elbows again and his chest brushed against her back. He kissed her neck, and slid his hard shaft up and down the hollow of her butt. Filled with lust, she thrust in tune with him, aligned their bodies so he could ease into her.
“Ahhh.”
The now very swollen head of his cock slipped inside and she froze. He held still inside her. “I’m not going to push anymore, baby. You do the work now. Give yourself a moment to let your muscles relax, and press back on me when you’re ready.”
The strain in his voice was evident, being stimulated so intimately and not being able to lose control. She didn’t want this just for her; but for him too, the connection.
When he kissed the back of her neck, her muscles relaxed and she let him in deeper. His hands gripped at the sheets. She slid her hands up beside his and he laced his fingers over hers. Every part of their bodies meshed as if their intimate desires were familiar, unable to live without the other. They were in this together.
He filled her, so much she couldn’t stretch anymore or she would split in half but the pain was soon replaced with something else, a pleasure that craved to be stroked.
She dug her toes into the bed and eased forward. Without hesitation, she thrust back to be filled again when he’d come close to leaving her body. Every time she did this, she ached for more, and forced him deeper.
His hands clamped onto hers tight. “I’m in, baby.”
The sound of satisfaction in his voice spurred her on, made giving him anything in the world seem possible. She couldn’t take it anymore. “Now, please, I don’t need gentle anymore.”
He dropped his forehead to her shoulder blade and growled. He drove so deep into her, their bodies joined as one. Their fingers balled until white-knuckled and he slid out, to the tip before lunging in, with more force each time.
“Fuck. I’m not going to last, you’re so tight. You need to come, baby. I want you with me.”
He loosened his grip and guided her hand down with his. She lifted her stomach when she figured out where his hand intended to take hers, only he didn’t let go. He massaged his hand over hers and down her front until they skimmed her nub together.
It was so swollen the second he placed her finger to it, and thrust his hard shaft into her at the same time, she hit a climax like no other. He buried himself so deep inside her, the magnitude of their connection radiated out in waves around them.
Her cream flowed at the pressure of their fingers, together, in a circular motion on her nub. He came, hard, and didn’t stop. Her name was a whisper out of his lips, and just when she didn’t think her heart could beat any faster it did, as she imagined the love in his eyes.
When they both floated down from their extreme high, he eased out of her; she winced.
“Sorry, honey. I’m just going to go get a cloth to clean us up. I’ll be right back. Stay there.”
She didn’t need to see him to know he smiled with his stern words. He learned fast that she enjoyed challenging others’ demands. She complied, didn’t like it, but she did. The water ran strong, and in no time, he sat beside her, but she didn’t even have the energy to hold her eyes open, so she let them drift closed.
The warm cloth smoothed over her skin and she relaxed, except for the slight awkwardness that it was he who cleaned her. She took a peek when he wiped himself down and threw the cloth away. He lay down beside her.
“You okay?”
“Mmhmm.” She smiled, didn’t want to worry him.
“Have I told you how amazing you make me feel? And I don’t just mean when I’m inside you.”
She let out a short snicker before she contained herself and squeezed her lips together, still not able to hold back her smile.
He smacked her ass.
“Ouch. You make me feel it, too.” She opened her eyes but wasn’t prepared for when his awe-struck mouth gaped open. He held something back, it maybe. She couldn’t let him go there; she’d already accepted more than she planned for. “Mind if I go relax in a tub?”
He held out his hand to help her. “Of course not. There’s a jar of salts on the counter. Put some in the water, it will help with any soreness.”
The corner of her mouth rose and she stared at him. She didn’t want to ask. He brushed his thumb over her cheek but didn’t say anything while he held her gaze. She bit her bottom lip, thankful her public request online resulted in him and not some creepy psychopath. She giggled as she shoved off the bed to grab her bag, and pranced to the bathroom, knowing he’d catch on.
“Seriously. When my woman laughs after having earth-shattering sex, not cool.”
She halted her steps and composed herself. “I’m sorry, it’s not you at all, I promise. I just had this random concern about how lucky I am it wasn’t some psychopath who answered my request.”
He threw a pillow in her direction and wiggled his eyebrows at her. “How do you know I’m not?” She chuckled with him as she closed the door. She needed her journal, and her phone.