“Hey!” I snapped, pointing my finger at him threateningly, as he was winding the towel for another strike. Sarcastically, I said, “Sometimes I go to the grocery store.”
“Look out! Wild woman approaching.”
“Shut up,” I replied, letting loose a few laughs. There was hardly any cloth left to wind on the towel, and it now resembled a really thick, twisted rope, so I moved in to grab it, grasping onto his hand in the process. He playfully tugged in every direction but I held on, bringing myself dangerously close as our bodies began to rub. I finally began to understand why people always said they had butterflies in their stomach, because at that moment, something was definitely happening inside me. A playful tickle of sorts was bouncing around in my abdomen like a crazy, messed-up game of ping-pong, and it was both uncomfortable and exciting at the same time.
My other hand snatched on and I put more effort in my tug, determined to come up the winner, even though he was literally playing with me by not using his full strength. He lifted the towel above his head, and me in the process. I was on my tippy-toes when he suddenly let go, both hands immediately tickling my sides. I let out a quick scream before the laughing took hold of my chest. Twisting, I tried desperately to escape his attack, but he easily wrapped his arms around me, hands continuing the assault with ease. The strength behind my hands was nothing compared to his.
“Please! Stop.” I blabbered pathetically between screams, laughs and desperate breaths for air. But truthfully, I didn’t want him to stop. Ever.
I twisted within his grasp again, slamming my stomach into his for protection. He’d let me turn, but the moment I did, he snatched my hands and held them at the base of my spine. The towel lost to the floor, we had nothing but our fingers to fight over as we slowed our bodies to a gentle sway. His arms squeezed against me, limiting my movement as we angled our heads towards one another, wicked grins controlling our lips. Closer than I’d ever been, I found the cologne mixed with the natural scent of his skin intoxicating, and my eyes fluttered like they just had an orgasm. My gaze connected with his, and his playfulness began to soften, as did his grip on my hands.
My heart chose that moment to pound in my chest. Maybe it had been doing it all along, but now in the calmness, it was making itself known. And the way we were so tightly pressed together, I thought I could feel the vibrating pound-pound-pound of his own heart reaching out to mine. My head tilted down as my hands pulled away from his, my fingertips lightly grazing his arms as they followed them around my body and up to his shoulders. As my hands flattened on his chest, they drifted down, tracing the curved muscles of his pecks and the six-pack abs I saw when he slept shirtless. When his hands flattened against my lower back and pressed my h*ps firmly into him, my eyes headed north once more.
The moment our eyes reconnected, it was like a spark ignited, setting off an explosion of fireworks beneath my belly. My breath caught in my throat the second his head began to move towards mine.
Tires squealed in front of the diner, causing my head to automatically whip. I saw a beat-up old white pick-up truck tearing its way up the road.
Joe was no longer in the corner booth.
As if that wasn’t enough to spoil the moment, a couple approached the door, also watching Joe tear out like a bat out of hell. As they entered the diner, they got a front row viewing through the pass-through of our bodies pressed together. Our hands fell away about the same time and I took a step back. The couple chose the booth in the middle of the restaurant, continuing to smile and gaze our way more than they should have.
Guess that’ll add fuel to the rumors.
Nick surprised me when he said, “I’ll get them. I met them earlier today and suggested they stop in. Why don’t you eat something or get started on the cleaning?”
“Okay,” I replied softly. “Thanks.” I don’t know if he was looking at me, but I lost all nerve to look at him once I pulled away from what I was sure was going to be our first kiss. As he passed by, his fingers trailed lightly against my lower back until they fell out of reach.
As he took care of the middle-aged couple, I dipped out of view, just realizing the burn on my right arm had lost its shield. I quickly tugged on my sleeve and patted my scoop neck tee to make sure it hadn’t been pulled down, too. What the hell was I thinking? I was so close to kissing him. Every pore in my body, every freakin’ cell was pushing for me to go just a little further, just a little further… I rubbed my eyebrows extensively. I could not get involved with him. It was bad enough I’d drawn the attention of the entire town, more and more of them falling prey to gossip. They were noticing me now. Nick was making people notice me.
And that just couldn’t happen. Head down. Stay off the radar. My motto was going to shit right before my eyes.
It wasn’t easy, but I managed to get through the night without letting Nick get close again. I had to brave eye contact, and force a smile when his gaze caught mine, but I was always quick to divert. Luckily, that middle-aged couple stayed a really long time, and I kept refilling their coffee for a solid hour after their dinner. They were extremely talkative, so it didn’t surprise me that they had engaged Nick in conversation so easily that morning at the coffee shop. I’d never had customers before that basically wanted you to just sit down with them and kick back, asking nonstop questions about the things you liked, books, music, Myrtle Creek. They shared way more than I did, but I hung around because it kept my chicken ass from having to go to the back and face Nick again. My efforts paid off, keeping us from being able to pick up where we left off. And the more time passed since our embrace, the more he realized I was pulling back on the reins.
He didn’t ask why or try to sweep me into his arms again. Instead, he smiled and lightly teased me verbally about nonsense things, going along with my silent request of pretending like nothing happened. And when we turned in for bed, we simply said goodnight as I closed the dividers between us.
I didn’t have the nightmare that night. For once I got some rest, but a small part of me, the weak part, wished I had, just so he could’ve come rushing in to hold me.
6
No, no…just no. I kept repeating the mantra in my head: I will not kiss Nick. I will not kiss Nick.
Though I really wanted to. Really, really wanted to know the feel of his lips and have his hands press against my back again, eliminating all space between us. My mind then upgraded that simple kiss to a few make-believe scenarios that were so graphic my body was in constant movement, slowly squirming in a wavelike motion. When a longing moan escaped with my breath, my eyes bolted wide.
“Shit!” I threw the covers off and rolled out of bed. Hightailing it to the shower, I offered a quick good morning to Nick on the sofa, noting the wicked smile he gave in return. Oh, God. Please tell me that moan wasn’t loud enough for him to hear!
The hot water worked wonders on my tight muscles, and by the time I dressed and came back out, I was so relaxed I no longer opposed the flirtatious smiles Nick continued to throw my way. But when he turned his back, my eyes began to narrow. This was the first morning since becoming roommates that he decided not to bother with a shirt, strutting around in nothing but a pair of loose-fitted cotton pants, luring my gaze to the sexy sculpture of his upper body.
I cursed the butterflies flittering inside, and my damn eyes, which couldn’t seem to stop looking.
God, I hated him. Well, not really, but I hated how efficient he was in making me want him. Ever since he activated those butterflies last night, I just couldn’t shut the damn things off. They were still flitting around, making me antsy and driving me crazy for not kissing him. And despite my best efforts to convince myself to not get involved, I felt my resolve dissipating. I wanted to rewind time so badly, and this time ignore the distractions and stay put in his arms for that kiss.
I entered the kitchen, where he was already leaning over the counter drinking his coffee and reading the paper. Seriously, what time did he wake up every morning to get all that before I even woke up? I hung my head backwards, just realizing he absolutely was half na**d for my benefit, because he would’ve had to put on a shirt to go out. Sucking my lower lip in and out of my mouth, I focused in on the black tribal sleeve tattoo that began halfway up his upper left arm and curled over the edge of his shoulder. I couldn’t see it at the moment, but I knew it covered part of his chest too. “Is that your only tattoo?” I asked. I knew it wasn’t. I had already seen something resembling jagged edges peeking out over the edge of his pants. I’d only asked because a sense of playfulness was overtaking me. And my eyes desired a special treat.
“No. I also have a sunburst, but I doubt you’d want to see it.”
Taking the bait, I inquired, “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”
He twisted his torso towards me and took the longest sip of coffee ever. Fighting the extension of his already curving lips, he replied smoothly, “Because it’s some place you’re too shy to look.”
I crossed my arms and matched his magnetic smile with my own. “Funny how you’re more worried about my viewing it than you having to show it – if it’s in a private area.”
His forehead creased when his brow bones lifted. “Is that your way of asking to look down my pants?”
“Is that where it is?”
“You know that’s where it is,” he accused coolly. “I saw you looking there already.”
I had to look away, because my smile was embarrassingly wide, and surely my cheeks were flushing as brightly as a stop sign. “Guilty,” I admitted, “But I was curious if there were any more than that.”
“Just the two.” Finishing his coffee, he placed his cup down. He leaned back against the counter, elbows high so his hands could clamp the edge. “And you? Any tattoos you’d like to share?”
Huffing dramatically, I snarked, “Do I look like the kind of girl that would do that?”
“Honestly?” I cocked my eyes, challenging him to finish. “You look like the kind of girl that wants at least one tattoo, but is too shy to show it, so you put it somewhere under those lacey undergarments of yours.”
Well, shit. All except the lace part. Nowadays I didn’t feel that sexy in my skin, so I didn’t bother with the lace.
“Am I right?” he interrogated, those vibrant green eyes trying to drill mine for answers.
“Maybe.”
Lightly laughing, he teased, “Let me guess. It’s something simple and cute. Cartoon character? Favorite flower?”
Oops. I sucked in my cheek so hard, it was obvious I was trying to deter my smile.
“Flower! I knew it.”
“Blue Hydrangeas,” I admitted. It was crazy how accurate he was. Was I really that much of a statistic?
“And it’s somewhere beneath those panties of yours, isn’t it? Maybe right around the hip bone?”
Damn. Dead right again. “Is that bad?”
“No, not at all,” he practically cooed. “It’s actually an incredibly sexy place to put one. Most men can’t get enough of the hips.”
Our conversation stalled, and the only voices came from whatever show he had on the TV. He continued to stare me down with flirtatious looks, knowing he’d break me down eventually.
“You’re not waiting for me to show you, are you?” I asked impishly.
“Why? Do you want to show me?”
My lips pressing together, I shook my head at his new tactic. “Don’t twist my words around like that.”
“So you don’t want to show me your panties then?”
“Again with the twisting,” I accused.
“Alright, alright. Don’t get your panties all in a twist.”
“Ha, ha. Lovely, Nick. Shouldn’t you be taking your ritual shower right about now, or something?”
“So now you just want to get me naked. And exactly how much attention have you been paying to me to know what my daily rituals are?”
My hands fisted at my sides. Apparently, I wasn’t going to win the battle of the wits this morning. Maybe there was something to coffee after all. My hand motioned in front of my lips, signaling that I was locking my mouth and throwing away the key. I was so not going to let him bait me all morning.
I waved bye now with my hand and retreated to my bedroom. Before I could close the partition, he asked, “Just out of curiosity, how long do you think you can hold out until you give in? I’d just like a time frame.”
“Give in to what?” I dared to ask.
My heart fired up like a souped-up race car watching him make his way over, pausing just inches away, hands grasping the edges of the doors I was just shy of closing. God, it was a sexy sight to behold.
“You wanted it as much as I did,” he declared boldly. “Still do.”
The kiss. I’d never admit to it, but I had ached for it every second since our bodies separated, even though my mind constantly tried to convince me otherwise. I just wished the two would agree already, but my mind would never allow me to forget that I’d never be safe. Never. I could be gone at a moment’s notice. But still, it was only human to want him for my very own.
“I should warn you,” I taunted. “I’m quite stubborn, so I can hold out like no other.”
His chest quietly vibrated with rumbles, the amusement on his face silently telling me he was accepting the challenge to break me down. I gave into my desires partially, and allowed my hand to trace the black ink on his shoulder. When he was completely enthralled by my touch, watching my finger swirl against his skin, I quickly and very playfully, shoved against both shoulders to remove him from my door frame. He took the hint and fell back, giving me the most delicious of grins as I closed him off.