Because she was his best friend.
He strode down the hall. When he reached the bathroom, he grasped the knob, pushed inside, and instantly felt like he’d been hit with the stupid stick.
With her back to him, fresh from her shower, Julie was completely nude as she ran a comb through her hair. The wet brunette strands reached right below her shoulder blades, gently caressing her skin and introducing him to an hourglass figure and a flawless, apple-shaped bottom.
His gaze locked there. The rounded cheeks were cock-hardening perfect. A woman’s ass had always been his weakness, but Julie’s? Fucking hell. He’d never wanted to get his hands on a butt more.
“Tommy!” She twisted toward him, covering herself with her arms, but not before he saw the enticing swell of her breast. As she squatted to snatch a towel off the floor, he still hadn’t moved.
“Get. Out!”
What the hell was he doing? He shook his head, backed out, and slammed the door. “Sorry!”
Taking deep inhales, he collapsed back against the wall. Out of everything he could have seen on Julie’s body, why did it have to be her ass?
He shook his head sharply, trying to dislodge the image. The tempting perfection of it refused to vanish. Even worse, his dick was raring and ready to go from the replay.
No. Oh, God. No. This was so wrong on so many levels. Julie was his best friend. He’d never once thought of her in a sexual way. But he’d had no clue she looked like that under her clothes.
The bathroom door slammed against the wall and a furious Julie emerged, wrapped in a robe.
She shoved him and he lifted his arms to ward her off. “What the hell, Tommy! Knock before entering.”
Angry that she’d made him see something he could never unsee, and finding that he liked it, he yelled back, “It’s called a lock! You don’t live alone anymore, Julie. Lock the goddamn door.”
Just to get it out there and remind himself more than anything, he added, “I do not need to see someone I consider my sister naked.” He pointed at her. “Don’t do that to me!”
He stalked back to his room and slammed the door. Shoving both hands in his hair, he fisted his fingers and tugged, letting out a long, frustrated yell as he paced the room.
Last night he’d wanted to kiss her, and now she had a perfect ass. Fabulous.
God, he wanted to throttle her.
Hell, she’d probably throttle him if she knew what he was thinking about her.
Thankfully, there was a way to fix this. He’d been out of the game too long, that was all. His body was wacked out. Not used to going this long without a woman. There was an eager and willing woman at work who was more than ready to help get him back in the game. He just had to convince her it would be much more fun if he tied her up.
…
Unfortunately, nothing had gone the way it was supposed to for the rest of the day.
It was all Julie’s fault.
And Tommy was seriously pissed.
As soon as he walked into the photo shoot that morning, he’d started putting the moves on Bonnie. She very easily allowed him the lead, which was the way he liked it. But there hadn’t been even one little shimmy of anticipation in his pants. Why? Because Julie’s ass kept teasing him.
Thinking of that, his pants had felt a whole lot of action.
The pending “date” had sat like a rock in his stomach all damn day. He never dreaded spending time with a woman. He fed them and then they had an excellent time between the sheets. At the end of the night, they parted ways with full bellies and sated bodies. Perfect for everyone.
But that’s not what had happened tonight with Bonnie.
The truth was, he’d had no urge to take the woman to dinner, much less take her to bed, because that beautiful ass was tormenting the ever-loving hell out of him. The more it kept popping into his mind, the more he wanted to direct his attention toward that source of lust. A very dangerous thought.
But a date was a date. So when they’d finally called a wrap on the shoot, he’d driven Bonnie over to a nice restaurant. Only, the more she’d talked, flirted, and made blatant comments about phallic-shaped objects, the more he’d wanted to get up and leave.
He wanted to be with Julie. Not her ass. But her.
Which was why he now found himself in his car, alone, driving home well before midnight. And hating life.
Since when did he ever want to sit around the house watching TV and eating popcorn instead of going out and having fun?
Never, that’s when. And yet, he’d begged off a night with a gorgeous, more-than-willing woman, using the lie that the food hadn’t agreed with him. A damn stomachache? Seriously?
It was Julie’s fault. All her damn fault.
And he intended to give her a piece of his damn mind.
…
After a solitary dinner, Julie leaned back on the couch with a glass of Merlot. Earlier this afternoon, Tommy had sent her a text saying he wouldn’t be home until late, so don’t wait up.