“I smell like Lake Fisher too,” she says, staring into my eyes as she shrugs off her wet shirt. She turns to walk into the bathroom, wearing nothing but a serviceable white nursing bra and damp jean shorts. She leaves the door open as she turns the shower on. I can see her reach behind her and unhook the bra, and then she shrugs it off. Her eyes catch mine as she stares at me over her shoulder. She’s slender, but soft and curvy.
“Jake,” she says. She unbuttons her jean shorts and shoves them down her legs along with her panties. “The least you could do is come help me clean up, since you were the one who threw me into the lake.” Her bottom is nice and round, and her hips… God.
I swipe a hand down my face and blow out a breath as Katie smiles at me and disappears behind the shower curtain. I drop onto the edge of her bed. Is this happening? Really?
Two minutes later, the water cuts off. Oh, shit. I deliberated too long. Katie storms out of the bathroom. She has a towel wrapped like a turban around her head, and a second one is wrapped around her body, tucked between her breasts.
“Get out of my room, Jake,” she says. Her tone is clipped and I know I just messed up.
“I was thinking—”
“Well, go think in your own room,” she snaps. She sits down on the edge of the bed and steps into a dry pair of panties. She shimmies them up her hips without dropping the towel.
“I don’t want to go think in my room.” I swipe my hand down my face again. “I want to think right here.”
“You’re getting my bed all wet,” she complains.
“Sorry,” I murmur. She’s getting dressed and I let the opportunity slip me by. “I don’t want to rush things,” I say.
“Jake, I get it. You don’t have to explain.”
“You get what?”
“Don’t make this any harder, okay?” She blows out a breath. “Just go.” I get up and she spins around to face me. “You could have just told me.”
“Told you what?”
“That you…don’t want me…that way.” She sniffles.
Huh? “You think I don’t want you?” I take her hand and put it on the damp crotch of my shorts. “Does that feel like I don’t want you?” Her hand explores the evidence of my arousal in my shorts.
“Oh,” she says. Her cheeks turn pink. Her voice gets soft. “Why didn’t you come and join me?”
“I wasn’t prepared.”
“Oh! You mean you have to take something?” She suddenly looks worried.
“Oh, God, no! I don’t have to take anything!” This is going from bad to worse. “My junk works just fine.” I heave out a sigh. “I don’t have any condoms.”
Recognition finally dawns on her face. “Oh. I didn’t even think about that.”
“I did.” I step toward her and bracket her face with my hands. “I want to be inside you more than I want anything. But I also want to be responsible. I don’t want to do anything to hurt you.”
She shakes her head. “I was stupid.”
I kiss her, because she’s there and her lips are waiting. She kisses me back, stepping up onto her tiptoes so she can kiss me harder. Her tongue meets mine, and I’m afraid I might come in my shorts. “I want to see you,” I say, as I hook my finger in the towel that’s wrapped around her body. She shakes her head free of the one wrapped around her hair. Both the towels fall to the floor.
“Wow,” I say. Her chest flushes pink.
“My body’s not quite what it used to be,” she says. She looks everywhere but at me while I stare at nothing but her. I want to take in every part of her, from the curve of her shoulder to the space between her toes. I want to find out if the spot on the back of her knee is tender or ticklish. I want to lick across that mole beneath her left breast. I want to find out if her nipples taste like dark cherries, or if that’s just her embarrassment and the heat from the shower tinting her skin.
“Your body is beautiful,” I say.
She scoffs. “You don’t have to flatter me. I’ve had four kids.” She holds up four fingers. I grab her wrist and kiss each finger. Then I kiss my way down her wrist and up her inner arm, stopping every now and again to nibble, until her arm is outstretched and her breast lifts ever so slightly. I cup her breast in my hand. “The last time I touched you like this, you didn’t have enough boob to fill my hand. Now… God!” I kiss the underside of her breast. “Can I kiss you here?” I ask, as I swipe my thumb across her nipple.
She nods and lets out a little noise. I take her nipple into my mouth, being careful not to suck, but I do lick and taste and tease her until she’s hard in my mouth, and she clutches onto my hair with her fists. “Jake,” she says, and she pulls my face back up to hers.
I run my hands down her sides to her bottom, grabbing two handfuls and squeezing as I lift her against me. “I want to make you feel good,” I say.
“Jake,” she says again.
I fall onto the bed with her beneath me, careful to catch my weight with my arms, and I lie on top of her. She spreads her legs to cradle me, and I hitch myself against her center.