Eventually he pushes me off, then leans back against the tub with a sigh. “No more of that or I’ll disgrace myself.” He grabs the forgotten condom out of my hand and rolls it down his length with haste.
I sit back, arms crossed in front of my damp body, wondering what happens next. My face feels flushed, and the ends of my hair are damp and wild.
“Don’t get shy now,” he says, beckoning to me. “Let me look at you.” When I drop my arms, his gaze makes a slow sweep of my body, lingering on my breasts, my tummy. And then my lady parts.
A lifetime of good-girl habits isn’t easily shed. That dirty gaze gives me the urge to close my legs. But I resist it. My fingers tingle with the need to cover myself, but I let him admire me. After all, this is exactly what I asked for. I want him to see me as a woman.
So instead of hiding, I rest my hands on the sides of the tub and actually spread my legs a little farther.
“Fuck,” he says in a broken voice. And then he moves, gripping my hips and sliding my body closer to his. We’re of one mind as I brace myself over him. Quickly, he lines up beneath me and then lowers me down onto his cock, filling me with one long stroke.
“Yes!” I gasp as my body stretches to accommodate him. I grip his shoulders and grind against him. I can’t help myself.
He groans happily. “You…” He takes a deep breath and begins to move his hips beneath me. Finally. “…are exactly what I need.”
I couldn’t agree more, but I don’t want any more conversation. So I grab his face and kiss him. Hard.
Afterward, we wrap towels haphazardly around ourselves and stagger to his bed, where we lay together in a steamy heap. “I have a theory,” he pants.
“Murmph,” I say, because my lips have forgotten how to say anything other than “oh god oh god” and “YES! YES! YES!”
I really hope Silas isn’t home yet. We weren’t exactly quiet.
“You told me that men always treat you too carefully. Because they’re intimidated by your daddy.”
“It’s true.” I sigh, trying to slow down my breathing.
“Nah,” Jason says with a chuckle. “I think they’re intimidated by you.”
“What?” I gasp. “That makes no sense. I’m not intimidating.”
He rolls over to look at me with those big brown eyes. They’re full of warmth. “See, your fearlessness is a real turn-on for me,” he says, reaching out to wrap a lock of my damp hair around his finger. “But some men can’t handle that. It makes them wonder if they’re enough.”
“But you can? Your exceptional ego can handle it?”
He grins. “Most of the time.”
“I don’t know if I buy it,” I confess. Still, it’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.
Jason’s smile doesn’t dim. I’ve never met anyone like him. My other boyfriends always wanted me to agree with them. Jason seems just as happy when I argue. Now he reaches out and pulls me onto his chest. He smooths my hair back with one hand and lets out a contented sigh.
I never expected him to be cuddly, damn it. It’s nice. I like it a little too much.
“My ego didn’t like one thing, though,” he says. “What’s this bullshit you were spinning earlier about spending the night in Bayer’s bed?”
“Ah.” I’d meant for him to get the wrong idea, and I guess it worked. “It’s true that I was going to sleep there. But Bayer wouldn’t have been in the bed. He can’t climb up the loft stairs, so he’s sleeping on his sofa. I should text him and see if he needs anything.”
I sit up to look around for my phone.
“Not yet. Don’t go.” Jason pulls me right back down again. It’s gentle, but still bossy.
“You just manhandled me,” I complain from a comfortable spot on his pec. My fingers find his happy trail, and I trace it softly.
“We’re still naked, so I’m still in charge,” he says, stroking a hand down my shoulder. “Now tell me about the rest of your week.”
“Oh, it was just the usual. Working at the rink. Looking for cheap apartments and grocery shopping for hockey players. Oh! Listen—I had an idea for Silas’s birthday next month.”
“Time to hire the strippers!” His perfect abs bounce with a chuckle.
“No!” I argue. “My idea is so much better.”
“I’m only kidding. When it’s someone’s birthday, we usually go out for a ridiculously pricey dinner and make a rookie pay. But what’s your idea?”
“Well, my plan is still pricey. I saw that Delilah Spark is playing Madison Square Garden the night before his birthday. And the team should be flying back from Seattle that morning.”
Jason cackles. “You think we should buy him a ticket to her show?”
“No, we should buy a bunch of tickets. Let’s get a block of them—maybe even VIP access. It would be a hoot.”
“Holy shit! If Silas met Delilah Spark he’d wet himself.”
“It would be a really cool gift. It’s not often when you can give a grown man something that would make him so happy.”
“That is true.” Jason puts his lips against my cheekbone and gives me a slow kiss. “You made me happier tonight then I’ve been in a long time.”
My heart gives a stunned little flutter. “I don’t know what to say about that.”
“Just say you’re happy, too.”
“I am happy,” I say slowly. “But what happened to Mr. One Time Only? I don’t know what to think.”
“You don’t trust me,” he says.
“Would you?”
“Well, I’m pretty great. You just need more convincing. Now, how do we get these concert tickets? Won’t it be sold out?”
“There’s a price for everything.”
“Ah. And I’m sure I’ll be paying it. Do I actually have to go to this concert? Her music is not my taste.”
“Someone has to go. And why not you?”
“Let’s make a deal,” he says.
“What kind of deal?”
“I’ll go to the Delilah Spark concert and sit in the front row. I’ll give her a standing ovation after every song. But only if you’ll be my date.”
“But…” Did he even do the math? “It’s a month away.”
“I heard you the first time. You and I are going to be a thing.”
“A thing? What’s that?”
“It’s whatever we want it to be. It’s our thing.”
“And our thing lasts a month?”
“At least.” He shrugs maddeningly. “A month from now I’ll still want you in my bed. Isn’t this nice?”
It is, damn it. But I don’t know if I can have an ill-defined relationship with Jason Castro. “I didn’t agree to date you yet.”
“You will.” He says this like it’s not infuriating. “Hey—did you get those cookies I asked for on my shopping list?”
“No,” I say immediately, and I’m not even a little sorry.
“Why, because they’re not healthy?”
“No, because I was mad at you.”
He laughs. “You weren’t mad at me a few minutes ago when you were having your second orgasm.”
“Don’t rub it in,” I warn him. “Unless you’re, um, rubbing it in.” I feel a happy spasm just thinking about it. Even though he’s confusing, I’m ridiculously attracted to him. I don’t think I can walk away from him. Not just yet.
“So you’re saying I deserve those cookies?”
“I suppose,” I grumble. “The best I can do is ice cream. I hid a quart in the back of your freezer. I bought it for myself.”
“Heidi,” he whispers. “Will you share your ice cream with me? Fantastic sex makes me hungry. And then will you share my bed, so I can hold you all night long?”
“Okay,” I say, caving in immediately. And I have a feeling this might become a trend. “But I also need to check on Bayer.”
“We’ll get Silas to do it,” Jason says. “I don’t want to share you tonight. I’ll text him right now.”
He gets out of bed, and I admire his shapely backside as he jumps into a pair of sweatpants.
I don’t want to share you tonight. Such a bossy sentence!
It makes me tingle, damn it.
We’re sitting at the kitchen table eating Chunky Monkey out of the container when Silas eventually comes home. He takes one look at us and smirks. “I see how it is.”
“Don’t judge,” I say with a sigh. Jason and I are dressed in hockey T-shirts yanked from his drawer and we both have sex hair.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He drops his jacket over a chair. “So this is how it’s going to be?”