Carpentry and Cocktails

by Smartypants Romance

  "How can you promise that?" I asked breathlessly because I sure as shit struggled to believe it when she raked her fingernails up my back under my wrinkled, twisted shirt.

  She blinked, running a hand over her flushed face as she thought. "I … umm, we'll keep pants on." Her smile was brilliant. "Yes, we'll keep pants on. Nothing too important can happen when you're wearing pants. New rule."

  There it was again. That slow roll of the organ pumping all the blood through my body. It took everything in me not to tell her right there that I was in head over heels in love with her. That if it were up to me, I'd never leave her. That we'd be together forever. That for me, she was forever.

  I pressed my forehead to hers. "My sexy, sexy little hedgehog, we're in no rush, okay?"

  She blew a raspberry between her lips. "Speak for yourself, Buchanan. You know how long I've been waiting for someone else to help me out down there? I can feel everything, I promise. I've got twenty-one years of waiting for some assistance, mister."

  Because I knew she could handle it, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her all my weight while my frame shook with laughter.

  Joss must have sensed how serious I was because she hugged me too, pressing a kiss into my cheek. She sighed dramatically. "Fine, but tomorrow, I'll make you pay for this little display of chivalry."

  I lifted my head. "Yeah? How?"

  Her eyes, sapphire set in an antique ring blue, twinkled dangerously.

  Chapter 22

  Jocelyn

  "Ready?"

  From behind the weight bench, Levi watched me enter through the door with narrowed eyes. His eyes tracked up and down my perfectly normal workout attire. My promised retribution must have been written all through my sly grin because he set his hands on his hips, clearly waiting for something.

  "What?" I asked. "Are we working out or not? I've got some new exercises you can help me with."

  That loosened his tightly held frame a bit. "Yeah? Did PT boy give you those ideas?"

  Well hello, jealousy. I shrugged. "I didn't see him this week."

  "Good."

  I snorted. "Levi, you had your hands on my ass last night; how jealous can you possibly be?"

  With three long strides that had my tummy flipping, he was right in front of me, leaning down to plant a hard kiss on my upturned lips. "I'm not jealous," he said against my mouth.

  "Okay." I nipped at his lower lip, which made him growl.

  Levi stood. "I await your instructions."

  "Grab that exercise band. The black one."

  He plucked it off the wall behind him while I locked my chair and slid onto the floor by the yellow pad.

  "Do you still need to stretch?" he asked.

  I blinked innocently up at him. "Everything but my legs. I figured you could help me."

  His throat worked on a swallow. "'Kay."

  Some might have called me crazy or said I clearly had a few screws loose, but this was the most fun I'd had in years. The ability to be with him like this had a giddy, bubbly sort of happiness threatening to explode out of my skin.

  I laid on the mat as Levi kneeled between my legs. Placing his hands on my knee and ankle, he picked up my right and pressed it back into my chest.

  "Good?" he asked, eyes never leaving mine.

  I smiled. "You can push … harder."

  His cheeks flushed, his lips stayed in a firm line, but his eyes sparked hot as he pressed his chest against my leg, pushing it farther toward my chest.

  After a few pulses, complete with delicious, heavy eye contact, I swear, if he so much as brushed his fingers between my legs, I would've exploded. He pulled back, carefully set down my right and switched to the left, this time not waiting for me to ask for more.

  Levi braced my shin in the middle of his chest, then set his hands on either side of me, pressing down.

  Inhaling a sharp breath through my nose, I closed my eyes. The stretch of muscle along the back of my leg hurt, hurt so good, but it was him too. So much him.

  Rocking himself forward, he pulsed the other leg too until we both knew I was adequately stretched.

  Sweat popped along the back of my neck even though I'd barely moved, just from the things racing through my head at our position.

  Sliding into relationship mode with Levi was like breathing, much to my delight. Which was good because I wanted to slide us even further past whatever arbitrary line he'd erected. I wanted to have sex. But not just any sex. I wanted to have sex with my best friend turned first boyfriend, who looked at me like he wanted to rip my clothes off with his teeth.

  I wanted sweat-slicked skin and tight muscles and his hardness in my hands. I wanted arching bodies and hands against my skin. And I wanted him so badly that I'd been jittery all night, all morning. Fine, fine, he was trying to be respectful, blah, blah, blah, but being friends for five years gave us a bit of a leg up in the dating world if you asked me.

  And respect was excellent. It was. I wanted to respect the hell out of his strong, muscled body. The one he'd honed out of hard work and determination. I wanted to respect that body so badly.

  Hence my well-crafted plan for today. I'd spent a little time on YouTube last night, looking up leg exercises that would:

  1- Benefit me physically.

  2- Drive him out of his fucking mind.

  The sports bra that I'd dug out of the back of my dresser drawer was my ringer for goal number two. Today, she'd be my shining star because showing skin when trying to seduce your best friend turned first boyfriend was always helpful. Two years ago, I'd bought it on impulse and had only worn it under baggy T-shirts.

  "Legs feel better?" he asked, standing up from the mat as I pulled myself to a sitting position.

  "Mm-hmm." My fingers played with the hem of my T-shirt, and I had to take a few deep breaths to bust through a sudden flurry of nerves. Playing the seductress had never once been at the top of my to-do list.

  "You'll need the band around your waist," I told him. "Then loop around mine too."

  Levi nodded, and I saw him switch into trainer mode. "Glutes?"

  "Yeah. You'll be stationary, and I'll do my reps going forward."

  "So"—he paused, staring hard at the yellow mat—"you'll be …"

  "On my hands and knees in front of you." Oh, look at me, I said it with a straight face.

  His hazel eyes narrowed again, but he didn't say anything.

  Just do the damn thing, I yelled in my head. So I channeled my inner stripper and pulled my T-shirt off as gracefully as I could manage. As it cleared my head, I arched my back just a touch, and I heard a supremely gratifying inhale come from Levi.

  Not making eye contact, I tossed the shirt over by my chair and then propped my hands behind me.

  "Ready?" I asked him.

  If I thought his eyes sparked hot before, I was terribly mistaken.

  By the way he stared at the contraption of thin straps crisscrossing my chest and the glorious amount of cleavage shown in the deep V, it was no spark.

  He'd just set me on fire with one look.

  "You are an evil, evil woman," he said in a low voice.

  Attempting a super casual shrug of my shoulders, I sighed. "It's hot in here."

  "Is it now?"

  He'd barely moved his eyes away from my bra, and honestly, I couldn't blame him. It made my tits look absolutely fantastic. I'd never thought of them as tits in my entire life, but when I'd stared at myself in the mirror before coming here, it felt like the perfect time to add it into my vocabulary.

  "Ready?" he asked when I didn't say anything.

  I had to fight to keep a pout off my face because I was expecting him to descend on me like a ravenous animal by this point, but apparently, I'd underestimated his willpower.

  Which shouldn't have surprised me, in retrospect. He'd hid his feelings for five years. Clearly, he had a lock on his … urges. What an asshole. I wanted those urges unleashed. Unleashed on my entire freaking body.

  "So we're still
pretending we're going to do the exercises?"

  "Who's pretending?" he said, staring straight-faced and unblinking. Like I could see clear through him, I knew the wheels and cogs were turning in that brain of his. Trying to process how serious I was.

  "Come here," I pleaded.

  He didn't.

  It was my turn to narrow my eyes.

  "Did I mention I'm not wearing underwear?"

  Levi swiped a hand over his mouth, letting out a small, strained laugh. "You are determined to kill me, aren't you?"

  I answered him as seriously as I could. "If by kill you, you mean have sex with you, then yes."

  Tipping his chin up to the ceiling, he took a few chest-expanding deep breaths. "Joss." He laughed quietly.

  "Levi. Great, we know each other's names."

  With a growl, he dropped to his knees and prowled over me, moving one leg to the side until I had no choice but to lay back on the mat. Halle-freaking-lujah. I slid my hands up his back and felt the tension he held in all those muscles.

  Even though he was over me, he didn't kiss me. Levi propped his elbows on either side of my head, caging me in so I couldn't really go anywhere, which was fine by me. I lifted my chin to find his mouth, but he evaded me.

  "I had plans, you know," he said, looking deep into my eyes. His thumb tangled lightly with the hair next to his hand.

  "Yeah?"

  I shifted my hips, bringing us closer, and his eyes closed. Levi, my best friend turned first boyfriend, was hard. And big. There was one moment when I had the same thought that probably every virgin had.

  Holy shit, how's this gonna work?

  "Joss." He sounded like he was in a great deal of pain, and based on what I felt tight against my core, he probably was. "I am not making love to you for the first time on this ugly yellow mat."

  I smiled a little, using my fingertip to trace the edge of his lips. I really, really liked his lips. "Okay."

  He dropped his forehead to mine, then kissed the tip of my nose. Next to my eye. The corner of my jaw. With each tiny kiss, I got all melty. My whole body went warm and soft.

  "I had plans," he repeated. "They were romantic and sweet. I want it to be perfect for you."

  "Were rose petals involved?"

  He laughed, finally kissing me on the mouth. We stayed there for a couple of seconds, and my arms went tight around his neck while I enjoyed the feel of his lips against mine.

  I pulled back and cupped the side of his face. "Do you know what I need for my first time? The best thing that could possibly be in any plan that your brain could come up with?" I traced my finger over his forehead, where a few worry lines had popped up. "Just you. That's it. Just you and me, Levi. It could be anywhere, and as long it's you and me, it'll be exactly what I need."

  His eyes searched mine, weighing the sincerity of my words. The moment he saw what he needed to see, a switch flipped in his brain.

  "Hold tight," he told me quietly.

  One of his big hands cupped my bottom as I tightened my grip on his neck. With an ease born of incredible strength, Levi held me to him and stood. I squealed when it made my head spin, and he laughed into my neck.

  "Good?" he asked as he boosted me higher on his chest. My legs dangled on either side of his slim hips while his arms braced underneath my thighs and ass.

  "Good." I kissed him. I kissed him deeply because even though we weren't moving now, my head was still spinning just a little bit. Our tongues tangled, his head turned, and I felt his fingers dig into my skin where he held me so tightly.

  Levi broke the kiss and walked us out of the gym. He paused just as he cleared the door into the garage. "Do you want your chair? I guess I got presumptuous."

  I grinned. "Presume away. I'm perfectly fine with a little manhandling today."

  "Good to know," he murmured against my lips.

  As he walked us to his apartment, my body tucked into him, I knew that Levi would never view anything that was about to happen as manhandling, though, and neither would I.

  I pressed my face into his neck and breathed him in. This was the person who made me feel the safest, the strongest, who made me feel the best just exactly as I was.

  He kicked the door shut behind us, the harsh clap of sound tightening the skin around my bones. It wasn't bright in his place, only brief pockets of the sun coming through the edges of the curtains. As he tipped me back onto his bed, I liked what those slices of light did to his body.

  "Take off your shirt," I told him. "I want to see."

  Levi lifted his chin in the direction of my sports bra. "Just remember, now that I know this kind of payback is on the table, you're not the only one who can use it."

  "I do not think this is your style," I answered seriously. "The straps would do nothing for you."

  Even though he grinned, I felt the joke dry up like sawdust in my throat when I yanked his shirt off, exposing row upon row of twisted, roped lines of tight muscle under his skin.

  I ran my hand over his stomach, and his chest heaved. My fingers tucked into the edge of his gym shorts and boxer briefs, and against my pinky, the thick line of his hardness jumped.

  Before he pulled those off, he offered me his hand, and I sat up.

  "Lift your arms," he said. I complied, falling just a little bit further because he actually had to stop to think about how I'd get this strappy bullshit sports bra off on my own. We laughed together when he had to tug it roughly over my head, but his laughter died as soon as I dropped my arms. Even though I wanted to and felt the undeniable urge to, I didn't cover my breasts with my arm.

  I laid back, and he followed, licking up the line of my stomach, then stopping to press a kiss on the center of my chest. He breathed there for a second. He cupped the weight of one breast in his hand, and I squirmed, wanting more of … something.

  When his thumb circled around the edge of my nipple, followed by his mouth closing over me, I got it.

  Sighing his name, I clutched him to me. His mouth increased its suction, and I gasped. Hot, bright white, I felt it down my back, which arched up off the mattress. He moved to the other side, but I gripped his face with both hands and dragged his mouth up to mine for a searching, seeking kiss.

  Levi pressed against me, rolling his hips with a groan.

  As we traded wet kisses, my hand slid down his chest and under his shorts so I could feel him, feel how heavy and hard he was with my fingers curled around him. He hissed out a breath through clenched teeth when I moved my hand experimentally.

  "Is this," I whispered, "is this okay?"

  His laugh was strained. "Yeah, yeah."

  I rolled my thumb, and he made a sound like he was dying. Watching his face tighten with pleasure when I did was my new favorite thing in the entire freaking world. I did that to him with one tiny swipe of one tiny finger.

  "You can," he started, then wrapped his strong fingers around mine, moving my hand faster, tightening my grip harder than I would have dared. "Yes, just like that. Shit, Joss, that feels so good."

  He dropped his mouth to my chest again, this time working his tongue and teeth against my skin, and my rhythm faltered.

  When his forehead pressed to my shoulder, and his breathing picked up, he stilled my hand with his. "Wait, stop, I don't want … I want to be right there with you, okay?"

  My nod was shaky and fast. "Right, okay. Let's do that then please."

  His smile was brilliant, and the look in his eyes softened when he gazed at me. There was affection there and undeniable, bright, unwavering love.

  "Oh, my beautiful girl, there's no rush right now. Trust me."

  "Speak for yourself," I mumbled when he sat up and tucked his hands into the waistband of my leggings, dragging them slowly down my hips. His entire body froze when they cleared just a few inches, and there was nothing underneath but skin.

  I grinned up at him.

  "You were serious," he said.

  Biting my lower lip, I nodded.

  Levi sucked in a b
reath, then pulled them carefully off one leg, then the other. Tears pricked my eyes at how perfect he was being, how he knew exactly what to do and didn't hesitate, or question, or make me feel uncomfortable. Not only because of my legs but because of the two people here, one of us was new at this whole sex thing.

  But the newness for both of us was in the uncovering of our bodies, the unveiling of skin so that we could touch and taste it. I pushed his shorts down and tracked the V bracketing his hips with my fingers as I stared unabashedly at him. He leaned down and kissed the tops of each of my thighs and spread his hand over the middle of my stomach, only turning his fingers toward my core when he kissed me deeply again, claiming my mouth, claiming everything.

  He worked his hand between my legs, and my body started trembling after only a few touches from his finger. I clapped a hand over my mouth as I felt a terrifying, mounting pressure climb. He pulled my hand down and whispered against mouth. "Don't hide those sounds. Give them to me, give all of them to me."

  His fingers pressed down again, and I cried out as my body separated in a blinding, overwhelming pulse of light that split my skin wide open.

  It was bigger, bigger, so much bigger than anything I'd felt alone.

  "Holy shit," I breathed as I sagged back onto the bed. He kissed me, moving between my legs and leaning up so he could grab a foil wrapper from his nightstand. I couldn't stop kissing his shoulders, his chest, his chin, his lips. He laughed under his breath while he tried to focus on his task.

  "Joss," he groaned when he was finally done. He clutched my hands and pressed them down on the bed. My frantic movements still had him smiling when I couldn't stop myself from trying to catch his mouth again. "It might hurt, just a little."

  "I trust you," I whispered against his mouth.

  He lined himself up against me, and I whimpered at just that one meeting point of him and me, a fraction of what waited.

  His eyes snagged mine as I breathed through the delicious aftershocks. I pulled in a breath and slid my hands away from his and down his back. Levi pushed his hips forward, inch by inch, his forehead pinched tight with concentration, and I held my breath through the sharp pop of pain. He felt it, and I saw his shoulders start to shake as he held himself still.