by Sarah Smith
I shake my head and step aside. “Sorry. Come in.” I shut the door, and she makes her way to stand near the couch.
My eyes feel a magnetic pull to the floor. There’s no reason for me to be embarrassed. We’re adults after all. Still, though. Nothing like being caught the morning after by the sister of the guy I just spent the night with.
My mouth is wide open, but I make no sound as I try to think of something proper to say. She grabs my arm in a gentle hold.
“It’s okay. I was hoping you two would make up.”
Her warm smile eases me. The shower turns off, and we flick our gazes to the top of the stairs.
“Beautiful, Emmie,” Tate calls from the bathroom. “I thought I told you to meet me in the shower.”
Natalie covers her mouth to fight back a laugh. Flames engulf my cheeks.
I attempt to drown him out by hollering, “Um, Tate. You should—”
“No, no, no. No excuses. I need you in the shower ASAP.” He thuds down the stairs. When I see his lower half covered in a towel, I breathe a sigh of relief.
He halts dead in his tracks halfway down when he spots Natalie. “What are you doing here?” He tugs his towel tighter around his waist.
Natalie bursts out laughing. A second later I join her. Tate’s flushed cheeks make him appear annoyed and embarrassed at first, but then he’s grinning.
“That’s right. Laugh it up, ladies. Natalie, what can I help you with?” He raises an impatient eyebrow to her, his arm resting on the railing.
“Just wanted to make sure you were okay after last night, but you seem just dandy,” she says. “We’re visiting Nana at the home this afternoon, remember? Your turn to bring coffee cake. It’s her favorite, so don’t forget. And don’t be late. She hates that.”
She spins around and pulls me in for a tight hug. “I’m so glad to see you here. He’s crazy about you,” she whispers in my ear before letting go.
As I close the door behind her, I’m beaming from the inside out. His sister likes me. It makes everything feel more real, like I’m being welcomed into his private world.
Tate runs a hand through his hair. “Sorry, I didn’t know she’d be by.”
I bite back a grin. “It’s my fault. I let her in.”
“Yeah, about that.”
He drops down the final few stairs to me. He grabs me by the waist and pulls me against his soaking-wet torso. I want to lick all the droplets off him, but instead I focus on his eyes.
“Next time, let the door go. Shower is first priority.”
He leads me in a long, slow kiss. His breath is heated, and all I want to do is fog up the shower with him.
“I’d love for you to join me,” he says in a guttural whisper.
“I don’t want to make you late.” I claw against his soaked back.
“We’ve got time. Besides.” His tongue glides along his bottom lip. “I want to show you something upstairs.”
He guides me by the hand to his bathroom and gestures to the filled tub. “I’d like to try this again, this time the fun way.”
“You want to take a bath together?” I grin. “How romantic.”
“Nah.” He sits at the end of his tub, leaving me standing. “I want to watch you.”
My face heats. “You want to watch me take a bath?”
He pulls me so I’m standing between his legs. “That photo of your legs in the tub has been haunting me. I’m still kicking myself for not coming over to your place that night. And that time I sat next to you while you bathed . . .” He skims the surface of the water with his fingers. “Do you have any idea how worked up I was sitting next to you, hearing you splash around, picturing you touching your body?”
I laugh to myself. “Is that why it took you a minute to come out of the bathroom?”
“Indeed, it was. I was wondering if you’d be so kind as to re-create it for me.”
His hand glides up my thigh and under his boxers, his fingers wet with bathwater. Before he can graze any sensitive parts, he pulls away, resting his hand at the waistband.
“I’d love to,” I purr.
As I pull off his T-shirt and boxers, his eyes never leave my body. I tie my hair up in a topknot before lowering myself in the tub.
“Messy hair,” he mumbles. “I like.”
I flash what I hope is a sexy smile. Pressing against the back wall, I let my head and back rest against the cold tile.
My hands run across my stomach. “You want me to do exactly what I did to myself the night I talked to you from the bathtub?”
“Yes, please.” His eyebrows knit together, like he’s concentrating. His eyes run the length of me before ending at my face.
With wet hands, I massage my breasts and moan. The ache between my leg starts.
“Christ,” he mutters. “You were doing that on the phone too?”
I shake my head. “I’m freestyling a bit. Hope that’s okay.”
His eyebrows knit. That frown. I used to think it was always rooted in anger and frustration, but arousal seems to be a common culprit.
With closed eyes, I feel down my body. Using my fingertips, I draw a line down the side of my stomach. The tickle it causes makes me jerk. When my breath starts to quicken, I open my eyes to check on Tate. He sports that half-lidded, dazed stare complete with bulging jaw muscles.
“You have the most adorable turned-on face.” I chuckle. He grunts.
Finally, I let my hand fall between my legs. Before, I needed more than just a hot body to get me going, and Tate is so much more than a hot body. He’s sweet, caring, and protective. And the way he stares at me, the entire sky in his eyes, makes me dizzy with want.
The ache strengthens. My breath turns rapid. It’s silly, but the squeals I let loose make me self-conscious. I shouldn’t be. We spent last night naked in his bed, and I made all the noises. But we were together then. Now it’s just me, the spotlight’s on, and I don’t want to disappoint him. I want him to watch, to savor, to draw pleasure from every moment.
“Fuck, Emmie,” he growls. “I don’t know how much longer I can sit here and watch.”
“A little longer.”
The pleasure my hand brings is nice, but it’s nothing compared to Tate. Even as I work myself into a tizzy, I wish it were him instead.
Heat builds at the center of my core. My hand moves faster and faster until my chest heaves and my mouth falls open. No words leave me. Only desperate, carnal moans.
I sling my leg over the side of the tub, barely missing Tate’s towel-clad thigh. Both his hands grip the side of the tub with iron strength. I can almost feel how hard he’s pressing into the porcelain.
My toes curl and my leg quivers.
He places a hand on my calf, and our stares meet. “I want you. Now.”
“Then take me. Now.”
The word “now” is barely out of my mouth before Tate jolts up and pulls me out of the tub. Soaking wet, I must spill a bucket of bathwater onto the tile floor when I stand up. He doesn’t seem to care, though. Instead he yanks the towel from his waist and half-heartedly dries me off. Scooping me up, he carries me back to his bed. I’m unceremoniously dropped in the center.
“We’re definitely doing that again,” he growls.
With gentle hands, he touches me. There’s urgency in the contact, but it’s not rough. It’s full of intention. He takes his time caressing, kissing everywhere. He starts at my neck, then trails down my chest, my breasts, my stomach. When his mouth reaches between my legs, his tongue works in slow, steady circles. I’m reduced to breaths and moans, just like I was last night.
It doesn’t take long before I’m screaming in pleasure, and I know why. There’s something more behind the dirty deeds we commit now. It’s not just arousal; it’s emotion running deep within me, within him. All the feelings of my early-morning revelation
surge ahead. So this is what it feels like when you have sex with someone you love.
When I come down, he lifts his head up. The half smile he greets me with makes the butterflies in my stomach dance once more. He moves quickly and smoothly, sheathing a condom over himself before sliding in. That full feeling hits. That delicious, heavy, complete sensation will never, ever get old.
I mutter something about wanting to use my mouth on him, to make him feel as good as he’s made me feel.
“Next time.” He leans forward, speaking through a moan. “Right now, I want this. And I want you.”
My back arches the instant he hits that deep spot. I can’t help but howl. Over and over he hits it, and again it’s not long. My brain is a fuzzy mess, trying to process every single second of this heaven. It’s the off-the-charts physical pleasure combined with what I feel for him that must be responsible for this level of intensity. Sex has never been this good, this fulfilling, this stripped down. Love is a game changer for me, it seems.
Tate’s body tenses above me, and I wrap all of myself around him. My legs and arms cocoon him as I come down, hopefully giving him the same comfort and satisfaction that his body gives me.
He collapses on top of me, tucking his head at the side of my neck. He moans. “I want to stay in bed with you all day.”
“Me too.” I run my fingers through his damp curls. “But your nana.”
Moist breath hits my neck when he laughs. Twisting to the nightstand clock, I see that he has less than an hour until he’s due at his nana’s. I tell him, and he groans.
“You will not be late to visit your grandma.”
He settles on his back. I cuddle into his chest.
Wet lips land on my forehead, then slide to my mouth. We kiss again for minutes, barely pausing to breathe. With my hands cupping his face, I break us apart. “If we keep this up, you’re going to be late.”
His hand on my chin, he guides my mouth to his. “Come with me.”
I pull back. “To meet your grandma? No way,” I chuckle.
“Why not? My parents will be there too. They’ll all love you. And they’ll love me more for snagging someone like you.”
My heart flutters at his eagerness to have me meet his family, but deep down I know the timing isn’t right. “I’d love to meet your family, but not during my walk of shame after our first night together.” I kiss the tip of his nose. “It’s been a whirlwind the past eighteen hours, don’t you think? Give me more than half an hour to prep.”
He squints, then smiles, seeming to understand. “All the time you need.”
“Maybe next weekend.”
His lips purse. “I don’t know. Don’t you think that’s a bit soon?”
I nudge his rock-hard stomach with my elbow, and he booms a throaty laugh, pinning me against his chest with both arms.
“Do you hear that?” Tate says.
It takes a few seconds, but I zero in on a faint beeping sound.
“That’s your phone,” he says. “It’s been beeping for the past few minutes.”
I was clearly caught up in the moment, because I didn’t hear a thing. “It’s my sister. I hung up on her earlier to answer the door. She’s going to blow up my phone till I call her back.”
He gathers my hair off my shoulder and brushes his lips against my bare flesh. Another phone beep. I close my eyes, wishing we could enjoy each other without any more interruptions.
“She probably wants to make sure you’re okay. You should talk to her. And you’re right, I need to get going.” He rolls away and sits up, pulling me up to stand with him.
I turn playful and pull him to face me. “One more kiss. Please?” My voice is a breathy whisper. There’s a flame in his eyes.
The heat between us reignites, and he grabs at my naked body with urgency. If I were wearing clothes, they’d be torn off in an instant. I reach for him, but he holds both of my wrists in a firm grip. Our foreheads press together while we take deep gulps of air, waiting for our breaths to steady. By the heat of this kiss, you’d never guess we’d just finished ravaging each other in his bed.
His grip moves to my waist. It’s firm yet soft, just like him. Our bodies work so well together whether we’re lying down or standing.
“Emmie, I . . .”
The low, gentle tone of his voice is a cloud floating between us. He runs his fingers through my hair again. I savor the sweet contact. A minute passes without him saying anything. Heavy panting is the only sound we make.
“What is it?” I say, opening my eyes.
His stare jolts me. He’s stripped a layer of himself and is letting me see through his eyes. I feel like I can peer miles inside of him. There’s affection, longing, and something else. Something deep and far off. I want him to tell me exactly what it is.
“Just say it,” I whisper. I’m shaking so hard on the inside, my fingertips twitch.
“You should get dressed and go home,” he says quietly. “Skype with your sister. She needs to see you.”
I nod, disappointed. He was about to say something important but chickened out. His take-it-slow nature wins out once more.
We dress in silence, our backs to each other. It’s probably better this way. If we made eye contact, we’d end up sidetracked in his bed or shower. I slip on my black dress and heels while he grabs the Oscar the Grouch T-shirt I dropped on the bathroom floor and pulls it on.
“You should wear something else,” I say while rifling in my purse for my keys. “I hadn’t showered when I wore that.”
“I like it though. It smells like you. This way I’ll have you with me the rest of the day.” His tender tone compels me to turn around.
Last night, he was the one to put himself on the line when he revealed his feelings to me. And now there’s something I can do to show him just how strongly I feel. I tackle him with a bear hug.
“What’s this all about?” he asks with a chuckle.
“You’ll see tomorrow.” I dart down the staircase and walk out the door.
thirty
Monday morning begins with my knee shaking against a chair. I can’t help it; I’m so excited I could burst. Luckily, no one is nearby to notice. I’m fifteen minutes early on the first day of my new work life. Everything is the same except how I feel about my across-the-hall office neighbor. I had all of Sunday, a two-hour Skype conversation with Addy, and an hour phone call with Kaitlin to bathe in my newfound bliss. There is zero doubt, and I want everyone to know.
The piece of paper lying in my lap is the first step. Every time I hear footsteps down the hall, my head nearly snaps off my neck to see if it’s Tate. My neck is starting to cramp due to all the false starts, but this time when I turn it’s him.
He stops short at the front of his desk, a question on his face. Before he can ask me why I’m sitting in his office instead of my own, I stand up and hand him a crisp new copy of the Nuts & Bolts relationship disclosure form, complete with my information written on it.
“My weekend surprise is a day late. Sorry.”
He responds with wide eyes and a slow smile.
“All that’s left is you.”
He scans the paper with bright eyes, then reaches into his messenger bag. He pulls out a book with a folded piece of paper sticking out of it. When he smooths it flat onto his desk, I recognize the crumpled edges and my handwriting.
“You saved it.” I skim my fingers across the employee relationship disclosure form I handed to Tate on Saturday night during our blowout.
“I was hopeful.” He huffs out a sigh through smiling lips. “I love your weekend surprise more, though. It’s the bee’s knees.”
“There you go again sounding like you’re from another era.”
He lifts a single knowing eyebrow at me. “I seem to remember a beautiful dark-haired woman saying on Saturday evening that she likes the way I
talk.”
My head falls back as I laugh. “We’re something else, aren’t we?”
“Indeed. And now everyone will know you’re my something else, and I’m yours.”
“So lovey-dovey. Have we lost our edge already?”
“Nah. We’ll still bicker. Someone’s gotta call me on my typing and tapping and slurping.”
This time when I try to push him, he catches my hand and laces his fingers in mine. “I knew you did that on purpose.”
“I couldn’t help it. Your annoyed face is the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen.”
With my free hand, I palm his cheek, savoring the rough feel of his stubble. Leaning over his desk, he fills out the form. I can’t help but fidget, the bottomless joy simmering underneath my skin. The impossible is happening. The man I used to loathe with such ease is now the object of my affection.
“Don’t forget to write the date on it,” I say. “When Scott in Accounting goes through the paperwork, he’s always miffed if people forget.”
I reach to point out the date line, and knock into the book on Tate’s desk. It’s a copy of Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed.
“Are you reading this?” I ask.
Tate stops writing, then looks at the book. Something extra rests under the smile he flashes me. “I finished it a few months ago.” He shoves it into his bag.
A light pops on in my head. “That’s why you knew so much about the Big Island when you asked me to talk about it in the hospital, isn’t it? The questions you asked were so specific. You were learning about where I came from, weren’t you?”
One corner of his light pink mouth quirks up. “You didn’t give up much the times I asked you about it at work. I had to forage for info on my own.”
I ruffle his curls with my fingers. The soft moan that slips out of his mouth makes me shiver. I press a light kiss to his lips.
“We should probably head to Will’s office. We’ve got a meeting with him and Lynn, remember?” he says against my mouth.
