Like every other time he’s been close the past few days, I feel the warmth of his proximity like a blanket I want to curl up into.
“Is that alright?” he asks, leaning back against the counter and crossing one ankle over the other while I sip my wine… and realize he’s kicked off his shoes.
Good Lord, white socks have never looked so freaking sexy before.
“Um, yeah. Of course.” Don’t be shy, girl, tell him how you really feel. “We love spending time with you.”
His light eyes dance back and forth between mine as the smile nestled amidst his beard widens.
“Good,” he says huskily, and I curse the damn hoodie I changed into, because it’s suddenly getting warm in here.
I nod to the sink, desperate for a distraction. “I should get these dishes done or I’m going to hate myself in the morning.”
“Want some help?”
“No, it’ll only take a few minutes. Grab another beer. Relax.”
He watches for a moment as I run the water, but instead of going to the fridge for a beer, he grabs a towel to dry instead.
“Jesse…” I glower up at him, but he just makes a goofy face back down to me, and in ten minutes, we’re done. “Thank you, but you really didn’t need to do that.”
“And you didn’t need to make me dinner, either, but you did.”
“Tonight is about me doing nice things for you, remember?”
“Yeah, I’m still not sure I understand what that’s all about.” He drapes the towel over the oven handle and then goes to the fridge for that beer. The muscles in his back flex as he leans down and a shiver slides down my spine, hoping that what I have planned goes my way.
“Like I said, you’ve been working hard, and not only this week.”
“Yeah, but it’s what I do.”
“I know it is. But I’m not talking about just your day job.”
His eyes narrow as he twists the top off his beer. “Okay…”
“I’m talking about what you’ve done for me and Jett, too.”
His jaw sets and the tendons in his neck tighten as he swallows. “You don’t owe me anything, Hayden.”
“I think I do.”
“Nah, city girl, you really don’t.”
“Humor me.”
His eyes lock on mine again and he arches an eyebrow. “If I say no, are you going to kick me out?”
“Yes.” I smirk and he frowns, but it’s one hundred percent put on.
“Well, shit.”
“Uh huh.” Laughing, I grab his hand and tug him toward the living room. “I’m so glad you’re seeing things my way, because, trust me, this next part is going to be everything you didn’t know you needed.”
“Oh, boy. Should I be nervous?”
“Very very nervous.” I drop his hand and wave dramatically toward the old, thirty-two-inch TV. “It’s not your big screen, but I can guarantee you don’t have Aunt Claire’s quilts to snuggle up with, now do you?”
His tongue pokes at the inside of his cheek. “Girl, you don’t even have cable here.”
“Who needs cable when you have a gigantic DVD player, circa 2000, hmm?” His brows rise and my hand turns into a wand, flourishing about the rustic room. “See? Magic. Right here in this living room.”
His shoulders shake with silent laughter as I hand him my wine glass and make quick work of throwing down a small mountain of blankets in front of the couch before I turn on the relic TV and stick in a DVD.
“Come on, frat boy. Let’s do this.” I take back my wine and get comfy in the mess of blankets while he reluctantly follows.
“What are we watching?” he asks skeptically as he settles back against the couch next to me.
“Does it matter as long as you’re hanging out with me?” I prod him with a gentle elbow and he grins. “That’s what I thought.”
A few minutes later, Armageddon begins to play in ridiculously low quality, but I’m confident that neither of us cares.
In fact, I don’t care what’s happening on the screen in the slightest, because I’m far more interested in the man beside me and the plans I have to help him relax. Unfortunately, I have to bide my time so as not to seem completely obvious.
Twenty minutes in, I can’t take it anymore. I set my empty glass on the side table and crawl up onto the couch, behind him.
“What are you doing?” He shoots a curious glance over his shoulder.
“Just watch the movie, frat boy.”
His brow creases, but the second my fingers slide into his hair, it melts away. In fact, he shivers and the soft, but audible ‘fuck’ that slides off of his lips is music to my ears.
“Oh, my God, that’s amazing,” he groans a few minutes later, his head and neck already like jelly in my hands.
“You’re supposed to be watching the movie,” I tease.
“Fuck the movie. In fact, fuck everything that isn’t this.”
I laugh softly. “Told you it’d be everything you needed.”
“Mmm hmm. I could get used to this.”
Me, too. “Sit up a bit. I’ll get your shoulders, too.” I give him a gentle nudge and he shifts forward so I can work my fingers into his muscles. “You’re so tense.”
“Can’t imagine why,” he murmurs, letting his chin fall to his chest with a throaty, satisfied groan. I love that he stayed and that he’s letting me do this for him, but I’d be lying if I said that touching him didn’t do a little something for me, too.
“You want to take your shirt off, so I can get deeper?”
A low chuckle rumbles in his chest and I feel it all the way through to his back. “Only if you take off yours when it’s your turn.”
Oh, God. The thought of getting semi-naked with him? I’ll be thinking about that later when I’m alone. “I don’t get a turn. Tonight is about you.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” And with that, he reaches behind his head and yanks off his shirt. “Fate’s been sealed, babe. Nothing you can do about it now.”
“Uh huh.” My body shakes with laughter as I dig the heels of my hands into every muscle and tendon I can reach from this position. He’s always been a big guy with broad shoulders and thick muscles, but he’s bigger now. More imposing now and more mature.
“There’s more of you than I remember,” I confess, pressing my thumbs into the valleys along each side of his spine.
“Yeah? You saying I’m fat?”
“No!” God, if I laugh any more tonight, my cheeks are going to hurt tomorrow. “You’re just… bigger.”
“Hmm.” His hands curl around my feet at his sides, tugging gently. “I think it’s time to switch spots.”
“Oh, no. I was serious about tonight being about you.”
He sniffs and sits forward, turning on his knees to face me. The living room is only lit by the glow of the kitchen light and the TV we’re no longer watching, but there’s no missing the hazy look in his eyes as his hands slide from my knees to my hips, jerking me forward until my legs are splayed on either side of his bare chest.