She’s watching me move around the room naked. It doesn’t bother me, I’m used to being naked around a lot of people in the locker room. I’m not used to someone looking at me the way she is. She looks…excited. Aroused. Damn.
“Do you want to go home to change?” she asks.
“Maybe?” I pull up my suit pants, tucking myself in before zipping up. “Come with me. We can drop off Otis and go for breakfast.”
After a beat of hesitation, she says, “Okay.”
I shove my arms into my wrinkled shirt and quickly button it, leaving it untucked, then sit on the flowered chair to put on my socks and shoes. “I’ll be right back.”
“My keys are on the table near the door. Take them so you can get back in. I’ll get dressed.”
Otis and I jog down the stairs and into the living room.
“Hi.”
I pull up short at seeing the woman on the couch. She’s sitting cross-legged, holding her phone in one hand and a mug in the other. Short, dark hair frames a petite face with big eyes and a small mouth.
She grins at me. “Easton, I believe?”
“Uh, yeah. Hi. You must be Carlin.”
“That’s me.” She sets down her mug and rises, extending a hand. “Good to meet you, finally. I’ve met Otis, of course.” She bends to rub his head. Clearly he knows her, doing his happy doggy dance around her.
“I just have to take him out.” I move toward the door.
Okay. That was slightly awkward. Then again, it could have been worse. She didn’t seem horrified or offended that I’d been there all night. So that’s good.
I grab my coat, Otis’s leash, and Lilly’s keys as she instructed and head outside. It’s bright and sunny, the air crisp. I lead Otis toward the park. Luckily I have a poop bag in my coat pocket, and I let him take care of his business then hike back to Lilly’s.
Inside, I unclip Otis and he runs and jumps on the couch beside Carlin. She grins and gives him some love. I guess I have to like someone who likes my dog. I stand uncertainly for a moment. Is it too forward to go back upstairs? Maybe I should wait here for Lilly.
“Would you like some coffee?” Carlin offers.
I’d love some, but I say, “That’s okay. We’re going out for brunch.”
“Sounds good.”
I guess I better make conversation with her while I wait, so I ask her what she does for a living and we chat until Lilly comes bouncing down the stairs, dressed in ripped jeans, a loose gray sweater that droops off one shoulder revealing enticing black lace beneath it, and short boots. “Hey! You two met.”
She looks at Carlin and a wordless exchange of information passes between them.
“Yep.” I stand. “We were just discussing that high-speed chase the other day where it turned out a dog was driving the car.”
Lilly laughs. “Get out of here.”
“True story! The guy was wasted and said he was trying to teach his dog how to drive.”
“Hmm…” Lilly sets a finger to her lips.
“Oh, come on! You can’t do that!” Carlin laughs.
“You know I love dogs.” Lilly grabs her jacket. “But yeah, that’s just stupid. See you later, Carlin.”
“Have fun.”
Out on the street I say, “Are you sure dogs can’t drive?”
She giggles. “What kind of dog was it?”
I laugh too. “I don’t know.”
“Some breeds are smarter than others.”
“But come on, they can’t reach the pedals with their paws.”
“True. The vehicle would have to be modified.”
We bump each other’s shoulders in acknowledgment of the ridiculousness of this conversation. I feel light and cheery. Unusual for me.
Once we’re at my place, I first fill Otis’s food bowl and give him fresh water. “I’m gonna have a quick shower,” I tell Lilly. I lift an eyebrow. “Want to join me?”
She purses her lips. “If I do, we’ll have to order in brunch.”
I perk up, not really expecting her to take me up on that. “DoorDash works great.”
A smile pulls her lips into a sexy curve. “Well, okay, then.” She saunters toward me.
Chapter 13
Lilly
I stand in front of Easton and he slides a finger beneath the narrow twin straps of my bralette. “This is sexy as fuck.”
“Thank you.” I look down and then up again, heat pooling low inside me.
“I want to see more of it.” He holds the hem of my sweater and slowly raises it. I lift my arms and he pulls it up and over my head, revealing the black lace bralette. His eyes darken as he studies my cleavage. “Nice.” He drapes the sweater over his shoulder and sets his hands on my waist. The contact makes me shiver.
“Come on.” He turns and leads me down the hall to his bedroom. Jesus. I’ve peeked in there, I’ll admit it, but I’ve never been inside. I look around as he leads me across the room. His bed is huge, a California king I guess, taking up a lot of space in the room. A pair of jeans and T-shirt lie on the slate gray duvet covering the bed. The walls are also gray, the trim white, a gray-and-white patterned rug atop the hardwood floor.
We step into the master bathroom—more gray and black. The shower is huge, with white and gray marble tile walls and all glass on the front. Easton opens the door to reach in to turn on the water. He sets my sweater on the counter and turns to face me as he unbuttons his shirt. I undo the button of my jeans and lower the zipper, then work them down over my hips. He watches me shimmy my hips with a hot expression. In seconds, we’re both naked and steam is rising in the shower enclosure.
He sets his hands on my hips and guides me inside the shower ahead of him.
“This is nice.” I gesture at the two shower heads, the rain one above us and the handheld one mounted on the wall.
“I love my shower.” He closes the door and moves up behind me. I feel his body heat radiating off him, and when his skin brushes mine, I tingle everywhere. “It even has a sex seat.” He waves at the small tiled bench at one end.
“I think I’d use it for shaving my legs.”
“I haven’t tried that.”
I laugh softly, tipping my head back against his shoulder. He nudges me under the warm spray of water and reaches for a bottle of bodywash in a tiled niche. With his hands soaped up, he glides them over my body. “Christ, that feels good.” He tests the weight of my breasts, then slides his hands over them. “Soapy tits are the fucking best.” He squeezes one and slips his other hand down between my legs. Sensation ricochets through my body at his touch.