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“Hey,” Ty says, his voice rough from sleep.
“Sorry if I woke you. Marney was summoned downstairs by the aroma of coffee.”
“It’s fine. I had to get up anyway.” Ty pauses, and in that silence I can tell he’s thinking about what we did last night. “Did you sleep well?” he asks.
“Very. And you?”
“Hm hm. Had the best dreams, and now I’ve woken up to your voice.”
I laugh. “I woke up stuck to my sheets.” Behind me, I hear Marney choke on her coffee and cough, but I’m completely distracted from my friend’s distress by the sound of Ty’s sheets rustling in my ear. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?”
The telltale snick of a lube bottle comes through my phone loud and clear. “Fuck. It sounds like you’re going for round two of what we were doing last night.”
“What do you expect when I wake up to the sound of your sexy voice?”
“You are trouble, Tyler Grosford. I’ll see you soon.”
“Can’t wait,” he says, his voice ending with a deep groan that goes right to my dick.
I hang up even though I’d like to do nothing better than listen to Ty get off again and hang my head. “This is going to be such a long day,” I mutter, then turn to see Marney staring at me. “What?”
“I am so pissed that I’ve got to leave because I don’t have time to hear what went on between the two of you. And, fuck! Iris and I are going out tonight, so I’m not going to get to hear about it until tomorrow!”
I smirk at her. “What makes you think I’d tell you anyway?”
“Please.” She glares at me for a moment, then throws her hands up. “Fine. Give me the headline at least.”
“Headline: None of your business, my friend.”
Marney picks up her mug and rinses it in my sink. “You are no fun,” she says.
“I’m plenty of fun,” I tease back. “For the right people at least.”
After she dries her hands on a dishtowel, she kisses me on the cheek. “I’m happy for you, Cam. And I hope this trial hurries up and gets done so you and Tyler can get to know each other better.” She kisses me again. “Just do me a favor. The next time you get funky, warn a girl so she can put earplugs in.” She tosses the dishtowel at me as she scoots toward the door, grabbing her computer bag as she goes. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Cam,” she calls over her shoulder as she opens the front door to my home and disappears down the steps.
I shake my head, refold the towel, and hang it over the door handle. It’s definitely the most interesting start to a day I’ve had in a long time.
* * * * *
Tyler grins at me as I approach him outside the courtroom, where he’s standing with his back against the wall. The urge to touch him and kiss him hello is so strong, but I settle for grinning back at him and lean a shoulder against the wall. I’m close enough to feel his heat, but not so close that we’d be taken for anything more than friends.
Maybe I’m being overly cautious about fraternization between jurors, and there really wouldn’t be a problem with Ty and me starting a relationship during the trial, but I don’t want to take the chance. Ten other people are taking time away from their lives to sit on this jury, and I don’t want to do anything that might make that time meaningless. Not to mention everyone who works at the court, and the defendant who’s relying on us to decide what the next years of his life are going to look like.
I’m also honest enough with myself to admit that the delayed gratification aspect of it, the tease of sitting next to Tyler and not being able to touch him, is absolutely delicious. Last night was proof of how attractive I find him since I’ve never done anything like that before.
“I can’t stop thinking about last night,” Ty whispers to me.
“I know. Me either.” My breath stirs a curl of hair that lies at the curve of Ty’s jaw, and I want to touch it, wrap it around my finger, kiss and bite at the jut of bone and feel the muscles in Ty’s throat as he swallows. “God, Ty, what I want to do to you.”
His eyelids flutter shut, and I watch the slight tremble of tension around his mouth as he clenches his back teeth. His neck arches toward me subtly, as if begging me to touch him, and my fingers twitch with my desire to do just that. Fuck. How can I want this man so much?
“How much time do we have, do you think?” Ty asks.
I look at my watch. “I don’t know. We should have started already.”
Ty lets out a shaky breath, opens his eyes. They’re bright as if he’s burning with a fever, scanning the corridor quickly. “All the other courtrooms are in session,” he says.
