The more flustered she gets, the more her fingers start digging into my back, and in other circumstances, that would be heaven, but this is not the time or place.
“Bryn.”
She stops moving. Her feet stop shuffling around, and her nails, now biting in my back, start to relax. She takes a deep breath, then slowly releases it, smoothing her hands over my shoulder blade.
When I lift my head and turn it to look at her, her face is level with mine. She’s kneeling next to me, wearing a gentle smile, but her nose is flaring like she’s trying to keep something hidden. Bright red spots dot her cheeks. Embarrassment? Amusement? Total and complete destruction of my soul with hyena laughter? I can’t decipher which.
“It’s totally normal, Wyatt,” she says, her voice as soft as her smile. No laughter in sight.
“Normal?” My tone implies my disbelief.
“A natural body reaction to a massage,” she nods, one hand still on my back, but as she kneels there, it slowly slides up to rest on my shoulder. “I normally pretend it isn’t happening.”
I’m not sure I’m equipped to unpack that thought at the moment, or any other moment for that matter, but it does help alleviate some of the engorgement below my belt.
“Bryn, this isn’t my first massage. I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty, this isn’t my natural reaction,” I say,bringing my arm up to rest under my head so it’s not craned so awkwardly. Those big eyes of hers stare back at me, searching, and it takes every ounce of willpower not to lean over and press my lips to hers. “At the risk of coming off like a pervert, because I’m well aware you’re only doing your job and it’s not sexual—this is all you.”
She bites down on her lower lip, her cheek muscles ticking as she tries to conceal a smile. Her eyes finally leave mine to cast downward, taking a moment to process. When she finally looks back up, her eyes are as bright as they were on the dance floor, her smile following a second later.
It has my pulse racing, and the desire to kiss her rising higher by the second.
“And here I thought I was hopeless,” she murmurs.
Without thinking, I lift the arm not holding my head up and run my thumb over her cheek with the lightest touch. “Not even a little.”
Her eyelids flutter closed, and the deepest sigh releases from her, her whole upper body sagging like she’s the one getting a massage. She looks more relaxed than me, and a smile spreads across my lips watching her. I could stay like this all damn day. Studying her, looking for the small nuances, attentive to the slight shifts in her breathing.
Learning her.
But when the tones go off a few seconds later, the magic is broken, and duty kicks in. We spring to our feet, and I pull my shirt back on while Bryn unashamedly watches this time.
“Can I get your number?” I ask her, tucking in my t-shirt.
“You need to go,” she says, and my heart nearly stops. Then she adds, “Ask Quinn. I’ll tell her to give it to you.”
My answering smile has her giggling, and she pushes myshoulder. “Go. Before you get in trouble.”
Walking backward towards the door, my tongue sweeps over my lips as I give her a once-over. “Thanks for the massage. And everything else.”
“I’ll put it on your tab.”
One that I’ll be extremely glad to pay.
Showtime Dalton
“Iknowyou’veallbeen eagerly waiting for an update,” I say, standing in front of my bathroom mirror, nothing but a navy blue towel wrapped securely around my hips.
Glancing directly at the lens, I nod. “We did it. We found her. She’s just as stunning as I remember.”
Grazing a hand over my abs that still have droplets of water from a shower, I grin at the camera, then grab a bottle out of frame, and pour some product into my hand. “Saw her yesterday. Crazy story that I might share one day.”
“Until then, I’m just pumped to have found her. I knew you could do it.” Dragging the product through my hair, abs and pecs flexing, I look at the camera once more, winking. “You guys are the best.”
ChelseyJReads:
Wanna be my cardio? Respectfully.
TheIntroverted.Bookworm:
