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She flipped him the middle finger, and I grinned as he shucked his jacket off and hung it, neatly setting his boots on the rack before snatching the bag and disappearing into his room. I made a note to ask her what the hell his remark meant later. Did Elora regularly dictate the schedule of other women’s cycles?
Jameson marched right past us a few minutes later and it took every muscle in my body to not sit bolt upright to gape at his freshly showered, shirtless form as he went into the kitchen.
Oh. My. God. Oh my god,ohmygod!I’d seen the photo of him playing football with his brothers, flannel hanging open to tease up his center, but the full thing was…wow. Just.Wow. A freaking spectacle to behold. The ninth wonder of the world.Eighth? Hell if I knew, it wasn’t relevant anyway, and the point was Jameson Rhodes was downrightspectacular. I’d wager he spent time at the gym beyond his life on the boat, and those glorious muscles had some of the most beautiful lines of ink I’d ever seen committed to a living being.
It was obvious what those years on the water had funded. The nautical-themed sleeve alone must have cost him more than my first car. Which was a shitty example because, let’s be real, the thing should’ve been condemned. But those tattoos were exemplary. The old school ship sat on bucking waves that extended across his chest, giving way to a map and compass. An anchor tucked below his arm across his ribs. Don’t even get me started on that perfect trail of hair just begging my fingers to stroke the pattern where it dipped below his…goddamn him,gray sweats.Cue the internal wolf-whistle.
“Close your mouth, you’ll slobber on my feet,” Elora quipped, grinning when I gave her a finger right back. A few minutes and several loud thuds, clinks, and creaks later, Jameson returned and tossed two bars of chocolate down on our respective stomachs before maneuvering two cups of tea out of the opposite hand, setting them on the gorgeous, rugged wood coffee table, atop custom burnt wood coasters with anchors branded on their center.
“What’s that?” I asked, arching a brow.
He smirked. “You’re welcome.”
“Not quite what I said.”
“Raspberry leaf tea for your cranky ass baby box.”
That was the line that sent me laughing until I wheezed. His responding smile was heart-meltingly delicious as Jameson waved his hands, shooing us apart so we’d make room for him on the center cushion. Elora promptly set her legs over his, but he nudged them forward and lifted mine onto his lap. For a heartbeat, my nerves reminded me they were precariously close to his goods, but I forgot all about that, moaning as he started rubbing the sole of my foot. How was it possible to not know how freaking sore those things were until a too-sexy man was touching them? When I studied him, curiosity niggling in the back of my mind, he rolled his eyes.
“Sixsisters and a mother who is only now going through menopause, and you think I’m not prepared for this shit?”
Something in my chest softened, even at his teasing tone. “You know, you’re better at this than you think, Rhodes.”
Jameson
“Sun’s out! Wake up, bitches!”
“Go to hell, Max,” I growled, jamming my eyelids tighter and wishing I could vanish. Orhecould. Shit, it was my house, so him. Definitelyhim.
“Get up, Grouchy McGee. Come on, Noelie bean!” It was at that point that my body froze, as someone else stirred against me.Oh, for the love of god.The light soaring through open windows was blinding as I came to, intensely aware of the soft, warm, tiny female body pressed so perfectly against my side, tucked under my arm.Goddammit. We’d fallen asleep watching the same show Elora had played on a loop since the year she’d started her cycle in the first place.
I didn’tsleepwith women. I certainly wasn’tBarney Stinson, but he had a few very valid points. Hell, it hadn’t happened more than a handful of times, none of which had ended well, and all of whom I had never seen again after breakfast.
There would be no shooing her out of my house, no polite chit-chat punctuated by the delicious freedom of my front door clicking shut. No, Noel hummed contentedly, nuzzling into me and if I wasn’t so busy trying to think of how to get out of this mess, I would have really fucking liked it. She…fit. That sounded stupid, even to me, but it was true. Her body fit against mine. I didn’t remember laying down, and certainly didn’t remember tucking her against me or cradling her head in my now numb-as-shit arm. But there she was. Her chaotic curls tickling my face. Breath hot on my chest above what I could only assume was a drool spot. It should have repulsed me, but oddly enough made me want to smile. She’d slept well, then. That was oddly satisfying. Did she feel safe with me?
Jesus, what the hell did I give a single flying fuck for.Nope. Nope, nope, nope.
Thank fuck, she seemed to have the same thought process dawning because Noel grumbled something unintelligible, followed by a distinct, “Oh my god!”
The little chaos pixie flailed off the couch, and I scrambled for her a beat too late. She fell on her ass and I swore as I followed her, toppling her over when I’d meant to stop her. Lucky to catch my body weight, I hovered above her for a beat, acutely aware of the morning wood now pressed against her tight belly.
“Jesus,” I blustered, scrambling upright as giggles flew from her mouth. “Whyare youlaughing?” I demanded, but she started cackling, clutching at her belly. “Christ, are you okay?”
“Cannot believe…you just fell off the couch with me.”
“Oh, for fucks sake,” I said, rolling my eyes as I got to my feet. Max arrived with mugs of coffee in hand—black, just like I liked it, because at least one person could pay attention in this house. For that alone, I’d ignore the smug-as-shit expression on his face.
“You could help me up, you know?” she said as she struggled to her feet.
“Could,” I agreed, smirking as I sipped on my coffee. We were not a thing. We were notbecominga thing. That damn kiss on the docks meant nothing, and I’d shown her basic human decency last night. That’s all. Because having an organ forcibly shove cups of fluid out of your body while causing a torso-wide Charlie horse sounded like hell, and girls got extra sensitive about shit like feeling unwanted, and I hated that. That. Was. All. Basic consideration.
But as she huffed, blowing tousled locks off her face, I caught that scent.Herscent. The one she’d left on my skin and leached into my clothes to torture me for the entire week. And suddenly I was back on the damn dock with her legs locked around my hips and those perfect pixie lips bending to my will. Acutely aware of the perpetual case of blue balls she’d so gloriously bestowed in that goodbye, I shook my head, turning for the kitchen.
“Jackass,” she grumbled, accepting Max’s cup of coffee.
She’d kissed me.Shehad kissedme. Unacceptable. Incredible. Edible. Absurdly inappropriate, given her age. And I fucking needed more.Goddammit.
“Get dressed, we’re taking the jackass to hike.”
