Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Over the weekend, Tori and Hailey had dragged me to a local store, correctly guessing that my current sleepwear wasn’t adequate for this week spent with men.
Tori had gotten some things, too. She and Jayden were headed down to Florida to see Jayden’s new little nephew. She got a respectable pair of pajamas and a robe, since they’d be staying with his family. Later, Kyle and Lucas would join them at a beachfront resort, and I gathered she’d be wearing a lot less then.
Hailey didn’t buy anything, telling us with a gleam in her eye that her men kept her well-supplied with lingerie that could be worn—or torn off—as needed. I admired the way she and Tori were so comfortable talking about this kind of thing. I still turned beet red whenever any adult subjects came up.
Aaron pulled his hand back. “Is it new?” He hadn’t said anything, but the dark blue pajama pants he wore looked new. That was all he wore, and I could see the muscles of his chest even in the low light.
“Yes.” And then nerves took over. “It’s not like I always wear things like this. I’m not—”
“Hey, relax. There is absolutely no pressure on you here.” His voice was gentle.
“I-I know. I’m glad to be here, it’s just… a little difficult.” I’d almost said hard, but that wasn’t a word I should be throwing around in casual conversation tonight.
“Would it make you more or less nervous if I kissed you?”
“I don’t know,” I said, and he laughed.
“Well, that’s honest. How about we put that idea on hold for now?”
“Okay.” It didn’t make any sense. We’d shared a very heated kiss last night. But that was when we were headed off to separate rooms, not sleeping in the same bed.
“If you get too nervous, just let me know. I know something we could do that’ll take your mind off all of that completely.”
I both didn’t want to ask—and also did. “What’s that?”
“We could flip the mattress.”
That made me laugh. “I never, ever want to do that again.
He was in complete agreement. “That thing had to weigh several tons.”
“I felt bad asking you to help,” I admitted.
“You shouldn’t have. I was glad you came to me.” He hesitated. “I wanted to impress the cute new girl and show her I could flip a mattress or slay a dragon for her, but I swear the dragon might have been easier.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “Probably. But we did it.”
“Yep. And then we landed on it.”
“You landed on me.”
“Yes,” Aaron said slowly. “I remember that part very well.”
I hesitated, but the fact that it was mostly dark and we were under the covers gave me courage. “Were you going to kiss me?”
“Yes,” he said, and it sent a thrill through me, even though he had kissed me since then. “At least until Raymond interrupted. That guy is a waste of space.”
“He’s not so bad,” I said, surprising both of us.
“Since when?”
“Since...” I thought about it quickly. “Last Thursday.”
“When you were still sick?”
“Yes.”
“All right, well, I’ll take your word for it, but I’m still pissed that he interrupted us.”
“Maybe it was for the best. Because when we did have our first kiss, it was in the most magical place in the world.”
He snorted. “Squashed behind a mirror?”
“Exactly,” I giggled, scooting a couple of inches toward him.
Aaron reached out and stroked my hair, pushing it away from my forehead. I lifted my head and settled it back on top of his arm.
Now we were touching.
“Okay, if I can’t be mad at Raymond, can I be mad at Cousin Dan?”
“Well, if he hadn’t been horny, we wouldn’t have been behind that mirror in the first place.”
“All right, you’re right.”
“The situation may have been messed up, but I thought the kiss was pretty damn good.”
“So did I,” I said quietly.
“And then…” He hesitated.
“What?”
“Well, I just… I was really surprised when you put my hand on you.”
He was being so purposefully vague, perhaps out of propriety’s sake, that it took me a moment to understand that he meant when I’d lifted his hand to my breast.
“Oh. Yeah. I was kind of surprised I did that too. But I didn’t want you to feel bad that you were turned on.”
Aaron’s arm tensed under my head. “So you only did that so I wouldn’t feel bad? You weren’t turned on by being pressed up against me?”
“Of course I was. My nipple was hard, remember?”
“Ah, good point. And yes, I remember that quite vividly. After that, Cousin Dan ceased to exist for me. It was all you.”
“Same here.”
I shifted closer again, wanting to feel his body—but not too close. I didn’t see how we could talk if our faces were right next to each other. But then again… there were other things I wanted to do with him besides talk.