Chapter 4
BLAKE
"I'm sorry," Ollie said. "I shouldn't have hung up on him like that." He frowned at his phone.
I sank further into the loveseat's cushions.
If he thought hanging up on someone was bad, I hated to think what the big man thought of my behavior over the past few hours.
I'd been a complete asshole on the plane, and then I'd blown up at him for stealing my cab.
Instead of meeting me at my level, he'd remained calm and kind.
Kindness was rarely the response I received when I lost my temper or freaked out. Vic had done his best, but even he was fed up. He'd decided to move out, after all.
I didn't know how to respond to Ollie, though part of me wanted to kidnap him and take him back to my apartment. Then I remembered that wouldn't pay the rent, and any potential roommates would probably report me for keeping a man tied to my bed.
Not that I'd do anything inappropriate with him there. It was the only logical place to hide someone his size in my two-bedroom apartment.
I needed to stop thinking about Ollie in my bed, or I was going to sprout an obvious boner in my too-tight suit pants.
I didn't usually go for guys who were bigger than me, but he was really fucking attractive.
His close-cropped beard was a few shades darker than his golden-brown eyes.
Before he'd run his fingers through it nervously while talking to Branson, his hair had been spiked above his forehead.
Now, soft waves framed his face, shadowing his eyes from the glare of the entryway light.
He looked tired. I wondered how he would look spread out on my bed and well-fucked.
I blinked and found him staring at me. He'd probably been staring this whole time while I daydreamed about tying him to my headboard and wondering what he would look like after sex.
My pulse spiked toward panic attack levels. This guy could twist me into a pretzel and toss me in a closet for the rest of my vacation.
"I'm sorry!" I scrambled to my feet, wiping my palms on my thighs.
He didn't know half of why I apologized, but he smiled, showing his brilliant rows of white teeth, and motioned toward the bedroom. "I'll take the loveseat," he said.
His cheeks darkened a little above his beard.
Gods, if the word loveseat made him blush, I wanted to see what else would—no, I did not want to test the limits of the very attractive but very off-limits man.
I was on a solitary vacation to clear my head.
That did not involve sexy thoughts about my new, unwanted roommate.
Unwanted. Sure. So why had my dick been half-hard since the airport?
"What are you going to do, sleep sitting up?" It was a legitimate question. His ass would fit on the seat, but his shoulders were wider than its arms.
"If I must."
I shook my head. "I can take it for one night, and then we'll hope someone returns a fucking cot tomorrow." The braided rug before the empty fireplace offered some padding. "Or I can find a sleeping bag in town tomorrow."
"I'll see what they have for extra bedding." Ollie walked into the bedroom. A few minutes later, he returned empty-handed. "There's a linen closet, but it's bare. I'll check the bathroom next."
I studied the room, looking for something useful to do. The fireplace would have been a good place to start, but I didn't know the first thing about starting a fire.
"Nothing," Ollie hollered from the bathroom. "I'm going to take a quick shower, if that's all right?"
"Yeah, okay."
I usually showered in the mornings, anyway. Right now, I wanted to slip into my pajamas and curl up on the loveseat with my journal.
"Then we'll figure out what to do about food," Ollie called.
Food. Right. It was almost bedtime back home, and my body had skipped right past wanting dinner to wanting sleep instead. Since sleep was probably out of the question for the night, I would settle for comfortable clothes.
I flipped open my suitcase and dug around for my pajamas. They had to be in here somewhere ... .
No, I'd moved them to my carry-on backpack at the last moment, just in case they lost my luggage.
Frantically, I pulled the bag onto my lap.
My notebook, the last birthday present I'd gotten from my mom, was there.
My fingers brushed over my computer, my hat and scarf, and two weeks' worth of socks and underwear, but no pajamas.
I howled in frustration. They were probably still sitting on my bed at home.
"Is everything all right?" Ollie stood in the bathroom doorway in a bath towel that was almost too small to fit around his thick waist. Water droplets still clung to his furry chest.
Finally, my gaze reached his soft brown eyes, and my face burned. I'd been checking him out.
"I left my pajamas at home," I stammered. "I was moving them from my suitcase to my carry-on, but I must have gotten distracted."
Ollie grinned. "You look cute when you're distracted."
Before I could register his words, he draped a second towel over his head.
"Food before talking," he mumbled as he shuffled from the bathroom to the bedroom.
After a few rustling noises, he returned wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and carrying green sweats and a t-shirt.
"They'll be big on you, but they're soft. "
I reached for them, and my fingers accidentally brushed his. A tingle sparked up my arm, as though I'd touched a live wire instead of another living person.
"The shower is really nice." Ollie said, "if you want to take a shower."
I hated sleeping with wet hair, but I didn't want to smear plane grime all over his clean clothes. "Yeah, a shower might be good."
"Did you look at the room service menu?"
"I was too busy searching for my pajamas, but I would love some meatless nachos, if that's an option." I slid my wallet from my inner jacket pocket and handed him my credit card. "Dinner's my treat. I'm really sorry about earlier."
He grunted. "No worries."
"No, really, I had a horrible day, and I took it out on everyone.
You, the flight attendant, that really sweet older gentleman who used me as a pillow.
" I shuddered as I remembered the trail of drool from his mouth to my lapel.
"We'll make it through tonight, and then I won't bother you for the rest of your vacation, I promise. "
"It's no bother," he insisted, those warm brown eyes piercing something deep within me and making me feel seen for the first time since my parents died. "I don't mind the company."
I fucking minded, but so far, Ollie had been compassionate, and he certainly wasn't hard to look at. With a tight-lipped grin, I made my way to the bathroom, and Ollie disappeared into the bedroom with his suitcases.
So far, this vacation sucked, but I couldn't forget its purpose. I was here to get my life back under control. Here, I would develop a plan to become the man my sister wanted to visit, Vic wanted to hang around, and someone like Ollie would want to date.
The first thing I should have done was stop fantasizing about tying him up in my bedroom, yet those thoughts returned when the warm water cascaded over my back.
His scent lingered in the steam: cedar, spice, and musk.
My body responded immediately, my cock jutting out toward the wall and my ass growing wetter than with water alone.
What was worse, coming in the shower or leaking all over Ollie's clothes?
With a handful of shower gel, I stroked my cock fast and hard.
I sank two fingers into my aching hole, desperate for a quick release so my cabin mate wouldn't know.
There was no way he'd gotten off in the short time it had taken me to freak out about my pajamas.
I was trying to be considerate. At least, that was my thought when I came all over the wall.
I sprayed it with the removable shower head until all evidence ran down the drain. Yep, definitely taking morning showers from now on.