Chapter 26
LACEY
Daylight. It had to be morning. I opened my eyes to the hard planes of a man’s chest. A naked man’s chest. Remnants of the early-morning hours pieced themselves together as I lay there paralyzed, afraid to move.
Bodie’s rib cage rose and fell as he took even breaths.
Thankfully, he was still asleep. I tried to get up but something had me pinned.
His hand splayed over one of my butt cheeks. My naked butt cheek.
Embarrassment prickled along my nerve endings.
I’d been so brazen last night. Taken from him so freely.
As I chased sleep away, I did a quick body check of all my parts.
A delicious soreness ached between my legs.
My thighs chafed from where his whiskers had rubbed against them.
Had that been during round two or three?
I almost laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the moment. Talk about an awkward morning after.
I ducked out from under his arm and took refuge in the bathroom.
As I flipped on the light, I gasped as I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
Two—no, make that three—hickeys dotted my neck.
One more sat on top of my left breast. My core quivered at the memory of Bodie sucking and pinching and licking and, oh hell, I had to stop thinking about it or I’d get turned on again.
Clean clothes or not, I had to shower before he saw me. I turned on the water and let the icy stream rush over me, cooling my skin, washing all traces of Bodie Phillips away. What if he regretted it? What if he was pretending to be asleep just so he wouldn’t have to face me? What if...
My heart jumped into my throat as the bathroom door creaked open. Then completely left my body as Bodie peered around the shower curtain. One hand tried to cover my breasts, the other shot to my crotch.
“Want some company?”
The smile on his face sent a wave of heat to my cheeks. I tried to speak but only a squeak came out.
“I can scrub your back,” he offered as he slid the shower curtain back and stepped in.
I kept my eyes above shoulder level. In the safety of a darkened hotel room I’d been brave, maybe even foolish, but definitely not inhibited. But now, in the harsh light of day, I couldn’t help but wonder about all the lines we’d crossed and what the fallout might be.
“You okay, Sweets?” His voice caressed my raw nerve endings.
This was Bodie. Goofball, steady-handed, even-keeled Bodie—not some one-night stand. I turned my back to him and ducked my head under the running water. “How are you feeling this morning?”
He ran a washcloth over my back. A sliver of desire worked its way through me. “I feel good, really good. How about you?”
I peered over my shoulder, catching sight of the way the water coursed over his chest, running in little rivulets down his torso, over his stomach, to his... My head snapped up. “Good. Do you feel a little, um, weird about anything?”
“Hey”—he put his hands on my shoulders and slowly spun me around to face him—“you okay? I’m serious.”
My gaze stayed down, trained on my feet. If I moved just a tiny bit I’d catch sight of all of him. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that, even though I hadn’t been shy about running my hands over every delectable inch of him in the dark.
“Lacey?” He put a finger under my chin, tipping my head up to meet his gaze. “Are you sorry for last night?”
The water beat down on my backside. I could lie, tell him it was a huge mistake.
Then I wouldn’t have to decide what to do about this new complication between us.
But as his eyes searched mine, I realized I didn’t want to.
The feelings I’d had for Bodie had been a part of me since I realized there was a difference between boys and girls.
He’d always had a piece of my heart—he’d just never known it.
I shook my head. It was a tiny movement, almost imperceptible. But the consequences were major. “Are you?” I shouldn’t have asked. What if he said yes?
“No.” His hands went to my upper arms and he gave me an encouraging squeeze. “The only thing I’m sorry about is that we didn’t do this sooner.”
The icy grip of dread loosened its hold on my heart. “Really?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“But what about Luke? What about me being mayor and your family trying to ruin the town? What about—”
His lips crushed to mine, stopping the words from falling out of my mouth. Stopping everything except for my undeniable desire to lose myself in Bodie’s embrace and spend the rest of my life with my lips locked to his.
He pulled back, searching my eyes. “None of it matters. Nothing except you and me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good. Now let’s get cleaned up and get you home.
I have to get things ready to pick up Shotgun tomorrow and we need to figure out how we’re going to get another bride to take Adeline’s place.
” He grabbed the washcloth and began to soap up my skin, running the cloth up one arm, down the other.
As he did, I finally let myself take a good long look at him. All of him.
He stopped, letting his hands hang to his sides. “Like what you see?”
I laughed. “Aren’t you a bit cocky?”
“The only cocky thing I’ve got going on is what’s between my legs.” He lifted a brow and I dragged my gaze down. Past his chest, over the dark hair trailing down his navel.
My inhibitions shredded with the realization he might be just as into me as I was into him, I backed him against the tile wall. “Think we can get a late checkout?”
Three hours later I slid my sunglasses into place as I buckled into the front seat of Bodie’s truck.
He shut the door behind me and rounded the front end to climb in the driver’s side.
He handed me the coffee he’d snagged when he checked out of the hotel and nestled his cup into the console.
After the awkwardness in the shower I’d decided to abandon my reservations and lean into whatever was blossoming between us.
That had been easy to do on the receiving end of his attention: his kisses, his encouraging words, the way he used his mouth to send me over the edge, not once, but twice.
But now that we were on our way back home, doubt niggled at the edges of my brain.
He kept up the conversation, talking about nothing at all until we reached the edge of town. “You want to come home with me?”
“I think I’d better get home.”
“Doesn’t your dad still think you’re in Dallas until tomorrow?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t told him what happened. Not sure I ever will.”
Bodie covered my hand with his. “You don’t owe anyone an explanation.”
The contact bolstered my confidence. “No, but I’m sure Adeline won’t be shy about broadcasting the events of the evening. Everyone will hear about it sooner or later.”
He squeezed my hand. “Let it be later, then. Spend the night with me and I’ll run you home tomorrow.”
I knew I should say no. But the thought of walking into my dad’s house, of pretending everything was fine when my heart was still spinning out of control, made my head hurt. What harm would there be in carving out one more night for just the two of us?
Finally, I shook my head. “I don’t want to hide anymore.”
Nodding, he let out a deep breath. “I get it.”
The appealing thing about Bodie was, I knew he did. He’d always seemed to understand me, even when I didn’t understand myself. I waited until he’d turned down the street where I grew up before I built up the courage to ask him the question I’d been dreading all morning. “What next?”
He eased the truck to a stop at the curb then looked over at me, that combination of boyish charm and wicked recklessness I loved reflected through his grin. “I’m hoping we can pick up where we left off earlier today. Maybe dinner and whatever else might follow at my place on Monday night?”
I bit my lip. “Does that mean you want to start seeing each other?”
“Seeing? Hell, Lacey, I don’t want to see you, I want to consume you.”
My heart expanded, filling my chest to the painful point that I rubbed a palm over my breastbone to make sure it wouldn’t burst. “Okay then.”
“Okay then?” He leaned across the console and worked an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. “I want to see this through.”
I let out a breath. See it through. Suddenly the fact that I’d lost our first client and spent several hours in the slammer seemed worth the possibility that there could be some sort of future between us.