Chapter 25
FISHER
Parking my G Wagon in our parking garage, I hum a contented sigh.
After a grueling hockey practice, I’m looking forward to spending some quiet time alone in the loft.
We won both our home games this week, giving us a nice three to one lead in round one and the chance to move onto the next round if we win game five in Seattle tomorrow.
Penn and Noah are spending the afternoon with their girlfriends before we fly out early tomorrow morning, and Lila is spending the day at the firehouse working on her gallery collection…
leaving me with some much-needed alone time.
I love being around my teammates and roommates, but after an intense week of playoffs, I’m exhausted.
All I want right now is a shower and a nap in my bed without Lila beside me making my nose twitch with hints of jasmine and feminine beauty.
I can’t keep waking up in the middle of sexy dreams about her to find her lying there next to me, so close yet so totally out of reach. It’s torture.
Britney sings in my ears about how she’s gettin’ down like no one else is around and I bop along, shaking my ass to the catchy tune. I grab my shed clothing from the floor and toss it in the laundry room, before scooting toward the bathroom, thrusting my hips to the beat.
Gyrating, I sing along to the music, “It’s Britney, bitch!”
When I open the bathroom door, I don’t immediately notice the steam billowing around the room, the glass doors of the shower that are already steamed up, or the damp towel crumpled on the floor…
at least not until a warm body slams up against my naked skin.
Even through my ear buds and Britney’s raspy voice, I clearly hear the ear-piercing shriek that comes next.
My hand flies to Lila’s waist on instinct, holding her body against me with one hand as my only form of modesty.
“What the hell, Fisher?” she yells, loud enough that I hear her perfectly over my music.
With my free hand, I pull my earbuds out, then glance down at Lila, her hair swept up into a white towel on top of her head, and a scowl on her pretty face.
“Lila,” I say on an exhale. “You scared me to death.” My heart is racing at the unexpected interloper.
She brings a hand to her chest, her chest that’s only covered by a thin black bra. Shit. I quickly snap my gaze back to her face, sending silent SOS messages from my brain to my body to stay calm and not misinterpret this situation.
“I scared you?” Lila’s eyes widen. “Imagine how I felt when a gigantic naked man waltzed in on me uninvited?”
Despite myself, I smirk, trying—and failing—not to notice her bare skin against mine. “Gigantic, huh?”
She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the way her cheeks flush pink. “Why are you dancing around the loft butt naked?”
“Why are you not at the firehouse?"
Lila shakes her head. “Oh yes, clearly I’m the problem here.” Her eyes shift to a heap of clothing on the floor that looks wet with pink paint. “I spilled paint all over myself and came home early to shower and clean up.”
Home…she called the loft home. I like that.
I tilt my head to the side and study her. “Are you sure you didn’t come home early to seduce me before I head out to Seattle tomorrow?”
“If I wanted to seduce you, I wouldn’t be wearing my Hanes from Walmart.
” Lila smacks my chest playfully, then seems to remember how naked I am and removes her palm from my body like she’s just touched a burning stove.
She squirms, trying to distance herself, but my hands land on her hips, locking her against me.
My fingers press against the top of her soft cotton panties, itching to dip lower and see how her ass feels in my hands.
I clear my throat, forcing that thought out of my head. “I’m sorry, but you can’t move…if you do, you’re going to get an eyeful.” I raise my eyebrows to drive my point home.
Her hands land on my biceps and she lightly pushes against me. “I’ve seen naked men before, Fisher. In fact, I stared at a naked man for eight hours once during a life drawing class.”
“But if you move, I’ll also be able to see you,” I counter, somehow managing to sound calm when my heart is pounding so hard it’s almost painful.
Lila rolls her eyes at me. “It’s not a big deal. I’m just wearing a plain cotton bra and underwear set.” She laughs, but it sounds forced. “I’m sure it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. And nothing special compared to the lingerie models you’re used to.”
Her tone is jesting, sarcastic…but something in her expression hints at vulnerability that takes me by surprise.
I never, ever, want Lila to compare herself to other women I’ve been with in the past. She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Doesn’t she realize that no one else could begin to compare to her?
Finally, I drop my hands from her hips and step back. Lila blinks, her eyes dipping down my body so fast I almost don’t notice it. But her eyes widen the smallest fraction when she turns away, so I know she saw everything.
She yanks the small hand towel off a rack attached to the vanity and tosses it to me. “Here, cover yourself up for once.”
I catch the towel, draping it in front of my junk. “Hmm, I’m not sure this hand towel is going to cover what I’ve got going on—”
“Please, don’t finish that sentence.” Lila holds her hand up, and I chuckle. “I’m going to go get dressed.”
She turns towards the door, and I can’t help but look at her.
My eyes lazily peruse her legs and her ass in the cheeky panties she’s wearing.
Lila is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, gorgeous without even trying.
She’s this perfect combination of hot and adorable that I can’t seem to get enough of, and she doesn’t even realize it.
I’ve always likened women to works of art, but Lila is in a league of her own.
She has no idea she's prettier than any painting I’ve ever admired.
Just before she strides out the door, she glances over her shoulder, catching me checking her out. She raises her index finger and waves it back and forth with a tsk.
I wink at her. “You don’t need fancy lingerie, Wife…your body is damn perfect in those Walmart undies.”
Lila rolls her lips together as a rosy blush flushes her face and her chest. She holds my gaze, not saying a word.
I expect her to chirp back with some sassy remark, roll her eyes, or maybe just leave with an annoyed sigh…
but instead, her eyes move slowly down my body—my body that’s only covered with a barely-there scrap of a towel.
She unabashedly looks her fill, and the sight of my wife’s pupils dilating as she looks at me has all the blood in my body rushing south.
But just before I lose my mind so completely that I’m driven to act on instinct alone, she slips out the door.
I watch her leave, confused and bewildered…
and more than a little turned on. I’m not sure what just transpired between us, but it didn’t feel like anything I’ve ever experienced before.
I’ve always thought Lila was hot, but this felt like more than just mere attraction.
It felt like molten lava, like a spark ready to catch flame, like a man and a woman who desperately want each other.
As I turn on the hot water and step into the shower, tossing the hand towel across the room, I can’t wipe the smile off my face.