Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 168121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 841(@200wpm)___ 672(@250wpm)___ 560(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 168121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 841(@200wpm)___ 672(@250wpm)___ 560(@300wpm)
“How problematic is this going to be?”
Jay snapped his head up. “It’s not.” He straightened to his full height. “Do your job. Protect Charlee. You don’t need to protect her from this. I’m done with it.”
Nathan glanced over Jay’s shoulder, and the stiffness fell from his expression. With a sigh, Jay turned to face her.
She stared at the waste bin, chewing a nail. “Drugs are one thing I’ve never been exposed to. Don’t have a clue what the side effects are or how hard it is to quit.” Her gaze floated up and captured his. “It’s not my place to tell you what to do, Jay. I’m just going to have to trust you.” She inhaled deeply, and her eyes spilled over with conviction. “I do trust you.” She looked at Nathan. “So drop it.”
Her confidence in him scared the piss out of him, but it also got him moving. He picked up the basket and walked through the bedroom, collecting the remainder of the stash. The sock drawer, the closet shelf, under the couch cushion, the mattress, behind the painting of the Canadian Boundary Waters. “That’s it.” He pushed the overflowing trash can into Nathan’s arms. “Boy scout’s honor.”
That earned him a distrusting glare. So be it. As soon as Nathan discarded his bounty, the estate would be drug-free, barring the random joint his bandmates kept.
Charlee reached around the trash can and hugged Nathan’s rigid body.
Jay’s pulse jumped, his jealousy rising to the surface. What did he have to offer her that Nathan wasn’t already providing? He tried to scrape up some understanding, fully aware it was the first night in three years they would be sleeping apart. Yet, she clung to him like he wasn’t going to be under the same fucking roof. Jay jerked toward her before he could stop himself.
Nathan set her away with a pat on her shoulder. “I’m getting you a cell phone first thing tomorrow.” He bent his knees to look her in the eye. “If you need me tonight…” He glanced at Jay.
“Press star seven on the intercom.” Jay stepped behind her and gently nudged her chin toward the control panel by the door. “That’ll ring Nathan’s room. And star one will send a broadcast to every room in the estate.”
Straightening, Nathan nodded. “Okay?”
“Yep.” She rubbed her hands on her thighs as if she didn’t know what to do with them.
At that moment, Jay knew he could offer her something Nathan didn’t. He slid his hands over her hips, laced them with hers, and wrapped their arms around her waist. An electric current coursed through them and they exhaled in unison. She leaned her back against his chest.
He slid his nose through her hair, soaking in the shampoo she’d borrowed in his shower that morning combined with her sweet natural scent. The click of the door sounded Nathan’s exit, and they stood there, sharing warmth and affection, content to do nothing more but lean close together.
Together. A foreign concept, yet so recognizable when he could feel her heart beating in harmonic balance with his.
Her head turned toward the bed. “What now?”
He followed her gaze. Never had a woman lay upon his bed, beneath him, straddling him, curled around him. And the only one he ever wanted was minutes away from nuzzling into his private nest, against his very aroused body.
She slumped in his arms, reminding him how long they’d been awake.
He sighed. “Now, you sleep.”
She untangled from his embrace and shuffled toward the bed, tugging at her boots laces through hopping strides. Toed them off. Stripped her shirt. Her bra. Thrust her pants down her hips. Crawled over the mattress with her red-laced ass in the air.
Heat ignited in his belly and swept between his legs. He set his molars together to bottle his groan. “I’m just going to…I’m going to grab a shower.” And rub one off. Or two…or ten. He ducked into the bathroom without meeting her eyes, knowing they would lure him to his fantasy and his fantasy was very, very real.
51
A shower, a shave, and two self-induced orgasms later, Jay tied a towel around his hips and padded into his bedroom. As expected, Charlee’s steady breathing marked her restful sleep.
He dropped the towel, paced to the bed, and stopped. He slept nude, but should he now? He wanted to crawl in there naked with her, but would she think him too eager? Well, he was. Shit. He didn’t want her to think that was the only thing he thought about.
He spun back toward the closet. Did he own a pair of boxers? He dug in the back of one of the shelf drawers. Aha! Boxer briefs. He dragged the scratchy cotton over his hips and snapped the elastic band. Then he hurried back to her and eased between the sheets.