“What do you mean?” I ask tightly.
Snapping my eyes upward, I force myself to move. Only once I’m facing the bed do I lower my gaze. My fingers are shaking when I pull the zipper on my bag and search for my slacks. I need to do something—anything—to busy myself before I do something reckless.
“I mean, like intimacy. In order to pull this off, we need to convince the people who know me best that we’re in love. We’ve got the stories and the facts nailed down, but my mother is a piranha. She knows that I’m a touchy person when I’m dating someone. If we walk into dinner without looking like we’ve been together for months, she’ll know.”
My stomach flops. “You’re a touchy person?”
“Very. I like to be touched. PDA isn’t for everyone, but it’s for me. Dare I say it’s my love language.”
“How?”
“How what?”
I suck my teeth and risk a look over my shoulder. She’s staring at me with those round, brown eyes that never fail to strip my defenses.
“How do you like to be touched?” I ask, my voice low.
Fuck my life, I’m going to lose it.
Her throat jumps with a swallow. If it weren’t for the makeup she’s wearing, I’d bet her cheeks are pink. They probably feel warm, too.
“That’s a loaded question.”
“It’s something a boyfriend would know, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
Discarding my bag, I turn to face her. Fuck this stupid towel and the erection that won’t disappear. I have an opening right now. A chance to try and show her that I can be more than just her boss and friend. More than a fake boyfriend, too. I’m not going to miss taking the shot.
Jill keeps her eyes above my waist. It grates on me that she isn’t feeling what I am, but I can’t resent her for it. I knew what I was getting into when I volunteered to help her with this. She doesn’t reciprocate my feelings. Not yet, at least.
“Come here,” I rasp.
Her thick lashes flutter slightly. “Come . . . over there?”
“Yes, Jill. You’re right. We need to work on intimacy.”
My cock swells further when she slowly gets to her feet. The robe is tied too loosely. One tug at the belt and it would fall open for me. I grit my teeth and tighten my hold on my towel.
With every step she takes toward me, the stronger her scent gets, and the harder it is to deny myself by not touching her. I just need a tease. A stroke of her cheek or squeeze of her waist. I’ll take anything. Just a second of her warmth beneath my fingertips would be enough to satiate me right now.
I choke on a moan when she answers my every prayer. The first drag of her fingers up between my pecs has me panting. My obvious reaction is embarrassing, but I don’t have a chance to let the mortification take root. The knot at the front of her robe presses against my abs as she leans forward and takes my hand in hers, guiding it toward her body.
My palm wraps against her waist, and I hiss a breath, squeezing involuntarily. Her exhale is softer than mine, but I cling to that reaction. The beast that lives deep in my subconscious peeks out of his cave as he recognizes what’s happening. It’s the gasp she releases when I use my hold on her to tug her harder against me that has my hidden dominance breaking free.
“Tell me what you like.” It’s the roughest sentence I’ve ever spoken to her.
Her eyelids fall to half-mast as she stares up at me and worries her lip. “This is good.”
“This?”
“Your hand there,” she clarifies.
“That’s it? There’s more, sweetheart. I want to hear you tell me everything.”
The hand she has on my shoulder tenses before slipping down. Her nails prick at my muscled torso as she follows the hair between the ridges and to the grooved lines in my hips. Thefaraway glaze slipping over her eyes does more for me than that exploratory touch does. I roll my jaw and blow a breath out my nose.
“Do you want me to figure it out myself?” I ask gruffly, dipping my head to speak into her ear. “Is that why you’re so quiet, Jill? Am I allowed to explore you?”
