Who the hell was knocking on his door at midnight? He stood, wearing only his long checkered pajama bottoms. He didn’t care who was knocking, he wasn’t about to go upstairs andfind a shirt in the dark. Another knock came as he strode toward the door, and he called to whoever was on the other side of the wooden slab.
“Hold your horses. I’m coming.” He didn’t mean to sound so irritated, but he was only human. He reached the door, unlocked the dead bolt, and swung it open.
“Blythe? What are you doing? Get in here!” He reached out, pulling her inside, and shut the door behind her. She was wearing a short pair of black, cotton bottoms and a T-shirt—her auburn waves falling over her shoulders. It was cold enough this time of night, even in July, for at least a jacket.
Her eyes were glued to his naked torso. He watched as they darted left and right, up and down his body.
“Why is your shirt off?” Her tone was mildly shocked.
“Because I don’t sleep with one… I also didn’t plan for company. Does it bother you?”
“No, you’re just everything I imagined…”
She lifted one hand, then the other, her palms gliding over his chest. Her words caught in her throat, and he saw her neck work as she swallowed hard. Her fingers moved down his washboard abs and came to a stop when she met the top of his bottoms. His jaw clenched. What the hell was she doing?
“Are you trying to break me, sugar?”
She tucked her fingers under the elastic band and moved them around to the sides of his hips.
He went stiff.
What happened in the handful of hours since he’d seen her last that made her so brazen? Justin didn’t touch her. He knew if he did, he would be unleashing a side of himself he wasn’t sure he could control at this hour.
“Can I stay here tonight?” Her voice was hushed as she looked up at him. “I couldn’t sleep after we talked. I left a note at home… I just needed to be with you.”
Without another thought, he bent his knees, swept his arm under her legs, and lifted her up. Her arms went around his neck as she buried her nose just under his jaw.
“Gosh, you smell so good. You feel like home to me, Justin.”
Home.
If she only knew how badly he wanted to be her home.
He walked them up the stairs and stopped halfway between his room and one of the extras. There was a bed there—clean sheets just waiting for someone to climb inside. It only took half a second before he threw that idea in the trash and threw the woman in his arms into bed with him.
The sun reflected off her hair, ribbons of gold popping through—and it was all he could do not to reach over and bring her backside flush with him. He knew what those beautiful hips felt like. He could only imagine them pressed up against…
Yep, not going to do that.
He needed a cold shower and some food. He gently rolled out of bed and made his way to the master bathroom. He turned the knob and closed the door quietly so it didn’t click, then turned on the shower. He kept it cold and forced himself to stay there a while. When he was ready, he turned the handle and stepped out onto the mat.
Shit.He did it again. Why did he always forget to hang a new towel? As he was making a plan, looking around for something to dry off with, the door cracked open, and the woman who’d been sound asleep in his bed stepped inside.
“Woah, sugar…” Justin turned toward the wall, covering himself with his large palms. She would see his ass, but that was better than scaring her off with everything he had up front.
“Oh, gosh! Justin, I'm so sorry!” Her hands waved in the air, and she spun around, found the door, jumped out, and slammed it shut.
What happened to the woman from last night, who tucked her fingers in his waistband? The bathroom was inside the bedroom. He wondered how she hadn’t heard the water?
“I’m so sorry!” Her voice came through the closed door loud and clear. “I was still waking up and needed to go pee.”
“Well, I’mnotsorry, but would you grab me a towel out of the linen closet in the hall?” He waited a minute before the door cracked open one more time. Her arm stuck through, the rest of her body hiding behind it.
“Thanks, sugar. I’ll be out in a minute.” He chuckled and wrapped the towel around his waist. That was close, but she was going to see a man’s dick at some point—might as well be his. He combed his fingers through his hair and walked out of the bathroom, hair damp, his body still not completely dry.
“All you had to do was ask, you know?” He stopped in front of her, knowing his very defined V-taper was nearly eye level as she sat on the edge of his bed.
Her eyes widened, and she blinked. “How did I not hear the shower going? I swear I didn’t mean to?—”
