“So what if it is?” she asked, straightening slightly.
In the faint glow of moonlight, she watched his chest expand with a slow, deep breath in and his fingers shifted around the highball glass that glittered in the silver light.
“Take it off.”
“Excuse me?” Shaun gasped in outrage.
“I didn’t stutter, Shaun.”
“No,” she snapped, setting the water bottle down on the island she stood next to, placing her hands on her hips defiantly.
Fear, dread, excitement, she wasn’t sure what it was, snaked through her when he stood in one fluid motion, lifting the glass to his lips as he prowled—yes,prowled—toward her. Setting the glass down on the marble countertop as he reached her, he leaned closer and snarled through clenched teeth, “Take. It. Off. Shaun.”
“I can’t,” she whispered, heat rising to her cheeks. “I’m not wearing anything under it.”
“You can take it off or I will take it off for you,” he continued, leaning forward until she backed up against the edge of the counter. His arms reached out, bracing his hands on either side of her.
“I’m not taking my shirt off in front of you, Kasey,” she breathed.
Stepping back a half step, he reached up and gripped the collar of the tank top he wore, pulling it up and over his head in one motion, until he stood in front of her with his entire upperbody and torso naked to her. Her mouth went dry, and she had to fight the urge to reach out her hands and run them over the muscles that rippled along his abdomen. The muscles of his abs arrowed down in a V into the waistband of his sweats, slung indecently low on his hips, and the sight made her mouth water. He held out the shirt to her at the same time he muttered darkly, “Take off that fucking shirt, Shaun. I won’t say it again.”
Growling at him, she slapped his hand away that held out his shirt and grabbed the hem of Tommy’s t-shirt, pulling it over her head and then dropping it to the floor. She snatched his tank top out of his hands, ignoring her heart as it pounded out a beat in her chest. Her breasts were bare, but he held her gaze. Glaring at him through the darkness, she slid her arms into the tank top and tugged it over her head, letting the soft material conform to her breasts. It was long, covering her bottom in the boy-short underwear she wore. He bent at the waist, picking up the discarded shirt and balling it up in his hands.
“That’s better,” he murmured, reaching out and letting the back of his index finger trail down her side, over the ribbed material of the shirt. Slapping his hand away, she glared up at him in the dark.
“You’re a bully,” she hissed as he backed away.
Holding the shirt that had very clearly offended him so badly out in front of him, he shook it in his fist as he growled, “If he’s not man enough to show his fucking face, you don’t get to wear his clothes in front of me.”
Shaun spluttered in outrage, but he was already striding across the room, his feet carrying him up the stairs until he disappeared from sight.
SIXTEEN
“You’re in a foul mood this morning,” Roxy drawled as she crossed the room, and he grunted from the tufted armchair he’d slept in for the latter half of the night to give Jodi and Free their privacy when she’d knocked on the door at one-thirty in the morning. “Guess Shaun and I won that bet.”
“What bet?” he grumbled as he rolled into a sitting position from the slouch he’d been resting in.
“We knew Jodi and Free wouldn’t stay apart last night,” Roxy laughed, coming toward him with a steaming cup of coffee from downstairs. “You should have kept this room. Or you could have slept on the bed. I don’t bite.”
“You were sprawled across the whole damn thing,” he muttered as he accepted the mug from her. “Just because I couldn’t sleep didn’t mean I needed to keep you up, too.”
“Oh, darlin’,” Roxy drawled, winking at him, which made him roll his eyes, “you only wish.”
“Gross,” he muttered, but his lips tilted up in a half grin.
“What is this?” she asked, picking up the shredded remains of the t-shirt he’d conned off of Shaun the night before. He made to swipe it from her hands, but she jumped back with a devilish laugh, holding it up the best she could with how badly he’d mutilated it in his rage. She pointed to his bare chest, one red eyebrow arched knowingly, as she murmured, “So, this is why Shaun was downstairs wearing your tank top.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement, one he didn’t deign to respond to. Standing, he dropped the throw blanket he’d tugged off the foot of the bed after sneaking into her room back onto the chair he’d just vacated. Striding on bare feet to the door, he opened it and exited into the hall, grinding his teeth at the sound of Roxy’s laugh. He found perverse pleasure in the fact thatShaun had worn his tank top for the rest of the night, sleeping in it. His dick twitched at the thought.
There was a flurry of activity down in the great room, but he turned and headed further down the hallway to the room he was supposed to have shared with Free the night before. The door was open, so he walked inside to find Free standing at the window staring out over the mountain beyond. When he heard Kasey enter, he turned, grinning sheepishly. “Thanks for uh—"
“What’s the best man for if not facilitating a late-night rendezvous with the bride?” Kasey chuckled, waving his hand. He nodded his head toward the door. “Did you get any coffee yet or are you quarantined up here?”
“I’ve been instructed to stay up here until the girls leave for the main lodge in an hour,” Free chuckled.
Kasey set his coffee down and rifled through his suitcase until he found a clean shirt, pulling it over his head. “I can run down and grab you some.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. I thought Levi was coming back with some, but that was like fifteen minutes ago,” Free said and rolled his eyes.
