Wick rested his hand on my arm and squeezed, not hard enough to hurt, simply to get my attention. “Would you say we’re dating now?”
My heart thudded in my ears as I nodded, then shrugged. “Yes?”
“If you don’t mind, then, I’m fine stripping to my underwear and hanging the rest of the clothes to dry. You’ve seen me in less.”
My head felt light as I groaned. “You meanifthey dry. With this humidity, it’s just as likely they’ll rot. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking living so close to Lake Émeraude. I love my small boat, but it’s almost not worth it.”
His grin was a vivid flash of teeth in the low light. “You say that today, but will you mean it tomorrow? I suspect you enjoy fishing more than you would a lawn to take care of in St. Loren.” He tugged lightly on my ear, and I laughed. “Besides, miracles occur every day. They might dry.”
He began to unbutton his shirt and my head swam as his chest hair came into view.
“Uh, let’s hang our stuff over chairs in the other room. They’re not real wood, just the plastic stuff pretending to be wood, so they’ll be fine.” I went through the open doorway into the kitchen, and his footsteps were barely a noise behind mine, but I couldn’t ignore them or think about anything else. Irritation had me scowling at the fridge for a moment. If I had to replace another large appliance, let alone the same one I’d gotten brand new two years ago, because of the damned weather, I would not be happy.
The sound of fabric rustling knocked the wind out of me.Wick is in my house and taking off his clothes. Oh my God.
Once I was at the table, I set down my flashlight, and then I didn’t have much more of an excuse to stall. He tugged his open shirt out of his pants and draped it over one of the chairs. When I glanced his way, his attention was firmly fixed on me.
“Do you need help with your clothes?” he asked, tone teasing.
“No! No, I’m good,” I said, quickly working on the buttons down my front. I flung my shirt on a chair.
His chuckle was wicked in all the right ways, and my body scorched as I unbuckled my belt and heard the answering tinkle of his. I almost stopped breathing as I stepped out of my pants before draping them on a chair. I fumbled off my socks and tossed them onto the floor.
“I’m not going to pounce on you.” Wick’s voice barely carried to me.
“I know.”
Wick hummed. “Unless you would like that.”
The burst of laughter that escaped me was a shock, and he grinned when I peeked at him. He came around the table and wrapped his strong arms around me. All I could think about was his skin pressed to mine, and even though we were both sweating and it was too warm to be touching, I didn’t want him to let go.
“Can I spoil you at my house, since you refuse to allow me to take you out and make a big deal about our relationship?” Wick asked. His steady gaze had me sweating bullets.
My fingers crept up his biceps all on their own, and since they were already there, I gave the muscles a squeeze. He dragged me closer until our fronts were firmly pressed together and his cock nudged my stomach.
“You want to do that?” I let out a long breath.
Wick squeezed me. “You take care of me all the time. I would like to do the same.”
My face burned and I cleared my throat. “Are you ready for bed?” My chest flooded with warmth as soon as the words left my mouth. “I didn’t mean—”
“If you did mean you want to get in my pants—er, underwear—I would be happy to do anything you like. If you aren’t ready, that’s understandable. This is new for us.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my temple.
And if he keeps this up, I might die.Where did he learn to act this way? “You gotta stop saying reasonable, nice things to me. It’s confusing.”
Wick hugged me tighter, his toned body—firm and delicious—pressed against mine. “What do you do for fun when all the lights are out?”
Groaning, I buried my face against his chest and inhaled. I loved the tang of musk and man and faded cologne. “Sleep.”
“Is that so?” He kissed the arch of my ear, and my cock took that as an invitation to get happy. “Nothing more exciting?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t believe you. You’re a steady guy but not boring.” He dipped his head down, and I couldn’t leave him hanging—I tilted my chin up and kissed him. When I slid my hand along his jaw, Wick didn’t jerk away or fight the touch like I’d half expected, simply leaned against me and let me suck on his bottom lip.
He pulled back, and there was apopbetween our mouths as he tugged the last bit free of me, which had us both chuckling.
“I didn’t come out here because I was horny.” Wick bumped his nose against my cheek. “We don’t have to do this.”
