His stubble scraped my cheek, something I’d never experienced with baby-faced Teddy. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but the roughness sent a thrill down my spine, and I shivered in his arms. He pulled me closer, his hands sliding an inch or two lower on my waist. I mentally encouraged him to go lower, wondering what his firm grip would feel like on my ass.
There was a strange sense of safety in his arms. A permission to let go, or just be. Unfortunately, life butted its way back in.
“You’ve made your point, Layne.”
Teddy’s voice cut through my happy little bubble, and I reluctantly let my arms fall from Elias’s shoulders. Even then, I didn’t look away. I couldn’t. His eyes locked on mine, his cheeks flushed. His expression was a mix of concern, and arousal.
Fuck. I wish we were alone.
He mouthed,you okay, and I nodded again.
“How rude of me not to introduce myself. I’m Elias.” He held his hand out to Teddy, who wrinkled his nose as if he’d been offered a dead fish. A long beat passed before Elias shrugged and slipped his hand into his pocket.
“I’ll wait for you guys to be done. We can carpool to the office,” he said, one arm settling possessively around my waist.
“She brought her own car,” Teddy snarked.
Elias shrugged. “Well then, we can drive back together. Convoy style. Do what you have to do. I’ll wait for you here.”
Reluctantly, I let his arm fall from around my waist. Teddy and I started toward the bank.
Heat flushed my cheeks. I could still feel the ghost of Elias’s touch on my skin.
I knew I’d be thinking about his touch later, when I was alone and under the covers. For now, I had something I needed to do.
It was clear Teddy had more to say, but he wasn’t willing totry with Elias there. I wasn’t sure why he could be an ass to my brother but seemed intimidated by Elias, but I liked it.
I liked it a lot.
Chapter Six
Elias
My workday passed in a haze. I couldn’t even say for sure if I’d actually been at work. I had no idea what I did, or who I talked to.
What did I have for lunch?
No clue.
What color shirt did I have on?
Couldn’t tell you.
All I thought about was how right it had felt to pull Layne to my chest and hold her there.
Sure, it had been satisfying to see Teddy standing there like an ass while I had my hands on Layne. But it was a footnote, if that. The main story was her fingers carding through my hair, her body pressed tightly against mine, my jacket smelling like her perfume. She hadn’t seemed any more eager to step away than I had.
The whole moment had my hopes up and excitement floodingthrough my system.
“Don’t forget, dinner at my place tonight,” Jace said as I gathered my things at the end of the day.
Oh, fuck, I had forgotten.
Not that I didn’t like spending extra time with everyone, but I’d had important plans to go home and jerk off. Now I’d have to run home, shower, and get to Jace’s place before the animals I worked with ate all the food. “I’ll be there.”
These Friday night get-togethers were fairly new. Jace had always been a head-down workaholic. When he got together with Sloane a few months ago, that had changed. He still worked damn hard, especially when she was away for work. But when she was home, he wanted to celebrate, and when she was gone, he wanted distraction.
Sloane had suggested having everyone from Wild Timber over every Friday night, and Jace had run with it. It was a nice gesture by my boss, which just made me feel guilty for how I’d held his sister in my arms.
