I decide to get things moving on my own. Reaching for the top button of my jeans, I undo them, then slide the zipper down. Next I slip my thumbs between the denim fabric and my waist and inch by inch, slowly push them over my hips.
I’m pleased I had the foresight to wear one of my nicer pairs of underwear this morning. Although, when I selected them from my drawer, it was less that I was expecting to get laid and more that I thought I might die, and if I was going to die, I would like to go out in nice panties.
Arthur’s eyes track my every movement. I slide the jeans down my legs and toss them into the corner without ceremony. Then, I slip the heavy robe off my shoulders and lie back on the bed in only my white tank top and panties.
“Warm?” he asks, gaze locked on my legs on top of the comforter.
“Mmm. Must be that Florida sun.” I let my hand skim up my leg and over my hips, all lazy confidence, even though I’m quietly freezing my ass off in this aggressively air-conditioned room. Goose bumps prickle along my skin, but I resist the urge to cover up.
I push my tank top up inch by inch, fingers gliding over my stomach, pretending the shiver has nothing to do with the arctic blast pouring out of the vents.You are absolutely not cold,I tell myself.You are warm.“You look like you might be overheating yourself, Coach.”
His eyes, always that deep almost black brown, appear even darker than usual. He takes a small step closer, until his legs are touching the mattress. He shrugs out of his suit jacket and tosses it in the same corner as my discarded jeans.
I wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t. Instead, he putshis hands into his pockets and continues to look at me with barely contained amusement.
I prop myself up on my elbows. “Something funny?”
He runs a hand over his sculpted jaw. “It’s just, for someone who’s so warm…” He pauses and stares pointedly at my bare legs. “You certainly have a lot of goose bumps.”
“No, I don’t.”
“No?”
I shake my head. “Maybe a few. You know goose bumps are a sign of arousal.”
He grins. “You don’t say? Is shivering a sign of that too?”
“Of course. You’ve never heard of trembling with desire.”
“Fair enough. Why are your teeth chattering?”
I press my lips together for a long moment before answering. “Lust?”
He barks out a laugh and now I feel ridiculous. I start to pull the robe back on.
“Elliot.” He puts his hands on my feet and laughs harder. “Jesus. Your feet are like ice.”
I kick his hands away, but he grabs my ankles and pulls me farther down the bed toward him. “Admit that you’re cold.”
I squirm in vain. He’s got my ankles pinned to the bed. I give up and flop back on the mattress. “Fine. I’m freezing. I’m not used to these over air-conditioned rooms and I couldn’t figure out how to work the thermostat. Are you happy?”
“Yes.” He leans further over the bed. “Now, ask me to warm you up.”
I chew on my lip. Just thinking about his warm hands, his warm everything on my cool skin is enough to make me cave. “Please warm me up.”
He smiles, almost boyishly. “Gladly.”
And then his big body is covering mine. My skin soaks up his heat through his clothes. It’s hard to feel petulant when the broody man is smiling down at me.
“I was trying to be sexy,” I pout.
His thumb traces my lower lip, slowly. “You never have to try to be sexy, Elliot. You’re the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
I roll my eyes, but he makes me look at him.
“I’m serious. You melt my goddamn brain just by walking into a room. Just by existing. It’s torture.”
“Wow.”
