Straight Up Love (The Boys of Jackson Harbor #2)(56)

Grabbing my overnight bag, I head to the bathroom. I start the shower to warm it, but when I turn to close the door, Jake’s standing in the way, watching me.

I frown at him and wave to the shower. “Did you want to go first?”

He shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Okay . . .” I look at him, and then the door. “Do you wanna leave so I can do this?”

“Nope.”

“Jacob Jackson, you are not planning to stand there while I take off my clothes.”

He smirks. “I’m not? Are you sure about that?” His gaze sweeps over me. Heat races through my veins followed by a chill of anticipation. He folds his arms. “You don’t want me to see you naked. Is that the problem?”

“I don’t know why you’d want to,” I blurt, then realize it sounds like I’m fishing for compliments. I wince and wish I could take the words back. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my body. It’s just that I don’t have much to look at. My breasts are barely there, my ass only a hint of curve. There’s nothing to get excited over.

He chuckles. “Holy shit, Ava. I’m a dude—a heterosexual dude at that. Seeing you naked is . . .” His grin spreads. “Let’s just say I think about it a lot. Daily.”

I gape. Daily? Does that mean since we made this plan or before?

“But if you want me to leave, I can do that. I’ll just liquor you up tonight and try again.”

“Try to get me naked or try to have sex?” My voice squeaks. We’re going to do this. I’m sure we are, but I need to prepare myself. Mentally. “Because if this is just about seeing me naked, I don’t want . . .” I don’t want to disappoint you. “There’s just . . . not much to see.”

“I will see you naked before I’m inside you. It’s this silly little prerequisite of mine.” He walks toward me, and there’s a challenge in his eyes that makes me feel bolder than I should.

“So we’re going to”—I swallow—“start trying tonight?”

My heart’s racing when he bends his head down and leans his forehead against mine. “Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are? How beautiful you looked in the sunshine with that big grin on your face?” He cups my jaw in his hand and groans. “I couldn’t stop thinking about tonight. About sharing that bed with you.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah.” He slides his hand into my hair and wraps it around his fist. He tugs gently, and pleasure sparks up my spine. “Are you going to let me touch you?” The words are a hot whisper against my ear, and everything in me is tight and begging.

“Yes.” I practically pant the word.

He pulls my earlobe between his teeth, and his hand trails over my collarbone and down to cup my breast. “And you’ll let me look at you?” His thumb grazes my nipple, and hell, now I want to be naked. Even the thin layers of my bra and T-shirt are too much to have between us. “Let me explore you?”

I nod, and I think I might whimper. Am I really expected to form words right now?

“Think on that for me.” His hand slips under my T-shirt, and shit, I want more. His palm runs over my belly. His fingertips dip under the waistband of my jeans. “Think about it in the shower. At dinner. When you dance tonight.” He drops his face to the crook of my neck and takes a deep breath.

Then he steps away and he’s walking out of the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind him.

He gets his wish. I think about him while I close my eyes under the spray, my body pulsing, my mind spinning fantasies about him pressing me up against the tile shower wall, the heat of his bare chest pressed against me as his hands explore.

I wash my hair and shave, taking the extra care of a woman who’s preparing for her lover. I’m thinking of him when I climb out of the shower and when I dry my hair. I’m thinking of him when I choose a short black dress and the slinkiest underwear from my bag.

When I step out of the bathroom, he’s changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a crisp black dress shirt that’s open at the collar and rolled up, revealing his forearms. Those forearms.

A sound bubbles up from my throat that I think might be a purr.

Jake looks me over. His slow, raking gaze trailing from my feet and up my body is its own kind of seduction. “Ready?”

I swallow. “I really am.”





Jake


Usually I wouldn’t be interested in the thumping music of the nightclub and the throng of bodies crowding the dance floor, but it’s good to see Ava let loose. She and Ellie have danced since we got here, and Ava’s gotten more into it with each subsequent song. Her arms are in the air, her hips rocking back and forth as if the music is vibrating from inside her.

“Thanks for coming this weekend,” Levi says from beside me. We’re leaning against the railing that surrounds the dance floor, and his date is . . . somewhere. I don’t know. I haven’t paid much attention to the giggling redhead.

I nod without looking at him, because I can’t take my eyes off Ava.

“It’s always nice to have a few extra people around so I’m not just the third wheel,” Levi says.

This time, I cut my eyes to my brother. “You can’t be a third wheel if you have a girl hanging on your arm, Levi.”