Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(50)

Clothing she was taking off.

Without him.

No amount of adjusting could stop the zipper tattoo that was forming behind his jeans. Quickly turning on the faucet to mute out any more stripping noises, he started scrubbing the cast iron pan in the sink like it owed him money, damn near making it shine until finally, finally, he heard the bathroom door close and the shower turn on.

But then his imagination got the best of him. The hot water, the dish soap bubbles, hell even the damn rubber dish gloves next to the sink all made him think of sex. And wet, naked woman.

His wet, naked woman.

Not twenty-five feet away.

What was it about a woman in a shower that could make the male brain turn to mush?

His hands gripped the edge of the sink unsteadily as he counted backward from a hundred, willing his mind to focus on something else.

He was in the single digits when he heard the shower shut-off and quiet, feminine footsteps padding across the hallway. The sound of a door opening, but not closing shut all the way made him almost drop to his knees in surrender right there. He started his silent counting back at a hundred.

It wasn’t until complete silence echoed back at him that he leaned way the hell over and finished the rest of the dishes, surprised he hadn’t managed to drill a hole in the cabinet paneling in the process. When he felt at least partially sane, but still not at all under control, he headed down the hall to Dani’s bedroom to say goodnight.

No dallying, no thinking. Definitely no touching. Just get in and out—

Freak-inA.

Definitely none of that.

Knocking gently before he pushed the partially ajar door open, he came to a full standstill and just stared. He’d expected Dani to be asleep.

He hadn’t expected to find her asleep in her towel.

Hair still damp from the shower, tiny goosebumps across her skin from the cold, and her expression wholly relaxed in sleep, she was the sexiest thing he’d ever laid eyes on. A beautiful sleeping angel.

Wrapped in a towel that was two, maybe three breaths away from falling open.

His legs were moving him closer before her lungs filled again.

He grabbed the right side of her comforter and draped it over her so she was encased from neck to toe.

Statues of his sainthood would be built in honor of him in this moment years from now, he was sure.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. “Luke?” she murmured sleepily.

“Hey, sweetie. I’m going to take off. Just wanted to say goodnight.”

She shuffled up a bit toward the left side of the bed.

Thank God he’d covered her up. That didn’t stop his eyes from roaming over the comforter as if he’d suddenly developed x-ray vision, however.

“It’s late. Don’t drive. Sleep here tonight,” she offered drowsily, but firmly, one tiny hand reemerging from under the covers to reach out and intertwine their fingers together.

And just like that, he lost the battle before even putting up a fight.

Meanwhile, Dani slipped right back into sleep with a soft smile on her face, her hand holding his.

With a sigh—and a prayer—he laid down on the bed beside her, not even bothering to get under the sheet, what with his entire body running the equivalent of a fever. One hot, aroused fever. He was going to hurt for days after this one.

Smothering another grimace, he undid his jeans to get some strangled blood flow moving back up to his brain. But he left them on. No way in hell was he strong enough to get this close to Dani in bed without at least a layer of denim between them. Throwing his free arm over his eyes, instead of sheep, he counted his throbbing heartbeats down south until he somehow managed to fall into a restless sleep.

His hand still held securely in hers.

And a contented smile on his face to match hers as well.



*



“HEY, DANI. Why isn’t the coffee started? Breakfast is getting—OH!” Xoey dropped the box of bakery fresh doughnuts in shock at the foot of Dani’s bed.

Dani estimated the level of Xoey’s shock was pretty high up there. Not just because she was still in bed this late in the morning, but more so because she wasn’t in said bed alone. “Get out!” Dani launched a pillow at her.

Xoey shot out of the bedroom. “I’m so sorry!” she shouted as she closed the door behind her. “I figured it was safe! I thought you two were waiting till your fifth date to...hey, wait a sec, did I count wrong?”

“Just stop talking and go wait outside! Or better yet, wait down in the brewpub!” Dani jumped out of bed, and instantly dropped flat as a pancake onto the carpet.

Good lord, she was naked.

And, criminy, she totally just gave herself a carpet burn on her belly.

Where the heck did her towel from last night go?

At the soft whoosh of falling terry cloth landing inches from her face, she muttered, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” came Luke’s amused reply.

Dani tucked the now dry bath towel around herself securely before peeking just her eyes and the bridge of her nose up from behind the tangle of goose down comforter lined-up like a trench barricade on her edge of the bed.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

She popped her head up fully like a prairie dog, and asked the first burning question that swirled around in her head. “Did we—?

The look he shot her stopped her from finishing that sentence.