Breathe Out (Just Breathe, #2)(12)
“I know,” I agree. “Which is why I’m glad you’re having a good time. You’ve been working too hard.”
“Emma’s right, babe,” Jared confirms.
“I know, I know,” Nathan says shrugging out of his pants.
Jared and I snicker when Nathan falls onto the bed.
“You got this?” I ask Jared.
“Yeah,” he confirms. “If you stay for too much longer, you might not like what you see.”
“I’ve seen lots of naked men,” I remind. “And, I’ve seen you both naked.”
“I know,” Jared replies. “But, once he’s naked, even with alcohol in his system . . . .”
“I’m going,” I laugh, not wanting to stick around to see them get it on. “Love you,” I call over my shoulder as I open the door.
“Love you,” Jared returns.
“Love . . . you,” Nathan replies, grunting as he tries to yank off one of his shoes.
I dart out the door as soon as I see a look in Nathan’s eye — one that plans on having Jared naked in the next five seconds.
Once I finish rinsing off in the shower from dancing all night with five hot guys, I hear a knock at the door. Still wrapped in a towel, I crack it open to see who it is, even though I know who it is.
“Hey,” I greet with a little friskiness to my voice.
“Hey, beautiful,” returns Joe with a smirk. “Thought you might like a little company for our last night here.” His eyes travel down the length of my body.
“Let me get dressed and . . .” I begin to disclose before I stop myself from seeing his reaction. “What?”
“I promise I’ll behave,” he sinfully declares.
“I highly doubt that,” I muse.
“Scouts honor.”
“Were you ever a scout?” I rebut.
“No, but . . . .”
I don’t let him finish and open the door further to let him in. Joe beams at his little victory.
Despite the fact that Joe has seen me naked twice now, I’m a little self-conscious, mostly because I have my period and I’m not in the mood to explain the little green nub that might be protruding from my sex. Pretending I need to finish up in the bathroom, I grab underwear and make my way in there to finish changing. I close the door a little to hang up the towel and right as I get my underwear halfway up, I notice Joe standing in the doorway.
“Enjoying the view?” I lightly joke, trying to divert my own uneasiness.
“Absolutely,” he answers grinning.
Once I have my tank top on, I turn to get some lotion. Just as I’m lathering up my left arm, I feel Joe’s body behind me. He lowers his lips to my neck, behind my ear while holding me by the waist. When I reach for the bottle to do my right arm, Joe’s hand seizes it. Smirking, Joe squirts lotion into his hand and begins to sensually rub it in from my shoulder all the way down to the tips of each finger. Joe steals a kiss and then grabs the bottle again, leading me out to the bedroom. He positions me so I have to sit on the bed. Without much effort, Joe slides my body backward, further across the sheets. My eyebrows crease, not sure what he’s planning. Then, with another amount of lotion in hand, Joe meticulously massages my right leg, starting at my inner thigh all the way down to each toe and back up. He repeats the same tantalizing act on my other leg.
“Any place else?” he searches, hoping for an answer.
“No,” I barely mumble, shaking my head.
I think what Joe just did is the most erotic thing I’ve ever had done to me. The tingling in my loins surprises me.
Joe leans in for a kiss and then returns the lotion to the bathroom. We slide under the covers and repeat last night’s events of snuggling and kissing, but hardly talk this time.
“Can I stay?” he investigates after our not so brief make-out session late into the night.
“No,” I politely refuse. My lips press onto the curve of his palm as it strokes my face.
“Please,” he begs with the sexy voice.
We kiss a few more times before I carefully deny his request. I did let him have a small victory by letting him into my suite. Five minutes later, Joe retires to his room after we savor more of each other’s lips which is becoming our custom farewell.
Fifty Two
The next few days after Nathan’s birthday weekend are normal for me with work and my friends. Maggie and Henry are into their second week of their honeymoon, but Maggie touches base with regards to work twice — I tease her about relaxing and being with her husband. Jimmy and Allen fly back to New York the day after we returned from Vegas — they’re doing another Hawaiian themed show at their gallery after the first one went so well. Jared’s been doing a wonderful job taking over Naturally Me and has the filming crew over at his and Nathan’s, giving me more time to focus on Raven Media and the upcoming trip that Joe and I will be taking to meet up with his parents to visit the building their company purchased that has already undergone some renovations. While seeing the facility, we’ll be meeting with the contractors handling the redesign of the entire area that will soon be Raven Media. The next step after that will be to begin interviewing some key staff to handle the facility and the company with Maggie.
Since it’s Thursday, Mia is busy cleaning the apartment while I work in my office. As I take a break from staring at the computer screen for the last hour or two, my attention moves to checking out the photo albums I ordered for Maggie and the family. They were just delivered and I’m too excited to keep working.