Before Jamaica Lane (On Dublin Street 3)

I felt the tremors start in my fingers at the thought of standing stark naked in front of Nate. ‘Now?’ I squeaked.

He gave me a no-nonsense look. ‘You’re going to have to stand in front of this guy naked. How are you going to be able to do that if you can’t do it with me?’

‘Completely naked?’

After a moment of silence, Nate offered me a patient and kind look. ‘Okay, we’ll take it step by step. Strip to your underwear.’

A shiver went through me at his demand, but I found myself replying, ‘You could ask nicely, you know.’

His lips twitched. ‘Olivia, sweetheart, would you please strip down to your underwear for me?’

‘Was that so hard?’ I huffed under my breath as I started quickly unbuttoning my shirt.

‘Is this a race?’

I stilled my finger on the third to last button. ‘Huh?’

Nate chuckled. ‘You’re undressing for me. Hurrying through it makes it feel like an inconvenience rather than titillation.’

My arms dropped to my sides and I nudged a shoulder toward the back of the apartment. ‘Maybe we should go to my bedroom.’

‘If you’d be more comfortable.’

Exhaling, I fought through the belly flips and moved toward my room. I stood at the end of the bed and waited until Nate crossed the threshold and then, in what I considered a brave moment for me, I looked directly into his eyes and slowly began to unbutton my shirt. Nate grew still as I peeled it off my shoulders and let it drop to the floor, leaving me standing in my bra and slacks. I didn’t mind that part so much. It was the next part that I’d dreaded, but I kept Nate’s voice in my head, filling it with his compliments. Hopefully he would still think all those nice things once the pants were off.

I fumbled a little on the top button of my slacks, but Nate didn’t comment on it. The sound of my zipper was incredibly loud in the quiet room, and I felt the tension between us mount. With a deep breath I placed my hands on either side of my hips and pushed the slacks down, dropping my eyes with sudden uncertainty as I carefully stepped out of them.

I didn’t know what to do with my arms.

‘Babe.’ Through my lowered lids I watched Nate take a step toward me. ‘Liv, look at me.’

Arms hanging awkwardly at my sides, I slowly lifted my chin.

His expression winded me.

Heat and sincerity shone through it as he told me in a low, rumbling voice, ‘You’re gorgeous.’

My hand automatically self-consciously covered my belly, and I fidgeted as I thought about my thighs being on display. Nate took three determined steps toward me until I had to tilt my head a little to meet his eyes. He took hold of the hand that covered my belly and gently moved it back to my side.

‘Don’t hide from me.’ He bent his head to whisper over my lips. ‘Ever.’

I glanced down at his shirt with a nervous smile. ‘Maybe you could lose something so I don’t feel like I’m out to sea on my own here.’

He grinned at me and stepped back to casually lift his T-shirt over his head.

I sucked in a breath.

This was the first time I’d ever seen Nate shirtless and I was kicking myself for not going to those judo classes with him like he’d asked. He wasn’t the tallest guy, nor the bulkiest; in fact he was pretty compact, but every inch of his torso was roped with muscle. Between judo classes and weekly visits to the gym, Nate took care of his body, and I was enjoying every second of that upkeep.

Until my eyes drifted over the stylized ‘A’ just under his left pectoral.

Alana.

A ghost in the room.

I ducked my head, pretending I hadn’t been affected by the sight of the tattoo, and then glanced up at him from under my lashes with a faux-saucy smile. ‘I’ve seen worse.’

Nate laughed and threw his shirt aside. ‘You know how to make a man feel good.’

‘Oh, come on, you know you’re hot.’

‘It’s nice to hear that you think so, though.’

Hiding my surprise at his admission, I laughed lightly and replied, ‘I’ll be sure to mention it often, then.’

His mouth dipped toward mine again. ‘Appreciated.’

As goose bumps prickled across the swells of my br**sts, I gestured around the room. ‘What now?’

‘Do you want to start with me or with you?’

I frowned in confusion. ‘Why would we start with me? I know what I want. This is about learning what you want, learning to be good at doing it to you.’

Nate immediately shook his head, a frown marring his brow. ‘How can you know what you want when you’ve only had sex once, Liv? You not only want to be confident you can get him off, you want to be confident in your own pleasure.’ His fingers moved to the buttons on his jeans and he began to undress. Blood whooshed in my ears as I watched. ‘Know what it takes to get you off and then let him know. If he doesn’t want to know how to get you off, then get him off you.’

At that my eyes drifted back up to his face and I snorted, relaxing a little. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

‘Make sure that you do. Sex is a two-way street.’

‘Okay.’

‘So … me or you?’

‘Uh …’

‘We’ll start with you.’ He kicked his jeans off. I admired his athletic body. He was by far the best-looking guy I’d ever seen in real life and I was about to have sex with him.

‘This is a little surreal,’ I murmured without thinking.

‘It’s about to get very real,’ came his deep, seductive reply.