“Make it about them. Not you.” She crossed her lithe thighs, making his mouth water, but he held on to his focus. “You know. The way I made up that story for the couple in the office building? Give the customer one. It could get you out of your own head.”
“How is that going to help me converse with them?”
“You can ask them questions to help build your story. Do you live in the neighborhood? Are you coming from work? When you ask people questions about themselves, they’re going to ask you some in return. You’re more than worth their time.” Her gaze danced across his shoulders and only then did he remember he wasn’t wearing a shirt. “You’re genuine and interesting. I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.”
He swallowed hard. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, Leo,” she murmured, sitting forward and stretching her arms up over her head. “Is it time for nap date now?”
Chapter 11
Falling asleep when she was this turned on was going to prove a challenge.
That theory grew stronger when she followed Leo into his bedroom and found a hidden pocket of paradise. The space could only be described as masculine, yes, but it was the definition of comfort. His bed? Huge. Like she could get lost in its dark cream sheets and navy comforter. The blinds were drawn, with only hints of afternoon light peeking in around the edges. Unlike the kitchen, this room was located at the back of the building, so it was quiet. As if they’d left Manhattan and been transported to a cabin in Wyoming.
And the scent.
It got into her blood and made it rush faster, the mingling aromas of aftershave and chocolate. She wanted to roll around in the source of wherever it came from.
Leo moved past her to the bed and drew back the comforter, revealing more of the cream-colored sheets. And she congratulated herself on asking him to take off his shirt. Because wow. Wow. He was thick everywhere. His arms, his torso, his fingers, his thighs. Built to move mountains or haul lumber, but he’d been called to this giving profession. One that made other people happy almost by accident—and it fit him so beautifully, this pouty man bear.
Her feelings for him were developing at an unexpected rate. Fast. This was fast. But also…right. Which was definitely scary, considering he didn’t know about her lost audition with Bexley. How she’d planned to use Leo to get another. Nor did he know she wasn’t a successfully employed Broadway dancer, she was merely one of thousands of hopefuls, her deadline clock ticking ominously in the back of her mind. The hole she’d dug had reached her neck, but no amount of guilt or dread could force her into ruining these perfect moments with him.
She’d resolved to tell him everything as soon as she got hired. As soon as there was no question about her intentions. But after this morning’s disastrous audition, that reality seemed further out of reach than before. Another reality moving further out of reach? One where she and Leo weren’t compatible and didn’t want to see each other again. With every passing moment, that didn’t merely seem unlikely. More like impossible.
How long was she expecting to drag out this pretense?
What if she never got hired?
Banishing the troubling thoughts from her mind for later, Reese followed Leo to the bed, slowing to a stop in front of him. Because nothing between them ever seemed to feel awkward, she gave in to the impulse to lean in and smell the hair-dappled skin between his pectoral muscles. “Are you going to get comfortable?” she asked, easing back to nod at his jeans, complete with belt buckle.
“Comfortable might be a stretch,” he rasped, his mouth resting on her temple.
His chest was so warm, she couldn’t help leaning against it, absorbing the heat. “It doesn’t seem fair that I’m the only one who gets to be without pants on this nap date.”
For once, she had no idea where a situation was heading.
Were they really going to nap?
Were they going to have sex?
No clue. Everything between them moved in an addictively organic fashion and this moment before they climbed into bed together was no different. There was no mistaking his hard-on. It curved the fly of his jeans, straining the button. She was sorely tempted to reach down and pop the button, lower the zipper, slide her hand inside the denim and memorize his response to her first stroke, but there was something more unique to them in the pauses. The lack of rush. The letting things happen.
So Reese boosted herself onto the bed and waited, cool silence surrounding them.
Leo watched her in that serious way, his hands eventually moving to his belt, unbuckling and letting the leather sides sag within their loops, unbuttoning next and pulling down the zipper. Her mouth opened on an involuntary puff of breath over the way his shaft swelled into the opening, hugged tightly in the black cotton of his briefs.