He blinked hard before giving her a lazy grin. “No, baby, my eyes are real. Like the rest of me.”

She was pretty sure that there was innuendo in there somewhere, but it went over her head. Her hand reached out and skimmed over his shoulder. She felt the muscles ripple and tense under her fingertips. It made her shift restlessly in her seat.

“Eat.” He pressed a grape to her lips.

She did as she was told, opening her mouth for him to feed her. She ran the tip of her tongue over his thumb before he released the grape. Josh let out a low groan. Caroline’s breath quickened. “Would you take off your T-shirt if I asked you to?”

Josh chuckled.

“I won’t do anything to offend you,” she said haughtily. “I only want to look at your muscles. You have more than you deserve, seeing as you live on burgers and only run when you’re being chased.”

Another chuckle. “I’m not stripping for you, Caroline.”

She pouted, pulling herself up from her reclining position to sit on the edge of the chair. Her knees bumped Josh’s, and he put the plate he was holding down on the tile beneath them.

“Why not?”

 

; “Because stripping will lead to touching, and you’re in no state for touching.”

She poked him in the chest. Ooh, it felt good. She flattened her palm against him and smoothed it over his pecs and down to his stomach. The frustration of the past few days grew within her. “Touching is a good idea. I like it. Let’s touch some more.”

Her other hand joined the one that was on Josh’s stomach. She watched as the two of them made their way up to his shoulders. How was it possible to get so excited about shoulders? She’d read almost all the sex books she’d stolen—sorry, borrowed—from the library, and not one of them mentioned shoulders. Mainly they mentioned…

Her gaze dropped to the front of Josh’s jeans, which were looking very tight. She’d slept beside him for three nights now and she still hadn’t seen him out of his underwear. Maybe he didn’t want her to see him? Maybe something was wrong?

Josh’s shoulders started to shake under her fingertips. She looked up to find he was silently laughing at her. She frowned. “It’s not nice to laugh at me.”

“Baby,” he said in that deep voice of his. The one that rumbled through her body. “You’re staring at my—”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t say that word. It’s a rude word.”

He laughed against her finger. Caroline ignored him, once again distracted by the bulge at the front of his jeans. She’d felt it against her, but she hadn’t seen it. Or touched it. Surely if there wasn’t a problem he’d want to show it to her?

“Is there something wrong with you? Something you don’t want me to know?”

Her eyes went wide. She’d read the chapters on sexual dysfunction, so she knew what could go wrong. She leaned closer to him so she could whisper. “Are you having problems down there?” She took one hand off his shoulder and pointed at his crotch. She blushed. “I read about this. There are things you can do if your, um, uh, equipment isn’t working properly. I can lend you the books.” She cringed. “Once I’ve taken them back to the library.”

She felt inordinately proud of herself. There. She’d done it. She’d talked about sex. She beamed at Josh. He shook his head slowly as a huge grin lit up his face. “I don’t have any problems with my equipment. It’s functioning perfectly fine.”

“Then what are you worried about?” She took a deep breath. “Are you worried I won’t like it? I have to tell you, Josh, I haven’t seen any real…equipment. Only the ones in books. So you don’t have to worry; my expectations are really low in that department.”

Josh threw back his head and roared with laughter. She smacked him on the chest.

“I’m thrilled to hear you have low expectations, baby.” He wiped his eyes.

Caroline didn’t see what was so funny. She thought she was bending over backwards to be understanding and considerate. “If there isn’t a problem, why don’t you take off your T-shirt.” She licked her lips. “In fact, why don’t you take off everything.”

He put his hand softly on her cheek, and she rested into it. “I’d love to get naked with you. But now isn’t the right time. You’re plastered, baby.”

“I am not.” Caroline shot to her feet, making Josh wobble before landing on his backside. “I only had a few glasses of champagne. There’s nothing wrong with me.” She swayed slightly, her head suddenly full of the stars in the sky. It was distracting. And then a thought occurred to her. “Unless there is something wrong with me?” Horrified, she looked down at Josh. “There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there? That’s why you don’t want to touch me. I thought you liked touching me. You had your hand down my pyjamas this morning.”

Josh shook his head slowly as he stood up. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“Is it because I’m so inexperienced? Or is it because I’m so plain? I thought you liked my breasts.” She cupped herself, trying to decide what she thought of them. “They’re not that big, but they stay where they’re supposed to. I thought they were okay. They’re not big enough, are they?”

She looked up to find Josh staring at her chest, a pained expression on his face. She was right—she wasn’t good enough. She let her hands drop and started to turn away.

Tags: Janet Elizabeth Henderson Invertary Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net