have a dryer?”
“Yes, of course, but why do you—”
She hadn’t even got the words out of her mouth before Kaleb stepped into the bathtub, still clad in his jeans.
“What are you doing?” The words came out as a choked laugh.
“Showing you that there’s nothing wrong with a little laughter.” He grinned and slid his body into the water until he was facing her, the bottoms of his feet sliding up her calves, over her knees and working their way up her thighs. “As long as that laughter ends with me making love to you.”
HIS JEANS WERE staying on. Because if he took them off, it was all over. The look of shock on her face had made the pain of not being able to immediately take what he wanted a little easier to bear. He would get there. Soon enough.
“So this is your tub.” He stretched both arms along the ledge on either side of him. Set into the corner of the room, the white fixture was definitely big enough for the both of them. He was able to fully extend his legs without a problem. The only thing wrong with the setup was that she’d put so many damned bubbles into the water, he couldn’t see a thing.
Do you promise not to laugh?
When he’d realized what she meant, the words had hit his gut like a freight train. He couldn’t imagine anyone laughing at Maddy.
But she’d felt insecure enough to think that he might.
“Was I right about its size?”
“You were. It’s far too big for my liking, in fact.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “It is?”
“Absolutely. You are much too far away.” With that, he ducked his arms beneath the water until he found her calves. He wrapped his fingers around them and tugged. Maddy came sliding toward him with a small screech. She laughed again, making him smile. “That’s better.”
He slid his ankles around her backside, his body erupting with need when his bare feet met nothing but her skin. Okay, so the jeans might not have been a good idea after all. He was going to have a hell of a time getting them off when the time came. Especially since he could well imagine which parts of her body were now resting against his lower half.
Trying to forget about that, he cupped her face and leaned in to kiss her, taking up where they’d left off in the other room. Maddy’s hands went to his shoulders, her wet fingers warm from being submerged in the water.
“You need to take your jeans off.”
The whispered words echoed his earlier thoughts.
“I will in a few minutes.” Some kind of long beige sponge lay to the left of them along the edge of the tub. He touched it, surprised to find it wasn’t soft and spongy at all, but firm.
“That’s the loofah.” She took it from him and poured some kind of liquid onto it. “Turn around.”
“Not a chance.” The last thing he wanted to do was face away from her.
She leaned in and kissed his cheek, her chin rubbing along his jawline. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
Dammit. Now she had him thinking all kinds of crazy things. Unhooking his ankles from behind her, he stood, turning to face the far wall, which had a large mirror attached. He sank back into the water, his eyes meeting Maddy’s. This time, she was the one with the smile.
“Back up so I can reach you.”
He did just that, her legs coming around his, feet tucking beneath his thighs. The sponge connected with his back and she scrubbed with just enough pressure to make his nerve endings stand up and sing. “Hell.”
Maddy laughed. “Really? Because I always thought it felt like heaven.”
Heaven. Hell. They were kind of all squashed together in his head right now.
Leaning forward a bit, he closed his eyes, unable to keep a low groan from coming out. She continued to move the sponge over him, gradually working her way up until she reached his shoulders.
Then something soft pressed against the skin of his back and his eyes popped open just as he realized what it was. Her breasts. Before he could do anything, Maddy looped her arms over his shoulders, sliding the top of the sponge down his chest and over his abdomen until it dipped beneath the water. Then it pressed against a part of him that was beginning to protest. Loudly. Insistently.
He grabbed the sponge from her and set it back where it came from.
“Now, Maddy,” he said, staring at her in the mirror and realizing he was fighting a battle he had no desire to win. “Now it’s time to lose the jeans.”
* * *
Something was tickling her ear.
Not physically, but...
Sound. The gentle trill of...an alarm clock?
No. She shifted her hand and met warm flesh. She snuggled closer, an arm coming around her waist and dragging her fully against him.
And there were no jeans to come between them this time.
The noise came again. Melodic. Distant.
A phone? She blinked her eyes open for a second. Her hand slid along his bare arm, enjoying the rough feel of masculine hair against her palm.
The singsong tune morphed into something not so pleasant. She didn’t want to listen to it anymore. In fact, she didn’t want to listen to anything except...
Something banged repeatedly against a hard surface.
The figure behind her sat up and turned her onto her back, a slight smile playing around the edges of his mouth.
Kaleb. Wow. So it hadn’t been a dream.
None of it. Heat swept over her body as she remembered the second he’d lowered that zipper.
Light peeked around the edges of her curtains. It was morning.
Something pounded again. It was a little too early for repairs, wasn’t it?
“Someone’s at your door.” His thumb came out to slide along her lower lip. A shiver went over her.
She stretched, enjoying what met her eyes. His chest was naked, the sheet just barely covering his...
...at the door?
“Maddy? Hello? Are you home?”
A voice... The sound was no longer outside, but inside the apartment!
Inside!
Wrenching herself upright, she stared at Kaleb, no longer in admiration, but in abject panic as
