Page 69 of This Time Around
His voice carried the tone of intent and there was no missing it.
We’d kissed.We’d kissed a lot.He touched me a lot.I also liked it a lot when he touched me in the kitchen.And I wanted more of it, but I wasn’t the one to make that move.
“Just a bath, Rebecca.That’s all it has to be.”
I’d heard that before when he said he wanted to touch me.I’d thrilled at every touch he gave me that night and in the weeks since.
The reminder he was leaving, and now there was a possible end date flared into my brain, but I doused it with water.
This was what I’d proposed weeks ago and my proposal was still on the table as far as I was concerned.It was about time he picked it up.
“Bath and wine it is, then.”
His two, thick brows arched.“Yeah?”
I grabbed his hand and stepped backward up the steps, pulling him with me.“Oh, yeah.”
He heldmy hand through the house, letting me guide the way but making it clear he wasn’t letting go until I asked.
Hesitancy and nerves tumbled in my stomach, along with something warmer.It felt like desire and anticipation, two things I hadn’t experienced in so long, I thought I never would again.It made it difficult to know which sensation to choose.
There were too many battling for first place in my head, and in order to silence them, I started rambling.
“My parents renovated the upstairs when Jordan and I were at college.We used to have four bedrooms up here and only one bathroom, typical of older farmhouses.But they knocked out a bedroom in between their room and the bathroom, made the hall bath larger, and created one of their own.”
He smiled, and it was obvious he was humoring me.“Sounds lovely.”
It really was incredible.My parents hired a contractor from Kansas City to make sure it was done right, topnotch, and stepping inside had always made me feel like I’d reached a spa.There was a double-sized walk-in shower with jets that came at you from every which direction, a bonus when muscles were sore.Plus, my mom had been a bubble bath lover so the oversized tub had been situated directly beneath the window facing west.She could bathe and watch the sun set, and keep an eye on the cattle all at the same time.
When I came home from college on weekends, she had to pry me out of there.More than once Joseph had to do the same.Or join me.
Like Cooper was going to do now.
I was going to be naked with him.
His body against mine.
Holy crap.His soon-to-be ex was a supermodel.How could I compare?
He must have caught my thought because his hand gave mine a firm squeeze.“You still doing okay?”
I cleared my throat.Was I?No.Not in the physical sense.The woman he’d been married to for years was a supermodel for Christ’s sake.But beneath that ridiculous fear—Cooper had always shown he appreciated my body—was something different.
A warmth.An excitement pulsing at my center and spreading outward.
I was okay.Yeah.This was good.For once, feeling okay didn’t feel bad.
An odd combination I wasn’t used to.
“I’m good.”I attempted a reassuring smiling, turning to glance at him over my shoulder, but it must have failed.
His brows knitted together and he stopped just outside the threshold to my bedroom.He pulled his hand from mine and cupped my cheek, his smile soft, eyes darting back and forth between mine.
“What is it?”I asked when he didn’t say anything.
“I’ll let you run the water and get ready.”
“I thought—”
