“If it isn’t the sex pest himself.” She lazily turns her head in my direction and I drink her in. Her hair is tied up in a bun that I assume is meant to look messy and haphazard, but each curl that falls down her face is deliberate, and the way it sits, I know she spent time on that look. With comfy-looking denim cutoffs that hug her figure perfectly and a white tank that clings to her skin with a mouthwatering display of cleavage, I try to make quick work of my appreciation for her as I finally land back on her eyes.
“Even in casual you are delicious.” I’m sure she can see the heat blazing from my eyes. Luckily I managed to get my public boners under control a long time ago or other things would also be very obvious.
Rosie rolls her eyes, faking indifference, but I catch the little smirk of her lips and the way her eyes gleam with appreciation as she pretends to check over her nails.
“Flattery isn’t getting you anywhere this weekend,cabrón.So give it up now.” She smiles menacingly.
“You going to be able to keep your hands off me this weekend then?” I tease back, stepping into her space. I note the quick look she glides over my form. I, too, have dressed for the occasion. With the heat of the summer, I’m in a loosely buttoned, short-sleeve linen button-down and navy chinos. The heat is a little thick, but I know I’m seeing my dad today, and despite my attempts to act like I don’t care what he thinks anymore, I dressed up a little anyhow. Perhaps this time he will see the clean-cut, sophisticated life I live and stop doubting and judging every single move I make.
“You’re forgetting that it isyouwho is obsessed withme,” she emphasizes with a condescending pat on my chest before sidestepping me and heading for her car.
“How about we ride together?” Because I’m not ready for her to leave my personal space. She’s right, of course. Iamobsessed with her. But she doesn’t need to know how true that statement is. Not just yet.
“No.” Rosie sighs simply.
She gestures something to her driver and then he’s reaching for her bag. I tug it away from him and he just frowns, looking back at Rosie.
“Caleb.” She narrows her eyes at me.
“If you want your bag, you’ll have to come get it.”
“What are you doing?” she asks, stepping back out of the car, taking frigid steps toward me as I back away from her, her bag in my hand and rolling beside me. She approaches like I’m a skittish animal about to escape with something valuable. “This is not fun, Caleb,” she hisses at me, her brows creasingin frustration, and it only makes me smile wider. I love getting under her skin, especially when it is so damn easy to do.
“How about you come check out my hotel room with me. You can collect your hostage case from there.” I give her a daring glance, my lips curling with silent invitation. She stands up straight, her hip jutting out as her arms cross over her chest in a pose I’ve trademark stamped as Rosie’s. She scowls, or rather, she tries to, but it’s just an adorable pout. It’s funny how, after all this time, her ferociousness doesn’t scare me away as much as it used to. Instead, it’s just another thing that makes me ache for her when she isn’t around.
“I don’t think so, hotshot. Now give me my things. I am meant to be checking in and then meeting Addison.” She gestures withgimme itgrabby hands at the case, her sexy scowl still firmly in place, and I bite down on my chuckle, taking a step back every time she moves closer.
She takes two steps forward, I take another two back, and when she finally huffs an annoyed breath, stomping her feet like the drama queen she is, I laugh. My stomach stirs as I watch her smile struggle to break through, like she can’t help but also laugh.
She throws her hands up on a grunt. “You aresoannoying.”
“You love it.” I wink at her, but she rolls her eyes.
“Well, I have a car, so you may as well use it too. Get in and give me the address.”
I fight the very real need to fist-pump in triumph at winning the little game I was playing with her, and then again when she smiled at me, even if she did roll her eyes too.
“Where are you staying?” She huffs, still pretending to hate my presence—though I know she secretly loves it—as the driver loads up our luggage and we pile into the car.
“The Seraphine,” I reply, pulling out my phone to check my booking details. I glance up at her and this time it’s real anger glaring back at me. “What?” I raise my hands in defense.
“Is this a joke?” Confused, I open my booking details to confirm the name and, yeah, it’s definitely correct. I twist the phone around to show her.
“Why do you insist on following me around like this.” She throws her head back against the seat.
“First of all, let’s not pretend like you aren’t excited about the possibility of sneaky sex around our friends. I know exactly what gets you off, and the threat of being caught is one.” She tilts her head in my direction, glare still in place, but I catch the twist of her lips as she tries to hide her reaction. “Secondly, I don’t see the problem. I stay at the Seraphine every time I come to Chicago.”
“I thought your dad lived here.” She sighs, sitting up straighter.
“He does,” I explain, smiling at her impatient hand gesture for me to get to the point. “I don’t like to stay with him though. He and his wife are…a lot.” I fiddle with my phone, not all that open to going down the problematic family line. Sure, Rosie has told me a lot about her family, but I don’t know that I’m ready to go down that path yet. I feel quite raw and open when Rosie and I get heated, when it’s just the two of us. I need something that holds a barrier between us. This thing, whatever it is between us, is uncharted territory for me. I have no idea how to go about it, I don’t even know how to stop it or slow it down. I do know that I’m setting myself up for something painful, fully aware that if I don’t keep some kind of barrier between us, Rosie Garcia could destroy me. “Why is it a problem where I stay anyway?” I ask, hoping she changes the topic.
“You’re really going to sit there and act like you don’t know.” Her posture oozes attitude. I raise a questioning brow, lettingher know I have absolutely no idea what has got her in such a fit about where I’m staying. “Ugh. My family owns the hotel,cabrón.I’m also staying there.” She frowns deeper when my smile splits my face. “Why are you looking at me like that.” She falls back against the door, trying hard to get away from me, and though I know it’s part of her mask, pretending like she can’t stand me, it’s starting to sting.
“Just awfully convenient for us to both be under the same roof for a weekend, don’t you think? Addy and Noah won’t even know.” I can feel the heat coursing through my body as I picture all the filthy things we can get up to this weekend, and then it changes to warmth, because the idea of just spending time with Rosie this weekend, is another level of pleasing.
“Mmmm.” She narrows her eyes at me before I see an idea light up her face. “Maybe, if you’re a good boy this weekend, we might have some fun after all.” She bites her lip playfully as I watch her eyes scan my entire body.
The rest of the drive from the airport to the hotel is filled with a tense silence. Or maybe that was in my head, maybe I was creating a tension where there was none? But she was right there next to me, and I wanted to tell her a million things. That or just strip her naked and have my filthy way with her. I really didn’t know how to be around her as the indifferent playboy anymore. It was either have all of her pressed up against me and screaming my name, or it was baring my soul to her.
