I sputter on my laughter as it turns into a cough of surprise at his confession. “What else can I do?” I ask, deciding to ignore his comment. Well, internally, my body is all warm and fuzzy, knowing that he thinks I’m beautiful. On the outside, however, I don’t let him see that his words affect me.
“I think I’ve got it from here. Should be ready in about twenty minutes or so.”
I nod. “Okay. I think I’m going to take a hot shower. I’ll be quick.” I rush out of the kitchen like my ass is on fire. I need a minute. Knowing that he thinks I’m beautiful just heightens my desire for him. It’s stupid and superficial, but I can’t help the way that I feel. I can’t stop how his words affect me, no matter how bad I wish that I could.
Upstairs, I grab some clothes and head across the hall to the bathroom. Reaching into the shower, I turn the water to hot and then strip, waiting for it to warm up. Reaching into the closet, I grab a towel and hang it up just outside of the shower before step under the hot spray. The hot water is warm and inviting and just what I needed. My toes were still a little chilled from being outside earlier. I stand still, letting the water rain down as I soak up all the warmth it provides.
Knowing dinner will be ready soon, I reach for the shampoo when something on the ceiling catches my eye. Lifting my head, I see a huge black spider and let out a loud scream, and scramble to get out of the shower. I hate spiders, and this one was looking right at me. I know I need to turn off the water and do something about the bathroom intruder, but I need to let my heart rate settle just a little before I attempt to do anything.
“Aspen!” Fists pound against the bathroom door. I open my mouth to reply when the door bursts open. Standing in the doorway is a frazzled Conrad, fists balled tight. “What is it? What happened?” He looks around the room, and then his eyes land on me.
I’m holding the towel I laid out in front of me, and I’m dripping wet, and my body is chilled, missing the heat that the water was providing. “Sp-Spider,” I say, pointing to the ceiling of the shower.
I’m calm enough that I notice his shoulders visibly relax. “Spider,” he repeats, taking a step toward me. I don’t know what I expected, but it’s not him pulling my naked wet body into his chest, holding me tight. “I thought something happened, that maybe somebody was in here with you.” His words are a whispered confession, and I can hear the relief in his voice.
He was worried about me.
He pulls away slightly, and his brown eyes study me. His hand cups my cheek, and I lean into his touch. “So beautiful,” he whispers. His touch sends a current racing through my veins.
I think he’s going to kiss me. I want him to kiss me. My heart is pounding in my chest, and I can practically already feel his lips pressed to mine. He leans in, and I will him to do it. To kiss me. To put us both out of this constant “will he or will she back and forth” we’ve been playing.
Instead, he pulls away all too soon. I slump back against the counter as I watch him grab some toilet paper off the roll and step into the shower, grabbing the spider from its spot on the ceiling and flushing it down the toilet.
“You okay?” he asks, his voice husky.
“Y-Yeah.” My voice is thick with my want for him.
“I’ll see you downstairs.” He swallows hard and raises his hand. I think he’s going to touch me again, but he quickly drops it to his side and leaves me alone.
I stand still and listen to his footsteps as they pound down the stairs, the sound the same rhythm as the beat of my heart in my chest. When I can no longer hear his footsteps, I move to get dressed. My hands tremble as I finish drying off and pull on my clothes. I don’t know if I’m cold or if it’s my body's reaction to his touch. Either way, I know that I need to be near him. I don’t think about what that means or what I’m going to do about it. I rush through, brushing out my hair before tying it up wet and rushing down the steps to see him.
“Thanks for that,” I say when I make it to the kitchen.
“I’ll be sure to add spider slayer to my résumé,” he teases. “Ready to eat?” he asks, pulling the baking sheet of bread sticks from the oven.
“Starving,” I tell him honestly. What I don’t tell him is that even though my stomach is growling, I’d pass up the opportunity of food for one taste of his lips pressed to mine. I watch as he makes us both a plate.
“Are we eating in here or in the living room?”
“Another movie?” I ask.
“You pick. I’ll be right in with drinks.”
Taking our plates I set his on the table while I settle on the couch with mine. Reaching for the remote, I scroll through our options, pulling up a series I’ve never seen before.
“Have you seen this?” he asks from behind me. Walking around the couch, he hands me a beer and sets one for himself on the end table.
“No.”
“Me either. I say we go for it.”
I shrug and hit Play. Together we eat in silence as we allow ourselves to get lost in the series. It’s really good, and by the third episode, we’re both addicted. By the fourth episode, my head is in his lap, his hands are running through my hair, my hair tie I used to put it up earlier today, long since forgotten, and I have a blanket thrown over me. Conrad Riggins and his touch are quickly becoming my addiction.
Chapter 8
Conrad
The bathroom door closing down the hall wakes me from sleep. My cock is already hard from the dream I was having about her. Aspen. Now to know that she's just down the hall, naked and wet, I'm so hard it's painful.
I carried her to bed again last night. I wanted her to ask me to stay. I wanted to crawl under the covers and hold her against me all night long. That's not me. That's never been who I am. I never bring women back to my place so I can get away. I usually blame it on work or need to help one of my brothers, but I always find an excuse not to stay.
Now here I am with Aspen, and all I want is to stay. Stay with her. My mind takes me back to last night when I heard her scream. I couldn't climb the stairs fast enough to get to her. My heart stalled in my chest until I laid eyes on her and could see she was okay. I held her mostly naked body next to mine, and it took every ounce of effort I possessed to pull away from her. I don’t know how much longer I can resist her. Hell, I don’t even know if I want to resist her anymore.
My phone rings, and I see Grant’s goofy face smiling at me. “What’s up, brother?” I answer.
“How are things there? Is it still snowing?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m still in bed. Give me a second.” Tossing off the covers, I climb to my feet and make my way to the window. “It finally stopped. Let’s hope they can get to the roads today.” I can hear him exhale with relief through the line.
“The roads are the least of my worries. We can get that taken care of.” He doesn’t say it, but I know what he’s thinking. We can hire a private contractor who has a snowplow and dump truck for salt to treat the road. That won’t stop us from having this wedding. “Why are you still in bed?”
“Aspen and I started this series last night, and we watched like five episodes before we both dropped to exhaustion.”