“Close your eyes,” I repeated.
Archie gave me a look, hands still in his pockets and then he closed his eyes. Pulling the door wider, I padded right up to him. His shirt was so silky against my nipples as I rose up on my tiptoes and then brushed my lips to his. A light kiss, then a second one. His hands came out of his pockets and he had a hand wrapped around my nape and he pressed a thumb gently against my skull to turn my head. The kiss deepened and, instead of teasing him, I’d just thrown a whole lot of fuel onto the fire.
But he surprised me when he eased back. I managed to retreat on unsteady legs. His eyes were still closed. I made it back to the bathroom and pushed the door mostly closed so it shielded me.
“Okay,” I whispered. “You can open your eyes.”
With a slow exhale and even slower smile he met my gaze. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, I thought you should have something, since I’m making you wait.”
“Take all the time you need, babe,” he told me, a dark promise in his eyes. “You are definitely worth waiting for.”
I pushed the door closed and leaned back against it. What was I doing? I met my gaze in the mirror, my lips were a little puffy and swollen. My eyes huge and my face flushed.
“Frankie.” Archie was right on the other side of the door. “Tonight… it’s all about you and me. Nothing happens that you don’t want to happen. But you should know, I’m rock hard and that’s all you.”
I let out a breath because the thought of turning off the water and opening the door was right there. If I wanted it to happen, it would happen. “Ten minutes,” I said, and my voice squeaked. “And Archie?”
“I’m right here.”
“Nothing happens unless you want it to happen, too.” This wasn’t just about me. It hadn’t been from the beginning. These were my best friends and we were edging a line we couldn’t come back from. I think Jake and I had already crossed it, even if only by an inch. Coop and I were rapidly scorching the ground the line rested on.
“Trust me, babe, I want everything with you. So shower, get dressed and then I’m going to take you out for a great night.”
Great.
“Can’t wait.” Finally, I pushed myself off the door and headed for the shower.
Chapter Twenty-Two
What You Do to Me
Itook a little longer in the shower than I planned. The hot water and the quiet helped me organize the random chaos of my thoughts—particularly all the buzzing the guys had left in their wake and the nasty little whispering voice parroting Sharon’s words back at me. Dating the guys wasnew. New enough that a couple of weeks earlier… yeah. I didn’t want to focus on that part.
That was then.
That wasbefore.
We weren’t in the before anymore. So I made sure everything was shaved, scrubbed, shampooed, and shiny before I shut off the water and toweled the excess moisture from my hair. Some leave in conditioner followed by a blow-dry that took way too long. Archie had to be annoyed cooling his heels, but I got my hair straightened and neat then added light cosmetics because I’d never been a fan of the heavier stuff—and I didn’t really own any. I used a bit of cover-up on the hickeys to fade them. My hair down would also help hide them, but still…
All of that done, I eyed myself and sighed. I forgot to bring a change of clothesinwith me. Wrapping a clean towel around my torso, I tucked the end in between my boobs then opened the door. “Sorry to be taking so long,” I called as I hurried down the hall to my bedroom. “I’m almost ready.”
“No problem,” Archie said from ahead of me and I found him sprawled in the desk chair, Tabby in his lap shedding all of her white fur over his outfit. “I found a little pussy to pet while I waited.”
A groan escaped me before I could stop it. “You’ve been petting my pussies for years. That one doesn’t work on me anymore.”
He grinned. “Not all of them, but we can fix that soon enough.”
Dammit, lust ripped through me like a lightning bolt. All my hard-won calm from the shower went up in flames. “And on that note.” I pointed him to the door. “I have to get dressed.”
“Not really…” The wry comment had me jerking my head up. “Seriously,” he continued. “You make that towel look good. It’s really working for you. Have I ever told you what truly excellent legs you have? Firm, you can see the muscle definition—they’re soft. I always like it when your legs brush up against mine.”
Heat crawled through me and I had to be blushing. I just had to be. Even my chest was hot.
He studied me, still casually petting my little purring traitor. Tiddles at least just stared at him from my pillow, seemingly indifferent and Tory was probably under the bed or hiding in the living room. She was not a fan of people in general and it took her time to warm up to anyone in the house.
“What would you say if I told you I was picturing you without the towel?” Archie asked, his voice this soothing kind of croon. Really, it shouldn’t soothe me as easily as it did.