Page 71 of Play For Keeps

I sit on the edge of the bed, holding my arms out to her. She comes to me, standing between my parted thighs, her hands at the nape of my neck, my hands on the skin at her lower back.

“How did it go?”

“It went fine, I guess.”

I brush my hands over her back, down the curve of her ass. She’s obviously not fine, and I don’t blame her. I hate that she’s worried about Birdie. I hate her fuck-head ex-husband. I hate that there isn’t much I can say to help.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask, watching her bottom lip start to quiver. My blood is now boiling, and an intense feeling of protectiveness flashes through me. “Did he do something? Did he say something to you?”

She trails her fingers down the side of my face softly. “No. He wasn’t there. I saw Ida, his housekeeper.”

Figures he wasn’t there. I don’t know why I thought he would be. “Come here, baby. It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

Instead of relaxing into my arms, she chews on her bottom lip before letting out a breath, moving from between my thighs. “We should get ready for dinner.”

“Don’t do that, Ev.”

“Don’t do what?”

I grab her hand before she has a chance to slip away. “Don’t pretend that it isn’t killing you to be away from Birdie. I saw your face when you came back to the hotel. I know you and I know it’s killing you that she’s with him. I also know that you miss her with your whole heart. So, don’t pretend, for me, that everything is okay. Because I know you, and I know it isn’t.”

“How do you already know me so well?”

“I pay attention. I see you. I see you when you don’t even realize it.”

“Jake…” Her hazel eyes meet mine, sadness clouding them. She buries her face in my neck, and I cup the back of her head and hold her close.

“It’s okay, beautiful. I’ve got you. Grab my neck,” I say, wrapping her legs around my waist, carrying her away from the bed.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Did you see the tub? I’m running you a bath,” I tell her, setting her feet down on the tile floor in the spacious bathroom. I turn on the faucet and check the water temperature before turning to face Everly.

“Come here. Lift up your arms.”

I undress her, then order her into the tub. Before she lowers herself into the hot water, she removes the hair elastic from her wrist, tying her hair up on top of her head.

“Where are you going?” she asks as I move towards the door.

“I’m going to let you relax. I’ll order us room service.”

“I’m not hungry. I’d rather have you in here with me,” she says with heat in her eyes. Her words vibrate right through me. The invitation is all I need to shed my clothes and step into the tub with her. I sink into the hot water and then turn her around by her waist so she’s lying against my chest.

“As hard as today was, this feels pretty good,” she sighs, relaxing into me.

“The three orgasms I’m going to give you tonight are going to feel even better.”

She grabs my hand from where it’s roaming her body, lacing our fingers together. “Thank you for this weekend. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to sit in my apartment all weekend and stew on it. This is the best distraction.”

“Is that what I am… a distraction?”

Everly turns in my arms. “A hot, sexy distraction. I see you too, Lover Boy. You’re not the broody guy people take you for. You’re a big mush on the inside. You’re like a pineapple. Soft on the inside but prickly and rigid on the outside.”

“I’ll show you rigid,” I say, forcefully lifting her onto my lap. Water sloshes over the sides of the tub as she giggles in my arms, seated on my hard-as-steel cock.

“How’s that for hard?” I ask, lifting my hips against her center. She squeezes her eyes shut and then darts her tongue out to wet her bottom lip.

“Like stone.”

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