Page 40 of Trip Me Up

“No, that’s not what I—I think we need to maintain our boundaries.” He rubbed his hand over his chest, making the nipples stand at attention. The tease. Mine did the same in sympathy.

“Boundaries. Okay.” I shrugged, gripping the towel tightly. His body might say yes, but he’d said no, and I had to respect that. I’d brought my vibrator and plenty of batteries. I perused his sweaty post-workout body one last time, storing it in my spank bank. Respecting those boundaries, you know. “You could moonlight as a fitness instructor. People pay a lot to look like”—I briefly released the towel to wave at his body—“all that. Have you thought about doing videos on TikTok?”

“On what?”

“TikTok.” Funny, he didn’t look that old. “You know, the short video sharing platform?”

The slack expression on his face told me he didn’t know. “I don’t do workouts, really, except running when I’m on tour. Working on the farm keeps me in shape.”

Damn, now I’d fantasize about him tossing big bales of hay around. Ooh, or those big quads cinched around the heaving sides of a horse. Though it’d be a shame to cover them up in a pair of jeans. Maybe a kilt, like Jamie inOutlander?Mmm, yes. I squeezed my thighs tighter. I’d have to see to those needs first, before dinner.

“Well, if there’s nothing else, I should probably, um…” I tilted my head back toward my room.

“Oh. Right. The first event tomorrow’s at noon. Meet you downstairs in the lobby at eleven?”

“Sure.” Though we’d already covered all that during the ride from the airport.

“G’night. Night, Bilbo.” With one finger, he rubbed Bilbo Baggins on the top of the head, right between his ears, the way he loved. That put his finger teasingly close to my chest. For a second, I imagined that finger slipping to the top of my towel, dragging it down, before he pressed his sweaty body against my clean one.

Wow. I really needed to unpack that vibrator.

“Night, Niall.” The towel gaped a little when I bent to pick up my to-go bag, and I didn’t care. I let the door close behind me, shutting out his slack jaw and blown pupils. Two could play the teasing game.

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