Page 15 of When You're Home
She still didn’t meet his gaze.Too much, too soon,he thought to himself. He could insist they were okay all he wanted. It didn’t change that fact that he could still feel her trying to get him to loosen his emotional grip. It was a familiar feeling, really: Tori slipping through his grasp as he aimlessly fumbled to hold on to any part of her she’d let him have.
They sat in awkward silence for several seconds. He regretted being on the opposite side of the bar, unable to physically connect with her as he felt her fading away.
“Listen, I don’t want you giving up another shift for me this weekend. How about I drive you in tomorrow and we can hang out at work?” He hoped that changing the subject would snap her out of her trance.
“No, that’s silly. I don’t want you just sitting around Clinton’s all day. I’m working open until three.”
Rhett let out a sigh of relief. At least she had responded to him. He could work with this.
“Tori, I want to. I’ll hang out with Jake at the bar. You won’t even know I’m there.”
She side-eyed him as he waited for her response. “You know you’re going to end up working, right?” He knew that. As soon as their boss, Mike, or any of their Sunday regulars saw him, he would be behind the bar making Bloody Marys.
“That is a risk I am prepared to take. Okay, it’s settled then,” he announced before Tori could argue with him. “We’re going to work together tomorrow. What time do you have to be there?”
“Six thirty,” she replied with a grimace. He held back any reaction to her admission, not wanting to deter her from their newly cemented plans.
“You better set your alarm now then, V. We’ve got”—he paused to pull out his phone and check the time—“eight hours until rise and shine. And you better believe I plan to make the most of all of them,” he added, circling back around the bar to meet Tori where she sat.
“Hot tub time?” he asked suggestively, getting as physically close to her as the barstool would allow. She spread her legs wide and scooted her ass to the edge of the seat, lining herself up with his body.
There she is, he thought as he watched the spark return to her eyes.
“Hot tub time,” she replied with a sly smile.
Chapter 9
Tori
ShecrossedthesunroomtoscoopupthebikinibottomsRhetthadrelievedherofwithinsecondsofwalkinginthedoor.Hadshereallyagreedtogoingintoworktogethertomorrow?I’m in trouble,she thought as she slipped her bikini bottoms back on and tied the loose side securely in place. She liked to think she was running the show when they were together, but Rhett was a commanding force against her willpower.
She made her way over to the storage chest, pulling her sundress off in the process. The Wheelers kept their hot tub storage cupboard as well stocked as the sunroom bar. She opened the cabinet door and reached in for two fluffy robes and a stack of towels, then set them on the loveseat near the door.
Rhett sauntered back into the sunroom from the kitchen. Tori ogled his bare chest as he approached. He had the most delectable neck she had ever seen on a man. His prominent Adam's apple contrasted against the hollow of his throat and the sharp definition of his collarbones.She loved to run her tongue through the peaks and valleys of his well-defined upper body.
Her eyes darted to his hands as they reached for the drawstring on the inside of his joggers. Suddenly he glanced up at her and frowned.
“Wait, did you put your bottoms back on?” he asked, mock annoyance lacing his voice.
“I did. Figured I should make you work for it after what you put me through today.” She kept her tone light. The accusation was sharp enough on its own.
Rhett stilled. He stood frozen in place, but his eyes began to roam her body.Ohhh,he came to play. The whole scene felt like déjà vu as she recalled how she had eye-fucked him that morning in his room.
Warmth gathered in her core as she took a steadying breath. They both knew what was about to happen. It had felt like this for ten years. Their attraction. Their connection. A magnetic current was pulling them into each other’s orbit. Together, they were an unstoppable force.
Tori was certain her string bikini top and bathing suit bottoms would catch fire if he kept his eyes on her much longer. All he had to do was tell her to undress. She stood there expectantly, ready for it. Wanting it. Needing it to forget the heaviness of the day. But he didn’t tell her to undress. In fact, he didn’t say anything. He just continued to assess her body with his searing blue-grey eyes.
She started panting softly as they stood in a stalemate in the sunroom. Her fingers grazed below her bare navel without conscious thought. Rhett’s eyes grew heavy as he followed her fingers, watching her hand move slowly across the cool fabric of her bathing suit. Her hand landed between her legs, pressing down on her aching mound through the material. She moved her fingers across her center a few times, teasing herself, then squeezing her thighs together in response to her own touch. She let out a quiet moan as she applied a bit more pressure. Without thinking, she moved her other hand and started undoing the side of her bikini.
Rhett made a deep, throaty sound of objection. “Nuh-uh. Leave. Them. On,” he demanded, stretching out each word for emphasis.
She squirmed at his command, arousal coursing through her body. She squeezed her eyes shut to keep from losing her cool.
“Let’s go,” he breathed into her ear. Tori’s eyes shot open at the proximity of his voice. Not only had he crossed the room without her realizing it, now he was also naked. His dick pressed into her hip, urging her to turn into him for a few seconds before he stepped away and stalked toward the door. It took every ounce of self-control not to reach out and touch him as she followed him outside.
“How hot do you want it?” he asked, his voice dripping with innuendo. He reached down to grab the handle of the hot tub cover to pull it back. Steam immediately rose off the surface as the heated water mingled with the freezing February air.
“Turn it all the way up.” She didn’t care that their banter sounded like the opening lines of a porno. She could barely form coherent thoughts after that standoff in the sunroom.
