Page 29 of Welcome Home for Christmas
Allison shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. My mother will find some fatal flaw in you. I promise. She could find a flaw in Saint Nicholas.”
Troy shifted uncomfortably. “Good to know.”
—
There was a perma-grin on Allison’s face. Her skin stretched uncomfortably and those small muscles in her cheeks were already sore from laughing and smiling so much—Troy’s effect on her.
“Leave the dishes,” she said, as he tried to stand and help her take them to the kitchen sink. “I’ll get them. You’re a guest.”
He continued to stand and reached for a dish.
Then Allison shifted and cried out. “Oww!”
Her left calf muscle tightened mercilessly. She set the dishes back down and braced herself on the table in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” Troy asked, rushing to her side.
“Ow, ow, ow!” She pressed her eyes closed, digging her fingernails into the ridge of the table. “Charley horse. In my calf,” she said breathlessly, waiting for the muscles to relax. They didn’t. “I’ve been taking a new exercise class at the Veterans’ Center and it’s wreaking havoc on my muscles.”
Troy took her gently by the arm and led her to sit in her chair at the table. “What can I do?”
She shook her head as her muscles tightened even harder. “Oh, my God. It hurts so…bad.” She laughed. If she didn’t laugh, the pain was enough to make her cry. And she was not crying in front of Troy. No way.
“Where does it hurt? Right here?” His hand cupped the back of her calf muscle and squeezed softly. He cupped again, squeezed, kneaded the muscle, turning it into putty in his hand. “How’s that?”
Allison’s eyes were still closed, but the pain started to subside under his touch. Under his touch, other body parts awakened, very aware of his magic hands. Without meaning to, a sigh escaped her lips. “Ahh.”
“Feeling better?” His gaze was locked on her as she opened her eyes. The usual twinkling of his brown eyes was now replaced by heat.
She swallowed and looked down. He was on his knees in front of her chair, holding one of her legs in his lap. A few more inches upward and he’d be touching places that were off-limits to pretend boyfriends. “Better,” she agreed, slowly pulling away. Her mouth was dry and her heart was doing this fluttery thing. Unwelcomed tingles suddenly swarmed those areas of her body that he was way too close to.
Troy didn’t move. “I don’t think we’re going to have to fake sexual attraction this weekend,” he said. “We have that in spades.”
“Do we?” she asked, knowing darn well they did. Just the way he was looking at her could have made her climax right now. She clutched the arms of her chair, needing to hold on to something to keep her from reaching up and touching his very touchable body. And if she allowed herself to touch him, she might not be able to stop.
“That kiss this morning was enough to occupy my thoughts all day.” His eyes shifted to her lips.
Without thinking, she ran her tongue over the bottom one, making it slick and ready. Just in case he got the idea to kiss her again. Which might not be so bad. Right now her body was doing its best to block her thoughts and make her want all kinds of things she would usually consider a bad idea. She preferred to chase after good ideas, things that were productive.
Kissing Troy could be productive, though. One touch from him could produce a million of those little endorphins that couldn’t be replicated with a thousand bites of dark chocolate. She was pretty sure he could make her feel so good that she wouldn’t be in a bad mood for an entire year.
Grabbing her leg again, he began to massage the muscle that had put them in this very enticing position. “I want things to be believable for your family. We shouldn’t act like two people who are afraid to touch each other,” he said.
Heat coursed through her body. She watched as he lowered his mouth and kissed the back of her calf where she’d experienced so much pain a minute earlier. “You have a good point. My mother is very perceptive. A happy couple should be comfortable touching each other.”
Troy smiled, kissing her calf again. “Exactly my point.” His hand traveled up her knee, veering to the outside of her thigh as he leaned in even closer, the width of his body forcing her legs to part for him. “Let’s try this. How about you put your hands on my shoulders? Touch me.”
She hesitated. There was a war raging inside her: resisting and wanting the man in front of her. But touching his shoulders seemed innocent enough. Until her skin met the rock-hard muscle under his T-shirt. She gave a little squeeze, intrigued by the feel of him.
“Mmm,” he said, urging her to squeeze more.
His hands rode up from her thighs to her waist, then he gently, almost imperceptibly, pulled her to the edge of her seat. His eyes were level with her breasts, which couldn’t be satisfied by a purple vibrator. Nope. They’d been long denied and now her nipples were at attention, begging for her to give in to this raging desire that was suddenly burning her up. There was a man close enough to satisfyallher needs.
Her breaths grew short and she squeezed his shoulder muscles again. There were two directions this moment could go. One, she could get control of herself and pull away. Or two, with enough justification, she could talk herself into more touching.Lotsmore touching.
She waited for Troy’s next words. There was a lot riding on those next words.
One of his hands moved from her waist up just slightly, lingering below her breasts. His gaze went to hers, asking permission. No words.
She closed her eyes, feeling her lips part for him. Her body burned for him. Then his hand cupped one breast through her shirt and a moan escaped her. Who needed words when body language saidso, somuch?
That was all the justification she needed to let this moment ride.
