He reached for a towel and dried himself off. A second towel remained for Everly to use when she was ready. He couldn’t resist a glance over his shoulder when he left the bathroom and started to pull the door closed behind him. When he did, he watched Everly hang her wet bra over the side of the shower. What he saw of her side profile was enough to make him realize that his desire for her was only thinly veiled by his concern.
Leaving her alone was one of the most challenging things he’d ever done.
By the time the pizza arrived, he was dressed and ready with the payment for the delivery guy. He had no sooner set out plates and napkins than Everly emerged from his bedroom. She wore one of his long-sleeved T-shirts with the sleeves cuffed. It hit her at mid-thigh.
“I guess I need to get some more of my clothes,” she said.
“Actually, Margaret got you some things to wear,” he admitted as he poured them both some ice water. “I just got focused on the pizza and left them in the guest room.”
“Oh.” She looked down the hallway.
“Please don’t change,” he said.
“But I’m not wearing any underwear.”
Since he was only too aware of that fact, he dipped his head as if to say, And your point is?
Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the island and took a seat. “All right. If it gets me to this pizza faster, I’ll cave in to your wanton ways.”
“Sucker.”
They dug in. Although he wanted to ask her about what he’d overheard her father say in her hospital room, he didn’t. She’d been through enough in the past couple of days as it was. That didn’t keep him from wishing she’d just tell him. Surely she realized that he’d been standing on the other side of the curtain when her father threatened her. Didn’t she?
What had happened to her all those years ago?
The question circled around his brain as they ate and again when they moved into the family room to watch television. After setting her up on one of the sofa’s recliners, he moved the coffee table closer so he could put his feet up while he sat beside her. She snuggled against his right side, smelling like his shampoo and body wash. Thinking of her sitting there in his shirt without any undergarments on made him want to scoop her up and take her to his bed.
Less than an hour later, he found himself doing just that. She fell asleep during a Hawks game. Since he hadn’t done much more than doze in a waiting room chair the night before, he was more than ready to call it a night.
Rather than carry her to the guest room, though, he brought her to his room. He settled her under the covers, then went and collected her things from the other room, including her medication. He set everything on the nightstand where she could see it in case she woke up in the middle of the night. Then he went to shower away the grime from the past twenty-four hours.
By the time he had dried himself off, brushed his teeth, and pulled on his cotton sleep shorts, his vision had all but crossed from exhaustion. Leaving the subtle over-shower light on, he pulled the door almost all the way closed and stumbled to his bed.
Then, since she wasn’t awake to object, he pulled Everly up against him and slept.
* * *
Everly woke to find herself draped over Cole.
It took her a long moment to remember where she was. She blinked blearily in the faint sunlight that filtered into the room and allowed the memories to return. She remembered the time during the night when Cole woke her and forced her to take a pain pill. He told her that she was making noises in her sleep. Then she remembered trying to get comfortable. She hadn’t been able to do so until she was on her left side, her right arm thrown over Cole’s waist.
That didn’t explain the leg she’d also thrown over him, she thought now.
Since he was also on his side, she faced his back and felt free to bite her bottom lip as she fully realized she was in Cole Parker’s bed. Her hand lay against his muscular abdomen. Her left leg pressed against his backside while her right leg was over his thigh.
When she moved her right hand, she found her fingers entangled in his.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked in a sleepy voice.
She grinned. Pressing her forehead against his back, she replied, “I have this physical therapy gig. It pays well, so...”
He slowly turned so he was on his back and she was nestled in the crook of his arm. His fingers ran idly through her hair, caressing her neck and the side of her jaw. Goosebumps sprang up on her arms. She traced a mindless pattern on his chest that mimicked his touch.
“How much would I have to pay you to get you to stay here with me instead?” he asked.
She pretended to think about it. “Maybe...a million dollars?”
“Done.”
She laughed. “Nice try. You’re not getting out of your exercises today.”
“You’re such a hardass.”
His fingers brushed against her earlobe, making her shiver. She found herself wishing he’d use his lips and teeth instead.
“Sorry,” she said. “I have a lot of interest in getting this particular client to full health.”
“Hmm.”
She noted that when she reached certain areas of his upper body, he tensed and held his breath. Curious, she allowed her hand to drift to those areas more often. After a minute, his hand reached up and stilled hers.
Interesting.
“I might be convinced to dawdle a bit if you kissed me,” she said in a soft voice.
Since she wasn’t looking at his face, she was unprepared for his sudden movement. Before she realized it, she was on her back and he held himself above her on his elbows. Pain twinged in her side, but it paled in comparison to the feelings generated by the look in his eyes.
“You’re playing with fire, Ms. Wallace,” he murmured, looking at her mouth.
“I know.” The words were a breathless whisper.
Then he kissed her. It wasn’t a quick, gentle encounter. He started it with purpose, parting her lips and rubbing his tongue roughly against hers. She met him stroke for stroke, not in the mood to dance around how she felt any more than he was.
His hands moved along her body, caressing her skin as he waged his assault on her mouth. She allowed herself to get lost in the sensation of his touch, barely realizing when his hands slipped beneath the shirt she wore. All she knew was she would die if he stopped touching her. Nothing else in the world compared to it.
Then he tore himself away from her mouth and rolled out of the bed. He stood and braced himself on the edge of the mattress with his fists, his head bent as he tried to catch his breath.
“God,” he panted. “Sweet Jesus.”
Confused, she tugged the shirt back into place. “Why did you stop?” she asked.
He looked up. Then he glanced at the door. “Margaret’s right out there,” he said. “She’d probably kill me if she heard...” He trailed off. Then he caught her gaze. “Everly, I promise you, if you decide later that you want to give this another go, I’m all for it.
“And believe me when I say that I won’t stop.”
Chapter 37
Cole realized he shouldn’t have made his promise to Everly almost immediately after he did so. A look came into her eyes after he spoke the words. He didn’t recognize it at first, but he soon came to realize it was a look of feminine challenge.
He got dressed and left the bedroom first to explain things to Margaret. When Everly came out in her own clothes, Margaret did a fair share of tongue clucking over the bruising and bandages she saw, then made them a breakfast of biscuits and gravy. While it wasn’t quite as good as his mother’s, it was a close second.
While Margaret handled the few tasks she had on her agenda, Cole put on SportsCenter, grabbed his iPad, and once again sat beside Everly on the couch. Since she didn’t have an armrest, she rested her hand on his leg while he went through the process of checking his stocks. He didn’t think anything of that until her hand slowly got higher on his thigh.
Did she rea
lize what she was doing? he wondered. He looked at her in-between reading e-mails, but she appeared focused on the television.
Not wanting to hurt her injured arm, he didn’t bother trying to move it. Hell, it felt fantastic. Why would he complain?
He saw that he had e-mails from Caroline and Wayne. He’d spoken to each of them several times throughout the day yesterday. They both assured him that they would handle the press. So far, he’d only seen a couple of small blurbs about the incident with Everly among the sports sites. He figured the pair had done a lot of damage control and down-playing.
Just as he started responding to their messages, he felt Everly’s hand rise higher. He had to find a new position on the couch to get comfortable. When he glanced at her this time, he found her grinning at the television.
“Really?” he said.
She let out a snicker.
“Well,” he whispered into her ear, “two can play at this game.”
He allowed his lips to linger near her ear as he spoke. Then he teased her, nibbling on her ear and progressing down the side of her neck. It was only when she tilted her head to the side to give him better access that he realized her hand had climbed even higher.
There was no way he was going to win this match.
Defeated, he ended up putting some space between them so he could respond to the e-mails. She laughed, giving him a look that warned him what lay ahead.
Once Margaret left, it was time for PT. Everly was far from easy on him. He’d thought he was making progress, but she made him feel as weak as an infant. He tried to give himself some credit. They’d only been working together for a little less than a month. Still, he hated that he wasn’t a hundred percent.
He had to give it to her. Even though she’d been beaten with a baseball bat, she didn’t let up or take it easy on him. She clearly wanted him to get better.
She also apparently wanted to drive him out of his mind.
He should have known something was up when she told him she wanted to oversee his PT exercises without him wearing a shirt. She rattled off some excuse about wanting to see how his subscapularis and infraspinatus muscles functioned during his exercises. His eyes glazed over mid-explanation, so he just pulled his shirt over his head and told her to do her thing.
She used her plastic goniometer to measure his range of motion so she could record it in the spiral notebook she kept at his house. Unlike the last time she’d done the measurements, her hands touched his chest and bicep more frequently and strayed down to brush against his abdomen. The light touching had him clamping his back teeth together to keep from reacting. He couldn’t tell whether or not she was doing it deliberately at first, as her expression was a mix between intense and thoughtful.
Only as their work continued did he figure it out. Whenever she touched him to guide him through his exercises, she allowed her fingers to linger in certain places on his body in a way she’d never done before. He saw her evaluating his reactions, adjusting her touch until she registered that it brought him pleasure. He supposed he should probably object, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why.
When they were done with PT, she insisted on exercising with him. He thought she should take the day off.
“My ribs aren’t bothering me much and I don’t want to get out of my routine,” she insisted, cuing up a Tae Bo video. “Did you make excuses like that for yourself before you met me? Is that how you got to be such a marshmallow?”
“Marshmallow?” he repeated with an indignant look. “I beg your pardon. This body is a temple.”
“Thanks to me.”
He shook his head as she began warming up. “Don’t go straining anything. The doctors told you to take it easy.”
“I’m fit as a fiddle,” she argued. “Billy will guide us true. Pony up, Marshmallow.”
Though he really didn’t want to, he positioned himself next to her on the mats in front of the television and began the warm up exercises. Halfway through, he realized Everly was flagging. She got winded more quickly and made a few pained faces as she moved. She pushed her way through the rigorous routine, though, only stopping a few times.
Forty-five minutes later, she was sprawled beside him on the mat, both of them gasping for air.
“Curse...Billy Blanks...for the devil,” she panted.
“A pox upon him,” he added, waving a limp arm for punctuation.
The next minute was filled with the sound of Billy talking through the cool down on the television and the two of them catching their breath. Eventually, Everly sat up. Her tank top was damp with sweat, he realized. It clung to her body. He had to look away when he realized what the sight was doing to him.
“A pox, huh?” she said.
“Heard it in a movie once. Always wanted to say it.”
“Not bad context.”
“Thanks.”
He also pushed himself up. When he caught her gaze, he saw the humor there. One corner of his mouth lifted. She’d been teasing him all afternoon, he thought. Why not give her a little tease in return?
“Is it sad that all I can think about right now is having hot, sweaty sex with you right here?” he asked.
He expected the blush, which sprang right into her cheeks. What he didn’t expect was her shrug.
“Would you settle for hot, post-shower sex in your bed?” she asked. “A girl has to have some standards for her first time, you know.”
For a moment, he just stared at her. He didn’t blink. He didn’t even breathe. The moment he decided she was being serious, he got to his feet. Then he reached down, lifted her to her feet by tugging her hands, and scooped her up.
“Cole!” she exclaimed. “You can’t carry me up the stairs.”
“The hell I can’t,” he countered. Then he took them two at a time.
She laughed. “How come I can’t get you to work like this when we’re exercising?”
“I’ll give you a pass on that question because you haven’t had sex before,” he said as he crossed the house in a beeline to his bedroom. “Soon, all shall become clear.”
Her face was still a delightful shade of pink. He saw her wrestling with her embarrassment. The moment they walked into his bedroom, he set her on her feet and lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
She nodded.
He couldn’t fight his smile. “Thank you, Everly. You can’t know what this means to me. I’m honored and touched. And very, very eager.”
She laughed again, shaking her head at him. “Well, you have to wash my hair before anything else. So put a brake on the sex train for the moment.”
He took her hand and led her into the bathroom. “Wait a minute...there’s a sex train?”
“Well, you might not want to take my word for it.”
“Hmm.” He turned on the shower’s water and struggled to keep his thoughts off of the events to come. “Well, if there isn’t one, there should be.”
When he realized she was undressing, he paused to watch her. How was it possible that he was so turned on by her straightforward, focused movements?
Realizing that he was in real trouble, he tore his gaze from her and pulled his shirt off, followed by the rest of his clothes. He left his boxer briefs on. Everly’s tank top had a built-in bra, so she left it and her panties on. Then they went through the same process they’d done the day before and got her hair shampooed and conditioned.
“I’ll go and shower in the guest room,” he said when they were done. “Meet you in the bedroom when you’re ready?”
She smiled. “Sure.”
That shy smile sent a bolt of lust right through him. He backed away from her and left the bathroom, knowing that if he didn’t, her first time was going to end practically before it began.
Chapter 38
Everly dropped the smile when Cole left.
What in the world am I doing? she silently asked herself. Grabbing the buff puff and body wash that C
ole had moved into his shower from downstairs, she began cleansing her skin. I’m about to lose my virginity to Cole Parker!
OhGodOhGodOhGod...
She was supremely grateful that he’d also transferred the shaving supplies from the other bathroom. She imagined that was Margaret’s touch. Most guys wouldn’t think to have them handy. Then she realized she was spending far too much time thinking about shaving supplies.
I have no idea what I’m doing, she thought as she ran the razor over her lathered legs.
Yes, you do, another part of her argued. You’re living.
Because that part of her brain had gotten her through exercising with Cole, giving her courage to touch him in ways that she knew drove him wild, she chose to focus on it. She’d need that confidence to get through this.
No, not get through it. Experience it.
That was the mindset she took with her as she toweled off and went to the vanity to brush her teeth. As she rinsed, she remembered that she didn’t have a change of clothes in the bathroom.
Oh, that was so not happening.
Cole’s robe hung from the hook near the door, so she grabbed it and tied it around her waist. It was ridiculously big. That was the least of her concerns.
Her hand paused over the door handle. Was she really ready for this? She’d only known Cole for a few weeks. Although they’d talked about a lot of things, his love life hadn’t been one of them. She knew from reviewing his medical files that he was healthy as a horse, so that wasn’t a concern. But what was his history with women? Was he the love ‘em and leave ‘em type?
Could she live with this possibly being a single moment of pleasure for him and an act of love from her?
Straightening her shoulders, she told herself to think of Cole as she knew him. A guy who went to such great lengths to avoid scandal and shaming his team wasn’t the type to go around sleeping with just anyone. Plus, she knew about his parents from his and Wyatt’s stories. Their mother had done things right by them.
Her hand fell on the handle and opened the door. She blinked when she stepped into the bedroom. Cole had brought in a number of the floral arrangements that had been delivered from the hospital earlier. They made the room look and smell like a romantic garden.
The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories Page 52