Looking up at Cole, she waited with Megan to find out what her night had in store.
“We’re going swimming. At my house.”
Oh boy.
Cole reached over and said hi to the baby, who lit up at his attention, before settling his hand on Julianna’s lower back. The feeling of his large hand as he guided her down the steps of the porch felt so good, so right, that it scared her. How could a simple touch, something so innocent, be so perfect and so hot?
“You kids have fun!” Megan yelled out.
Julianna waved as Cole opened the door to his Range Rover for her. When he shut the door, she looked over to where Megan was fanning herself dramatically on the porch—and not because of the temperature outside. Julianna smiled. Then Cole’s long legs and tall frame filled the space, and suddenly, what had felt spacious now felt small and intimate.
“Ready?” he asked, a small dimple showing through his five-o’clock shadow.
“Yep.” Julianna grinned tightly as butterflies had a dance party in her stomach.
You have no idea.
* * *
Cole felt like a nervous, pimply-faced teenager. Not that he’d ever been one. He’d always had clear skin and the opposite sex had never been all that intimidating to him.
Until now.
The ride over to his house was awkward, at best. As much as he’d like to think that his stupid jokes and small talk had made Julianna feel comfortable, he knew the truth. She was a basket case. A nervous wreck. Her fingers had been twisting in her hair so much that they would have made Chubby Checker proud, and her foot had been tapping on the floorboard like she was doing a Cab Calloway impression.
Now that they were at his house, he felt self-conscious as she looked around, her jaw practically on the floor.
“Wow.” She slowly spun in a circle, taking in the view of the city through the wall of windows in his living room.
He’d only shown her the kitchen, study, and living room so far, and with every room they entered, she seemed more overwhelmed. Cole made an executive decision to skip the media and game rooms and head straight to the pool. Since the moment Anthony had told Cole that his mom’s favorite thing to do was swim but she hated going to public pools because she had a thing about germs, he hadn’t been able to get the vision of her in a bikini, at his house, and dripping wet, out of his head.
He had felt like a little bit of a creep for that thought considering that Anthony had been the one to tell him. But damn, he couldn’t help himself.
“Do you want to eat or swim first?” he asked casually, even though he was crossing his fingers, toes, and eyes that she would choose to swim.
“Swim,” she answered as if that were a stupid question.
He smiled. He found himself doing that a lot around Julianna.
“Then let’s go.” He placed his hand on the small of her back, a gesture that was starting to feel as natural as tying his shoe. His palm took up one side of her lower back and his fingers spread to cover the rest—a perfect fit.
As they walked out the back door onto the deck, Cole realized that, for the first time in his life, he could honestly say that he had everything he wanted in the palm of his hand.
“Oh my gosh! This is beautiful!” Julianna took two steps onto the deck and covered her mouth.
He tried to look at his backyard through her eyes. There was a black-bottom infinity pool in the center that overlooked the city. The large wooden deck they were standing on had strings of lights looping above it. Shrubbery surrounded the privacy fence on each side of the property.
It was nice, but nothing compared to the person standing beside him.
“You are beautiful,” he said reverently.
She smiled up at him, and her body relaxed.
“I’m sure you say that to all the girls you bring here,” she teased, lifting her brows.
“I’ve never brought a girl here.” He wasn’t sure why he’d made that admission. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off, but another part of him wanted her to know how serious he was about her.
“Right,” she said, as if he were bullshitting.
“I haven’t. You’re the first,” he replied with nothing to hide.
Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she tilted her head. “I find that hard to believe.”
Since he’d gone this far, he knew that he might as well go all in. He wanted no secrets between them.
“I had an apartment that I used for that.”
“Had?”
“Yeah. I turned in my keys to the landlord a couple of weeks ago. I knew I wasn’t going to be needing it anymore.”
“Because you decided to start bringing your conquests to your house?” she said in a joking tone, but Cole could see she was really asking.
“No. Because I hadn’t used it since the day I met you. I’m done with ‘conquests.’ I only want one thing. You.”
She didn’t have a quick comeback to that one. Instead, she just stared at him, looking sexier and more beautiful than any woman he’d ever seen. The air between them crackled with an electrical charge. Cole had just raised the stakes, and he wasn’t sure if Julianna was going to fold or see his hand. She surprised him by doing neither.
“Let’s swim,” she declared in a shaky voice. Then she lifted her dress over her head and dropped it on a deck chair.
Holy shit.
Cole had imagined seeing Julianna in a bikini more times than he would care to admit. He’d fantasized about what she looked like beneath her scrubs and shorts and tank tops. Now, coming face to face with the real thing took his breath away. The reality of her body was so much better than his vivid imagination had been able to come up with.
She had an hourglass figure that rivaled Kim Kardashian. Her full breasts pressed against the white triangles of her bikini top, and the small V of her bottoms left little to the imagination. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“You coming?” she asked as she turned and jogged to the edge of the pool.
Yes. He would definitely be coming tonight. He’d be coming to the picture of her in a bathing suit tonight, tomorrow night, and for all the foreseeable nights in his future.
Cole ripped his shirt off and stepped out of his shoes as he strode like a man on a mission to where she was standing. Just as he reached her, Julianna dived into the deep end with the grace and poise of an Olympic swimmer.
Knowing that she was going to get an eyeful of just how much he was enjoying seeing her in a bikini if he didn’t get underwater before she surfaced, he jumped in too. And for the next hour, they swam around, splashed, and had fun. She was quick and wily. Every time he’d reach for her—usually after she’d splashed or dunked him—she’d get away before he could get a good grip on her.
After dunking him for the third time, Julianna laughed as she began swimming away, trying to escape retaliation. Unfortunately for her, Cole was done playing cat and mouse. He easily stood up in the deep end and grabbed her ankle. Then he pulled her towards him, spun her around, and wrapped his arms around her in one swift movement. Still giggling, she pushed off of his chest, splashed, and wriggled against him. The mood turned from playful to serious when her efforts brought her in direct contact with his rock-hard cock.
Julianna stilled. The energy between them shifted. What had been playful and flirty, turned serious and heated.
Then, in a move sexier than the Phoebe Cates pool scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, she brushed the wet strands of hair that had fallen in her face, leaned back, and locked her legs around his waist. His body rocked against hers as she rested her hands on his shoulders. Digging his fingers into the flesh on her hips, he tightened his hold, pulling her even closer to him. Water dripped down her chest, her rounded breasts bobbing against the surface of the water, tempting him to the point of insanity.
“Can I ask you something?” Julianna asked shyly.
“Anything.” Cole studied her, wondering where the s
udden shyness had come from.
Her face was flushed, her eyes glossy with desire, and her shiny red lips were slightly open as she took in short breaths, which reminded Cole of exactly how she looked when she’d opened the door tonight.
Interesting.
“Am I really the only girl you’ve brought here?” She searched his eyes, waiting for his response.
“Yes,” he answered. “Can I ask you something?”
A nervous smile pulled at her lips. He wasn’t sure if it was because of his answer or the fact that he had something he wanted to ask her.
“What?” she finally responded, suspiciously.
Cole laughed as he spread his fingers on her ribs and lightly tickled her. “I see how it is. I say anything and you ask, ‘What?’”
“Stop! I’m ticklish!” She giggled as she writhed in the water, his arms still holding her firmly against him.
Cole stopped—not because she’d asked him to, but because if she kept rubbing her soft, wet curves along his length, he was going to explode in his swim trunks.
When her laughs subsided, she ran her hands through her hair, once again lifting the wet strands off her gorgeous face. She looked happy. Truly happy. Knowing that he had put the wide-open smile on her beautiful face made him feel prouder than when he’d thrown the winning touchdown for the Super Bowl.
He’d never been a huge romantic. In fact, he’d never understood songs like “When a Man Loves a Woman” or “She’s Everything.” He had always believed that when men declared their undying love to someone or said that they couldn’t live without them, it was just what they did to get laid. Since he had never had to work hard—or at all—with the opposite sex, he’d never had to do that.
Not even for one instant did he think someone could actually feel the things that love songs were sung about…until Julianna had walked into his life, his heart, his soul. She was his love song.
“What do you want to ask me?” she asked playfully as they swayed in the water.
“Did I interrupt something when I came to pick you up tonight?”
When her mouth opened, he thought she was going to respond, but she closed it. Then opened and closed it again. After the third time, her answer was clear.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cole’s hands flexed around her hips, his fingers gripping her backside. “What were you doing?” he asked, as his dick twitched painfully at the thought of what he was ninety-nine percent sure she’d been doing.
“I was… I got… I needed to…” She stumbled over her words. He’d noticed that she did that when she was nervous too, in addition to twisting her hair, biting her lip, and tapping her foot.
“Get off?” he finished for her. The second the words left his mouth, he knew there was a very real possibility he’d crossed the line with her, but like always, she surprised him.
Lifting her chin, she never broke eye contact as she admitted, “Yes.”
The fact that she had been masturbating before their date made him harder than he’d ever been. It also didn’t help that he hadn’t had sex in six weeks, which was like dog years for his sex life.
“What did you use?” Cole wanted details, and with the way Julianna was rolling her hips into his hard-on, he didn’t think she would mind giving them.
Her brow knitted in the center. “What?”
Maybe she does mind. Only one way to know for sure.
“Your hand or a toy or—”
“Oh,” she said, as understanding dawned on her. “My hand.”
At her description, his hands began kneading the flesh of her rounded ass cheeks, the water between their bodies adding to the sensual feeling.
“What did you think about?” he asked.
Her breath was growing more and more labored. His body surged with need as she bit her bottom lip before answering.
“You.”
“What was I doing?” he growled as waves of desire crashed over him.
“Kissing me.” Her soft voice was barely audible.
“Just kissing you?”
He rocked his shaft between her legs, and Julianna’s nails dug into his shoulders as she let out a needy moan. She nodded, but the mischievous glint in her large doe eyes caused him to ask one more follow-up question.
“Where?”
“Here,” she said as she rolled her hips seductively against him.
“Fuck,” he whispered under his breath as his cock swelled like the Hulk when he was angry. Thinking of Julianna pleasuring herself as she fantasized about him going down on her was so hot that it caused his body to shake with need.
Holding her hips in place, he ground his length against her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on to him as he continued pressing against her neediest place, but being under water was not giving him the leverage necessary to give her what her body needed.
“Cole, please,” she pleaded as she sucked in a harsh breath.
“What, baby?” For some reason he had to hear her say what she wanted.
Lifting her head from his shoulder, she said, “Kiss me.”
Since she hadn’t specified where, he figured it was dealer’s choice. With the agility of countless crouching tigers and hidden dragons, he picked her up, set her on the side of the pool, and spread her legs.
She gasped. “Cole, what are yo—?”
Her question was cut short when he pulled the wet fabric of her bikini bottoms to the side and covered the glistening lips of her swollen sex in a suctioning kiss. His tongue curled and licked her clit as his lips pressed firmly against her, sucking lightly.
“Oh my Go…” Julianna didn’t finish her thought as her body convulsed and her hands fisted in his hair, holding him in place.
Wanting to taste more of her arousal and less chlorine water, Cole slid his tongue along the seam of her opening, and it pulsed in response as her hips bucked. She tasted so sweet that he licked her again. She cried out and her thighs began shaking. Taking his cues from her, he licked up and down the tight skin of her entrance while he moved his thumb to her distended nub and rubbed his roughened pad back and forth over it.
“Oh my… That feels… I’m gonna…” As the words fell from her mouth, her entire body contracted and her fingers knotted tighter in his hair.
Hardening his tongue, he pushed it in and out of her body. Every nerve of his body lit up with fiery arousal when he felt how tight her pussy was. His tongue fit snugly in her slick entrance. His tongue. Thinking about his cock sliding into her almost sent him over the edge.
Julianna’s stomach contracted several times and her fists tightened. Cole held her hips as she rode out her release while he tasted the arousal that coated his mouth. As her body relaxed, he ran his thumb in circles around her swollen clit and licked her in long, rhythmic strokes.
“That felt so…”
Kissing her once more between her legs, which was his new favorite place in the world, he looked up and saw her flushed, beautiful eyes staring down at him as she caught her breath. Cole wanted to lick the water dripping over the luscious mounds of her breasts and onto her flat stomach. He also wanted to take her into his house, strip her naked, and make sweet love to her until…forever.
“So…good,” she said between breaths.
“Good, huh?” Reluctantly, he adjusted her bathing suit back in place. His knuckles rubbed her against her sex and a tremor ran through her. Then a smile spread on his face as he moved beside her and lifted himself out of the water. “I’ll do better next time.”
She playfully swatted at him as he retrieved their towels. “That’s not what I meant.”
“You ready for dinner?” he asked, as he helped her up and wrapped the large, white towel around her shoulders.
“Dinner?” she repeated in surprise.
“Yeah, dinner.”
Tonight had been amazing, and at this point, he was fairly certain she wouldn’t wake up and regret what had happened between them. But if it went any further, he was almost positive sh
e would put up walls that would rival the Great Wall of China.
“Okay,” she said, still sounding a little unsure.
Unsure, he could handle. She didn’t need to know what his plans were just yet. He was taking the lead—she’d been doing it long enough.
Chapter Eight
What am I doing?
Julianna sat on her porch, sipped her coffee, and watched the sunrise as she asked herself the same question that kept popping into her head since she’d asked Cole if friends kiss. Of course, it had basically been playing on a constant loop since she’d confessed to him that she’d pleasured herself while thinking about him and then let him act out her fantasy in his backyard.
Was she too young to be having a midlife crisis? Since Cole Carson had walked into her life, she hadn’t been behaving like herself. Yesterday, she hadn’t even finished her daily list. Which had never happened. Never. Not even when Anthony had been a toddler and she’d had double pneumonia. During those two weeks while she was sick as a dog and chasing after an active two-year-old, she’d still managed to finish all of her to-dos.
Technically, she hadn’t finished her list on Monday either. Sure, it had all gotten done, thanks to the Super Maids, but she hadn’t done it. Yesterday, she’d planned on completing her tasks after she’d gotten home, but that hadn’t been until the wee hours of the morning, and she’d fallen into bed and right to sleep.
Last night, after Cole had made her come—so hard that she’d seen stars and had been concerned she’d never regain her full vision—he’d warmed up dinner for them and they’d sat at his kitchen table and talked until after two in the morning. Talked. That was it. No kissing. Other than a few innocent brushes of his hand on her arm or over her hand, there hadn’t even been any touching.
Julianna had learned all about Cole’s childhood. Hillary, his mom, had raised him alone, and from what it sounded like, he had not made it easy on her. Especially during his high school days. He’d been quite popular with the ladies, and he’d taken full advantage of that.
Cole had told her that his plan B, if football hadn’t worked out, was to be a teacher and coach. He’d talked about his college days, being a first-round draft pick, and his first few years in the league. Alex Dare had been an instrumental part of his adjustment to all of the temptations, lifestyle changes, and pressures that came with being a professional athlete.
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