“So, what do you think of Nora?” Kai asked, as he turned on the ignition and backed out of the parking space.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you spoke to her last night, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yeah, we talked. She seems nice.”
“Nice? I heard her in your room when we got back, seems like you thought she was more than nice.”
“We had a couple of beers and watched a movie.”
“You just watched a movie with a girl in your room? Yeah, right.”
“That’s what happened.”
“Then how come her room was empty this morning?”
“For fuck’s sake, Kai. You really think…”
Kai glanced over at me before looking back at the road. Of course, he did. And I guess I couldn’t blame him for thinking the worst. Kai—and all the guys on the team—saw me as some sort of player. I sighed heavily.
“We fell asleep, okay? We watched a couple of movies and crashed. Please don’t make more of it than it was. Nora was embarrassed enough this morning, so don’t make it awkward.”
He gave me another sideways glance. “She likes you.”
“I’m likable.”
“No, I mean she has a crush on you. Be careful there, José. She’s sweet and has this whole hero worship thing going on. Someone like you could really hurt her.”
“Someone like me? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Kai pulled up outside our place and turned off the engine. “Look, you know I love you, man. But, well… Nora has this rose-tinted idea about you. I don’t know, maybe she thinks she can tame you or something. But whatever it is, you’ll break her heart.”
“I have no intention of breaking Nora’s heart. Jeez. It was a movie and a couple of beers. We kept our clothes on, and I didn’t even kiss her. Honestly, the whole thing was innocent.”
“Innocent?”
“You seem to be hard of hearing today. Platonic. Total hands off. Do you really need me to keep repeating this? There is nothing between us. I’m not an idiot, I’ll keep my hands off our roomie.”
Kai scrutinized me for a second, then shrugged. “Okay, I believe you.”
Glad that was over, I climbed out of the car and pulled my bag out of the back. As we walked up to the house, he winked at me. Shit, not over.
“So, are you planning on watching any more movies with Nora?”
“That’s none of your business, Kai.” I pushed past him and went into the house.
Two things stunned me as I went through the door. First, the most delicious smell to hit my nostrils, and second, the state of the kitchen.
I think I must have turned pale, because Kai reached out and put a steadying hand on my shoulder. “Count to ten, it’s not that bad. I’m sure Nora will clean up as soon as she is finished cooking.”
“You’re just in time. Ten minutes and food will be ready.” Nora grinned at us through the steam and clutter. On the stove behind her was a big pot of something bubbling and it smelled divine; however, a great deal of red-brown liquid had bubbled over and was pooled on the cooktop. Angie hurriedly reached for a cloth and set about wiping down the surface, risking being burned.
“Great.” I tried to keep my voice neutral but the discarded packets, abandoned cutlery, and empty cans strewn across the work surface was the visual equivalent of a fox’s bark—chilling and haunting, and it sent shivers down my spine. “Huh, I’ll just go take my stuff to my room.”
Once inside the door, the calm of my room had the desired effect on me, and my blood pressure lowered by about ten points. I went through my gear, sorting out the dirty stuff and putting it in my laundry basket. After I stashed my bag in the closet and ran through a couple of meditation exercises to try to limit the anguish I’d felt after seeing the mess in the kitchen, I decided I couldn’t delay things any longer and went to find the others.
I was not sure if Kai said something to Nora, but the debris from earlier was gone when I returned, and everything was thankfully restored to order. The large pot was now on the table, and someone had put out plates and cutlery.
“Hope you’re hungry.” Nora beamed at me as she pulled out a chair.
“Famished. It smells delicious.” I sat down in the vacant space beside her, relieved the places had all been arranged just how I liked—a nice orderly boy-girl configuration, with everyone positioned on all four sides of the table. I wasn’t sure if Kai knew about this aspect of my OCD. For the most part, I played things down, as I didn’t want everyone thinking I was a damn weirdo. But someone had pulled out the table from the wall to make sure we could all fit in this way.
“I wanted to say thanks to you all for letting me move in.” Nora lifted the lid on the pot and the heavenly aroma of chili spewed out, making my stomach rumble. “So don’t expect this every night, but dig in.”
The food tasted even better than it looked and smelled. So much so, I quickly forgot about the mess I’d walked in on earlier. After we’d eaten our fill, Kai and Angie drifted off to their room and when Nora got up to wash the last of the dishes, I picked up a dish towel and dried them.
“Um, I’m sorry about the mess earlier.”
“That’s okay.” I felt a little embarrassed about Nora apologizing after she made us such a nice meal. “My mother used to laugh at me when I scolded her for kitchen messes when I was a kid—‘No se puede hacer tortilla sin romper los huevos.’ In other words, you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, she always said.”
“Kai told me it stresses you out. I just want you to know, I’m a bit of a messy cook, but I will always tidy up after.”
“Jeez, Kai has a big mouth. But I appreciate it. I’ll try to keep my excessive neatness in order.”
I took a dish from her hand, dried it, and placed it in the high cupboard above her head. My body brushed against hers and I held my breath as I reached over her. A floral scent filled my nostrils. Damn, she smelled as delicious as the meal had. Her eyes drifted up to mine, and as they lingered a fraction too long, I got the distinct impression Nora was holding her breath, too. After closing the cupboard door, my fingers were drawn to her hair. I had no idea what possessed me to sift through it, but the silken strands were soft and fragrant, and the honeyed yellow color mixed with amber highlights intrigued me as the strands slipped between my fingers.
As Kai’s warning from earlier echoed in my head, I dropped the lock of hair and stepped away from her. Unfortunately, my mouth didn’t get the memo. “Um, do you want to watch another movie?”
Teal-colored eyes blinked back at me, and I braced for the refusal.
“That would be nice.”
Taking Nora’s hand, I led her down the corridor to my room, knowing full-well that I was about to break my promise to Kai.
Eight
Nora
José touched my hair! He freaking ran his fingers through it, and then looked at me with hooded eyes. Sexy, dark, hooded eyes that told me exactly where his mind was going. Okay, I am not a complete idiot. It was obvious the invitation to “watch” a movie was code for something far more energetic, but what the hell.
That hand-holding thing he did when he led me to his room… Oh. My. God. If that didn’t say stuff was going down, I didn’t know what did. I was going into this with my eyes wide open. After what happened last night, there was no way I could shake this crush, so perhaps good sex was what I needed to break the yearning and walk away from this guy. Jeez, I hope it will be good, as I’d hate to have driven myself crazy over this guy for nothing.
At his door, I hesitated. Shit, what underwear did I put on this morning? I was getting pretty low on my laundry, only a super sexy set and some grayed out, scraping the bottom of the barrel stuff. And, as I was saving the sexy stuff for just the right man, I was pretty sure the underwear I was actually wearing would make José run a mile.
“Can you give me a minute?”
He cocked his head sideways, and the way his eyes ate me up made my knees tremb
le. “Sure.”
I skipped into my room, pulling the door shut behind me and raced to my dresser, hoping I’d perhaps overlooked a nicer set of underwear! Unfortunately, it was as I thought. Two sets remained. One I was pretty sure dated back to high school and the fabric had fuzzy bobbly bits on it, and then there was… the black and lilac lace set I bought from AdoreMe, because it was so cute and their offer was so darn reasonable. At the time, I was still an optimist, and thought if I ever got a date, it would be my number one choice for seduction. I snatched the sexy set out of my drawer. Let’s face it, it was the only practical choice. I couldn’t possibly let José see my gray-white panties.
I quickly changed and pulled my clothes back on over them, immediately feeling wanton but a whole lot more confident. I took a quick peek in the mirror. Hmm, boring boyfriend jeans and a button-down shirt, perhaps I should change? I quashed that idea as soon as I thought of it. Play it cool, Nora. What if the guy really did mean he wanted to watch a movie? How stupid would you look then?
Instead, I patted a few strands of my hair back into place. This morning I’d corralled most of it into a long braid that hung down over my left shoulder and, for the most part, it was still hanging in there. My hair was ridiculously thick and heavy, and it had a habit of working its way loose during the day, but for once it had behaved itself.
When I appeared at José’s door, he was standing by his bed, fiddling with the remote. He looked up as I crossed the threshold. “I thought you’d bailed on me.”
I closed the door behind me and leaned back on it, wishing I was one of those girls that could come up with a cute one-liner on the spur of the moment. Sadly, I wasn’t. So, I opted to keep quiet and just leaned against the door in what I hoped was a vaguely sexy manner.
“You okay?”
Hmm, maybe my seduction techniques were a little rusty. “Yes, of course.” Come on, Nora, you are screwing this up!
He crooked his finger and beckoned me over, and it was like that wriggling digit had some invisible thread attached to me, because I was tugged towards him. When I was right in front of him—so close that I could feel the heat from his body and smell his spicy cologne—José held out the remote, and I sensed he was giving me an out.
Problem was, I was too far gone to take it. “I’m not sure I’m in the mood to watch a movie.”
His eyebrow raised, but he stayed where he was, his hand still outstretched. I took the controller from him and tossed it to the bed. It balanced on the edge, teetering as it decided whether to fall or not. José tried not to look at it, but his eyes kept gravitating over to the bed, and I thought he might develop a twitch.
“Do you mind if I just…” He was looking a little uncomfortable with my careless toss.
“Sure.”
He snatched it up and took it over to his desk, and lined it up between the feet of the TV. “Sorry, now, where was I?”
With his full attention back on me, he reached out and wrapped his fingers around the back of my neck. His other hand went to my face and he stepped in closer. “Is there another way I can entertain you?”
I didn’t dare answer, it would have come out as a squeak if I did, so to avoid looking like a desperate fool, I tilted my head back a little, narrowing the gap between his mouth and mine.
He leaned in a fraction of an inch closer and his breath caressed my lips. “You sure about this, Nora?”
Sure? I wished he would get on with it, already! I stretched up on tip-toes and kissed him. Immediately feeling foolish, I pulled away. What if I read this all wrong? What if he really did just want to watch TV? What if… But while my head filled with doubt, he guided me back to him, and then he kissed me, and when he did, I knew for sure that watching movies had never been on the agenda.
When we eventually parted, I was panting. My heart raced, and my head was giddy. He took my hand as he walked backwards to the bed, and when he reached it, he sat down and pulled me between his legs. With him sitting, I was just an inch or so taller than him, and this time it was me that had to dip my head to reach him. I had no idea how long we stayed like that, with his one hand on my hip bone and another caressing my bottom. My arms were folded in front of me, the palms of my hands flat against his T-shirt, hardly daring to touch him and wracking my brain to see if I could remember how this stuff worked.
But the longer we kissed, the more I relaxed, and for more than twenty minutes, we just explored each other’s mouths.
Eventually, José let me go long enough to reach for his shirt. It came over his head in one fluid movement, and he balled it in his fist as he tugged me onto his lap. For the second time in two days, I found myself hypnotized by this man’s physique. Perfect wasn’t even a good enough word for it, and his semi-nakedness had an immediate effect on my lust level. Needing to see more of him, I reached for the button on his jeans. As I released it and slid down the zipper, my fingers brushed against the heat and hardness of his erection, making me gasp aloud. But when I went to take hold of him, he caught my hand and pushed me back a little.
“Take off your top.” His voice had a trace of an accent, and it was deep and resonating, but it was the softly spoken command that sent shivers down my body.
Slowly, I unbuttoned my shirt, my fingers clumsy and trembling as they tackled each one. When it hung open, he lifted me to my feet, and slid the fabric down my arms. His eyes widened when he saw the black and lilac lace bra, and he pushed one hand under the flimsy fabric, cupping my breast.
I was clueless as to how I was still standing up. His thumb and then his tongue circled my nipple, and a groan of pleasure worked its way up my throat. He grinned up at me as he undid my jeans and pushed them down over my hips. For a moment, I felt shy. My diminutive frame often had people mistaking me for a kid. I was slight with a narrow waist and only a hint of hips. I wasn’t even very well endowed on top, but at least padded bras were freely available to enhance that area.
In contrast, the women I’d seen José with were certainly blessed with cleavage. Curvy, too. And all of them had the confidence of supermodels. So, when my jeans hit the floor, and my body fell under his scrutiny, I grew anxious.
José pulled me back onto his lap, his mouth going to my collar bone as his hands roamed all over me. “Fuck,” he whispered in my ear. “You are so goddamn adorable.”
My arms leaned against his shoulders, trapped between our bodies, and I was unsure quite what to do with my hands. I guess he sensed me stiffen, because he stopped kissing my neck and frowned at me. “This is too fast, huh?”
“No, I…”
“Talk to me, Nora. You want to stop, just say it.”
“No, it’s not that, it’s…”
“What?”
“Um,” I lowered my eyes. “Is… is it okay to touch you?”
He laughed. “What? Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”
I felt a little foolish as I placed my hands on his bare chest. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure if you… okay, this probably sounds stupid. I know you are, um, particular… the tidiness thing… and I read these sexy romance books and…”
“You did?” His grin grew wider.
“It’s my vice. Anyway, I read this one book about a guy that was a bit like you, a little, um, obsessive about neatness and stuff. Anyway, he didn’t like to be touched in certain places and…”
He started chuckling, and my cheeks grew warm. It’s official, I’m an idiot!
“I have OCD tendencies, and I confess, I’m obsessively tidy, but I’m not a germaphobe…”
“Huh, now I think about it, I got it wrong. The guy in the story wasn’t, either. He had some childhood trauma or something.”
José took my hands and rubbed them over his bare chest. I might have moaned in ecstasy, but I think I covered it up with a cough.
“I have no hang ups about being touched, but maybe I should be flattered that you associate me with Christian Grey.”
Ground, open up and swallow me! My cheeks were so hot, I was surprised
my eyelashes weren’t singed.
“That’s who you were thinking of, wasn’t it?”
“I am so embarrassed. How did you know? You haven’t read those books, have you?”
He stroked his fingers down my arm and across my thigh. The feather-light touch left a trail of tingles in its wake. “No, but I watched the films on Netflix.”
The thought of José watching those sexy movies was a tad overwhelming, and for a second my imagination ran wild. Some of the puck bunnies’ stories about José might not be as far-fetched as I thought. “Okay, so touching isn’t a problem for you? Just if I make a mess?”
“Oh, there are some messes I like.”
“There are?”
He swept me off his lap onto my back. Locking his arms to support himself, he hovered above me. “Sex is messy, baby, and I have never had a problem with that.” He swept his arm across the bed, knocking our clothes to the ground as he traced his tongue down my abdomen. In that instant, my embarrassment vanished, and it was replaced by anticipation. I held my breath as his tongue dipped into my belly button and then out again. He stopped his descent at the top of my panties and looked back up my body to me.
His fingers hooked into the lace, and he teased them a little lower. Then his eyes wandered from me to the floor. They lingered on something I couldn’t see, but then he came back to me. His hand slipped between my legs and I squirmed as he rubbed me through the fabric, but a half second later, his attention was back on the floor. “Shit,” he muttered, and swung his legs off the bed.
“What?”
He looked down at the floor and shook his head. “One minute.” José vanished, and I leaned up on my elbows, wondering where he had gone. His head popped up over the bed, and he had his arms full of our discarded clothes. “Sorry, I just need to…” He set about folding them and even though I tried, I couldn’t help but laugh at him. Once the clothes were folded, he placed them on his desk and pulled open the drawer. When he returned to the bed, he dropped a couple of condoms onto the comforter, silencing my laughter. “In case we need them.”
Shut Out: Contemporary Sport Romance (Hockey Boyz Book 3) Page 6