Page 37 of Fate In Fiction

“I just need to figure out the ending.” I pull my hand away, feeling too comfortable with his on top of mine.

“I’ll be your first sale.” His charming smile flutters my heart, and I want to believe he is being sincere.

“Emmett, I know you don’t read. You don’t need to fake it with me.” Smirking, my eyes scan his shoulders and chest.

He holds back whatever comment he wants to say and his hand disappears off of the counter as he reaches down to adjust himself. Jeez. But giddiness flutters within with the possibility of causing it.

“You alright there?” My lips roll in as my eyebrows raise, and I try to keep my eyes above his waist. Things are becoming way too comfortable.

“I should schedule in time to take care of my personal needs.” He clears his throat and pulls his eyes from me. “Or stop thinking of you in a bath.” My lips part as I suck in air. He’s thought of me naked? I’m not sure how my face reads, but his smirk tells me he’s enjoying my reaction. My mouth dries at seeing the effect I have on his body, but I cannot do anything about it. I’d say it’s unfair, if I wasn’t hellbent on getting out of Aspen.

“I’m shocked you take baths.” My surprised voice emerges. “Do you light my candles too?”

“I thought you were asleep when I get home from work.” He leans forward on the counter, bringing himself closer to me.

“Nope.” I shrug, letting my eyes wander over the stubble on his jawline. I bet I’d like the prickle under my soft hands. “I’m usually reading. It takes me a while to fall asleep.” Unless my vibrator can get me off enough to where my body is spent before he walks through the door. But I keep that remark to myself.

“I’ll attempt to come home a little earlier this next week. Maybe a good conversation and company will help you fall asleep.” My chest warms, even though I should tame that reaction.

“You need to balance life and work.” Instinctively, my hand reaches out to rest on top of his forearm. “It’s understandable that you need to work hard, but don’t run yourself to the point where you will no longer be able to work.” His hand flips over as his fingertips brush up my wrist and his eyes lock me in place.

“Thank you, Josie.” The squeeze of his hand reaches down between my legs. “Even if you don’t actually mean it.”

“Of course, I mean it. I want you to succeed, but also know your worth.” This might be coming on a bit strong. “You’re not as much of a cocky ass as you try to portray to people.”

“When you use cock and ass in the same sentence, it’s hard for me to focus.”

“My goodness.” I pull my hand back with a headshake and roll my eyes. “Men are so simpleminded.”

“I bet women think about sex more than men.” He shoots me a challenging look.

“You’d like to believe that in order to make yourself feel less perverted.” Playfulness rings through me as I lift a brow.

“I have no problem with the way I enjoy devouring a woman’s body.” Something in his eyes changes. A darker brown appears as he holds my gaze.

“So I’ve sampled.” I swallow a lump in my throat that’s growing tight, tempting me to put him to the test.

“That kiss was out of endearment and proving a point to your parents, little darlin’.” An unsteady breath makes its way out of me, and his eyes drift down to my lips. “If I kissed you out of lust, you’d forget everything in that fucking moment.” As much as his comment heightens the pulsing between my legs, there’re still the playboy remnants of him coming to the surface. If anything happened between us, I’d need to be the one in control of things.

“It’s been a busy day.” Jumping down from the barstool, I take a breath. My finger dips into my bowl, gathering the last bit of sauce left behind. Taking a step toward him, my finger slides into my mouth and slowly back out through my lips as I hold his darkening stare. I cannot believe I just stooped to this level, but as he remains a statue, I realize it actually worked. “Lunch was delicious,” I whisper, placing my hand on his bicep. “Thank you.” I make sure my breath hits his skin before collecting my own composure and taking a few steps back.

“Josephine,” is all he manages to say.

“I’m gonna have a shower.” I can’t help but wink as I continue down the hall and remove my tank top, leaving me in only leggings and a sports bra. Maybe tempting each other in private but not giving in will keep the tension in our public relationship more believable.

“You’re too innocent if you think that was supposed to tease me,” Emmett calls out, stopping me in front of the bathroom.

“Believe me.” I turn around, slipping my thumbs in the waistband of my leggings. “If I were really trying to tease you, you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself.” I narrow my eyes and shoot him a smirk. “I’ll be in here for about fifteen minutes if you have anything you want to take care of.” As I close the bathroom door, the tension from today is in full swing. I’ve never been more grateful for a detachable showerhead.

EMMETT

“You’ve been flaking on me, bro.” Max’s face comes onto the screen. “I imagine you’ve transferred your workout in a different direction.” That would be a great stress relief to come home to each night.

“Between spending time at the office and with Josie, I’ve needed to shift my physical activities to her,” I lie, but he can’t tell through a small screen and me standing at a distance.

“I take it things are going well?” He looks exhausted, and his child isn’t even born yet.

“I asked her to move in with me.” His blue eyes bulge out of his head as he runs a hand through his hair. “We’ve been living together for a little over a week.”