Page 52 of A New Chapter

Emma slumped against the shower wall and let the spray of warm water beat down on her. She rolled her neck and shoulders around to work out the kinks, and she might have let out a moan, which reminded her of all of the sexy sounds that she and Zack had made the night before.

Zack, Zack, Zack. One night with him and now he is all I can think about! Emma decided that it was probably a good thing that she was going to the show for a few hours. She needed to get her head on straight before…

“Hey, how come you didn’t wake me up?” Zack asked as he slipped into the shower behind her.

Emma turned around to face him and bumped right into his rock-hard chest. Move youreyes up, move your eyes up, she chanted in her head, but her eyes moved down of their own accord. It turned out his chest wasn’t the only thing that was hard that morning. Once she raised her eyes, she came face to face with the devilish scoundrel himself, looking like the cat who had swallowed the canary.

“Haven’t you had enough yet?” he teased, and he splashed her with a handful of water.

Emma sputtered and wiped the water droplets off of her face before she returned the gesture.

Zack grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him. “Good morning,” he said with a gravelly voice.

“Good morning,” she replied and then was silenced by a no-holds-barred morning kiss. I could get used to waking up like this.

She put a hand against the shower wall to steady herself while Zack reached around her for the bar of soap.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked while he lathered up.

Emma watched with fascination as the soap bubbles travelled down his chest and over his abs and further down until they pooled at his feet.

“I slept fine, but it wasn’t nearly long enough,” she managed.

Zack vigorously rubbed the soap between his hands again and then ran them down each muscular leg all the way to his sexy toes.

Men’s feet aren’t supposed to look that good, Emma thought, distracted once again.

“Can you pass the shampoo?”

Emma passed him the mini hotel-sized bottle and watched him pour some shampoo into the center of his large masculine hand. She enjoyed the intimacy of showering with him, and found herself entranced by his every move. Get a grip, Em. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before!

“Did you already wash your hair?”

“Not yet. I was just about to when you waltzed in.”

Zack smirked and motioned for her to spin around. “Lean your head back.”

Emma did as she was told because, well, why shouldn’t she? She was amply rewarded the second Zack’s fingers came into contact with her scalp. He rubbed the shampoo in with firm circular motions that caused her to emit an “aah” and then an “ooh.”

“Seems like I’ve heard those sounds before,” he teased.

“And you’ll probably never let me forget it,” she replied without malice. She was enjoying the scalp massage way too much to be irritated or embarrassed.

After Zack rinsed her hair, he quickly went to work on his own. When he had finished, he reached around Emma and shut off the water. They stared at each other for a few beats until Zack said gruffly, “You should probably get ready to go.”

“You’re right,” she said and accepted the towel he handed her. Part of her wished that he would scoop her up in his arms and take her back to bed, but Emma knew that she’d never make it to the show if he did that. She would have skipped the show altogether if she hadn’t signed up to hear a talk from a successful independent bookstore owner.

They dried off in silence, and when they hung their towels back on the rack, it struck Emma that she didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable being naked with Zack. Apparently, he felt the same, because he trotted out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a smile. Emma finished getting ready and emerged from the bathroom to find Zack seated at the round table in front of the window, sipping coffee and reading the hotel’s complimentary newspaper. Once again, she was struck by the casual intimacy of the scene.

Zack stood up and met her at the door, where she had slipped into her shoes and had slung her purse over her shoulder.

“I’ll walk you out since I need to grab my overnight bag from the car,” he said.

Emma glanced over at the bed and saw his Superman boxers lying there. Her face flushed when she turned back to look at him.

“What? I didn’t want to put on dirty underwear after I just showered!”

Emma didn’t even want to think about him going commando in his khakis, or she would never leave. “Let’s go,” she said, shaking her head as they walked out the door.

Surprisingly enough, when the elevator reached her floor, it was empty. Zack motioned her inside and stepped in behind her. The minute the door closed, he backed her into the corner.

“What, what… are you doing?” she sputtered.

“I’ve always wanted to make out in an elevator. They make it look so sexy in the movies.”

And with that, Zack dipped his head into the crook of her neck and nibbled on it, causing Emma to moan. From there, he moved around to her front and bent his head to her breasts, where he sucked on her nipples right through her top.

Emma squeezed her legs together and watched the floor numbers light up as they descended, praying that the elevator wouldn’t stop until they reached the lobby.

Zack pressed his hips against hers while he kissed his way up from her breasts to her lips. He had just sucked her bottom lip between his when the elevator pinged. When the door slid open, they were simply two innocent passengers standing on opposite sides of the car—albeit two very aroused passengers.

Emma gave Zack a shaky wave goodbye before she got swallowed up in the foot traffic that was headed toward the convention center. She glanced back once and swore that she saw him laughing as he faded from sight.