Bodywork (21 page)

Emotional entanglement threatened to undo his peace. As much as he’d hoped to remain unaffected by the feelings sex often engendered, he opened to her. He couldn’t help reveling in her kiss, as caught by her tenderness as he’d been by her seducti
on
. She leaned over and looked down at him with an uncertain expression, one that made him want to hug her and tell her everything would be all right now that they had each other.

Time seemed to freeze.

Oh hell. He’d gone and done it again. Fallen for a woman after trying
s
o fucking hard not to.

“You okay?” she asked.

He nodded and forced himself to relax. He kept telling himself the affection was merely the result of
one
hell of an orgasm. Bliss, endorphins,
sexual satisfaction, that’s all it was.

“I’m better than okay,” he said back, his voice embarrassingly hoarse.

Her grin eased his discomfort. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think I can move, and I know I’m getting you all wet.”

He felt moisture over his belly
but for once didn’t cringe
. He’d never been a big fan of the cleanup after, despite the fact that most of the mess came from him. But he didn’t mind knowing he’d come in her, that his seed now stained her legs and his belly.

“We should shower.”
He rubbed her back.

“We should. Together.” She kissed him, a slow leisurely merging of mouths that soon morphed into a need for more.

“You’re in charge.” Shane followed her off the bed and into her bathroom. The shower stall looked big enough to fit three comfortably. “Nice. We could have a party in here.”

She winked at him as she took off her teddy. When she stood naked, he just looked at her.

“Call me a sex-drunk fool, but you are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” He couldn’t look away from her breasts.
Until he spied her smooth mound. “And shaving… I admit, you hooked me. Now I can see what I’ve been eating.”

She blushed, and he thought the reaction both surprising and sweet, considering what they’d just done.

“So you mentioned
something
earlier about you being in charge
—
at first.” He followed her into the shower after she adjusted the water. “What does that mean?”

He watched her clean herself, knowing he’d replay this scene over in his mind
again and again
.

After she cleaned herself, she turned to him with the soap and ran it over his body. She paid a lot of attention to his arms and chest, then played with his balls and cock until he threatened to come again.

She let him go with a smirk. “You’re hard
, I see.
.”

“I wonder why
.
”

She laughed. “I wanted you ready for round two.”

“I’m hoping we’ll eventually get to round six, but that may be reaching.”

They grinned at each other, and something suspiciously like the beginnings of love fluttered in his chest.

Her grin faded. “I liked being in charge, but I also want to be taken.” She looked away from him, and he nudged her chin with his finger, so he could see her eyes.

“Why are you looking away?”

“This is a little embarrassing.”

“Considering what we just did, I’d think you’d be over any embarrassment.” What the hell did she want him to do with her?

“I want you to take charge. It’s weird. I mean, not just be domineering, but to make me totally helpless.”

He thought he understood. “So the scarves in there are for you, not me?”

She nodded, the flush high on her cheeks.
“
I
don’t want you to rape me or anything. But I want to feel
powerless
, you know?”

He thought he did. A common fantasy among many independent women, or so his girlfriend before Lisa had told him, was to be dominated. He empathized. Being in charge all the time grew wearying. Hell, having Shelby take the lead had been a welcome relief. But
commanding her would be a treat as well.

“So I get to tie you up and do whatever I want to?”

She nodded. “And be a little rough. Not too rough, just
—
”

“Forceful. I get it.” He grinned, liking their next adventure already. “I’m good for it.” He glanced down at himself. “You?”

“Almost. I need to get back in the mood.”

He frowned. “Really? Because…” he tapered off as she lowered to her knees between his legs. He widened his stance when she tapped his inner thighs. “Because… Oh fuck it. You’re going to…” He groaned and gripped her wet hair. Talk about a wet dream. Literally.

Chapter Thirteen

Maggie didn’t know why Mac Jameson continued to harass her. She did everything the big lout said.
H
er aerobics class had drawn more people than the other instructors normally did, or so the jealous bimbo with a tight ass and fake breasts had mentioned while gawking at Mac as he walked by.

“Doran, in my office.” He breezed by her without waiting.

The
jerk
.

She took her time chatting with a few women who had come back after
taking
her first class
last
Tuesday. Thursdays at six was a popular time, but with Shantell amenable to giving Maggie the hours she wanted, Maggie would do whatever she could to not only make ends meet, but help her absent best friend snag a decent man.

Everything she’d learned about Shane Collins pointed to a guy Shelby might click with. He was good looking, as Maggie had seen for herself, and he had that same health
fixation
going on that Shelby did. Her friend could bitch about running ‘til the cows came home, but she still used it as her go-to measure for taking off the pounds. Maggie only resorted to jogging to nab a sale item before another shopper could get to it.

She waved good
bye to her new friends, passed by the catty airheads dreaming about
Mac
,
and grabbed her water
bottle. She refilled it at the water fountain and turned to see two men looking right at her, or right where her ass had been before she turned around.

“Hello?” She glared,
giving them her man-hater stare, the one Shelby had perfected.

They smiled at her.

She sighed.

“Not getting any younger, Doran.” Mac’s warm breath in her ear startled a shriek out of her, and she jerked around and accidentally spilled water over his shirt.

He grunted and grabbed her by the arm. “I need to talk to you. In my office. Today,
s
hort
stuff
.”

She
discreetly
tried to yank her arm out of his meaty hand
as they left the main gym
. But he wouldn’t budge. So like a kid being dragged to the principal’s office, she
walked next to M
ac on her tiptoes, trying to keep up
with his longer
stride
.

In his office, he finally let her go, and she rubbed her arm and scowled. “Nice, Jameson. I’m not a piece of meat,
you know.”

He turned to regard her and settled his fine ass on the edge of his desk. Then he grinned, and she lost her train of thought. For a man who
acted like a Neanderthal half the time,
he could be a charming guy. That combination of black hair, ice blue eyes and a body Hercules would envy packed a one-two punch.

“You are so cute when you’re angry.”

Cute. She was so tired of cute. She’d much rather be likened to an Amazon, as she’d overheard Mac call her best friend. Or a goddess, or maybe
a
Marilyn
Monroe type instead of petite Barbie.

“You wanted something, slave
master?”

His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I want something.” He paused, and she couldn’t for the life of her read the look he gave her.

“What?” She slammed her hands on her hips, glad she’d worn a shirt over her sport bra and more conservativ
e tights today. When
ever
he turned his
assessing
gaze in her direction, she felt half naked. And she didn’t like it. Mac seemed
to fit her type a little too much
. He had sex with tons of women, acted way too macho for this day and age, and had too many muscles. She liked men bigger than her, but with Mac, she felt dwarfed. It wasn’t so much his height as his brawn. He
could
crush her with his pinkie before she could eve
n
think of
fight
ing
back.

“
Never mind.
” Mac circled his desk and sat behind it. He continued to study her.

“
I
f you have nothing better to do than stare, I’m out of here.
I’m
w
orking
here
to do Shelby
—
and
you
—
a favor, remember?”

“Shelby, right.” He nodded, and the weird expression on his face faded. “It’s been a
lmost three weeks
already. When am I going to meet her? I want to see what she’s all about. Shane seems a bit too evasive lately.” He shook his head. “I think the dick is holding out on me.”

“I can’t get through to Shelby either. I’ve been busy at work myself, you know. Between the gallery, here, and my work at home, I’m tapped for time.”

“Work at home?”

“I’m a sculptor.” It still made her heart race to say the words out loud, to admit she created art, not as a hobby, but
as
a career.

“Oh right. You mentioned that.” Mac seemed interested, which surprised her. “You got anything downtown
in any of the galleries
?”

“Not yet. Shantell…” Before she could get started, she stopped herself. Mac didn’t care about her artwork. “I’ll check on Shelby again.”

He frowned at her. “Fine. Do it. I want to meet this chick who has my friend
so interested
. I get the feeling he’s avoidi
ng me.”

“Gee, I wonder why?”

He surprised her by laughing. “You know, I like you, Maggie Doran. You aren’t afraid of me, you don’t seem to care about impressing me
—
”

“Because I don’t. Care that is.”

“—and you don’t
seem to want in my pants.”

“Good God. Your ego could stand a few knocks.”

Mac met her by the door to his office. He stood so close she could feel his body heat, and once again she was reminded of how much bigger
than her
he was. “Maybe I should keep you around, so you can make sure I remember my place.”

Was it her, or did his voice sound huskier than
normal
? She reached for the door handle to the office, and he put his hand over hers. The flutter in her belly returned, the one she got when
she stood
too close to Mr. God’s Gift to Women. Hell, she was attracted to him. Not that she liked the feeling, but she recognized it at least.

“Maggie?”

“I’ll show you
your place. At the bottom of the barrel,” she muttered and refused to look past his chest, now wet thanks to the water she’d splashed over him. “You might want to change your shirt.”

He didn’t move. “
Yeah
. I will.”

They stood in awkward silence, his hand on top of hers,
their bodies
so close they might as well be dancing
.

He stepped back and coughed. “So. Shelby. Swing her by. I’ll check her out.”

Maggie had agreed to look into Shane’s background, at Mimi’s behest. Now she was stuck with Mac
. He
wanted to know more about Shelby,
fine. Because Maggie
would do whatever it took to help her find love again.

“I’ll try to get with her today. I teach again Friday at four. Make sure you’re here.”

Mac blinked. “I’m sorry. Who’s the boss?”

She chuckled. “That’s supposed to be, ‘you’re not the boss of me.’ And well
,
big guy, you’re not. I can quit at any time, so watch your tone.”

His eyes widened, a comical sight, and she left him sputtering before he could ruin her exit. She left the gym whistling, determined to find out what Shelby had been up to so she could leave the gym and Mac Jameson behind before she did something really stupid.

Like sleep with the man.

*
*
*

Shelby hung up the phone, bemused and not sure what to do about her evening. Shane had asked her to lunch
on Saturday
. Not as a euphemism for oral sex, not at his place as a prelude to steamy sex, or in any manner which led her to believe he’d expect sex. They were having lunch
this weekend
at Pike’s Place Market. And it felt like a date.

Denise
interrupted her worry. She
left her newly renovated massage room with her client in tow.