Bodywork (15 page)

She snorted. “You’re kidding me, right?” Moaning drew her attention to George, who sat on a plush leather chair rubbing his knee. “Okay, champ. Let me take a look.” Focusing on George made it easier to breathe. Good God, but Shane looked better to her each time she saw him.

Tonight he wore faded jeans and a tee-shirt molded to his powerful upper body. She loved that he didn’t look like he ate steroids for breakfast, but that his muscle looked sculpted, bunches of strength and nothing in excess.

As she sat on the ottoman at the foot of the chair and took George’s knee in her hands, she had to wonder if he’d colluded with his older brother to bring her here. The little sneak hadn’t said one thing about being related to the owner of the business card he’d just happened to find in her massage room
last week
.

“Sorry about the secrecy. My little brother is freaked about our mother finding out he’s screwed up his knee again. She didn’t want him to play football this year, not after what he did to himself during baseball
season the past spring
.”

“The perfect slide into home, Shelby. You should have seen it,” George bragged. He didn’t show any signs of swelling around his patella, nor did he flinch when she gently rotated his knee, looking for any trouble or strain.

“Mom has never liked us playing football,” Shane continued. His deep voice stroked over her senses like a feather down her spine.

She concentrated on George’s leg to dull the sensation, with no effect. “Right. Lorraine mentioned that when she first brought George to see me.”

“Geo,” the teen murmured and stared down at her hand on his knee. “You have nice hands.”

She
yanked
them from his knee and sat up straight. “I’m not seeing any trauma.” She glanced back at Shane, who grinned.

“Great. I was worried about the idiot.” At her look, his grin faded. “What’s wrong?”

“I mean, I don’t see anything that would account for his extreme limping the other day or even now.”

Shane’s
expression
darkened. “Is that so?”

They turned as one to stare at George.

“Gee, guys. This has been fun and all, but it’s Saturday night. Gina and I have things to do.” He sprang from the chair and darted to the front door with the grace and speed of a gazelle. After grabbing a backpack from the closet and slipping into flip-flops, he yelled a goodbye and slammed out the door.

After a few moments, Shelby broke the silence. “I should have realized. Same last name, and you guys look alike. But he never mentioned any relation.
Funny
he
didn’t mention he was your brother when
he
found
your
business card at my office last week.”

Shan
e shook his head.
“I’m sorry for the trouble he put you through. I had nothing to do with it, honestly.” He took a step back when she stood, but didn’t give her enough space to be polite. “But I have to admit, I wouldn’t have argued if he’d clued me into his plan to get you over here.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Last week was
incredible
.” He glanced down at her mouth. “I’ve thought about it. A lot.”

Oh hell.
“Me too.” She hated that she sounded so breathless. She cleared her throat and tried again. “It was really hot. But
different
. I don’t normally do stuff like that.” Would he believe it?
And what should she care if he didn’t?

His wide grin surprised her. “We have that in common then, because I don’t either. That condom I happened to have on me was a gift from a buddy who thinks I’m like two steps from being too pathetic to hang out with.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Seriously.” Shane started to lower his head then stopped. He let out a deep breath and moved back. “Want something to drink?”

“God yes.”

He chuckled.

She followed him into a spacious kitchen
designed for someone who liked to cook with wide counters, a triangulated work space for the refrigerator, stove, and sink, and beautiful wooden cabinetry.
“My mother would love your place. She’s an interior designer. She says you can tell a lot by a person by the way they use their space.”

“Beer okay?” he asked. When she nodded, he handed her one. “So what would she say about me after seeing the house?” Before she could answer, he stopped her. “But you haven’t seen the whole thing. Want a tour?”

“This isn’t one of those
wanna see my etchings
lines, is it?”

His grin made her feel tingly inside. Shane had such a warm smile. It made his eyes
appear
impossibly green. “Why? Would that work?”

She gave him a look and he laughed again. They spent the next half hour going through his rooms looking at things. He showed off a few of his collector baseballs, answered questions about the many pictures of family in his study and living room, and showed her the projects he was working on with a confidence that didn’t come across as arrogant at all, but sure of himself.

She found herself comparing his attitude and personality to Rick’s. Shane came off looking like a rock star with little effort.

“My mom bugged the shit, I mean, the hell out of me about paint colors
before I moved in
.” He made a face as they went up the stairs. “I couldn’t have cared less. I mean, I like great architecture and design. But furnishings and decorating? I’m a practical guy more into comfort than flash.”

And maybe that’s why he hadn’t minded having sex with her last week.

As if he’d read her mind, he winked. “Although I’m not opposed to flash on occasion. Like on top of my desk, or in the middle of a running trail.”

She couldn’t help the flush that warmed her cheeks. “Stop it.”

“You are so pretty when you turn pink.”

“Jerk.”

“And so complimentary.”

They looked into his spare bedrooms, one he used more as a room for storage and workout equipment.

“Sometimes I don’t have time to h
it the lake.
I
bought that treadmill a few years ago before I joined my buddy’s gym.”

“Which one?”

“
Jameson’s
, a few miles from here.”

“Oh right.” She’d been by it a few times and wondered about joining, but she barely had time to walk around the lake with Maggie each week. “So you seem really into exercise.”

“All kinds.” The look he gave her couldn’t be mistaken for anything but a leer.

Idiot that she was, she liked it.

“Yeah, if
I don’t get to do something each day
,
I go a little crazy
,
”
he added.

I could give you a workout.
The sudden
images swirling through her mind
belonged in a
Penthouse
letter
.
This despite the fact that he couldn’t have been too gaga over their time together or
he’d have called her b
efore
now.

She glanced at the door they stood outside.

He looked from the door to her. “My bedroom.”

She refused to give into the dark voice whispering all kinds of tempt
ing things they might do in there
. She’d be firm. Just because they’d had smokin’ hot sex once didn’t mean it had to happen again.
Except
he seemed more than interested, if that lingering gaze on her breasts was anything to go by.

“Not scared to go in with me
, are you
?”
he dared.

“Unless you have
frightened
virgins tied down to your bedposts for sacrifice, I think I’ll manage.”

He chuckled. “Good thing I tidied up before you came, then.”

He opened the door and stood there in the doorway, forcing her to brush against him to enter.

The feel of his
body heat
warmed her from the inside out. Her breasts brushed his chest as she passed, and she swore she heard his indrawn breath.

“Hmm. Nice.” A
king-size
bed, one that had been made, took center stage in the large room. A small desk and chair stood on one wall, while a dresser and bureau
fitted the rest of the room. The requisite man-size TV had been mounted to the wall above the dresser, and a few prints of military scenes decorated the walls.

Seeing her attention, he said, “Marines. I served in the Corps, like my dad. Good times.”

“So why did you get out?”

“It was time.” He shrugged. She didn’t want to pry, but she could too easily see him in uniform. God, he would have been the star of her nightly fantasies forever if she’d seen him in Dress Blues. She was such a sucker for men in uniform.

“You seem like the type to go for order and discipline.” She took another good look around. “You’re way too neat for a guy. Not normal.”

His eyes glittered, and he slowly drew closer to her. She took a few steps back before she realized he’d neatly cornered her by the bed.

“Order and discipline, hmm.” He closed the remaining distance between them. “Two things I’m pretty damn good at.” He leaned down and kissed her so softly she might have imagined it. “Shelby, last week was
amazing
. Unplanned, and totally unlike me.”

“
We went through this already, remember?
”

“But I think we could do more. You and me.”

“More?”

“You mentioned the sex was tame.”

She was surprised he’d remembered that. “Um, did I say that?”

He kissed her again, his mouth whisper-light over her lips. The
sparse
contact and heat of his breath made her shiver.

“I’ve been thinking about it. Wanting to try a few things. You game?”

“M-maybe.” She stood on tiptoe as he sucked her earlobe and nipped before letting go. His hands had found her waist, and he rubbed circles into her skin with his thumbs.

“
G
uess what?”

“What?”

He answered with another kiss, one that wasn’t gentle or light, but firm, hot, and sexy. He
thrust
his tongue between her lips and took without asking. He plundered and delved, stealing her willpower with that talented mouth.

“I have a lot more than one condom this time. What do you say?”

Chapter Ten

What could she say but yes? Shane kissed her until he couldn’t breathe. Their coming together on Saturday hadn’t been a fluke at all. The chemistry between him and Shelby
stunned
him. Just the touch of her skin, the feel of her smooth lips under his
, and
the knowledge that her nipples stood on end for
him
made him dizzy with lust. Everything about her appealed
to the sexual beast inside him wanting to fuck her raw, while the romantic within
wanted to drown in her whisky-brown eyes that looked up at him with fogged desire.

“Shelby?” he asked, out of breath. “Yes or no, baby?”

Baby.
He liked calling her that, because everything
he’d noticed about the stubborn female
told him
she was a woman of independence. He found her hints of aggression
sexy.
She was n
o one’s idea of a meek woman
, or one
who’d tolerate a pet name like
baby
. Yet it fit her, especially now. He could see a kernel of vulnerability there
in her eyes
, and it felt like looking into himself.

“What do you want to do?” The throaty question took him for a loop.

What
didn’t
he want to do? He had no plans for the evening. No visitors, no agenda. And he’d been hard an
d
aching for her for a fucking week.

“I want a lot.”

“Tell me,” she insisted, and he saw
her
desire. She liked the dirty talk,
as much as he did.

“I want to suck that clit until you come. I want to eat you out and then fuck you. I want to come inside you, to watch myself spill out of you when we’re done. And then I want to fuck you again.” He paused. “But I’ll have to settle for a condom.”
Until we know each other better.
“And some creative ways to make you
scream
.”

Her hands clenched on his
waist, her grip tight.

He stroked her sides, over her hip
s
.
“I know last week was supposed to be a one-time thing, but maybe we could shoot for
a few more rounds
. I don’t want to pressure you or anything, but
I—
”