her lashes had purple on them.
"Close your eyes," I told her.
She complied, a smile still curling her lips. It was a full three seconds before I could move to do anything. I wanted to lean forward and capture those lips with mine, see if they were cold and sticky and sweet. I wanted her hands to dig into my hair and grab hold, her eyes to meet mine and flash with heat before I slid my tongue against hers and found out what her mouth tasted like.
I took a deep breath and wiped the damp paper towel over her closed eyelids to clean them off as gently I could with slightly shaking hands.
"By all means," she muttered, "take your time. I love having a smoothie facial."
Just because it would piss her off, and because I had no foolish intentions of wasting this opportunity, I slowed my movements even further, dragging the towel down the straight, proud line of her nose and over the arch of her cheekbone.
Some remained along the edge of her mouth, and I stared at it for three awkward chugs of my heart.
Buh—duh-boom.
Buh—duh-boom.
Buh—duh-boom.
Lowering the hand that held the paper towel, I used the edge of my thumb and dragged it slowly along the bottom edge of her lip until the purple was gone.
Her eyes snapped open, and her breathing picked up when I put my thumb into my mouth and sucked the tart liquid off.
"Delicious," I said quietly.
After a quick and sharp inhale, she narrowed her eyes in confusion. Then she blinked. "Sorry I scared you."
And just like that, the moment was over. I could see it in the smoothing of her face.
I stood and tossed the paper towel into the trash. "No, you're not."
"You're right," she said around another grin. "I'm totally not. That was the highlight of my week." Her hands waved in the direction of my face and hair. "You've still got a little … everywhere."
Sighing, I grabbed more paper towel and wet it in the sink. "I'm sure I do."
"I didn't think you'd actually make me a smoothie."
Lifting my eyebrow as best as I could while trying to scrub the drying liquid out of it, I gave her a look.
Joss held up her hands. "Okay, fine, I figured you'd make me one. I just didn't think you'd jump like a bobcat was standing behind you."
"Oh no," I drawled, "not a bobcat. Just a sneaky little hedgehog."
She smirked. "You might as well go take a shower."
"Another shower," I clarified with a mock glare, which made her chuckle. I glanced down at my chest, the shirt I decided to don at the last moment splattered with the mess. With one hand, I yanked at my T-shirt behind my head and tore it off.
Joss was looking at her phone when the shirt cleared my head, but the tops of her cheeks had reddened. Disrobing in front of each other wasn't exactly our norm.
"What about you?" I asked her.
Her eyes trekked up the front of my chest slowly, but her face was blank when it met mine. "What about me what?"
"Do you need a shower?"
The sides of her lips twitched. "Do you happen to have a shower chair just lying around in case of emergency?"
Embarrassment had my face heating. Of all the accommodations I'd made for Joss so she could be in our home easily, showering was not one of the things I'd had to think about. But it made sense that she wouldn't be able to hold herself steady long enough to shower.
"Ahh, no, I don't."
Briefly, I wondered if my parents would think it strange if I ripped out my current shower and put it in a brand new one just for her.
Nope. Probably not.
They'd probably rejoice if Joss and I finally got to the "shower stage" of our relationship.
"And unless you're going to help me out of the bathtub, I think I'd rather just splash some water on my face if you don't mind."
The woman was officially killing me. I didn't even have a bathtub in my apartment, but holy shit could I imagine her in one if I did.
Thoughts of Joss and showers and baths were not a good combination with mesh gym shorts. I turned to face the sink. Fast.
With rough movements and while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in my head, I cleaned any remaining smoothie residue from my neck, face and hands while I fought to control my burgeoning hard-on.
Joss was quiet, and I could feel her watching me.
"What is it?"