can go again so soon?”
Matthew cast off the sheets and rose from the bed in all his naked glory. And he was glorious. Aubree just stared at him, all too aware of how unbelievably rude that was but there was no way she couldn’t look.
“I can go again,” he promised as he walked toward her.
She stumbled backward into the bathroom just as he got to her. She put her hands on his bare chest when he reached around her and hit the water handle to turn on the shower. Water splashed against the white subway tiles and she tilted her head back to look up at a very naked Aussie man in her bathroom. God, what a fantasy this was!
His hands toyed with the belt of her bathroom robe before he slowly unfastened the loose knot. She held her breath and her heart pounded in a wild excited rhythm as he parted the terrycloth fabric. Her breasts were heavy and hot when he peeled the robe from her shoulders and dropped it to the ground.
Matthew brushed his fingers over her nipples and she shivered. Steam warmed her back before she pulled him into the shower with her. She smiled shyly and ducked her head. He was so tall, well over six feet, and she liked the way he filled the space of the shower. The spray heated them as he ran his hands over her body.
They took their time exploring each other in ways they hadn’t been able to before. She leaned forward and licked one of his flat nipples and he groaned, holding her head against his skin. He slid one hand between her legs to stroke her and she rocked into his fingers in encouragement.
“Favorite color?” he asked huskily.
“Er…” It was so hard to think when his hand was playing with her so deliciously. “Green.” She finally got out.
“What kind of green?” he asked, still stroking her. She pressed kisses along his chest until she reached his other nipple and bit it lightly.
“Evergreen,” she finally answered. “Like Christmas trees. You?”
“Red,” his lazy smile was pure male, and it made her belly quiver in delight. “Like cranberries.” He reached for the bar of soap and lathered it in his hands.
“I love cranberry sauce.” She leaned into his touch as he began to wash her.
“Homemade or canned?” He rubbed his lathered hands over her body, and she did the same, enjoying the simple act of washing each other.
“Don’t laugh,” she warned but he did anyway.
“Canned? The kind that just plops out onto a plate and you can even slice it?” His blue eyes were so bright and jovial that she couldn’t be too embarrassed.
“Yes, that kind. It’s great. I love it and I won’t be swayed otherwise,” she warned but she was smiling.
“Fair enough, I like it too. My ex used to give me hell about it.”
At the mention of his ex she stiffened. She didn’t want to think of him with other women. It somehow made what they were sharing feel less special because she knew he must have done this with others.
“Hey… What’s wrong?” He tilted her face up and she looked into his eyes which were a soft, almost Wedgewood-blue now.
Flustered, she tried to pull away.
“Aubree, what did I say?”
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “You haven’t mentioned an ex before now.”
“Oh…” Matthew pulled her toward him. “So, it’s that time is it?” He was gazing at her so seriously, but there was a gentleness in him that lessened her anxiety.
“What time?”
“The X’s and O’s talk,” he said simply
“What?”
“You know, like the song, X’s and O’s? It’s also a cocktail by the way. Tonight, I’ll have to make us each a stiff one.”
She washed her hair quickly and he did the same.
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
He turned off the shower and got out first, handing her the first towel he could find, and she pointed at her cupboards with extra towels for him.
“How many women have you dated?” Aubree wrapped her hair in a smaller towel.
“I had one great love when I was younger, Lena. We dated from age thirteen until twenty-three. After her…there’s been a few women, but they were only short flings.” He was speaking so calmly of his love life and the first girl he’d loved that he wasn’t with anymore. She was stunned. Aubree didn’t know what to say. She’d never really had that. She’d dated a couple of men in high school and college but her feelings hadn’t been returned to the