Naughty Neighbor - Lauren Runow Page 0,58
hot tub. Jake is already in with his clothes folded neatly on a nearby chair.
“Do you always bathe in the dark?” I ask, noting he left the other six tiki torches unlit.
“Only when I don’t want anyone to see what I’m doing in here.”
I quirk a brow. “And what is that?”
“Naked hot-tubbing. I hope you don’t mind.”
I shrug nonchalantly, playing with him. “I’ll live.”
He grins. “You look cute in my robe.”
“Thanks. I thought you were more of a towel guy.”
“I am. But my mother frowns on men walking around the house in a towel, so the robe wins. That said, I happen to think robes are entirely overrated.”
I undo the belt. “Do you find them offensive?”
“Devastatingly. You need to discard it immediately.”
Lowering it from my shoulders, I let it fall to the floor, revealing my two-piece bathing suit. A simple black bikini with strings that tie on the ends. “Better?”
“Much,” he groans as his eyes rake over my body, staring at the triangles that cover my breasts, down my stomach, and at the sliver of fabric over my hips.
His tongue darts out of his mouth and skims his lower lip, like he’s a starving man. A chill runs up my body, and it’s not from the crisp autumn air.
“Aren’t you going to join me?” he asks.
I walk to the tub and climb in. It’s a large square with plenty of places to sit, so I take a seat on the other side of him, stretching out my toes to the seat beside him.
He pouts. “Do you always have to make things so hard on me?”
“I don’t know. Do I?” My question is asked with every sexual innuendo in mind.
He gets the joke and laughs out loud.
I lean my head back as the jets push against my back, relieving the tension I didn’t even know I was holding.
He wraps his hand around my foot and pulls it onto his leg, massaging the pad.
“A girl could get used to this,” I sigh and close my eyes. With my hands floating on the water, I let the bubbles pop under my palms as I take in the peaceful feeling surrounding me. Nothing but the crickets in the background and the hum of the jets fill the air.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“How peaceful this is,” I respond without having to think.
“Yeah, I’ve always liked it out here.”
“I meant, with you.”
My admission has me popping my eyes open. It’s my truth, yet saying it out loud makes me feel awkward and vulnerable.
I sit up a little, but he squeezes my foot, relaxing me.
“I’m happy when I’m with you too, Lace.”
My face heats as I look at him. His hair is wet, slicked back with his fingers. His skin is glistening in the soft glow of the lights. He comes off as ethereal. A beautiful man massaging your feet in a hot tub is something women dream about. If I stare at him too long, I’ll never want to wake up.
Leaning my head back, I stare up at the sky. It’s a pitch-black night with every star illuminated.
“Wow,” I breathe. “You don’t get this in Chicago.”
“The queen is out tonight,” he says, making my eyes gaze over to him. “Cassiopeia. You can see it easily. Just find the Big Dipper—”
“I have no idea where that is.”
Jake’s jaw falls. “Baby, we have to get you a tutorial on the stars. Come here.”
He motions with his finger for me to join him on his side of the tub. I swim-walk over, taking a seat beside him, and he swings an arm around my shoulder, pulling me in.
We lean back, and he takes my hand, lifting it up to the sky and using it as a pointer. “The Big Dipper rotates around the North Star. At any time of the year, you can use the Big Dipper to find Cassiopeia. They’re like riders on opposite sides of a Ferris wheel.”
“How so?”
“They’re part of the spinning wheel of stars that move around the North Star. Cassiopeia rises up while the Big Dipper plunges down.” He moves my hand to the place where the star formations are in the sky. “That W-shape is Cassiopeia.”
“You know, there is something inherently romantic in the stars. I bet this queen was so beloved by her people to have been placed there.”
“Um, no. Long story short, she was incredibly vain. Went to the seashore and told Poseidon, god of the sea, that she was more beautiful than his wife and all his daughters.