Paisley looked down at my shirt on her body before glancing up at me again. “Why not?”

“I’m nowhere near done with you yet, and your clothes will get in the way. I want you just like that for the rest of the day.”

Her eyes widened and she bit down on her bottom lip. Letting her eyes trail down as much of my body as she could see from where I stood behind the counter, they bounced back up to my face before she took off running for my room.

I pulled off my shirt as I slowly followed behind—but my face fell when I realized her pile of clothes weren’t next to my dresser, and the bathroom door was shut. Grabbing the knob, I glared at the door when it didn’t turn.

“You better not put any more clothes on, Paisley.”

She snorted, and I heard the water from the sink turn on.

As I reached above the frame, my frown deepened when I didn’t feel the key up there. Looking around for something to jam into the small circular lock, I spotted the nightstand where Paisley always left a ton of her stuff. Right on top were hair pins that would fit perfectly.

Grabbing one, I widened it and shoved one of the ends into the lock, unlocking and opening the door all in the same second.

Paisley straightened from washing her mouth in the sink, and I made a face before looking pointedly at the key sitting next to her on the counter.

“How’d you get it down?”

“I used my shirt to hit it,” she answered with a defeated pout.

I nodded as I tossed the pin on the counter and went to stand behind her. She hadn’t changed yet and was still only in my shirt. “Why are you running from me, Paisley?”

“Because I can?”

My eyes narrowed. “Do you not want me to touch you?” From the way her chest hitched with a harsh breath and her eyes became hooded, that wasn’t it.

“I want to be able to touch you,” she admitted in a soft voice.

I hardened instantly. “These weeks aren’t about me,” I reminded her.

“But—”

“I want you to, Paisley. You have no idea how much I want to feel you on me . . . but I want this for you so much more,” I whispered against her neck.

Sliding my hands over her body, I let one move to her breast as the other ran past her hips to the inside of her thighs. Spreading them further apart, I slid my fingers over her entrance, trailing her wetness to her clit.

“Oh, Eli,” she moaned, and arched her back against my chest.

“Hold on to me, Pay.”

She wrapped her hands around the back of my neck and moved her hips against my hand.

“Open your eyes.” Her dark eyes fluttered open, and I held them through the reflection in the mirror. “Look how beautiful you are.”

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright with desire, her full lips barely open as she breathed heavily. Her chest was pushed out against my hand where I was alternating between massaging one of her breasts and pulling gently on her nipple. Her legs were spread with my fingers moving in and out of her. And now her eyes were heating as she took in the sight.

I’d never seen anything more beautiful or perfect.

Pulling her bottom lip into her mouth, she bit down and stood on the balls of her feet as her body tightened, and I knew she was close. I rolled my fingers against her clit, and her eyes fluttered shut as her body started trembling.

“Open.”

She forced them open, and her fingers dug into the back of my neck and she moaned as the trembling stopped for countless seconds before she fell apart.

I wrapped one arm around her waist when her knees gave out, but didn’t stop touching her until her body sagged against mine.

When her eyes moved to meet mine in the reflection, all I could do was shake my head in amazement. “Beautiful,” I murmured.

Mine. The girl in my arms was mine.

Chapter Nine

September 25, 2013

Paisley

“I CAN’T BELIEVE you’re actually going to go through with this,” Kristen said on a laugh that clearly showed how much of a mistake she thought this was.

“You’re doing it with me.”

“Oh no. No way.” She pointed in the direction of the hallway leading to the rooms, and said, “There is no way in hell I am letting one of those ladies get anywhere near my vagina.”

“Kristen!” I begged.

“You are making a huge mistake, I’m not about to make one with you.”

My expression fell. “How is this a mistake? I need to do something, I’ve never . . .” I trailed off and gestured toward the area. “I’ve never taken that much care of it. I’m not about to have another weekend with Eli with a briar patch down there.”

Kristen’s sudden laugh was so loud that the receptionist jumped and looked over to us. “Is it really that bad?” she asked between her hysterics.

My lips twitched into a smile, and I admitted, “Okay, not that bad. It’s somewhere between bush and jungle though. It needs help.”

“I will be in there to support you and hold your hand, but you are out of your fucking mind if you think I’ll be spreading my legs too.”

“Language,” I reminded her, and got an eye roll.

“You ready?” one of the workers asked as she and another uniformed woman walked toward us from the hall.

“Yep!” I said excitedly, and towed Kristen with me down the hall and into the room.

“You need two of them?” Kristen asked softly, but I didn’t respond. It was all I could do to keep from laughing.

“Just remove everything below the waist, and we’ll be back in a few minutes,” the same woman said once we were inside.

Once she shut the door, Kristen was looking at me and pointing. “Why are there two table thingies?”

“Because you’re doing this with me! I told you!”

“No I am not!”

“Kristen!” I complained.

“You are insane, Paisley! Eli won’t even care if you have your fucking briar patch or nothing at all.”

“Language,” I muttered as she continued.

“There is literally not one thing that could make this kind of experience worth it. There will be no difference for you either way.”

“How do you know? You’ve never done it before!” I reminded her.

“I don’t care. I don’t need to! I have enough of an imagination to know that it would be pointless.”

“Just do it with me this once—”

“No.”

“—and if I’m wrong, and there’s no difference, I’ll pay for a spa day for you.”

Kristen eyed me for a second. “Three spa days.”

“Two,” I negotiated.

After another few moments, Kristen grabbed at her jeans and started unbuttoning them. “I am going to enjoy those two days, and I’ll love them even more because you will have paid for them.”

I laughed as I stripped down as well. Once I had everything placed off to the side and was hopping up onto the table, I looked back at my friend. “If I’m right and there’s a difference after this, then you owe me.”

Kristen snorted. “This pain will be payment enough.” When she caught sight of my blank expression, she said, “Fine. What do you want, because I know you don’t like going to the spa.”