Page 36 of Layne Closure Ahead

He walked over to the freezer and pulled the bottom drawer open. “As the grave.”

Joey reached in and grabbed a pint of Baileys Irish Cream flavored Häagan-Dazs and lifted it for her to see. “Go sit on the couch, Layne.” So demanding, wasn’t he?

“Ice cream is not really what I’m in the mood for.”

After retrieving a spoon, he walked up to her, capturing her chin with his fingers, and gently kissed her. “Next time, don’t make me ask twice.” He grinned unapologetically.

After she begrudgingly went and sat on the sofa, she tried to ignore the desire that was screaming at her between her legs. Layne drew her legs up onto the couch with her, criss-crossing them.

He joined her and handed her the pint of ice cream and the spoon before sitting down next to her. Comfortably, he leaned back and rested an arm along the back of the dark grey sectional. The dark brown of his eyes settled on her as she opened up the frozen dessert and began to dig in. Despite the dirty looks she was giving him, Joey could have watched her like this all damn day.

Layne moaned quietly on the first taste of the ice cream as it danced across her taste buds. It had been far too long since she had indulged in this particular sweet treat.

Discreetly, Joey adjusted himself at the sound of her approval. It was going to be a long evening if she kept that up. By making his point to her there by the kitchen counter, she wasn’t the only one who was being left unsatisfied here.

After Layne finished her pint of ice cream, Joey internally questioned how the hell it was possible to be so painfully hard watching a woman enjoy something as innocuous as a little frozen dessert. The idea of jerking off to find relief didn’t even appeal to him when she was sitting right there, so close to him.

With the television on some show about two brothers and the family business, Layne curled up into Joey’s side. He dropped his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close. His fingers traced small and senseless patterns along her arm as they sat there just enjoying one another’s presence.

He looked down at Layne, he parted his lips to say something but before the words came out, he shut his mouth after thinking better of it. A few more moments passed and he finally spoke up. “I will raise all hell for you, always. Don’t ever question that.”

When she didn’t respond, he shifted to lean over and take a peek at her face. Layne’s eyes were shut as she was soundly asleep in his embrace. Joey kissed the top of her head and carefully maneuvered her, doing his best not to wake the little Irish beast in the process.

He shifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom where he got her tucked in. He joined her moments later. His fingers tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as he leaned over and whispered a few words to her knowing she’d never know of his confession to her come morning.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

It had been a rare occasion that she hadn’t needed to rely on a pill to sleep through the night. The only thing that had been nagging at her was the deep ache between her legs after Joey had withheld himself from her. Even then, she had just felt at peace and calm as she breathed in the natural scent of his body mixed in with the familiarity of the last remnants of his cologne with notes of sage.

That wasn’t the only pleasant smell that had her feeling at ease as she began to wake, the scent of food cooking filled the unit. When she was finally ready to open her eyes for the day, she found herself alone in Joey’s bed. First things first, she hit the bathroom where she found one of his tees neatly folded on the counter for her. Opting for the comfort of an oversized cotton shirt versus her jeans and sweater, she made the quick wardrobe change. As expected, his shirt swallowed her petite body up.

After emerging from the bathroom, she breathed in the scent of freshly cooked bacon that was hanging heavily in the air as an indication of the promise of breakfast. Layne shuffled out of his bedroom, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes as she came into the kitchen. She was greeted by the view of Joey standing in front of the stove wearing a pair of grey sweatpants barely hanging onto his body at the hips.

The display of tattoos spilled over his shoulders and upper back and down along the sides of his ribs. She stood there in awe, her eyes appreciating the view. Her core between her legs also appreciated it very much, especially as she observed where his exposed skin stopped at his lower back and the waistband of the sweats began as they barely adhered to the curve of his muscled ass.

Joey moved some eggs around in the frying pan with a spatula, and without looking over at her he spoke up, “See something you want?”

Her thighs pressed together, reminding her that she was without her pair of panties he had so politely disposed of last night. “Maybe. What’s on the menu?”

She grinned and walked over to his side taking a look at what he was preparing. The scrambled eggs were just finishing up in the frying pan, there was a plate full of bacon, and pancakes were stacked on another plate.

It pulled a smile onto her face seeing that he had gone to the effort to cook for her. Typically, she got her breakfast from whichever bagel shop was convenient.

Joey set the spatula down and turned to face her, giving her a more complete view of his toned physique. The lean lines cut around each muscle group on his upper body. Each tattoo decorating his skin was on full display for her to appreciate from the sprawling mosaic over his arms, across his chest, and down to the “Chaos Addict” words scripted along his side.

The newest addition to his ink collection was in plain sight. Placed directly above his heart, the curves of the shamrock graced his pec as the crimson blood dripped from the emblem of luck just past his nipple.

He captured her face in his hands and drew her mouth up into an adoring kiss. “How did you sleep?”

She couldn’t help but keep smiling up at him. “I would have slept better if I had gotten what I wanted last night.”

His smirk flicked onto his mouth.

Before he could respond, the sound of her phone vibrating and the corresponding high-pitched tone rang against the kitchen counter where she had left it the night before. Layne walked over and frowned, seeing the name on the screen. “Eric.” Her eyes glanced over at Joey who didn’t seem to have a change in his demeanor.

She slid the answer button over and placed the phone to her ear. “Hi.”

The smooth sound of Eric’s voice was strained as he spoke on the other end of the call. “Good morning. I didn’t see you get home last night.”

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