Page 18 of Rush

“Okay. Well… good. Then it’s settled.”

And boy did he look relieved.

Nora did something she’d never done before—impulsively kissed Oz on the cheek. “Thanks for caring. It feels nice.”

She’d managed to embarrass him even more but at least now he also wore a shy smile. “Yeah, well…” he patted her knee. “That’s what brothers are for.”

And how wonderful it was that she now knew how that felt.

Chapter Seven

Linc lay in the quiet darkness of his hotel room unable to turn his thoughts off knowing Nora was asleep in the next room with an unlocked, connecting door the only thing separating them.

But fuck, he needed some sleep. He had to be up early in the morning to head to the studio and was already running on fumes from their late travels.

Remembering the flight home from Texas with Sophie and her bad temper, Linc had purposely booked an evening flight with the hope she’d sleep through most of it. She hadn’t, but this time she also hadn’t been crabby thanks to Nora’s smart thinking. She occupied the fussy flyer with stories and games she had downloaded just for Sophie on her phone. She’d even come prepared with snacks, something Linc—not even in a million years—would have thought to do. The taxi ride from the airport to their hotel had been a bit rockier. Beyond tired, Sophie had fussed and whined until she’d finally fallen asleep in the cradle of Nora’s arm. He’d like to say he hadn’t been envious of his niece with her head pillowed against Nora’s chest, but if he did, it would be a lie. Nora had great tits.

Thatvisual was a road he did not want to go down right now—not if he wanted any shut-eye.

Linc reached for his phone, checked the time, and sighed. If he fell asleep right now, he’d get a solid five hours.

He huffed out a grunt, punching his pillow, before settling on his side.

That didn’t stop his thoughts from focusing back on the unlocked connecting door and wondering what Nora was doing right then. Was she thinking of him too? Doubtful. Why would she be? Though always happy and full of smiles, he’d never gotten the sense they were directed only at him. More likely she was thinking about Jay Cooper if she was thinking of anyone at all.

Linc gritted his teeth. Fucking Jay Cooper.

Oz had casually dropped that juicy piece of gossip as they’d waited for Nora when he’d come to pick her up for the airport. His jaw clenched, picturing Nora, all beautiful smiles and sexy-as-fuck laughter, with Jay in a dark nightclub. The two of them dancing, bodies pressed together, his hand on the low of her back, hers cupping the back of his neck with her fingers playing through the strands of his hair. He’d whisper something in her ear. She’d smile up at him. With his eyes locked on her lips, his head would dip….

Fuck!

Linc slammed his lids closed and forced himself to think about something else. Anything else. Football stats would do. That thought led to Oz—which was a boner killer if there ever was one—and that the woman Linc was lusting over was his sister. Bro code demanded he keep his hands off her, but the more time he spent with Nora, he couldn’t help but feel that the code mattered less and less. Nora was an adult and her own person. It should be up to her to decide what she wanted. If that happened to be him, then code be damned because, he was finding, for the first time in his life, he was attracted to a woman for more than just her looks. He liked her. Really liked her. She was funny as hell, compassionate, easy-going, and always in a good mood, making him feel good just from being around her.He liked every facet of her—mind and body. Not that it hurt that her body was really fucking bangin’.

God damn. There went his dick again. Fucking perfect. He was never going to get to fucking sleep.

***

“Sophie, get back here!”

Nora’s shout had Linc’s head turning in time to see the connecting door to his room swing open and a little whirlwind fly in.

“I’m sorry. I tried to stop—” Nora’s words came to an abrupt halt as her eyes went wide and her cheeks flamed pink. “Sorry!” she apologized again as she quickly spun on her heel, giving him her back.

Linc didn’t even try to keep the grin off his face as he slipped into his jeans keeping the towel wrapped around his waist for cover and threw a t-shirt over his head. “It’s safe to look now,” he said, tossing the towel to the side.

She peeked over her shoulder as though verifying his truthfulness before fully turning to face him.

He wished she hadn’t because now he was getting his first good look at her.

Fresh from bed, her pillow-tousled hair framed her face and fell over her shoulders doing nothing to hide the swells of her breasts revealed by the snug camisole top she wore. The matching shorts were so short they showed offallof her exceptionally fine legs. He’d tell her to turn back around but was afraid the rear view wouldn’t help the situation developing in his pants any better.

“We didn’t mean to barge in like that. Well, Sophie did, but I didn’t.” She nervously chuckled as her eyes landed on said room invader who was currently parked cross legged in the middle of his bed, TV remote in hand, and looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. A total contradiction to how Linc felt after his restless night sleep.

He dragged his eyes from Nora’s pink-tipped toes and concentrated on her left ear, thinking that should be safe. It wasn’t. Her ear was delicate and perfectly formed with a silky looking lobe he was dying to suck on.

He decided it was best not to look at her at all. He turned his attention to scouring the floor to hunt for his shoes. “I’m sorry if I woke you. I was trying to be quiet, hoping you guys would get a little more sleep.”

“It was Sophie who woke me. For someone so quiet, she’s quite persistent.”

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