Page 58 of Inflame

My body whips around as the door to Nic’s bedroom opens and he exits slowly with a stark white towel wrapped around his waist. He vigorously rubs a second towel over his head and hair. Every movement causes his muscles to ripple. He is so stacked that I wonder what it would feel like to have him hover over me while—

Fuck. I need to stop this.

“Like what you see?” he asks, eyeing me with an edge of humor in his sexualized comment.

“I—”

He smirks and lifts his eyebrows. “I like you speechless.”

I raise myself up from the couch. “You—”

He chuckles. “Almost as much as I like you frustrated.”

I turn to the main entrance of the suite. “I thought you were at the casino or something.”

“I rested and took a shower.”

“And sent me a dick pic,” I snicker.

He nods, taking in my choice of lounge outfit. Ugh. Why do I feel like everything I do is met with his watchful eye. I am wearing a two-sizes-too-big black cotton T-shirt that exposes my right shoulder. The words “Look But Don’t Touch” are across the front in white lettering. I paired it with red booty shorts that get lost underneath the hem of the tee. So, it basically looks like I am pantsless.

I had no time to change into anything else when Graham started bellowing through the suite about tonight’s itinerary. I’m sure he will continue his tirade after his late afternoon romp with Angie. There’s no way she’ll be able to keep him preoccupied long enough for us to sneak out of here and attend the Meltin’ Men show at the Starlight Club.

Every time I look up at Nic, I see the image of his penis burned into my permanent memory bank. “I’m in desperate need of help tonight. You promised.”

Nic nods. “I got it handled. Just trust me.”

His laid-back nature makes me want to scream. He only brings it out when he wants to appease me. The manipulation alone makes me want to smack the smirk right off his face. Twice.

I shift my weight from foot to foot. “You better be able to handle your brother.”

“I can handle him,” he says, taking a step closer, “andyou.”

“I don’t need to be handled.”

“You just think you don’t,” Nic chirps. “Trust me, you’ll love the handling that will go down.”

Why do I get the impression that his casual flirting is more than just flirting? He says things with such confidence that it makes a chill run up my spine. He’s probably just a player. Men as good-looking as Nic Hoffman have to know their way around the female anatomy or are a complete failure at doing the sex. There’s no gray area. He either has had a ton of practice and was able to perfect his foreplay skills or he is a lazy lover and knows that just looking good is enough for some women to be fulfilled.

I shake my head over my internal ramble. Why am I even thinking about this? Why do I care?

“I must be taking up a lot of real estate,” Nic says, tapping lightly on my head, “in that brain of yours.”

He is so close that I can smell the soap he used. It is different than mine. He smells like a man. A delicious one. I miss that smell. I probably just miss Ethan.Ethan. He should be arriving late tonight.

“I, um, need to make a phone call,” I say, running into my room. “Take care of your brother. I’m not being pushed around by his overbearing ways.” I sit down on the bed and plug my phone into the charging cable, so I can multitask but still get a full battery.

I pull open the text app and find Ethan’s name toward the bottom of the list. We haven’t been the best at communicating during the past couple of days. I hate when we are at a low. At least it makes the highs even more exciting.

Sometimes I think back to how we met and wonder if relationships can be built on foundations made of money. I can’t help but wonder if I started dating Ethan because of convenience. He wanted to even out the playing field when his estranged wife, Deena, started dating someone else. It grew into something more with us. I love Ethan. And every time I think about Nic as other than a friend, I am damaging our relationship.

No one deserves that.

I type out my message and hit send.

Claire: Hey! Hope you are all packed up and ready for a fun couple of days.

Ethan: It is going to feel so good to hit up that casino and get away from here. Work has not gone well for me this week.

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