Page 83 of Twenty Years Later

"It's definitely a start," I said, both of us laughing as he dried the last pan.

"All right. Where do you keep the vacuum?"

"You really don't have—"

Alex's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to."

Oh, wow. "It's, um, in there." I pointed to the tall cupboard by the back door.

After he grabbed the vacuum, he nodded towards the living room. "Let's go. I want you to tell me just how you like it."

Giggling, I grabbed the cookies and followed him out of the kitchen, settling onto the couch again.

He managed to get one of the ridiculous outlet covers off and plugged in the vacuum. Just before he turned it on, he caught my eye and grinned. "I'm getting hot. Do you mind if I take off my shirt?" he asked.

Uh, did I mind? "Please, be my guest."

He may have been joking around, but this was serious foreplay right here, and I intended to enjoy it thoroughly. Chuckling, he took off his shirt and tossed it onto a nearby chair.

While he turned on the vacuum, I bit into a cookie, savoring the sweetness on my tongue and the hot sight in front of me. I watched him as he focused on sucking up every last crumb, moving with both speed and efficiency.

The way his biceps bulged as he lifted a chair to get under it, the way his broad shoulders tensed, plus the deep tan on his torso from hours in the hot Miami sun... oh, God. I might have an eyegasm just from looking at him.As he came closer to the couch, I could see the sweat glistening on his chest, and I picked up a magazine from the ottoman to fan myself.

The vacuum passed right in front of me, and he smiled at me. Did he know what he was doing to me right now? Judging by the sexy look in his eyes, yeah, he did. He definitely did. Without taking my eyes off him, I reached for another cookie as he kept going past me, reaching into all the corners, every hidden crevice, doing a much more thorough job than I ever did.

Sweet mercy.

Alex turned off the vacuum after he did the last bit of the living room. "Can I do the kitchen with this vacuum or should I just sweep in there?"

I was busy licking the frosting off my fingers while ogling his abs. "Um, yeah, it works on rugs and hard floors."

He laughed and disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes, the sound of the vacuum not loud enough to drown out my lusty thoughts. Exactly how much time did we have till preschool was over? I did the math, and we still had an hour.

Thank goodness... because the raw need flowing through my veins absolutely consumed me. I was a woman on fire, and the only person who could put out the flames was Alex.

He rounded the corner just then, wiping the sweat from his brow, his arm muscles popping. I hadn't even realized that the vacuum had stopped. "Take a shower with me?" he asked.

Chapter Thirty

Alex

Her chest rose and fell along with that look in her eye like she was going to pounce on me. Man, I was loving this side of Jayda. Had I really missed out onyearsof this?

I didn't know what she was thinking about our future, but I was more determined than ever to make this woman mine. And this weekend, we were going to discuss it. I didn't give a damn about that promise she had made to Blake.

Those few days where I'd been worried to death about her and couldn't call her, that had beenitin my mind. That had been the clincher for me. There was too much wasted time between us, and I was going to convince her that we had a future together if it was the last thing I did.

I loved this woman with all my heart, soul, and mind. And there was no way in hell I was going to let her go this time.

"A shower?" she asked, those blue-green eyes making my chest squeeze.

I nodded. "I'm hot and want to wash the sweat off me."

She stood up and walked over to me, putting her arms around my neck, pushing that plush body of hers into mine. "I don't care about that."

Damn. Images from our shower together in Miami flashed through my mind—her soaped-up body, the way her wet skin had felt against me.

She stared up at me, and I leaned down to kiss her, but first, I sucked that plump lower lip of hers into my mouth. God, she tasted so incredibly sweet. But when she moaned against my mouth, I knew I needed to get us upstairs. This time, though, I was going to take charge and make slow, sweet love to her.

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