Page 90 of The Close-Up
I nod.
“What feels right to you now?” he asks.
I take a few moments and think about my answer. The longer I stare at Simon, the hungrier I become. I want his mouth on me, his body against mine, the bedsheets tangled around us.
“I don’t know if you want to hear what I have to say,” I finally say.
“Why’s that?” He lifts his eyebrow at me. It’s just the right amount of playful.
“Because it could get really, really dirty,” I admit.
His mouth tugs up in a sly smile. “Don’t fret about it. You of all people know how much I like to get dirty.”
“You know, this might sound weird, but ‘don’t fret about it’ is like the sexiest thing you could say to me.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
He tucks a chunk of my messy hair behind my ear. Then he scoots farther onto the bed and gently grabs both of my hands, coaxing me to stand in front of him, in between his legs. The sides of my thighs skim the inside of his. I’m nearly flush with his crotch. Simon’s right. All of this—touching him, feeling him, talking to him this close, this intimately—feels just right.
He slides his hands under his shirt, then rests his palms on my waist. Gazing up at me, his eyes turn mischievous. “You blush every time I say it. I first noticed it when you chatted me up at Spud’s. And every single time I’ve said it since then, it’s had a similar effect.”
I bite my lip, my face hot again as I contemplate just how to word what I want to say. “Do you know why it makes me blush?”
He reins in his smile. “I have a suspicion. But I’d like to hear you say it.”
I take his face in my hands. “You used to say it all the time in your videos right after you’d make the person you were with come.”
A toothy grin spreads across his face. “That’s kind of what I thought.”
“It was super hot knowing that you were skilled enough to be that impressive in bed, but then you brushed it off like it was nothing. It was like an endearing humble brag.”
That earns me a throaty laugh. A few seconds later, his stare turns focused. “I just don’t want you to freak yourself out, Naomi.”
My hands fall to his shoulders. “We have to be smart about this, Simon. My last relationship—well, all my relationships have left me a bit broken, so the thought of things going wrong with you scares me. You’re really special to me.”
When he says nothing, I stiffen in his hold, but then he gives my hips a gentle squeeze with his hands.
“Don’t say that. You’re not broken.”
My hands wrap around his wrists. “Simon, what are we doing?”
“You’re standing, I’m sitting, and we’re talking.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m enjoying spending time with an amazing woman,” he says without missing a beat. “What areyoudoing, Naomi?”
I sigh, unable to keep my annoyance at bay. “You’re incredible, Simon. And I won’t lie, so was last night. The best I’ve ever had.”
A smug smile tugs at his lips. “Is that so?”
I nod.
“Say more things like that.”
“Someone likes their ego stroked.”
