Page 45 of I Choose You
Reid’s hands rested lightly on my hips. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah. It’s fine.” I reached behind my back, linking my hands together, and bent forward. My ass pushed into his groin, and I felt his fingers twitch where they grazed my skin.
“Men, stretch your hand down your partner’s spine. Apply pressure, but not too much. You’re not bending them over.” I shot a side-eye at Sebastian. “Your job is to help them find a little more stretch within themselves. Don’t force it.”
Reid kept his left hand on my hip, his right hand pressing firmly but not forcefully on my back. I swayed my hips to the side, deepening the stretch as I got as low as I could. Reid shifted behind me, pulling me closer. I could feel him getting harder.
I swayed my hips a little more, fascinated by the feel of his breaths, his hands, his erection. My head was starting to get fuzzy. I needed to get upright again so that blood would flow to my brain because right now, it was not. Based on the warmth in my core and the wetness in my underwear, I could tell where it was flowing to.
A cough sounded next to me, startling me back to reality. All eyes were on us. I flew upright and stepped out of Reid’s touch. My head spun from the sudden change, and a dizzy spell caught me off guard. Reid reached his arms out, catching me before I could fall.
“Are you alright?” His brow was furrowed, and his eyes roamed over me like he thought I suddenly had a visible wound he could heal.
“Yeah. Sorry about that. I just got dizzy for a second. I’m good now.” He took an extra couple of seconds before he let me go. “Anyway, there was more to the routine, but let’s save it for another day.” I smiled at everyone and no one in particular. I couldn’t look them in the face, any of them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Reid discreetly trying to adjust himself. I had no idea what they just witnessed between Reid and me, but I knew it wasn’t meant for an audience. “I’m going to take off, actually. Thank you so much for inviting me today,” I told Maeve, congratulating her again when I hugged her goodbye. I said my goodbyes to the rest of the group, putting my sweater back on, along with my shoes.
Reid followed my lead, taking the opportunity to leave as well. Outside, he stopped at my car door, resting his hand on the frame to prevent me from opening it. “Give me your keys.”
“What? Why? I’m fine to drive.”
“I saw at least two bottles of wine in there, and I know one of you ladies wasn’t drinking, plus you almost fainted not five minutes ago. You’re not driving. We can either take your car or my truck. I’m good either way.”
I paused. A part of me wanted to fight with him about it. I really was fine to drive. Two bottles between three people over the course of three or four hours was not excessive. And the fainting had only been because I’d moved too fast from being nearly on my head.
But another part of me liked the protective Reid. Like feeling that someone was taking care of me, watching outfor me. Reid’s eyes flicked to my mouth, and instinctively, I wet my lips. Heat bloomed in his eyes again, but he quickly blinked it away.
“Keys.”
I handed them over to him, walking around the car to get into the passenger seat. He had to move the driver’s seat back to fit his large frame before backing out of the driveway. My car was equipped with a back-up camera, but Reid hooked his arm around my seat to turn and watch where he was going out the back window.
Why was that so hot?
Good Lord, I needed to get a grip. Maybe the alcoholhadgone to my head. It was probably for the best that Reid was driving.
He drove us back to my place in silence. When we got in, Reid started making up the couch for the night.
“You can sleep in the bed with me if you want. It wouldn’t be the first time.” I smiled.
“I’m good on the couch. Get some sleep.”
My chest ached. It didn’t make any sense why it bothered me so much that he would rather sleep on the couch. I had to remind myself that he was only twenty-four years old. Wildly attractive, yes. But also, way too young for me. It wasn’t like I could put the moves on him, not that I was planning on it anyway. He could keep the couch.
That was probably for the best.
15
Reid
The library halls echoed as I nailed the hand-carved trim into the bookcase frame. The original bookcases all had the decorative trim, but some of the bookcases had been acquired over time. They needed to be consistent and match the historical details of the original. I was here by myself today; everyone else was home for the Christmas Eve holiday. Dinner at my dad’s wasn’t for another couple of hours, and I wanted to get some things buttoned up here. My crew wasn’t due back on-site now until after the New Year, and honestly, I needed to do something with myself before I drove myself crazy.
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Claire ever since that night last week when I had my hands on her body and her ass rubbing against my dick. It was playing on repeat in my mind.
That was a lie. I hadn’t been able to get Claire out of my head since the moment I touched my lips to hers at that damn wedding. Her rubbing that perfect ass against my dick just made it that much worse.
That next morning, after waking up on Wyatt’s couch with a massive boner, I left before she awoke. It had taken every ounce of self-control I possessed to not take Claire up on her offer to share a bed, but she was being sweet and considerate when she offered, because that was just who she was, and my intentions were anything but.
We worked together every day. Every day, I had to smell her orange-scented shampoo when I brought my chair up to hers to sit next to her and see the progress she had made on the designs. Every day, I had to watch as she slipped out of her clothes, layer by layer, as her office warmed up, shedding her winter coat, then her thick sweater, until she was in only a T-shirt. She was dangerous with her lean, toned body, silky soft skin, and that damn disarming smile. The one that was breaking down my walls piece by piece.
The squeal of the heavy entrance doors opening caught my attention. Who would be coming here today? The thud of the door closing reverberated through the building just as I came around the corner. Claire stood in the entryway. This woman had to be part fairy or something, conjured from the inner workings of my mind. Her cheeks and nose were pink from the cold, her blonde hair wild and windblown.
