Page 72 of Wanting More
The burn in his chest came back at full force. Clutching the edge of the wall, Joel watched in fury as the man on the phone's eyes widened appreciatively at the image of her bare shoulders on the screen.
"I'm in the tub. Again, what do you want?" Sapphire's voice was frosty.
"I wanted to call and wish you a happy early birthday. I wanted to be the first one," he announced, his tone smug as his gaze kept dropping, desperately trying to see more of her. "Am I? Am I the first?"
Birthday?! Joel looked at Hayden next to him, but Hayden wore the same shocked expression. Son of a bitch! When she had filled out the application to work at the café, Joel had just accepted it as a formality. He had been so busy trying to figure out who the hell this girl was and getting her out of the motel he forgot to go back and read the damn thing.
Sapphire let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes," she said at length. "You are, congratulations. Anything else?"
"I wanted to talk about us and-"
"There is no us," Sapphire snapped. "Thanks for the call."
Joel listened to the sound of the call beeping to signal its disconnection. He looked over to Hayden, and he whispered in a low, almost inaudible breath.
"Who the fuck was that? Her ex?"
Hayden didn't respond. He just looked back at Sapphire.
Letting out a noise, a frustration, Sapphire shifted in the tub. "It was getting cold anyways," she mumbled.
Joel's eyes widened, and he helplessly watched as she began to stand in the tub. Neither he nor Hayden moved. With just the tops of their heads overlooking the wall of the stairwell, they watched as she stood. Water shimmered down her golden skin and sluiced off her naked body in a captivating symphony as it hit the water below. Joel's mouth went dry as his eyes scanned and roved her entire form, committing it to every synapse of memory in his mind as if it were the last thing he would ever see again.
He watched in a state of pleasurable pain as she turned, giving them a side view of her heavy breasts as she reached for the towel on the opposite wall. With blessedly slow torturous movements, she gently patted her skin dry, bending and turning to the task. Joel watched her bare ass move with each action noting every little jiggle and bounce of the ample flesh. Turning once more, Sapphire held the towel in front of her breasts, selfishly hiding them from sight while doing nothing to cover her backside as she leaned over and pulled the tub's plug. For the briefest second, Joel caught the sight of brown curls at the juncture of her thighs and opened his mouth in response.
The sudden rough hand over his mouth stifled the small sound that nearly came out, but Joel did not turn away. He didn't dare risk even a glance at Hayden as he watched her turn with her back toward them and, dear fucking God, bend for her phone.
It was his turn to slap his hand over Hayden's mouth, covering the man's strangled sound of worship as they both caught more than their fair share of her glorious ass. Holding their hands over each other's mouths, they stared wide-eyed at the girl in their care as she turned toward the door with her phone in hand.
Immediately they ducked out of sight, pressing their backs to the wall in one fluid move. They stood there, melded into the wall's side, hiding in the shadows, praying she would not look toward the stairs. A part of Joel wanted to glance down at the front of his pants. He was so fucking hard right now, he felt almost lightheaded.
The floorboards above them creaked as she made her way back to her room.
Just then, the whirring sound below them disturbed the air. Joel heard the feminine intake of breath above him and looked at Hayden's shocked face as the whirring sound on the second floor turned into a crashing sound. The scream above him nearly tore him from the wall, and he heard her door shut with an almighty slam.
"It's your goddamn phone," Hayden hissed, his eyes flashing in the dark.
Avoiding the creaking stairs, Joel raced down the stairs and cursed at the sight of his phone on the floor just beneath the table. Hayden's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out and answered it.
Joel could hear the frantic voice coming through the line.
"No, sweetheart, it's fine. It's just us. We tried to come home early and surprise you andsomeone," Hayden growled out that last word and looked at him sharply, "dropped his goddamn phone."
Joel ignored Hayden's glare and tried to step closer to hear what Sapphire was saying, but Hayden shoved him back.
"Yes, I swear we’re downstairs. Look," Hayden went back to the stairs, and Joel followed. "Just open your door, and you will see us."
Tentatively the door to her bedroom opened, and Joel's chest ached at the sight of her huge eyes peering through the crack.
"I'm sorry," he called out, taking a step up. But he was barred by Hayden's arm shooting out to block him. Giving him a look in return that promised death, Joel smiled back up at Sapphire. "Come down, won't you?"
And stay in that towel,he mentally added.
"Okay, give me a sec."
Sapphire's heart was still pounding when she came down the stairs. When she had heard the crash earlier, her thoughts had turned to the worst. For some reason, she thought of the biker from the motel. Naked and alone, the wild malevolent expression he wore that night had resurfaced in her mind. That reminded her that she needed to ask that golden-eyed sheriff the next time he came into the café when that man was getting out of jail.
Coming down the stairs, Sapphire heard Joel's voice.
