Page 9 of The Layover

“Which you look like you might sell either or both of us out for,” Nick teased.

I ducked my head. “Not that I’d admit, but maybe.”

Tony took the box from me, popped it open, and extracted a single, decadent looking piece of fruit. “In that case, I’ll feed you strawberries until your heart’s content.”

He didn’t seem to have an off button after all. I’d mind more if each try wasn’t both flattering and a bit of a turn-on. When he held out the strawberry, I let him press it to my lips, which I parted in a soft sigh. I teased my tongue along the tip, making sure I had the room’s attention before biting hard.

“Ouch.” Tony cringed.

Chocolate crumbled and juice dribbled down my chin. This was far more hilarious than sexy, and I snickered through the bite of strawberry.

Nick drew a finger up my chin, and I almost choked instead when he wiped away the juice and licked his finger clean. “If you two are done…” he said.

Tony shook his head. “Never.”

“For now.” This was fun.

“Serious for a moment,” Tony held up his hands. “This is an expensive room. Let us pay our share.”

“Not necessary. My company is picking up the tab and I’m going to let them.”

“Then we’ll send them a check. Who—”

I clucked. “No. Thank you, but that’s my final answer on the room.” Conversation was going to be limited if we couldn’t talk about ourselves. What was I going to do to stay distracted from the beast raging outside in storm-form? I glanced at Nick—it might be fun to see if he was climbable, but I wasn’t quite that desperate.

Yet.

He held up another box from the basket. “Dice games.”

Tony stepped closer. “Lover’s Dice,” he read.

“I should’ve read that first.” A hint of pink whispered across Nick’s cheeks, and he set the box down. How adorable was that? He was a blusher. “The strawberries looked good,” he said.

I could probably share after all. “They are. I bet they’re even better with the champagne.” I didn’t want to be drunk with the men, but a few sips might help calm me down.

Tony plucked the bottle from the ice. “It’s a decent vintage. If I were actually the newly wed husband, I might think the hotel was trying to steal my new bride away.”

“Lucky for them, you’re not a jealous man,” Nick said.

“Depends on the circumstances.” Tony handed him the bottle. “Do the honors?”

Nick pressed the base of the bottle into his hip.. “I’m not experienced in this, so apologies in advance for not doing it gracefully.” He untwisted the muselet around the neck and cork, gripped the cork, and wiggled.

A loud pop filled the room as the cork flew from his hand and champagne burst from the neck of the bottle, spraying both him and Tony.

Was I allowed to laugh? “Low pressure system plus icy cold champagne…” I really wanted to laugh.

When Nick snorted, I stopped holding back, and Tony joined in as well. Tentative giggles turned to full-blown laughter.

As we calmed down, Nick set aside the bottle and undid the top two buttons on his shirt. “We probably need fresh clothes. Maybe we can squeeze out our shirts to fill our glasses.”

I wanted to keep the light mood, but my gaze had frozen on his chest, which he was exposing a tantalizing inch at a time. Or rather, then hints of inked art I saw underneath.

“Unless you’d like to lick him clean,” Tony said.

I very much would. “I’d like to see the full artwork.” Look at me, behaving myself like an almost adult.

Nick eased his shirt from his shoulders to expose a stunning, intricate wolf.

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