Page 54 of Catch and Release
He walked to the side of the bed that looked like she frequented most and set her in it. He tugged her shoes off and set them on the floor by the bed, then pulled a spare blanket over her. Eyes still closed, she rolled to her side and released a contented sigh.
He needed to leave. He knew he needed to leave. But he couldn’t stop staring at her, at the way her hair formed a halo around her head, the way her lips almost puckered in sleep, the way her nose scrunched every moment or two as if she were having some sort of dream. He kissed her softly on the forehead.
“Goodnight, Willa,” he murmured against her forehead.
Then he turned around and left, stealing a final glance at her sleeping figure when he got to the doorway before heading home.
16
When Willa’s alarm went off the next morning, two thoughts immediately entered her head.
First, she’d come on Shawn’s fingers last night because his calloused hands fucked her better than any cock ever had before.
And second, she’d repaid the favor in kind by giving him road head and then having the gall to swallow.
And she didn’t hate it.
“Shit,” she muttered, covering her face in her hands as the events of the night came back to her in a haze.
Dancing with the stranger.
The way Shawn came in right as he kissed her.
How pissed he got.
How they danced and he whispered things into her ear that still made her toes curl, even a day later.
Every single moment in the car.
The way she rode his fingers like her life depended on it.
How good he tasted in her mouth.
What it felt like to fall asleep on his shoulder.
And then her blurriest memories reminding her how she somehow ended up in her bed—that he carried her inside so gently that she barely stirred.
She bit her lip and groaned, but tried to put him out of her mind as she woke up and did her regular morning routine. She lit some incense and meditated for longer than usual in an attempt to soothe her racing heart. She pulled on her favorite yoga outfit, washed her face, ate a clementine and drank a cup of coffee, then headed to her car.
Willa knew she needed to talk to Shawn. And before that, she needed to put some serious thought to what she was going to say.
But first, she had to teach her Saturday morning yoga class.
She turned on one of her favorite podcasts during her commute to take her mind off of Shawn, and before she knew it, she was pulling into the hotel. Standing outside with iced coffees in hand were Layla and Amanda, and Willa would bet her freezer full of fish they were waiting to hear all the juicy details from last night.
Her suspicions were confirmed a few moments later when Amanda saw her and grinned like a cat. She extended an iced coffee in her direction.
“Thought you might need this,” Amanda said. “A little sustenance while you tell us what happened last night.”
“We’re dying to know,” Layla chimed in, her cheeks reddening. “Your neighbor looked like he was about to rip the head off the guy you were dancing with, then a few minutes later, you were hot and bothered and leaving with him.”
“Please tell me he didn’t just take you home,” Amanda added. “Please tell me things took an R-rated turn.”
Willa took a large gulp of her coffee and heaved a sigh.
“I’m really trying to compartmentalize so I can get through this yoga class,” she said.
“We have thirty minutes til the class starts,” Amanda insisted. “Give us the reader’s digest version of what happened. Please. I’m begging you. I brought you coffee and everything.”