Riley covered her mouth. I’m such an idiot. “Insert foot in mouth,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m just not used to these types of luxuries. And I’m not a handout. A thousand dollars a month wouldn’t even pay for someone to wash his windows.”
“Relax, babe. It’s not like he needs the money,” Josh said. He put his hand on the small of her back and guided her forward.
Riley hadn’t spent much time picturing Josh’s apartment, and as she walked through the lavish rooms, she realized that she saw pieces of him everywhere. Instead of velvet couches, like Treat’s, his were leather and cloth, with chenille throws across the back and thick brown area rugs covering the hardwood. His apartment felt very masculine, very Josh. She glanced over the bookshelves, where she found not only books, but candles and other knickknacks. She picked up a heavy metal frog holding a magnifying glass and raised an eyebrow in question.
He shrugged. “He was cute.”
She set it back down and picked up a picture of a very young Hugh standing beside a red car. “He looks happy.”
“His first race. I took that right before he headed out to the track.” She set it down and ran her finger along the books: a mixture of fine literature and recent fiction. “You’re a reader?”
He shrugged again. “When I have time.”
“Candles. For your hot dates?” she teased. Inside she winced, not wanting to hear the answer.
“I’ve never had a woman I dated in my apartment.”
Riley spun around. “No way,” she said.
“Way,” he said. “I told you. I’m a private guy. My place is my place. It’s the one place I can come and feel…I don’t know…safe, away from the scrutiny of the public. Bringing a woman up here would bring that world in. I didn’t want that.”
She asked the question that begged to be asked. “What if you wanted to, you know…”
“They had apartments.” Each word was laced with honesty.
“Eight years and not one single woman in your bed? Come on, Josh,” Riley said.
“Eight years and not one woman in my bed,” he assured her.
She couldn’t imagine having that sort of self-control. It seemed unimaginable. Could he be saying what he thought she might want to hear? She searched his eyes and came away knowing that he was telling her the truth.
“So I’ll be the first?” she asked, reaching for his hand.
“We’ll see,” he teased. “Hopefully the last.”
She wrapped her arms around him and realized that he’d invited her over to his apartment after their first date. “Josh, you invited me here after you took me through the subway that first night, remember?”
“I remember that night very well, and I hope I never forget it,” he said with a smile.
“But…if you’ve never had a woman here…”
He shrugged. “It’s you, Riley. My heart always wanted it to be you.”
“That’s a lot of pressure for a girl,” she said. She went to the mantel, which was decorated with family photos in mismatched, though expensive, wood frames. Pictures of each of his siblings, his father, and even one photograph of Max and Jade sitting side by side, smiled back at her.
“Your mom,” she said, pointing to the one of Adriana Braden. His mother had been stunning, with auburn hair and green eyes, just like Savannah. In the photograph, her eyes sparkled and her mouth was open, her head angled back, as if she had been caught laughing.
“She’s always around,” he said.
She crossed the living room to the balcony, upon which were two iron chairs. “Your favorite place,” she said, taking in Central Park below, the vast expanse of nature contrasted sharply against the concrete world around it. “No wonder you live here.”
She spun around and found Josh smiling with that loving look in his eyes again. Her heart warmed as she went to his side. “I love it,” she said. “This feels like you…only bigger.”
He smirked.
She swatted his chest. “Stop thinking about sex.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Wanna see the bedroom?”
She followed him down the hall and through a large sitting room with a magnificent fireplace. “Wow, this is incredible.” She noticed a Men’s Journal on the coffee table and more family photographs on the mantel. They walked through double pocket doors to the master bedroom, which was almost as large as the sitting room. The king-sized bed was placed off center, flanked by mahogany bedside tables, each topped with a lamp. The lamp on the left was more masculine than the one on the right, with a slightly darker shade and a chunkier base. The hardwood floor was partially covered with a deep white rug. In the corner of the room were two leather reading chairs with lights perched above and an oversized ottoman before them. Both of the chairs had soft-looking throws on them as well. In the center of the long dresser was a large framed family photo. Riley ran her finger over the children in the picture.
“Ya’ll were so young,” she said.
“That was taken in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, with my mom. We used to rent a little cottage there when we were young. Treat actually bought it a few years ago. That picture was taken the last time she was there.” He stared at the frame as he said it, as if memories were unraveling right before his eyes.
Riley went to the bed and sat, sinking into the thick comforter. “Who decorated?”
“You’re really asking me that? I did, of course.”
“Everything is made for a man and a woman, a very close couple, it seems.”
Josh smiled. “I guess I always hoped to find you,” he said, coming closer to her with a seductive look in his eye.
She patted the comforter. “This thing must be four inches thick.”
“Six.” He positioned himself above Riley, her feet between his, and leaned over her so she was forced to lie back on the bed.
“You are an overachiever,” she teased.
“So? Do you see me differently now, too?” He ran his hand beneath her shirt and kissed her cheek, planting a trail of kisses down her neck.
“I know you a little better now,” she said, lifting her head, baring her beautiful neck.
Josh raised her shirt above her breasts and kissed the arc of her breasts. “You do, do you?”
“I always knew family was important to you, but being in your home and seeing your family so alive in everything you own, it makes me feel like you’re the man I always thought you were.” Riley closed her eyes.
“And who is that man?” he asked as he kissed his way down her belly.
“The man from Weston who puts family above all else. The man with a heart bigger than all of New York City,” she said in a breathy whisper.
Josh hiked her skirt up around her waist and stroked her through the tiny swatch of fabric between her legs. “Mmm. You’re so wet already,” he said as he licked her belly. She arched her hips toward him, wanting and ready. Riley sucked in a breath as he dragged his tongue up her inner thigh, stopping just shy of his hand, which was working its magic and working her into a frenzy of oversensitive nerves.
“Josh,” she whispered.
“Condom?” he whispered.
They’d already had sex without a condom, and Riley had no intention of having anything between them. She shook her head. “No.”
He lifted his head and looked at her. “What then?”
She reached for his shoulders. “You. I want you.”
He slithered up her body and lowered his mouth to hers, gyrating his hips against hers, every lick of his tongue against hers drawing out her need to have more of him. She reached for the button on his pants. Josh pushed away, kissing her lightly, then stood and unbuttoned his pants. He raised his eyebrows.
“Is this what you want?” he asked. Before she could answer, he said, “Jesus you look good in my bed.”
“You’re what I want, Josh.” She sat up to help him with the zipper, and he playfully pushed her back down on the bed. God, you’re hot. She watched him move his hips in a sultry little striptease, then take off his pants and toss them to the floor, pinning her to the bed with his sultry look and mesmerizing her with the sway of his hips as he continued moving to silent music. He drew his briefs down slowly, then held them above her like a carrot to a horse. She reached for them with a laugh and he threw them off to the side.
“God, you’re cute,” she said.
“I wasn’t really going for cute.” With one hand, he pulled his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor.
Riley ran her hands down his chest as he lowered himself over her, positioning his nipple against her lips.
“Mmm.” She took it in her mouth, sliding her hands down his firm, muscular sides, and pulled his hips toward hers.
He moaned when she drew away from his nipple and took her mouth in his, pressing them both in to the deep comforter. She loved the way Josh kissed, like his whole heart belonged to her, like every breath he breathed was hers to share, and when he pulled away from her and moved down her body, leaving a trail of kisses and licks all the way down to her hip, she closed her eyes, spellbound by his touch.
With his mouth just below her belly button, he licked the sensitive skin, teasing her above the constriction of her bundled skirt. He slid one finger beneath her thong and rode the seam down between her legs, fondling her swollen, wet lips while she squirmed beneath him. The anticipation sent her thoughts into fragmented splinters. He spread her legs wide with his feet. Riley arched toward him, her eyes closed, her mouth open, feeling his fingers enter her, then withdraw and enter again. Her mind went blank, numb. Her body burned. Josh slid her thong to the side, and she opened her eyes, catching his eager, lusty leer just before he thrust himself into her. Her head fell back, and she grasped fistfuls of blanket, crying out a gratuitous, aching, “Ahhh.”