Chapter 18

Bailey

I spent the afternoon doing all the prep work for dinner and pampering myself.

It had been a long time since I’d been on a date, much less one that would hopefully lead to sex, so I was a combination of nervous and excited. I’d wanted to go slow, but when he’d kissed me this morning, that had gone out the window. I hadn’t thought I’d be ready to take that step so quickly, but my body reminded me that I didn’t just want his touch—I needed it.

Once everything was prepped for dinner, I soaked in the tub with masks on both my face and my hair. I shaved all the pertinent parts of me, dried and curled my hair, put on a little makeup, and then stared at the clothes in my closet.

Jeans? Leggings? A dress?

Ugh.

Back in my acting days, I’d always known what to wear, how I wanted to look, for any occasion.

I seemed to have forgotten all of that.

Now it was a matter of comfort and being presentable.

I wanted more with Jensen, but I also wanted him to see who I really was. That wasn’t going to change just because I was involved with a man again.

Since I had to cook, I opted to keep it simple with my favorite pair of jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt. I tended to walk around barefoot at home, but I slid my feet into a pair of slippers since I would be cooking and probably moving around more than I did when I was on my own.

Jensen would be here any minute, so I had everything ready to go. I’d set the table outside on the patio since it was nice out, and maybe we’d wind up in the hot tub again. Or the pool since it was heated. I needed to be able to swim year-round, so it was a nice perk, though I sometimes worried about the cost.

I’d been thinking about money more than ever lately.

Maybe it was because I’d finally started to make some again.

Why the hell was I thinking about money when I had a date in a few minutes?

The doorbell rang and I took a moment to center myself.

I was so excited to spend time with Jensen, but nervous about the next steps. He’d said he would wait if I wasn’t ready to make love, so that should have soothed me. Instead, it made me even more anxious because that meant the ball was in my court, and it had been a long time since I’d been in the driver’s seat with sex. Especially since I wanted it so badly, I could barely think about anything else.

“Hi.” I opened the door and couldn’t help but smile at the picture he made.

His hair was damp, and he looked deliciously casual in dark khakis and a black polo shirt. He held a huge bouquet of roses in his hands and proffered them to me.

“Hey.” He leaned over, brushing his lips across mine.

“Hi. These are beautiful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He followed me into the house.

“If you want to open the bottle of wine, I’ll put these in water and then start dinner.”

“Absolutely.” He picked up my bottle opener as I got a vase from off the shelf and arranged the flowers.

“How was practice?” I asked.

He groaned. “Fucking brutal. He made us do drills non-stop for over an hour, and then we ended the day skating laps. Full-speed, back and forth across the ice, over and over until he blew the whistle. Then he’d let us rest for thirty seconds before starting all over again. And for the final fuck you, he decided that the two skaters who came in last would be benched for the next game.”

I grimaced. “That sounds…awful. Is this a thing in hockey? Mindless punishment?”

“Sometimes. But usually not like this. He went overboard in my opinion.”

“I’m assuming you weren’t last?”

He chuckled. “Not even close. I was third. One of the older guys on the team took a bullet for us because he has a cold, so he petered out early and just went back to the locker room. I know him, and he’s pretty tough, so he did it on purpose. His wife just had a baby, so I think he’s all about having the night off.”

“If he’s benched for a game, can he stay home or does he still have to come to the arena?”

“He still has to be there, but it’s a different vibe when you don’t play. And he can leave early.”

“Hockey sounds brutal.” I moved to the stove. “I hope you like my leaner version of chicken parm. I’m making it with whole wheat pasta, but there are lots of veggies in the sauce.”

“I’ll eat anything you put in front of me.”

“Great.”

“So, what did you do all day?”

“I prepped for dinner. Then I worked out. The usual daily stuff.”

“Sounds about right.” He poured us each a glass of wine and handed one to me. “Can I help with anything?”

“Nope.” I added the meat to the oil. “What did your mom end up doing tonight?”

“She’s cooking and baking. Her plan is to fill my freezer with stuff so I don’t miss her once she’s gone.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.”

“My mom is awesome. A little more in my business than I’d like, but I wouldn’t trade her.”

“She’s lovely. I really liked her.”

“She said something about having you over for dinner before she heads back to Minnesota.”

“When is she leaving?”

“Sunday. We leave on a road trip Monday, so she’s going home.”

“Oh. Not much time left with her.”

He shook his head. “But she’ll be back. Or I’ll go there once the season ends.”

“That’s in April, right?”

“Well, yes and no. The regular season ends in April. If we make it to the playoffs—which won’t happen this season because we’re in last place in the standings—it can go until June.”

“The Stanley Cup is the championship, right?”

“Have you been googling hockey?”

I laughed. “I have. Of course, now I have more questions than before I started searching.”

“Like?”

“What the hell is icing?”

He laughed. “I could tell you, but it might be easier to show you. The nuances of the game can be tricky.”

“Ugh. Okay, maybe when you get back from your trip, and your mom is gone, we can get together and watch a game.”

“Anytime you want to watch hockey, I’m in.” He came over and stood behind me, wrapping one arm around my waist. “That smells awesome. My stomach just growled.”

“It doesn’t take long. You want to get the salad out of the fridge and take it outside? I thought we’d eat on the patio.”

“Sure.”

We worked in companionable silence for a few minutes as he took out the salad, wine bottle, and our glasses. The pasta didn’t take long and I put it in a big bowl, grabbed a serving spoon, and was about to go outside when Jensen took it from me.

“I’ve got it. Do we need anything else?”

“No, that’s it.”

We settled outside and ate as the sun went down.

The view was one of my favorite things about this house and it was nice to have someone to share it with.

“That was delicious,” Jensen said after he’d eaten two plates full. “You can cook for me anytime.”

“I’d love to. Although I’m looking forward to having your mom cook for me. The only person who cooks for me is Lucia, and that’s usually only once a month.”

“I cook too,” Jensen said, “although most of what I do is on the grill or use my smoker.”

“You have a smoker?”

“A big green egg,” he said.

“I have no idea what that is,” I replied.

“I’ll show you when you come over. Basically, you can grill, bake, or smoke at exact temperatures. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever bought myself.”

“Sounds intriguing.”

“I’ll give a demonstration sometime.”

“Perfect.”

We carried everything inside and I loaded the dishwasher while he wiped down the table outside and the kitchen counters. I’d never cooked for a guy who helped clean up and I was grateful because my hip had started to throb.

“You feel like getting in the hot tub?” I asked. “My hip is hurting and that’s the best way to soothe it.”

“Sure. I brought swim trunks this time.”

I chuckled. “Then I’ll meet you out there. You can change in the guest room.”

I went into my bedroom and this time I didn’t wear the demure one-piece he’d seen me in last time. Instead, I pulled on one of my favorite bikinis. It showed off my breasts and left very little to the imagination. I still had a great figure, but all my scars would be on display, and I needed him to see them before we got intimate. I needed to gauge his reaction and get a feel for how he would deal with the reality of my body without clothes.

It felt a little forward, wearing something so revealing, but it was time to shit or get off the proverbial pot because things seemed to be progressing quickly between us. I wanted to sleep with him, get closer to him, and make him part of my life. I’d never imagined meeting someone like him, assuming I’d be single a long time and having no interest in dating.

Then Jensen Bang all but fell into my lap.

And what happened next would be a test for both of us.

“Hey, did you—” He stopped talking abruptly as I walked out onto the patio. “Jesus, Bailey. Are you trying to kill me?”

“I figured it was time for you to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

“There’s ugly?” He came toward me slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. “All I see is beautiful.”

Before I could reply, he swept me up in his arms and kissed me.

Hard and soft, sensual and passionate.

His lips and tongue took control of my mouth, and there was nothing tentative about these kisses. This was a direct message that he wanted me and there was zero chance I was saying no. It had been too long since I’d felt a man’s touch, and even longer since I’d been with a man who made me feel beautiful. Dirk had always behaved as though I was the lucky one, latching on to a good-looking guy like him. In retrospect, that should have been the first red flag, but I’d thought it was nice to have a guy who didn’t fawn over me.

Now I understood the difference.

Jensen didn’t fawn over me, but he had no trouble showing me how much he liked me. How much I turned him on. Hell, the evidence of his arousal was pressed firmly against my stomach, and he was hard as a rock.

“I guess you like my bikini,” I whispered when we finally broke apart.

“Very much.” His gaze drifted down to my chest.

“Eyes up here, buddy,” I teased, chuckling.

“Why?” he asked, keeping his eyes right where they were. “If you didn’t want me to look, you wouldn’t have put it on.”

“You got me. I want you to look. At everything.” I paused. “Jensen… I’m serious.”

This time he looked up, and the concern in his eyes melted my heart. “Baby, are you worried about the scars you told me about? Then let’s see them, because it’s a non-issue for me.”

I let out a squeak as he lifted me in his arms and carried me to the island in the kitchen. He plopped me on it and dropped to his knees, his face extremely close to my most intimate parts. But he wasn’t looking at those. Instead, he ran a hand over the set of vertical scars that ran down the side of my right leg, starting around my hip bone and going almost to the knee. He leaned over and gently ran his tongue along one of them, pausing to press light kisses every few inches.

“Your skin is so smooth,” he whispered in a rough voice. “I can’t wait to touch all of it.”