Page 21 of The Hookup Situation (Billionaire Situation #5)

JULIE

T he first thing I notice is how warm I am. The second is that my phone is screaming at me from somewhere far away. The third is that I’m wrapped around Nick like a koala, and the sunlight streaming through my window is way too bright for five in the morning.

“Shit!” I bolt upright, nearly elbowing Nick in the face. “SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!”

“What’s wrong?” Nick mumbles, voice rough from sleep.

I grab my phone and look at the time, seeing it’s 7:43 a.m. I was supposed to open at six.

“I’m almost two hours late!” I scramble out of bed, tripping over the dress I left on the floor last night. “I never set my alarm! I never forget to set my alarm!”

Nick sits up, his hair sticking up in twelve directions. “Jules?—”

“No time!” I grab yesterday’s jeans from my chair, hopping on one foot as I pull them on. Fuck it. I grab a sweater from my closet and pull it over my head. “I have to go. The morning rush. Oh God, Blaire is going to kill me.”

“Let me drive you?—”

“I can walk there quicker.” I lean over the bed, grabbing his face and kissing him quick and hard. “Lock up when you leave. Spare key is stuffed behind my fall wreath on the door. Can’t miss it.”

“Your sweat?—”

“Bye!”

I sprint out of my condo, my keys jangling, my hair a disaster. The three-block run to Cozy Coffee nearly exhausts me. When I burst through the back door, I nearly crash into Sierra, who’s carrying a hot tray of chocolate croissants.

“Jules!” She steadies the tray. “We thought you’d died!”

“I’m so sorry!” I tie an apron around my waist, not even bothering to check my appearance. “I forgot to set my alarm. I never forget. I?—”

“Jules.” Blaire appears, arms crossed, trying to look stern but fighting a smile. “Breathe.”

“The morning rush?—”

“Is handled. Tracy came in early. We’ve got it covered.” She looks me up and down, and her smile breaks free. “But, um … you might want to …”

“What?”

She turns me toward the mirror by the office door.

My sweater is on backward. The tag is sticking out under my chin. My hair looks like I’ve been through a tornado. Yesterday’s mascara is giving me raccoon eyes.

“Oh my God.” I cover my face with my hands.

“So,” Blaire says, pulling me into the office, “Nick stayed over?”

“That’s the question you ask?” I glare at her.

“You look like you’ve been mauled.”

“We didn’t have sex. We just did body shots and slept.”

Tracy pokes her head in. “Jules, honey, your sweater’s on?—”

“I know!”

Sierra appears behind her. “Also, you have a huge hickey. Damn.”

“I do not—” I check the mirror again. Fuck. I do .

“Go home,” Blaire says, full-on laughing. “Seriously. You’re a disaster, and we’ve got this covered.”

“But—”

“Jules.” She puts her hands on my shoulders. “You haven’t taken a real day off in months. You showed up looking like you did the walk of shame. Go home. Shower. Spend the day with your boy. Get some rest. We’ve got this.”

“Are you sure?”

“GO!” All three of them speak at once.

“Also,” Sierra adds, “shower sex saves time. Just saying.”

I flip them off as I leave, their giggles following me out.

The walk back to my condo is less frantic. The morning air helps clear my head, and I’m suddenly very aware that Nick might still be there. I also remember we agreed to friends with benefits, and he’s taking me on a date tonight.

When I unlock my door, I hear the shower. My stomach does a little flip.

I climb the stairs, hearing him humming something. The bathroom door is cracked open, and steam rushes out. I can see his silhouette through my shower curtain, and I admire him for a second before creeping closer.

“BOO!”

“FUCK!” Nick screams, and a shampoo bottle flies past the curtain. He slips, catching himself on the shower curtain rod. “Jules!”

I’m laughing so hard that I can barely breathe. “Did you just throw shampoo at me?”

He yanks the curtain back, soap in his hair, glaring at me. “Woman, you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Your scream!” I wheeze. “So high-pitched!”

“You scared the shit out of me!” But he’s starting to laugh too. “What are you doing back? Trying to assassinate your boyfriend?”

“Blaire sent me home. Apparently, showing up and looking like I’ve been mauled is frowned upon. ”

His eyes rake over me, taking in my backward sweater and my destroyed appearance. “Mauled, huh?”

“See for yourself.” I turn my head, showing him the hickey.

“Mmm.” He looks genuinely surprised. “Are you sure I did that?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Unless there’s a ghost trying to suck my neck off, pretty sure. Seems our body shots got a little too enthusiastic.”

“Apologies.”

I meet his eyes. “Don’t. I liked it.”

“You like being marked by me?” Something shifts in his expression.

“Yes,” I say. “Oh, look, my sweater’s on backward.”

“It is,” he agrees, voice lower now as I pull it off of me.

“And these jeans are yesterday’s.” I unbutton them, letting them fall to the floor.

“We can’t have that.”

“I should probably shower.” I unhook my bra, watching his eyes trail over me. “You know, to save water and all.”

“Environmental conservation is very important,” he manages.

I step out of my panties and into the shower with him. “Hi.”

“Hi.” His hands immediately find my waist, pulling me under the spray. “This okay?”

“More than okay,” I mutter. “Turn around. Let me help you wash your hair.”

He turns, and I work the shampoo through his hair, my nails scratching his scalp. He groans, leaning back into me.

“That feels incredible.”

“Just wait,” I whisper, pressing myself against his back.

“Jules”—his voice is strained—“we should talk about this.”

“We have,” I say, and he turns to face me.

He cups my face, water streaming over both of us. “You haven’t changed your mind?”

“No.” I’m honest. “I want you here. I want to explore this. And I know we have forty-one days to figure it out. ”

“Forty days until Halloween,” he adds. “When we make our real decision.”

“The clock is ticking.” I grab my body wash and a loofah. “Now, are you going to help me get clean or just stand there, looking pretty?”

He takes the scrubber and brushes it over my body. “Definitely helping.”

Nick is everywhere, and he doesn’t miss an inch.

I shiver when he touches my hip bones, and then I carefully trace my ribs with his strong hands.

The lavender scent of my body wash mixes with the steam, and I realize waiting to have all of him will be the longest, sweetest torture of my life.

No way he’ll give me everything I want right now. This is a game for both of us.

“For the record,” he says against my ear, his voice mixing with the sound of water hitting tiles, “I’m creating my own list with you.”

I laugh as his hands find a particularly sensitive spot. “Really?”

“Yes.” He presses my back against the cool tiles.

His mouth captures mine as the water cascades over his back, and I forget everything except the feel of him against me. His other fingers thrust into my hair, tilting my head back to deepen the kiss.

“Nick,” I whisper when he moves to my neck, carefully avoiding the hickey, but he licks around it.

“Tell me to stop,” he says against my skin.

“I can’t.”

His hands explore everywhere, and he learns what makes me gasp, what makes me grip his shoulders tighter. When his fingers find exactly where I need them, he slides two inside, and my knees nearly buckle. It feels so good.

A moan escapes me as he continues to work me. My legs tremble with anticipation as he brings me to the edge.

“I’ve got you,” he mutters, his other arm solid around my waist.

“This is not how I imagined it,” I manage.

“Want me to stop?” His fingers slow their perfect rhythm.

“Don’t you fucking dare. ”

He grins against my neck, picking up the pace until I’m shaking, nearly biting his shoulder to keep from screaming. The orgasm rushes through me, and I clench against his fingers.

“Mmm. How was it?”

“Better than I imagined,” I whisper.

When I finally come back to reality, he’s holding me up, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

“Another one off your list,” he says.

“I want to make you feel good too,” I tell him.

“It’s not about me,” he says, placing his fingers in his mouth. “It satisfies me to satisfy you. Plus, you’re exhausted.”

“Yes, but—” I whisper.

“You have a hard time accepting things. I’m a giver, Jules.”

“I am too. I’m not used to people putting me first. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”

“I’ll help you work through it,” he says as he steps out of the shower and grabs us both towels. I turn off the water, and he helps dry me off. “I plan to spoil you.”

“We’ve already talked about this.” All I can do is shake my head, but I’m smiling.

“Yes, and you said nothing expensive. My range of expensive is at a much higher tier than yours, so I agreed.”

My hands run up his chest, and he wraps his arm around me. His body is still warm from the hot shower.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I say, questioning how right this feels.

“Tell me.”

“You want relationship advice, but so far, I have none. I get why women are so devastated when you leave them. You’re easy to fall for.”

“Are you falling for me?” Nick asks, bending down to kiss me.

“So far, it’s just a hookup situation.”

He nibbles on my bottom lip .

“You always test-drive the car before you buy it,” I tell him, moving to my bedroom.

Nick follows behind me, checking his phone while I drop the towel to put on clean clothes.

“Wow,” he says, his eyes sliding up and down my body. “I want to worship you.”

I grin back at him, sliding on a pair of panties and a tank top. I open the window, allowing the cool autumn breeze to flow in. Every once in a while, I can smell the funnel cakes being made at the food truck on the corner.

“Oh, is this your balcony?” he says, opening the doors and moving outside. He notices the brick wall that secludes us from the waist down. “This is why it’s on your list. Got to tell you though, during a parade is ballsy.”

“The Halloween one is coming up,” I tell him. “It starts at dark.”