I sat on one cushion. Comfortably.

He sat on one-and-a-half cushions, stretching his body and taking up more room than I was doing, even without stretching out his body. Jamie was absurdly fit but he was still a big guy. Tall. Broad shoulders. He took up space.

Leaving us with just a half a cushion between us.

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

But I had let it happen, meaning I was acting like a stupid person. Thought like one the other day at the tiki bar when I was putting meaning into what he was saying and now I was taking it a step further.

This was not good. I needed him to leave.

And I seriously needed to win this bet already so I could stop putting myself around him and showing him my goods.

After turning off the water and drying my hands on the towel, I flipped the light off, opened the bathroom door, and stepped back out into my living room with a plan in mind.

Lock up. Head upstairs. Get ready for bed. Maybe redo my toenail polish if I didn’t start yawning once I was up there, allowing for sufficient drying time. Check my phone for any missed messages since I’d left it here to ride with Jamie to rescue his sister. Then crash.

It was a good plan, and one I was looking forward to.

But that plan went right out the window when I saw Jamie was still here and standing in my entryway. I froze. Then my gaze lowered.

And kept lowering … Holy … shit.

My hand flew up to my mouth. My eyes widened, then widened further when I saw a shiny metal barbell.

I gasped against my fingertips.

Jamie chuckled like the devil himself, but I didn’t react. I couldn’t focus on clever comebacks or even the little concentration needed to lift my head and deliver a scowl.

I was startled, rightfully so; I wasn’t expecting him to still be here, but my shock and paralyzing fascination weren’t deriving from Jamie’s mere presence in my house when I’d trusted him to be gone.

Shorts unbuttoned and opened at the zipper, Jamie had his hand wrapped around the base of his dick.

This was what had me startled.

This was what had me paralyzed with fascination.

And this was what I had been dreading since the day Jamie McCade stepped foot inside Whitecaps.

He wasn’t hard, not fully anyway, but God, he didn’t need to be. Honestly, I was grateful he wasn’t.

Two of my greatest fears were being realized without the influence of a full erection.

The first fear being that Jamie had the goods to back up his arrogance, which he clearly did, bastard, and the second being I’d somehow, even with all the hard work and dedication I was putting into avoiding seeing this evidence for myself, come to learn this to be true.

Well, I’d learned all right. And there was no unlearning this.

Stomach clenching and skin tingling, I stared at his beauty. At all of it. Transfixed. Awestruck. You name it. I probably looked mad.

He was long. He was thick. Perfectly formed. Manscaped nicely but not overly done. Adorned in jewelry that looked both intimidating and oddly fascinating.

So fascinating I wanted to get a closer look, but I wouldn’t.

I couldn’t.

I could, however, continue to stare from my safe distance away. I could also tilt my head in further captivation when tempted to do so, this happening when Jamie slid his thumb over the one barbell at the top of his piercing.

God …

I wondered how that felt when he—

“Jesus, babe. Knew you were hungry for it, but didn’t realize you were this fuckin’ starved. Shit. Look at you,” Jamie said, interrupting my train of thought and finally speaking after God knows how many minutes had passed since I’d first stepped out of the bathroom. His voice dripped amusement and victorious payback.

Awareness flooded me.

Payback …

The tiki bar. The flashing.

That stupid bet.

I lowered my hand and met his eyes. My cheeks were burning. His were dimpled and lifted with his knockout smile. Seriously wish his face didn’t look like that.

“Know what you’re thinking,” Jamie stated.

I swallowed, then I shook my head. “You don’t.”

“Wonderin’ how it’ll feel when it’s movin’ inside you,” he continued, not missing a beat.

My toes curled against the hardwood floor. Crap. He did know. “No,” I vowed.

My voice was firm. Resolute. But my body was my tell-all, and Jamie wasn’t missing the signs I was showing. I had hungry eyes apparently.

Ain’t that just terrific.

Jamie’s smile relaxed into a smirk after hearing my lie. Then, to my surprise and possible disappointment, though I’d never admit to that either, he tucked his award-winning dick back into his shorts, drew up the zipper, and shared as he was fastening the button closure, “Know that beg is sittin’ right on the tip of your tongue, Legs, and straight up, I want that, can’t fuckin’ wait to hear it, but I think I wanna make you ache a little first, so save it for me. Keep that lie goin’, babe.”

I blinked, bringing my hands to my hips. “Excuse me?”

I was in no way close to begging. He was absolutely wrong about that.

The aching part? Spot on. And it was only getting worse.

Jamie put his back to me to grab the bag of leftovers off my console table, then he took the step separating him and the front door, saying as he went, “Don’t know how often you take care of the needs you got, but I’m bettin’ those urges just doubled.”

“They absolutely did not just double,” I shot back.