He kisses my forehead and leaves me alone in the bathroom. He doesn’t assume he can join me in the shower, and he doesn’t ask. He just gives me space, and I’m grateful.

Because even though we’ve known each other for years, and have been through a lot together, he’s never seen me naked, or vice versa.

And I’m a woman. I don’t want the first time he sees me naked to be in the shower. The shower is sexy and fun, but it’s not romantic.

I roll my eyes at myself, strip out of my clothes, and then get in the steamy spray, sighing when the hot water slides down my body.

I can’t believe I’m here, in Jace’s house, ready to be intimate with him. Because let’s be honest, I’m ready.

I would have let him do me against the wet tile in the bathroom if he’d had the inclination.

“Didn’t want to startle you,” he calls out as he comes into the room. He can’t see me through the foggy, glass shower door. “I’m just getting you some clean clothes.”

“Um, thanks.”

“They’re on the counter for you.”

And then he’s gone again. That’s Jace, thoughtful and kind, through and through.

I’d better watch myself because it would be incredibly easy to fall in love with him.

I pause with the soap in my hand and stare at the tile. Aren’t I already in love with him?

No. I shake my head and rinse off. This is lust. He’s hot, and I love him as a friend. We’re attracted to each other, and we’re just seeing where this goes.

I step out of the shower and reach for the towel to dry off, calling myself sixteen kinds of fool.

I’m lying to myself.

I reach for the clothes Jace left for me and smile. A Stanford T-shirt, our alma mater, and a pair of boxer shorts that are about five sizes too big. I roll them and pray they stay in place when I walk across the room.

It wouldn’t be super sexy to have them fall around my ankles and trip me as I try to make it to the bedroom.

But I discover it won’t matter in the least because when I return to the bedroom, Jace is sitting up in bed, his legs under the covers and just the sidelight on, but he’s out cold, sleeping silently.

So, I slide into bed next to him and turn off the light. He eases down next to me, pulls me close, and then falls back to sleep.

~Joy~

Something slides up my leg. I blink my eyes open and frown in the darkness. I’m not in my bed. Am I in a sleeping bag?

Jesus, is it a fucking snake?

A strong hand slips up the back of my calf, and everything comes flooding back to me. Not a snake.

“Jace.”

“Mm,” he murmurs, kissing his way up the inside of my leg. “Your skin is so fucking soft.”

I can’t reply. I’ve lost all my words as his mouth and hands move back down to my feet. He plants a kiss on the arch of my foot, and then digs in with his thumb, giving me the best damn foot massage of my life.

I knew he had good hands. I knew it. But holy hell, I really had no fucking idea how good.

And every inch of the bottom of my foot is directly connected to my libido. Screw reflexology, this is vaginaology.

He could make millions.

I sigh in sleepy happiness as he continues massaging my foot, my ankle, and up to my calf, then he pays the other foot the same attention.

“Middle of the night massages,” I whisper. “I approve.”

“I can’t believe I fell asleep on you,” he says, disgust in his deep voice. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re forgiven.”

“That fast?”

I sigh as he kisses up to my inner thigh. “Uh, yeah. The foot massage was a nice touch.”

“I didn’t know you liked foot rubs.” He nibbles my skin where his boxers meet my thigh. “Is it because you’re on your feet so often?”

“Yeah, and because . . . foot rub.”

I feel him smile against my skin. I love it when he does that. I love that I make him smile.

“I’m going to take you out of these damn clothes,” he warns me.

“I’ll help,” I offer, but he hurries to cover me with his big body, pinning me in place. He kisses my lips lightly, leaving me needy for more.

“Before we get naked,” he begins, cradling my face in his hands. I can just make out his eyes in the darkness. “This is going to change everything.”

“I know.” I drag my fingertips down his cheek. “I know it is.”

“Are you sure you want this?”

I swallow hard. “Are you?”

He sighs and tips his forehead to mine. We’re silent for ten weighted seconds, and finally, he whispers, “I don’t think I’ve been more confident of a decision in my life, and you know that I overthink everything.”

I grin because he’s right, I do know. It took him a good month just to decide on the duvet covering us now.

Jace doesn’t make decisions lightly.

And we’re exactly the same in that department. I’m not flighty or a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl.

“As long as you promise that, no matter what happens, I won’t lose our friendship, I’m in. Maybe you’ll hate the sex.”

“And maybe I’m the Dalai Lama,” he quips, making me giggle. He nibbles the corner of my mouth, and shivers run down my arms. He drags his lips down my neck, and I sigh. “You’re so responsive.”

“You’re good at this foreplay thing,” I reply and let my fingers brush through the soft hair at the nape of his neck. He pushes the T-shirt up my torso, and I lift so he can pull it over my head. He tosses it onto the floor, and before I can fully register the cool air on my skin, his lips are locked over a nipple, gently sucking and immediately making my core tighten.

My toes are suddenly hooked in the waistband of his pajama pants, impatiently pushing them over his muscular ass. I want to feel all of him.

But rather than oblige me by getting naked, he turns his attention to my other nipple and glides his hand down my belly, under the waistband of the boxers I’m wearing, and doesn’t stop until his fingertips hit the jackpot of my already wet center.

“Fuck,” he whispers against my skin. “I could just touch you all night long.”

“You’d drive me to insanity,” I pant, suddenly finding it hard to catch my breath. “Let’s go a little faster.”

“No way,” he says and kisses my belly with a smack. “You said you liked my foreplay ways.”

“And I’m ready.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

He brushes the tip of his nose back and forth over my pubis and nudges his shoulders between my legs, opening me wide for him.

Why am I suddenly shy? We’re in the dark, and I’ve known Jace forever.

But we’ve never done this.

“Don’t tense up now, sweetheart,” he says and presses a sweet kiss just left of my labia. “You’re stunning.”

“I’m not tense,” I lie. Rather than respond, he drags his tongue from my anus to my clit, making me arch my back and cry out, all nervousness flying out the window. Because all I want right now is Jace. All of him. Every part of him.

Right this minute.

I fist my hands in the sheets and hold on for dear life as he licks and sucks, fast then slow, taking me on the ride of my life.

My orgasm hovers over me. I can almost reach it, and then he pushes a finger inside me, and it’s all over. I fall apart, writhing on the sheets, calling out his name.

Jace kisses up my torso and then leans over the bed to grab something from the side table.

Once he’s suited up, he covers me once again, kissing me as he guides the head of his cock to my pussy. He presses just the tip inside and his lips to my ear.

“You’re so fucking amazing.”

I pull my knees back, opening myself wider to him, and urge him to press in farther.

“In me,” I rasp. “Jace, I need you all the way.”

He links his hand with mine, pins it above my head, and pushes in, balls-deep, making us both groan.

“Jesus, Joy. You’re a fucking glove.”

He pauses, giving me time to get used to his size. I shift my hips and rake the nails of my free hand down his back to his ass, gripping hard, and he picks up a rhythm, moving in smooth motions. His ass flexes in my hand, and I immediately decide that the next time this happens, it needs to be when I can see what’s going on.