Chapter Twenty-Three
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Dizzy had three angry men in her house, or rather outside of it. Near dinnertime Easton, Carter, and Zach had shown up at her home wearing grim faces and bearing cardboard boxes. She’d eventually found out that those boxes contained motion-activated cameras that they were planning to install around the perimeter of her home. Just in case Trip Stanford was watching her as he’d hinted this morning.
Easton was especially pissed off and he’d been stomping around and growling since he’d arrived. Dizzy’s perfectly rational questions about what their plan was had him ranting about how Trip had underestimated the Andersons and overestimated the cops’ belief that he was innocent. It had been Zach who had stopped and calmly explained what they were doing. A little while later Leann had joined Dizzy in the living room, drinking wine while the men labored.
“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” Leann sighed, tucking her legs underneath her where she was perched on the sofa. “But it had to be creepy to talk to Stanford this morning. I saw him at the gas station a few days ago and I couldn’t make eye contact. We know what he’s done and yet he’s walking around just as bold as brass like he’s completely innocent. It’s maddening that we can’t prove it.”
Yet. Dizzy hadn’t given up and she never would. She’d seen a murder and that wasn’t going to fade away like it never happened.
“If he’s snooping around these cameras will catch him. Then maybe that will be enough for a warrant to search his house and yard.”
“You’re the eternal optimist, and I’m the mean pessimist,” Leann laughed. “I don’t really want Trip to be skulking around but I guess if it puts him on the cops’ radar it might be worth it.”
“I don’t particularly want him on my property either but we’ve been waiting for him to make a mistake. This might be it.”
Easton came back into the house, wiping his hands on an old towel. “We’re all done out there. Now we need to get the app set up on your laptop and phone. Mine too. That way we can log in any time day or night and see the footage whether live or archived.”
Technology was fascinating and frightening all at the same time. Dizzy loved what the app was capable of but this was the stuff her parents had railed about her entire childhood. Surveillance had been a dirty word in the Foster household and now Dizzy had plunged in with both feet. Thank goodness Tami and Louis were in Greece on an archeological expedition.
With Zach’s expertise, it didn’t take long to set up the devices that could access the footage. Carter walked around tripping the motion sensors so they could test that every camera worked correctly. The app would also trigger an audible sound on her laptop or phone when any camera was set off. That was going to be a pain in the ass because it didn’t have to be a human. A bird, a bunny, or even a stray cat could do it, but it was better to be prepared and a little sleep deprived than not prepared at all and well-rested. If Trip set foot over the property line she, Easton, and Zach were going to know about it within seconds.
“Should I order pizza for everyone?” Dizzy asked when they were finished. She felt much safer with the cameras surrounding her home. “I think I have some coupons around here.”
But everyone shook their heads and made their excuses to leave so within a few minutes it was only Dizzy and Easton. Leann and Zach needed some quality couple time and Carter had mumbled something about a date later.
“I can’t believe how quickly they all left,” Dizzy marveled, giving Easton a questioning look. “It was as if someone had encouraged or flat-out told them to leave. You don’t know who that might be, do you?”
“I have no idea,” Easton replied with an innocent air. “I think they all just had busy evenings planned. You know how Carter is with his girlfriend of the month. plus Leann and Zach are disgustingly in love.”
He wasn’t going to confess so she didn’t push it. Clearly, the quick exits were planned but she wasn’t going to complain about spending more time with Easton all alone.
“I’m sure they did.” She dug into the kitchen drawer for takeout menus. “So it’s takeout for two, then? What sounds good?”
“Pizza is fine. I’ll eat anything so order what you like.” He tugged at the neckline of his shirt and wrinkled his nose. “I’m going to take a quick shower before we eat. I worked up a sweat out there despite the temperatures.”
Easton clomped up the stairs while she phoned the local pizza parlor, ordering enough food for an army. There could never be too many leftovers in the refrigerator with him around. Placing the phone back down on the counter, she heard the shower running upstairs. Images of Easton stripped down to nothing with water running all over his body had her hurrying toward the stairs.
There was plenty of time. The restaurant was backed up and dinner wouldn’t be there for an hour. Plus, a person could never be too clean. A shower sounded like the perfect way to kick off an evening with just the two of them.
* * *
The bathroom was hot and steamy when Dizzy entered it, her blouse immediately clinging to her skin. Easton’s naked form was distorted behind the glass shower door but she could see him moving under the spray, rinsing soap from his hair. Apparently, she had her very own sex god rock star because he was singing a Bruce Springsteen song at the top of his lungs. He was pretty damn good too. His cousin Jason sang with a band every now and then but it looked like musical talent ran in the family. But then Easton was probably good at everything he tried.
Quickly stripping off her clothes, she hesitated to swing open the shower door, not wanting to scare him to death. If he slipped and fell she’d never forgive herself, but she couldn’t stand here all day either. He didn’t take long, drawn-out showers.
“Are you going to come in here with me or stay out there like a creepy stalker?”
So much for surprising him. She stepped into the steam and heat, pressing her body right up against his wet one. “How did you know I was there? I was quiet like a ninja.”
Chuckling, he picked up the bottle of body wash. “Baby, you are no ninja. I didn’t hear you but I felt you. I think it’s part of that spell you put on me. Now I’m already clean but I think we need to get you scrubbed up.”
Pouring the liquid into his palm, he then knelt down and rubbed her legs and feet, his rough fingers sending tingles to all the right places. Her knees immediately turned to water and she had to place a hand on the tiled wall to brace herself so she wouldn’t fall into a heap on the floor.
“You keep talking about that damn spell. There is no spell. But If I did put a spell on you it would be one where you’d bring me chocolate every day.”
Twice a day when she was PMSing. Maybe some wine too. And ice cream. But the part about feeling that she was close by was kind of sweet and romantic.
He didn’t reply, intent on his task of washing every inch of her flesh. His hands glided down her back and over her bottom. He seemed to take a long time washing her breasts, especially the pebble-like nipples that he worried with his thumbs until she was moving restlessly on her feet.
“You’re doing a very…thorough…job,” she gasped, sucking air into her aching lungs with every syllable. “I didn’t even…need…a shower.”
“But you needed this,” Easton purred into her ear, lifting her up and pressing her back again the wall. “Don’t you, baby?”
Wrapping her legs around his hips, she braced her hands on his wide shoulders as he entered her in one hard thrust, filling her completely. “Stop talking and give it to me. Hard.”
And he did. Repeatedly. Again and again, each stroke rubbing her sweet spot until she thought she would scream with the pleasure. Squeezing her eyes shut, there was nothing in the world at the moment except Easton pounding into her, the spray of the water running down her overheated flesh and his lips plundering her own. It was sensation overload and she couldn’t take much more. Liquid heat ran through her veins and she tossed her head back and forth as the pressure built in her abdomen. She couldn’t take much more but her orgasm was just outside of her reach, mere millimeters from her fingertips.
Frustration made her groan and cry out his name but then he was there – exactly where she needed him to be – circling her clit until her toes curled and her climax exploded. Her body shook with its force and she barely registered his own release, so lost in the waves of bliss from her own.
Much later when they were back on earth, he slowly lowered her feet to the floor, holding her steady on legs that felt like jelly. Eventually she was able to balance on her own and she allowed him to finish washing her, this time efficiently rather than sensuously. Docilely, she followed him out of the shower and stood quietly while he dried them both off. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt but wrapped her in her warm robe before lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the bed.
Snuggling close, she breathed in his clean scent that was already mixing with the shower gel. It was warm, manly, and clean and she couldn’t get enough of it, pressing her nose to the cords of his neck and inhaling until her lungs were full of him.
“What are you doing, baby?”
“Smelling you.”
His chest rumbled with laughter at her silly answer. “Smelling me? Why?”
“Because you smell good,” she replied simply, a yawn escaping that she couldn’t hold back. It had been a long day. “Take it as a compliment.”
“I do. I’m just not sure how to feel about it, but I do admit that I like the way you smell too.”
“It’s primitive. It’s the animal in us that’s attracted to scent.”
His brows pinched together in a frown. “You mean if I didn’t smell this way you might have ended up with someone else?”
“Doubtful. I like the way you look too.” Her limbs were heavy but she managed to sit up on the bed. Literally the last thing she wanted to do was get up but the pizza delivery would be showing up at the front door any minute. “I need to get dressed. Dinner will be here very soon.”
“Can we have our pizza in bed?”
They could. She’d had pizza in bed while watching television too many times to count.
“I’ve created a monster,” she teased. “You’ve gone from an uptight workaholic to a man who never wants to get out of bed. Anderson Industries will never be the same.”
He sat up and surveyed the room, his gaze running from left to right and then back again.
“I’ll run the entire empire from here. Video conferences and email can handle it. Then I can keep you naked in bed right beside me.”
Uh…no. He hadn’t thought this through.
“If I’m naked, maybe those conferences shouldn’t be video.”
“There are a few flaws in my plan but I think I’m on to something here.” He grinned and then dropped a kiss on her lips. “I have another plan for after we eat our pizza.”
She’d bet anything that his plan looked a hell of a lot like hers. Neither one of them were going to get much sleep tonight. But it would be worth it.