His mouth quirks. “A little smooth.”
“Cocky bastard.” I give his nipple another twist before sitting all the way up. “I, for one, think it’s time for a shower. What do you say?”
His smile broadens into a devilish grin. “I think that’s a very nice idea.”
“Good.” I climb to my feet. “Then I have my next challenge. The first one to find some shampoo in that minefield out there is the winner.”
His eyes flash. “You just want another chance to scrounge around for your present.”
“Maybe.” I reach down and pull on my shorts. “Bonus points to whoever finds the towels.” I grab my tank top from the floor. “And you’re already behind.”
He scrambles for his own clothes as I skip back into the living room. Quickly—but quietly, so I don’t wake Lou—I began sifting through the boxes and bags, looking for anything that might resemble a gift. If I stumble across the shampoo, then all the better.
I’m on my third box by the time Calder joins me. I brace myself, expecting him to grab me from behind, but he heads for the boxes on the other side of the room.
Scratch that—he beelines for them. Either he knows exactly where the shampoo is, or he’s trying to keep me from finding the gift.
I abandon the box of knick-knacks I’m currently searching and make my way across the room to where he’s pawing through a large gray suitcase. It’s one of his, and though it appears to contain mostly clothes, I dive right into the other side.
“Cheater,” he whispers, nudging me with his elbow.
I stick my tongue out at him and keep searching. I don’t see anything that might be a present, but I do spot a plastic bag with a bunch of toiletries inside.
Unfortunately, so does Calder. We both lunge for the bag at the same time, fingers scrabbling for the shampoo bottle.
“I saw it first,” I say, trying to pry it out of his hand.
“Liar.” He tugs on the other end of the bottle and nudges me in the side again.
With my free hand, I reach under his arm and try to tickle him, but it’s a difficult angle and he twists easily away.
“Nice try.” He gives the bottle a particularly hard tug, almost ripping it out of my hand, but I manage to hold on.
He’s right next to me, his shoulder pressed against mine. I try to push him away with my elbow, but he’s too strong. He doesn’t even wobble.
Which means I only have one tool left at my disposal.
I lean closer to him, turning my head so that my mouth is right by his neck. I open my lips, extend my tongue, and slip it inside of his ear.
Calder jumps about a foot. A strangled sound of surprise escapes from his throat, and his fingers slip on the shampoo bottle. A quick jerk of my hand and the prize is mine.
“Well, look at that,” I say, waving the shampoo bottle back and forth. “I won.”
He growls and grabs me. I let out a squeal as he picks me up, and I can only hope that Lou’s a very sound sleeper.
“Do you know what happens to cheaters?” Calder’s voice is a rumble in my ear. “They get punished for their indiscretions.”
The promise in his words sends a shiver down my spine. He carries me into the bathroom, setting me down only so that he can flick on the shower.
“Dirty little cheaters need a thorough washing,” he says, tugging my tank top over my head. My shorts go next. I lost the lingerie somewhere during our last little game, so now I’m completely naked. Not that that’s anything new for me.
“I think, since we live together now, we should institute a no-clothes policy while we’re at home,” I say. “It would make things exponentially easier for us.”
“Naughty little tease,” he says, pulling me hard against his hips. “You realize if we had it your way, we’d never get anything else done?”
“And what’s the problem with that?” I start undressing him.
“We’d probably starve to death.”
“That’s why they invented delivery.”
“And we’d never get any sleep. We’d be exhausted all the time.”
“We can sleep when we’re dead.”
“I’d probably forget to go to work.”
“I have plenty of work for you here.”
“Money?”
“We could film ourselves and sell the videos over the internet.”
“Mm,” he says, sliding his hands over my ass. “You seem to have all of this planned.”
“I’m very, very thorough in my planning.”
“I see. I’m liking this more and more.” One of his hands moves lower, his fingers slipping between my thighs from behind. “We might have to make an exception for company, though. We might scare them off if we appear at the door completely naked.”
His comment is, intentionally or not, a call back to reality—a reminder that Lou, currently holed up in our guest bedroom, didn’t seem the least bit put off by our state of undress when she barged in. I fight down the flicker of resentment in my chest. I have no right to be bitter or annoyed by her presence here. If my dad showed up at the door needing help, I’d have welcomed him in without question—and Calder would have as well.
But I don’t want to think about Lou right now—not with this stunning specimen of a man currently undressing in front of me. Why modeling agents aren’t perpetually knocking down our door with contracts, I’ll never know. I can see him on the magazine cover now: his gorgeous body stretched out on some white sand beach, every hard muscle exposed to the camera lens… well, except that muscle, of course, which is for me and me alone. They’ll have to cover it tastefully with a towel or something.
“Oh!” I say, suddenly remembering. “We forgot towels.”
“Who needs towels?” Calder, fully nude once more, pulls me up against him. “I can dry you off. Not that I mind you wet…”
It’s a very tempting offer, but I haven’t completely lost all rational thought just yet.
“Why don’t you go ahead and hop in the shower,” I say. “I’ll be right back.” I pull his head down and give him a kiss that makes it very clear what I plan to do with him when I return, and then I head back to the living room.
I’m pretty sure I stuffed my towels in a garbage bag when I was packing; it’s just a matter of finding the right one. I spot a couple of bags on the other side of the room, so I head there first. They’re right next to the guestroom door, so I’m extra careful to be quiet as I sift through the crinkling plastic.