“You are such a tease,” she retorted, flipping her hair over one shoulder, then sticking out her tongue. He chuckled, and Sabrina blushed. Again. Ugh! She whirled around, ignoring him as she dashed up the rest of the stairs. Once she reached the top, he eyed her through the railing that ran along the second-floor landing near the stairs. What is he staring at? She went into her bedroom, thinking she had a stain on her jeans or something, but there was nothing there when she looked in the mirror. She shrugged. The possibility that he might be looking at her ass crossed her mind, and she wrinkled her nose before dismissing the idea. No way, not Jimmy!
Sabrina threw on a pair of light gray sweat shorts and a white halter top, setting the incident from her mind. Much cooler! She stopped to examine herself in the mirror before going back down. Her straight hair was caught in a scrunchie and not flying out like it usually did. It was too hot to bother with a bra, and her shorts were a little threadbare in spots, but they were her old favorites. She looked decent and comfortable. She headed downstairs.
When she reached the kitchen, Jimmy had started water boiling and held a box of spaghetti in his hands. He’d stripped off his shirt, and for a moment, she just stood there, staring at the muscles rippling beneath the smooth skin of his back. Wow, she thought. Suddenly the cooler clothes didn’t feel all that much better. She knew he was gorgeous, but this was the first time she’d seen him shirtless in years. She couldn’t resist. She had to touch all that gleaming perfection, so she snuck up behind him and tickled his waist, laughing.
“Hey!” he yelped, jumping around. The box of spaghetti flew across the room and landed in the corner by the doorway as he reached for her, his intent plain.
“No, no!” Sabrina yelled, dashing around the table giggling. He wiggled his fingers and stalked her. Sabrina felt her nipples rub against the soft cloth of her halter as she avoided Jimmy’s grabs. She hoped Jimmy couldn’t tell they were erect, but as she ducked behind a chair, she noticed him looking at her chest. He swallowed and she watched him murmur something to himself before tearing his eyes away.
Looking at his face, Sabrina knew she wasn’t going to escape payback but thought maybe she could stall the retaliation for a little while. She waved her hand in a “just try it” manner, laughing. He growled at her. She laughed. He growled! God, he was sexy. Then, just when she thought he was going to lunge, he straightened up and turned around, dropping the stalking pose entirely. He walked back to the stove and began stirring the tomato sauce. What the—?
“Jimmy?” she asked tentatively, hoping she hadn’t pissed him off. She didn’t think so, but it had been awhile since they’d horsed around like this. He didn’t reply, so she inched back around the table warily. “Everything okay?” she asked him, stepping closer.
“Gotcha!” he growled, tickling her. Sabrina yelped. He chuckled and tickled her faster, and she fell over, landing on her butt. She laughed so hard she couldn’t fight him off, and he followed her down, tickling furiously as she tried to fend him off.
“No! No, ah!” she cried, giggling and squirming on the cold tile, delighted that he still liked to goof around as much as she remembered. She’d worried about him a lot this past year. His dad told her that he’d had a difficult time while on assignment in Afghanistan, and it was wonderful to see that he was still able to let go and joke around. She grabbed his left hand and tried to pry it away from her waist, bare beneath her halter top, but he slid it from her grasp and tickled her faster. By now her stomach hurt from laughter.
“I've got you now!” Jimmy threatened, kneeling over her and sliding his hands around her torso. She giggled at him and shoved ineffectually at his shoulders, but he didn’t let up. Then his hands accidentally slipped under her halter. Jimmy sucked in a breath and froze; his left hand rested on her ribs and the other lightly cupped her breast. Sabrina felt her nipple pebble beneath his palm. Arousal sparked through her, and for a moment she couldn’t move. Jimmy’s eyes darkened as he slowly dragged his hands out from under her top, the calluses on his palm grazing her nipple as he pulled away.
What the hell? Sabrina thought, trembling as she tried not to let on how aroused she was. She flushed. This was Jimmy, a grown man, not some cute boy from school! She squeaked under her breath and hoped he couldn’t tell how much she wanted him to keep touching her. When she looked down at herself, both nipples were peaked and visible against the soft cotton of her halter. She glanced back up at Jimmy, who stared at her breasts, face taut. She squirmed a little bit, hoping he’d move back so she could get up and stop embarrassing herself. For goodness’ sake, you’re not some naive girl! she told herself sternly. She was twenty-one, about to go to grad school, and more than capable of taking care of herself, but none of these rationalizations seemed to matter. Sabrina desperately wanted Jimmy to slide his hand back over her nipple. It wasn’t until she made another small sound that his eyes flew up to her face. She tried to will her flush away and refused to look him in the eye as he sucked in a deep breath, then stood and offered her his hand. She grabbed it and let him pull her up.
“Sorry about that, Sabrina.” Jimmy walked back to the water and sauce on the stove. He stopped and Sabrina stared at his broad back as he clenched his hands against the granite countertop. He looked uncomfortable. “It’s been awhile since we goofed around like this. A few years ago, you didn’t have any body parts I had to avoid.” Jimmy chuckled as he turned around. He shoved his hands in his pockets. Sabrina stared at the way his biceps flexed, her mouth going dry.
“I’m impressed,” he added, breaking the silence as he teased. Sabrina blushed again, dragging her eyes away from his muscular body. He slowly crossed over to her, and for a minute she thought he was going to touch her again; then he walked past her and stopped to pick up the spaghetti box. He smiled as he stood back up. Mortified, Sabrina crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her breasts as she dropped her eyes. She should have worn a bra! Except, she never thought Jimmy would care. Or notice!
“No, don’t do that.” She looked up. He stood right in front of her. He tucked the spaghetti under his elbow and gently unfolded her arms. “There’s no reason to be ashamed or feel bashful, Sabrina. You’ve become a beautiful woman, and probably a lot of guys will appreciate that,” he added, smiling while he held her hands. He rubbed his thumbs soothingly along her palms.
Sabrina shifted uncomfortably. He was right. Guys stared at her when she went out. She hated it. For years she was the gangly nerd with thick glasses and carrot-red hair. The kids at school picked on her, and she responded by retreating into her own head, reading a lot and trying her best to ignore the awful teasing. She didn’t get contact lenses until a few months ago. Her hair didn’t turn into the darker red so like her mother’s until last year. And suddenly, the boys who had thrown spitballs at her were looking at her breasts and legs and leering instead of laughing. She didn’t know how to deal with that kind of attention, so she kept to herself, wishing they would just leave her alone.
“They already do stare,” she told Jimmy, feeling frustrated and shy. She curled her fingers over his.
“Is that bad?” he asked, smiling. “When you see a man you think is good-looking, what do you do?”
Usually she wanted to crawl under the table, like right now, she thought sardonically. She was suddenly aware of how close he was standing. “Um, well, I guess I look at him,” she stammered. Was he torturing her on purpose?