Fourteen

The room was very warm and smelt nice, Jocelyn thought as she opened her eyes. She felt an unusual weight on her waist. The first thought that ran through her mind was that she was still sleeping and currently dreaming. There was no other acceptable explanation for what felt like an arm around her waist.

Her eyes flew down, widening when she saw was a tattooed arm. Her heartbeat increased in tempo and sounded too loud in the quiet room. Her throat closed up and she found it hard to breathe when she traced the arm up to a face. Shane's sleeping face.

Jocelyn flung the arm away as if it burnt. Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. This was the closest she had ever been to a man, except the occasional hugs from Ian.

Shane's eyes slowly blinked open at the sudden movement, he stared at her for a moment, his lips lifting up in a small smile. "Are you okay?"

Jocelyn nodded, "Any reason why I shouldn't?" She eyed him.

He shrugged. That was when she noticed his tattooed chest and what it bore. It had an eagle soaring downwards, its beak pointing towards his navel. Her eyes shot back to his face. Why was he shirtless in the first place? She struggled to maintain eye contact with him and not look down for another glimpse of his skin. All the pictures she'd seen of him had never portrayed him with a tattoo. Either they edited it out or the tattoos were recent, because she had stared at shirtless pictures of Shane before; way before she knew him. He had also been wearing a long sleeved pyjamas when he laid down for the night. Now he was sporting only the pants of the silk nightwear.

"You like the view, don't you?" He smirked at her.

Jocelyn narrowed her eyes at him. "Where is the divide and why aren't you putting on a shirt?"

"The room was hot and you wanted to cuddle," was his lame reply as he stood up. He stretched, his back turned to Jocelyn. "I'll go get breakfast ready, you can use the bathroom. There's a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet."

Jocelyn waited for him to close the door before kicking off the blankets. She hightailed for the bathroom. It was still a bit dark outside. She switched on the bathroom light, then pulled open the medicine cabinet. There were four spare toothbrushes and a hair brush. They do come in handy for all the women staying the night, she thought, frowning as she picked one.

Her thoughts changed direction. She began to imagine the number of women he had brought to his house. Probably more than a dozen. Was that what we was expecting from her? To be like the other women?

She stared at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. She wasn't pretty or gorgeous like the women Shane usually hung out with. Neither was she sophisticated. She was just normal.

She rinsed out her mouth, then went to make sure the bathroom door was locked. Satisfied he couldn't get in, she proceeded to take a bath in the inviting tub. At least, this was a pro to living with him; luxurious and relaxing baths.

When she got to the kitchen almost an hour later, Shane was reading the papers and drinking coffee. He stood up when he saw her.

Shane placed a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee in front of her.

"I'll go get ready now," he said,  finishing the last of his coffee and dumping the cup in the sink.

"Thanks," Jocelyn muttered, warmth spreading inside her at the thought of someone who wasn't Samantha taking out time to make breakfast for her. Shane nodded in response to her, then walked away.

Jocelyn was on her last bite of pancake when Shane came back in. He was wearing a black suit without a tie, the top button of his dress shirt was undone, his hair slicked back and he was wearing a frown. Jocelyn had to admit he looked positively enticing, even with the frown.

"I can't find my phone anywhere," he muttered, pouring coffee into another cup.

Jocelyn picked up her phone. "What's your number?" She asked.

He looked confused. "You don't have my number?" Shane sighed then plucked the phone from her hands and began typing.

Soon his phone was ringing from somewhere down the hall.

"Thanks," he muttered, handing the phone back to Jocelyn. His fingers brushed hers in the process and she pulled back immediately. Shane looked at her for a moment, then he shook his head. "Save the number."

A few minutes later Shane was back, a key dangling from his fingers. "Let's go."

Jocelyn got out of the stool she was on and followed him.

When they had come in yesterday, someone had collected Shane's car to go park it. So Jocelyn didn't know where his garage was, but she followed him to the ground floor and then to an underground parking lot.

Several cars where parked there. Jocelyn paused, causing Shane to stop behind her. She had never in her life thought one could own so many cars. It wasn't hard to imagine Shane with so many cars, after all, he lived alone in five storey apartment complex. She wondered if he had a schedule for driving them or he just picked anyone at random.

"Do you have a schedule for driving?" Jocelyn asked, unable to resist knowing.

He sighed impatiently. "Now's not time for twenty questions. I promise you, we'll talk later. And no I don't have a schedule for driving, I pick any. I'm late already, can we go?" He placed a hand on the small of her back.

Jocelyn was tempted to shift forward so his hands could fall off her back. But she stayed, willing to experiment. She wanted to know what it felt like for someone touching her without her raising her guard.

She smiled as she began walking forward, Shane's hands still on the small of her back. She had enjoyed the moment.