Devotion

18

I smiled and closed my eyes. I heard him open the bottle of shampoo. His fingers immediately started massaging my scalp. It felt amazing. He was washing off last night and this morning and everything in between, cleansing me of every worry and fear.

I kept my eyes closed as he started to massage my shoulders. "You're perfect, Penny," he said as he kissed my neck and moved his hands down my arms. I sighed and leaned back against his chest as he washed my breasts and stomach. His fingers ran over my most intimate areas and down my thighs. He shifted behind me as he got low enough to wash my legs and feet. Oh my God, my feet. This feels amazing. I pressed my hand against the shower wall as he placed a kiss against my ass cheek.

He pulled me back under the water and grabbed my hair, tilting my head back, making sure I didn't get any soap in my eyes. "There," he said as he let go of my hair.

I slowly opened my eyes and sighed. "That was just what I needed."

He kissed my forehead. "I hoped so. Go get ready, baby. I'll be out in a second."

"Let me do you."

"You take longer to get ready than me," he said as he grabbed his shampoo bottle.

I grabbed the bottle from him. "You need this too." I poured some soap in my hand. "Let me."

He smiled and stepped out of the water. He closed his eyes and put his hands on my hips as I started to massage the soap into his hair.

A quiet groan escaped from his lips, which put a smile onto mine. I placed a kiss on the tip of his nose as I began to lather up his shoulders. I massaged his lower back. I knew it bothered him from sitting at a desk all day. He groaned again. "That feels so good, baby."

I massaged him another minute before running my soapy hands down his chiseled abs and over his growing erection. He groaned again. This would definitely relax him. I tightened my hand around his hard c**k.

"Fuck." He laughed and opened his eyes. "As much as I want to do that, we don't have enough time." He stepped under the water and rinsed the soap out of his hair. "Go get ready. Now." He slapped my ass.

"So demanding."

"We can revisit this later," he said and winked at me.

"When? We're not sharing a hotel room tonight."

"s**t, I forgot about that. Maybe we should make time."

"I want you to want me tomorrow night," I said as I stepped out of the shower.

"Penny, I always want you." Something crossed over his face and he turned away from me. "I'll be done in a sec," he said into the water.

I tried not to let it bother me as I wrapped a towel around myself. I knew he had talked to his therapist about me. James had even told me that his therapist agreed that he wasn't addicted to me. Why was James doubting his word? Should I find a way to contact him? Maybe James needed to talk to him, to help calm down.

That desperate feeling that he had gotten when he told me to leave wasn't addiction. Because I felt it too. It was...pain. Loss. Heartbreak. I quickly combed my hair and grabbed the blow-dryer. By the time I was done drying my hair, James had turned off the water.

He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. I would never tire of seeing him like this. Beads of water dripped down his perfectly sculpted torso. God, he was so sexy.

He walked over next to me and ran his hand through his hair. "Do you want me to shave?" he asked.

I smiled at his reflection in the mirror. "No. I like your stubble."

He kissed my cheek. "What color tie should I wear?"

"Um." I turned toward him. I hadn't thought much about what I wanted to wear. "I'll let you know when I figure out what I'm wearing."

"How about gray suit, black tie? Can't go wrong with that."

"That's sounds perfect."

"Come downstairs as soon as your ready. I want you to meet the security detail before we head over."

"Okay."

He put his hand under my chin. "Remember the first night we moved here? I had wanted to take you out to a fancy dinner. We both got super dressed up and were walking through Central Park to go to the restaurant when you convinced me you just wanted to try a New York hot dog? We ended up just spending the entire night talking and laughing on a bench. And I got mustard all over my suit jacket." He smiled.

"Of course I remember." My eyes had gotten teary remembering.

"I loved that night. And you looked beautiful in that dress." He placed a soft kiss against my lips. "Wear that one."

"Okay."

He kissed me once more and I watched him walk out of the bathroom. I couldn't believe he remembered what I was wearing that night. I smiled to myself. He had been wearing a gray suit and a black tie. I quickly wiped under my eyes. If I started crying again right now, I'd never be able to get ready. It seemed like all I did was cry recently. I plugged in my curling iron and did my makeup as fast as I could. When I was done, the curling iron still wasn't hot enough.

I grabbed my phone and clicked on Melissa's name. The phone rang a few times and then went to voicemail. My stomach sunk. "Hey, Melissa, it's me. I just wanted to make sure you were going to be at the Tavern on the Green by 6. I know we have a lot to talk about. And we can talk about it after the dinner tonight. Please just be there. I love you. And I'm sorry about everything. I'll see you soon. Bye, Melissa." I hung up before I started to ramble about Tyler.

Shit, Tyler. I put my hand over the curling iron and felt the heat rising off of it. I was going to need to talk to Tyler and curl my hair at the same time in order to finish getting ready. I pressed on Tyler's name in my phone and balanced my cell between my ear and shoulder as I started to curl the ends of my hair.

"Hey," he said. "I was hoping you'd call." He sighed. "So you took my advice? You two made up?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Tyler. For everything."

"The wedding is back on then?"

"It is. Tyler, if you're still in New York, you should come tonight."

"No. I mean...I never went back to New York. I'm at some diner in Pennsylvania right now, actually. I just needed to drive."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. I get it. And I am happy for you. Really, Penny, I am."

"Thank you." I quickly wiped under my eyes again. God, don't start crying again.