Casing ✔️

Chapter 18

We ended up ordering pizza, and paired it with a very old bottle of white wine James found in the cellar. The wine cellar. The mansion had a wine cellar. I was very baffled by that fact for more than a few minutes, as were the delivery boy who just gaped at James when he pulled out way more money than needed, and told him to, "Keep the change."

I found a very cozy corner in a huge leather couch in a whole new room filled with plants and vases, and a fireplace the size of my bed. James sat down next to me, with my bag of books on his other side, and the empty cardboard box on the table. He'd put on an old record somewhere in the room, and frankly, I was baffled by how casual and homey this part of the place was.

It was lovely, and I liked it. And it absolutely helped that James seemed more than at home here.

With my wine glass almost empty, James picked up a book from inside my bag, and started reading out loud from a random page. It was soothing to hear his voice, but it turned a little disappointed when he'd found a spot in the book where the two main characters weren't together.

"Have you read this one before?" he asked, showing me the cover.

I nodded. "Yes. I think they get together about two or three chapters after this," I informed him, raising my glass to occupy my mouth.

His grin made mine come out, as he flipped through some more pages, looking for the moment where the two characters would finally get together—in that way. His eyebrows raised and his smile grew as he said, "Here we go," and started reading out loud.

The man in the book pushed the woman against a wall, held her hands up and kept whispering dirty things to her. What he'd like to do to her. My own body betrayed me as I heard James say, "I want to lick every square inch of your body, and I want to hear you whimper under my touch."

It did some things to the apex of my thighs that I'd rather not admit. Tingling. That was a good word for it. Aching was another. I tried not to focus on the fact that his voice and the words written by a woman made me squirm with desire. If we didn't go there tonight, I knew exactly what to think of when I got home..

"This is amazing," James said, grinning from ear to ear as he looked at me. "You're my new favourite person, reading this and not giving a damn that I know."

"It's not a big deal." I waved it off.

"It is. This is your hobby, right?" When I nodded, he added, "So it's a big deal. And, honestly, I hope you tell me about these scenes, so we could, ahem, reenact them."

He winked at me, so casually, as he put the book down and moved to grab another one from my bag. "You're unbelievable," I blurted, meaning to think it, not say it.

"In a good way, I hope." He smiled, not meeting my eyes as he flipped through the pages of the fireman-romance I'd read around the time I met him. He cleared his throat and started reading again, his voice smooth like butter as he said the romantic words the fireman told his love interest after they'd been broken up.

My stomach was twisted. I wanted James to say those things to me, but on the other hand, it was too soon. I barely knew him, but the gleam in his eyes as he admired and dove head first into my passion made my heart stutter. The more time I spent with him, the less crazy his proposal seemed.

Or maybe he was infecting me with his unbelievable charms and psychotic tendencies.

I became fully invested in all the small scenes he read, and his suggestive chuckles—those came especially when there was a reference to a generous male body part. It made me wonder what his body part looked like, or rather, how big it was.