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I hear this as I feel warm breath by my ear, from a deep husky voice, while being assaulted by a manly scent. Earthy. Manly. Musk. Woodsy. And dark chocolate. So utterly masculine it is literally an assault on my senses. All of them.
I freeze.
I’m standing here in my tiny lowrider baby blue sleep shorts and matching crop top racerback tank, my hair a wild and curly mess, sleep most likely crusting the corners of my eyes, with morning breath, as I just needed that first fortifying sip more than air, and now this?
He’s crowding me from behind. I see a bare muscled and corded arm reach up into the cupboard to my right for a coffee mug. His other hand is resting on the counter on my left, like… two inches from my hip.
Nope, not two inches. His thumb stretches out and grazes my exposed hip bone while the rest of his fingers continue to rest on the edge of the marble counter.
I swallow hard and fight the tingles, thinning my lips in anger as the machine finishes gurgling that nectar of the gods into my mug.
“Uh…you wanna step back?” I grind out, shoulders pulled up to my ears, my hands up in the air defensively, but ready to ball into fists.
I feel a breeze as he does. I grab my cup and turn around, ready to melt him into a pile of steaming goo with laser beams shooting from my eyes, but he’s standing there in just a white fluffy towel and it’s low, and I mean low, on his hips. Any lower and I’d see if X marks the spot where that treasure trail leads.
His hair is wet, messy, still dripping, in fact. Oh God---so is his tanned and muscled chest. There are droplets of water all over those pecs. My mouth is dry as my eyes land on his chest. I put my cup to my mouth, my left fuckoff finger and thumb pinch my nose as I move away, and I take the opportunity to rub the corners of my eyes. Yep, eye crust. Great.
I hear him chuckle as the coffee machine starts making noise again. I give him the finger behind his back. But as I do, he glances over his shoulder and spots me, then barks out laughter.
I’m outta there. Shower time. Maybe a cold one.
God, I hope he didn’t see that my nipples are hard. I glance down. Not like he could miss it.
That’s it, Carly! No more wandering out of your room in a state of semi-undress. No more seeing me without full armor on. Dressed, hair done, makeup on. Zero weakness.
New Rule, rule #4:
Never Show Weakness to a potential enemy.
Re-cap:
Don’t be a doormat.
Forgive and Forget are now F-words.
Not everyone is pure of heart. Be suspicious of everybody.
Never show weakness to a potential enemy. (See rule 3)
***
He’s not here now that I’m armored up and ready to take on the day, so I resist the urge to stomp my feet and instead I grab some fruit and granola bars and stuff them in my bag, remembering that yesterday’s sandwich is still in the fridge at work since I went out to lunch with Mr. Carmichael.
I get downstairs to the lobby and Aiden is standing there laughing with Ally when I get off the elevator.
His head is thrown back and his shoulders are shaking, he’s laughing so hard and Ally is in her glory, smiling at him with stars in her eyes, clearly happy that she said something to get him to that state.
He’s wearing a grey suit and a frigging Christian Grey tie. Yep. It looks exactly like that tie. My eyes land on the tie and my mouth goes dry.
He smirks. Like he knows I recognize it.
Such an asshole.
“Mornin’ Car,” Ally says and hugs me like she hasn’t seen me in ages.
I hug her back.
“Your roommate is also our road mate today. Aiden lost his keys last night so he’s cabbin’ it with us. You look gorgeous today!”
