Page 18 of Playing With Forever

Good Lord, that sounded amazing. Also, it sounded equally annoying that he could eat all that sugar and calories and still have the body he had.

Proof God was a man.

“In other words, your father likes chocolate.”

“No, he loves chocolate everything.”

I didn’t understand why I was thrilled to have that tidbit of knowledge, but I was.

“What about you? What’s your favorite?” I asked, and just like all the other times I’d asked a question about her, she beamed.

“Cheesecake.”

“That’s my favorite, too. Any specific kind?”

Lindy gave me a sweet, tentative smile that was hued with more than just hesitancy—she almost seemed worried to answer, like there would be a wrong answer.

“No.” She shrugged. “Just cheesecake.”

I offered her a reassuring smile. “Agreed. Cheesecake’s awesome any way it’s served.”

More than once today, I’d wanted to pull Lindy into my arms and hug her. It was an impulse I had to fight, like right then when she was looking at me, not like a twenty-year-old young woman but a child who was lost.

“I’ll run to the store and get chocolate chips.”

Panic assailed.

Evan had gone to take a shower, leaving me and Lindy in the kitchen. There was no way I wanted to be left alone in Evan’s house while he was naked in the shower—actually, I didn’t want to be alone with Evan, period.

Not only because I’d seen his shower and I knew it was big enough for two, but also because while Lindy was there to keep me occupied, it had been easy to stay focused and not allow myself to think about the man soaping up his amazing body. With her gone, I wouldn’t be able to stop my wayward thoughts.

“I’ll go,” I offered.

“No way. You stay and relax. I’ll be back in a flash. Besides, you weren’t done looking at my portfolio.” Lindy pushed her laptop in front of me and rushed out of the kitchen. “Be back.”

Damn.

Right, her portfolio, what we’d been looking at before Evan had come home. She had a stockpile of finished canvases and was debating whether she should sell them or throw them away. The mere thought of her beautiful work being thrown away broke my heart. It would be a travesty for the world to lose out on such beauty. And that was what we were talking about when Evan strolled in, still sweaty from what looked like a gym session.

Thankfully, Lindy had been present, or I might’ve done something regrettable, like begging Evan to take me upstairs and give me a repeat performance of last Saturday night.

Lordy, it had been a week, and I was still wondering if I’d imagined how good he was.

“Where’s Lindy?”

I blinked at the dark screen and decided keeping my eyes locked on his t-shirt-covered shoulder was the safest place to look when I told him, “She went to the store for chocolate chips.”

“Is there a reason you’re not looking at me?”

Yes!

I didn’t say that out loud.

Instead, I slowly shifted my gaze, bracing for impact, and it was a good thing I did. As ridiculous as it sounded, Evan standing in his kitchen with wet hair from his shower was incredibly sexy.

Heat crept up my neck, and the longer Evan stared at me, the hotter I became. Without a word, he stepped closer. The air between us suddenly felt supercharged—goosebumps raced up my arms despite the fever his nearness triggered.

My breath stalled when his hand came up to cradle the underside of my jaw—his thumb tracing my cheekbone while his eyes held me hostage. This was not the first time I’d been captivated by nothing more than his gaze. This was one of the varied reasons my night with Evan had been so intense, he either had enough experience with women or he instinctively knew sex didn’t start in the bedroom.