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“Stay here. Go back to sleep. I’ll take the couch.”
Apparently, his brother’s apartment came with a roommate whether he wanted one or not.
As she hurried away, Loyal couldn’t help but check out her gorgeous legs that went on for days. It was a crying shame she hid such glorious assets under those long skirts of hers.
He almost grinned at the sight of both her hands in a death grip on the back hem of her shirt. She’d pulled it down so hard to cover her ass, he imagined what was no longer covered in front. Another surge of lust hit hard.
The moment she disappeared from sight, he dropped back on the bed. He pressed his palm over his erection in an attempt to ease the ache. The increased pressure made him want to wrap his fingers around himself and stroke hard until he found release.
He groaned under his breath.
Fuck. Now he needed a shower—a cold one.
Chapter 3
Roxanna jerked awake with a gasp, her heart thumping in panic during the seconds it took to realize she’d been dreaming again. But this time there was not another fire. She was safe on the couch in Asher’s empty apartment above her shop, with the sunrise of a new day shining through the sheer window curtains.
Relief was short-lived when she remembered the shock of coming face to face with his older brother at three o’clock in the morning. He’d warned her Loyal might use the place if he moved back to Colorado, but that had been months ago, and she’d completely forgotten about it until she ended up in bed with him—sans panties.
That was a scenario she’d dreamed about for years. Turned out, the reality had both exceeded and fallen short of her frustrating, oft-recurring secret fantasy.
Naked Loyal was so much better than she’d imagined—and, um, bigger, too. Eyes closed, she pictured his broad shoulders, trim abs, and the dark, sexy trail of chest hair leading her gaze down to the promise of something really damn good. Her breath hitched in her throat as longing twinged in her core.
She shook her head and opened her eyes, because after that—or in spite of that?—it had become a nightmare. He’d been a jerk from the first day they’d met, and last night had proved no exception, starting with him calling her psycho, as if she’d planned the whole insane scenario. And then he’d suggested she strip and join him.
The guy hated her, so she knew it was nothing more than a shock-jock comment meant to ruffle her feathers, but a small part of her wanted to throw caution to the wind and call his bluff—and that pissed her off. Sometimes the loneliness made it hard to breathe, but she wasn’t desperate enough to toss aside her self-respect for a quick roll in the sheets with a guy who didn’t even like her.
At least, she hadn’t thought she was until he was naked in front of her.
She’d hurried out the door before temptation overrode common sense, and went straight to the bathroom to find a blow dryer for her underwear so she wouldn’t flash her ass again in the morning.
As for the fire, she hadn’t told him because it would’ve gone one of two ways. He would’ve been the jerk he usually was, she’d have cried, and she would’ve wanted to hit him again. Or, he’d have felt sorry for her, she probably still would’ve cried, and she would’ve wanted to hit him again.
Same results either way, except this time, she would’ve been able to aim her swing for maximum pain. Especially since, more than likely, she would’ve been hitting him for the first reason. However, she didn’t want to cry in front of him, so she’d kept her mouth shut.
A quick rub of her eyes did nothing to alleviate the dry, scratchy irritation lingering from the smoke. She rose to peer over the back of the couch at the clock on the kitchen wall, then dropped down onto the decorative throw pillow when she saw it was only a few minutes after seven a.m. Desperate for another hour or two of sleep, she adjusted her T-shirt back down over her panties and pulled the blanket she’d snagged from the recliner up to her chin.
Five long, exceedingly torturous minutes later, she flipped the covering aside with a huff of annoyance. No way she was going back to sleep now. Every time she closed her eyes, the sexy jerk in the other room was right there.
Invading her mind space.
Making her body way too hot.
She was better off getting dressed and heading downstairs for coffee and one of Honor’s leftover cupcakes from yesterday. If she hurried, she could avoid running into Loyal again this morning, and start figuring out what to do.
First on the list? Call her rental insurance company to see about getting a hotel until she could locate a new apartment to rent. Because Asher had warned Loyal might use this place, she couldn’t ask him to leave. Well, she could, but she’d have to play the pity card, and no way in hell she would do that with him.
Roxanna ran her fingers through her hair along her scalp and grimaced at the amount of finger-combing she’d have to do to detangle her long, still-damp curls if she didn’t locate a brush. As she lowered her hands, she heard the sound of a door and jerked her head up to see the bathroom door was now closed.
Damn, Loyal was up already? She didn’t want to have to speak to the unbearable jerk. And if she had to, couldn’t she have been dressed first? Too late now, since she’d left her clean clothes folded on the bathroom counter.
She stood and wrapped the blanket around her waist while waiting impatiently for him to come out and go back to the bedroom. Sitting down to wait, she kept her head down in case he not only slept in the nude, but also walked around au natural. And then as she thought about it, she couldn’t help sneaking a peek every couple seconds.
Uggh. Stop.
Silently lamenting about having to share space with him, she wondered what the hell had she done to karma that her apartment building caught fire on the exact night he decided to show up back in Colorado?
The door opened a few minutes later, and her pulse leapt as she shot a covert gaze under her lashes. He’d put pants on. Whew.
