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The air seemed too heavy to draw into her lungs, and her heart banged hard against her ribs when his gaze locked on her mouth as he leaned in.
“All right, everything is rea-dy.” Jensen stopped abruptly, halfway across the room. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Dev blinked and jerked back with a muttered, “You didn’t.” His shuttered gaze met hers for a split-second before he turned to his friend. “Walk me through the system so you can get out of here and enjoy what’s left of your Sunday.”
Chapter 14
Monday evening, Dev slid sideways when Shelby joined him at the kitchen sink while he washed the pan she’d used to make their grilled cheese and ham sandwiches for dinner. He angled his body to keep her small shoulder from brushing his, but she ate up the extra room by sliding closer as she reached to turn on the faucet to rinse their plates before loading them in the dishwasher.
He drew in a controlled breath and rested his wet hands against the far side of the sink while moving over even farther. Since she cooked, he was supposed to clean up, but here she was, ignoring him.
Just like she’d been ignoring him on other shit, too. Little shit. Which wouldn’t be such a big deal, if she wasn’t also pushing him every chance she got since yesterday afternoon. Ever since he’d nearly given in to the urge to kiss her. Thank God for his buddy’s impeccable timing.
He’d told her to make herself at home, and man, she’d taken the invite to heart, in more ways than one. She was constantly getting too close for his comfort and invading his personal space—always with a valid reason that he couldn’t quite challenge.
Although he’d managed to avoid physical contact for the most part, the addicting scent of her apple-peachy shampoo was chipping away at his sanity with each passing hour.
She’d taken a personal day from work today, which meant they’d spent a second entire day together. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Getting everything set up in the guest bedroom, including putting together the new bed. With all the space in his twenty-five hundred square foot house, she had somehow managed to remain within ten feet of him most of the time.
Last night she’d spent the evening flipping through channels while he attempted to read. Turned out it was impossible to concentrate with her only a few feet away, so he’d gone into the gym for his evening session of physical therapy. She’d left him alone for that, but then he found himself right back in the same room as her when it was time for bed.
She still hadn’t wanted to sleep alone, so he’d dragged out his sleeping bag and mat to lie on the floor next to the bed. Three minutes later, he’d returned from brushing his teeth to find her zipped up to her chin in his spot.
Her back turned to him was a clear indication she would argue about staying on the floor until she was blue in the face. It went against every fiber of his being, but he’d zipped his lips and climbed into bed. Her fucking choice, right? Let her have it.
Only, then it took him hours to fall asleep as he lay there feeling guilty.
This morning, he’d gotten up early so he could do his PT before driving her to work, only to have her join him in his home gym. She’d simply said, “I’m not going in to work today,” and started stretching in a pair of black yoga pants and a neon pink, skin tight exercise crop top that zipped up the front. By the time she flipped the switch on his treadmill to start jogging, he was hard as a rock.
The thing was, he wasn’t quite sure if she was doing it all deliberately, or if she was just being Shelby. Beautiful, innocently sexy, contradiction-filled Shelby.
He still wasn’t sure nearly twelve hours later.
She bent to put the rinsed plates in the dishwasher rack, and he had to bite back a groan when he found his gaze drawn straight to the curve of her ass in a pair of black leggings. Leaving the pan in the sink, he scooped up a dry towel for his hands and moved to stand by the stove.
“I have a few things to take care of tomorrow while you’re at work, so Reyes is going to be with you for a couple hours instead.”
She closed the door and straightened, bracing one hip against the counter. “Does he really need to be there? I mean, I’ll be surrounded by coworkers.”
“And how many people you don’t know coming and going with their pets.”
“Okay, so he needs to be there.” Her lips pressed together as she turned to the sink and started washing the pan he’d abandoned. “Where are you going?”
He hesitated before keeping his promise to be straight with her. “I’m meeting with your dad’s PI, and I have a therapy session at one.”
Her hands stilled, then scrubbed the clean pan harder. “Physical therapy?”
“No.”
She reached to turn on the faucet to rinse the pan. “You talk to a therapist?”
“Once a week.”
The surprise in her expression had him wishing he’d kept his damn mouth shut. There was being straight with her, and then there was stupidity. Now she was going to think he was all fucked up in the head. Time with his therapist had helped him realize he wasn’t doing too bad, and things were getting better each week.
Tossing the towel on the counter, he moved past her to head into the living room.
“Do your parents know?” she asked.
