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My lips parted as our eyes locked, and I swore my damaged heart started beating for him. I gave him a shy grin before shaking my head. “Don’t do that, Connor.”
“Do what?”
“Make me feel important.”
His dimples deepened.
Goodness, I shouldn’t have liked that so much, but I did.
“Hey, Red?”
“Yes, Captain?”
“You want to go record a TikTok dance with me?”
31
Aaliyah
The hardest partof living with Connor was that he was insanely attractive and kind. It truly should’ve been illegal. No one should’ve been that handsome and nice—it ruined all other men. One of his favorite hobbies was to walked around shirtless on the regular. Some days, he’d come into the living room area dripping in sweat, and my lady parts tingled as if they hadn’t seen a shirtless men in ten years.
It wasn’t only his fit, muscular body that oddly turned me on, though. It was the way he went business mode on phone calls and spoke as if he was the HBIC—head bachelor in charge. He was thorough with every conversation he held and spoke with authority. His strength was sexy.
On the flip side, his bad jokes turned me on, too. Just watching the way his mouth moved when he spoke, how sometimes he’d bite down on the corner of his lip when he was trying to recall a punchline. Sexy.
And when he cooked? Holy crap. He turned me on when he made eggs. I was hot and bothered when he burned toast.
His laughter, his frowns, his goofy smirks. Everything about him pulled me in, and I didn’t know if once it was time for me to move on, I’d be able to let go. The more he existed in my world, the more I craved for him to stay. The more I hoped he’d notice me as more than his roommate, more than his friend.
“You sure this looks okay?” Connor asked as we stood inside an old warehouse for his photo shoot forPassion. He was dressed in a designer forest green velvet suit that fit him in all the right places. His hair was gelled back, and he had a makeup team touching up his face as I stood nearby watching.
The whole crew around us was setting up for his photo shoot with one of the top photographers in the industry, Jean Paxon. She’d shot for the royal family in the past, so having her at our shoot felt extraordinary.
“You look amazing,” I told him as I held his coffee and my tea in my hands. “Besides, there will be outfit changes and whatnot. You’re in the best hands, and remember, you’re already a pro at this kind of stuff with your TikTok.”
“Uh, this is kind of more advanced than some silly social media app. They have like fifty lights set up! Plus, this magazine is going to be in stores. The last thing I need is to end up taking crappy pictures because of my ugly face.”
I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have an ugly face, Connor.”
“You think I’m pretty, Red?” he said in a whiny, annoying voice.
“No. You’re hideous. Your nose is crooked, your lips aren’t full, and your eyes are too far apart—but we can fix all of that in editing. I just need you to get a somewhat decent shot so I don’t lose my job. Now here, take the coffee and stop whining.”
He smirked and nudged me in the arm. “Aw, I think you’re kinda pretty, too.”
What a dork.
“Also, I like your lipstick. Red on red. That’s a good color on you.”
My cheeks flushed.
I hated that I loved when he complimented me. It only made me secretly want him more.
If he felt any kind of nerves about the photo shoot, I couldn’t tell at all. The moment he was given direction from Jean, Connor fell right in line. His skill at looking professional yet sexy as hell was impressive. He also came off as soft and approachable in some of the laughing photos he took. I loved the stills of him laughing the most because they captured his heart.
When it came time for the shirtless photographs, which Jean insisted on taking, my cheeks heated up instantly.
“Holy shit,” a crew member muttered beside me as she stared at Connor’s rock-hard body. “I can only imagine what’s hidden in those pants.”
