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‘Who said anything about romance? No-strings sex on the other hand… now that might do you the power of good.’
‘Or finish me off completely.’ She leant back against the window, jolting forwards when the cold seeped through her cardigan. ‘I’m sticking to my plan of sorting my life out with no distractions.’ The idea of getting involved with anyone made her shiver, and not in a good way. She’d had her fill of men.
‘No reason why you can’t enjoy a bit of harmless fun in the meantime. And what do you mean, he’s out of your league? Stop putting yourself down. You’re a catch. Any man would be lucky to snag you.’
‘Snag me? Jesus, Beth, I’m not a fish.’ If she expected a sarcastic comeback, it didn’t materialise, and instead she was met with stony silence. ‘Beth…? Are you there?’
The blessed phone signal had died.
Shuffling off the seat, Kate walked around the room, hoping the little bar would reappear on her screen. ‘Beth…? Can you hear me?’
‘…You… need to… get back… out there…’
‘Hang on, I can’t hear you properly.’ Kate lifted the phone, turning it in different directions, but it made no difference. She headed to the far side of the room, remembering what Calvin had said about the signal improving at the rear of the building. ‘Is that better?’
‘…Can’t… deny… yourself… rest… of… your life…’
Kate noticed a door she hadn’t been through before, at the back of the room. She assumed it linked the library with the communal lounge area. Maybe the signal would be better in there.
Turning the handle, she pushed open the door. Only, it wasn’t the lounge: it was a cosy living space, with an archway leading through to a bedroom. The lights were on, revealing an unmade rumpled bed with clothes strewn across it.
Common sense told her someone lived here – someone who was in the process of getting dressed. She needed to retreat, and quickly. But before she could move, the bathroom door opened and Calvin Johnson appeared… naked.
Every nerve ending in her body screamed at her to run. Close her eyes, turn away and leave immediately. She was intruding, invading his privacy. Her presence in his private bedroom was wholly inappropriate and mortifying. She needed to leave… now.
Unfortunately, the message didn’t seem to be getting through to her feet. They remained glued to the spot. Her mouth had dropped open, and her eyes were wide and unblinking, fixated on the sight ahead. Calvin Johnson, wet from the shower, naked and… and very… naked. Had she mentioned he wasnaked?
In contrast to the abundance of hair on his head, his body was completely smooth, apart from his clipped goatee, but she wasn’t looking at that. She was staring at his bare chest, paler than the rest of him, each rib and muscle defined as if it had been sculptured. The tattoos on his arms travelled upwards and dipped over the curve of his shoulders, which in turn led her eyes downwards to where his waist narrowed, leading to his slim hips and…
‘Shit!’ He’d spotted her.
The shock of getting sprung broke the spell and she recoiled. ‘Oh, my God, I’m so sorry,’ she blurted, averting her gaze.
‘What the hell?’ He grabbed a towel off the bed and wrapped it around his midriff.
‘I had no idea this was your room,’ she said, stumbling backwards. ‘I was trying to get a better signal.’ She lifted her phone as evidence, trying desperately to justify her intrusion, aware of her cousin’s faint voice at the other end asking, ‘What’s going on?’
‘I’m not dressed,’ he said, stating the obvious and looking self-conscious… although he had absolutely no reason to be. It was like he’d been airbrushed. That was beside the point. She was encroaching. Worse, she’d openly gawped. The fact that he was gorgeous was irrelevant. He was entitled to undress in the safety of his own room without an audience.
‘I’m really sorry,’ she repeated for the umpteenth time, turning and smacking her hip against the corner of a wooden dresser. ‘Pretend I was never here.’ Like that was going to happen… for her, anyway. The image of his body was singed into her brain. Scalded onto her eyeballs. It wasn’t something she was likely to forget. Ever.
She rushed from the room, aware that her face was burning hot and her hands were clammy. It said something about the state of her pathetic love-life that the mere sight of a naked body could evoke such a reaction. They were work colleagues. He was her employer, for crying out loud. They weren’t even friends. She wasn’t sure whether that made it worse, or better. Either way, nothing about their arrangement required them to see each other naked. She’d crossed a line – however unintentionally.
Thankfully, Geraldine wasn’t in the kitchen, so Kate was able to escape unseen via the back door and hide around the rear of the building. Resting her hands on her knees, she sucked in a few deep breaths, trying to stem the onslaught of another panic attack. Hyperventilating over a man was not cool. She needed toget a grip. Her heart was racing so fast, it was a wonder it hadn’t combusted.
It was a good few seconds before she was able to lift the phone to her ear. ‘Are you still there?’ She leant against the wall, trying to catch her breath.
‘What the hell’s going on?’ Beth sounded concerned. ‘Why did you scream?’
Kate straightened. ‘I screamed?’
‘Like you’d seen a dead body.’
Oh, hell. Kate closed her eyes. ‘Not dead, no… naked.’
‘Naked?’ There was a brief pause. ‘How naked?’
‘Completely, utterly and entirely naked.’ Kate moved away from the wall, making certain she was alone. ‘I walked in on Calvin coming out of the shower.’
