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He glanced down at himself and said, “If I knew you were coming …”
“You’d have baked a cake?”
“Put on pants.”
He moved the laptop, and I quickly turned my head. I’d already seen everything, but I was ready for it then.
He chuckled. “It’s OK. I’m wearing shorts. Here.”
I turned back and saw that he was holding out a phone. It took me a moment before I realized what it was.
My phone.
I stepped forward and took it eagerly; I needed to ensure I hadn’t received any other calls from the conference. I skimmed my emails, my heart sinking a little when I didn’t see anything that wasn’t spam or a copy of a payment to a few subscriptions I had. Nothing.
But who was I kidding to think that someone would be interested in me just after hearing me talk? I got lucky enough to lure in Andrew Mayhew. I couldn’t expect more than that. At the thought, I realized tonight was the night I could meet the other Andrew. TheoneAndrew I truly wanted to work for.
I had to make it back to the conference hall that evening, or I would regret it for the rest of my life. I just knew I had to take this chance, or I would lose it forever.
“I guess you’re happy now.”
Indignant, I looked back at Ryan, preparing a snappy comeback that caught in my throat at the sight of his flat gaze, so noticeably different from the usual brightness in his eyes. Then I watched the sparkle return. It was so obviously fake, but it was there.
“Wanna go to lunch?”
“Huh?”
“Lunch. You hungry? I gotta see a few houses after, but if you’re up for it …”
I was already nodding without realizing it, and as he stood to get dressed, I turned away discretely.
He chuckled that deep, sexy rumble and said, “OK. We’re playing coy now, are we?”
“Not at all,” I protested. “I just …” I heard him move across the room toward me, and my mouth went dry. He came close enough that I could smell his shampoo in his damp hair. I squeezed my legs together, becoming damp myself. I expected him to wrap his arms around me at any moment and wondered if I should protest. If I could protest.
“Excuse me,” he said.
“Huh?” I turned and met his eyes.
He gestured down, and I began to salivate. What was wrong with me?”
“I need to get in there …”
I couldn’t speak.
He nodded toward a plastic set of drawers. “My dresser,” he said. “I can’t very well go to lunch in my skivvies.”
“Oh,” I said and hastily moved across the room to a window looking down on the garage floor below. The group of men was still there but looked like they were ready to move out. One of them looked right at me, and I quickly moved away from the window, almost running into Ryan pulling on a royal blue T-shirt. Still no pants. I looked away again.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked, pretending to be interested in the sparse furnishings.
“It’s not much, but it’s home for now. I did mention that I was looking for houses later today, didn’t I?”
“You did,” I said.
I heard the sound of a zipper going up.
“Let’s go back to that place I took you to last time.”
