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“It’s fine. Why don’t you show me where you’d like to set up?”
He studies me for a minute as if he’s trying to get a read on me.
“You have the most beautiful eyes,” he says, catching me off guard.
But, of course, he would compliment my eyes. They’re by far my best feature and what people always notice second, just as he did, although they never bring up the stump they notice first.
I force a smile, and remembering my goal, say, “Thank you. The sleepover is for your niece, right? She’s turning seven?”
“Yeah.” He runs a hand through his hair as he turns and leads me through a great room decorated in shades of cream and brown that could be straight out of an interior design magazine spread. “Gia and my other four nieces who are coming will die when they see your setup.”
“The tea party was a perfect selection.”
“I was thinking the playroom would be good, but you’ll have to let me know if there’s enough space in there.”
His words snap my attention from his jeans-covered ass I’m busy admiring as we pass a pool table and head down a hallway with lush carpet that would probably feel delightful on bare feet.
“You have a playroom?” The squeak in my voice betrays my surprise.
He pulls up short before a closed door and pauses, turning to face me with his hand on the doorknob. The momentum of the fully loaded wagon is too much to stop on a dime. I try, but it’s too late.
I collide with his broad chest. Shorty, my stump, flies up to press against his soft T-shirt and the firm pec underneath. His hands instinctively wrap around my waist to steady me. They’re large and warm and capable. And send shivers down my spine.
I fumble and take a step back, distracted by the heady scent of his cologne, and grip the wagon handle, glad for its support as I gather my wits.
He doesn’t let go, even when I look up to meet his eyes. My breath catches at the way his warm hazel eyes, more brown than green, study me. His gaze drifts down my face while his lips curve up with a touch of a smirk. “Yes, Eve. A playroom, but not the adult kind, although my bedroom is down the hall.”
My eyes widen, and a flush creeps up my cheeks. I can’t help but glance over his shoulder at the four doors past us. I scramble for something to say, any sort of witty banter an experienced woman trying to seduce a man might use, but all I come up with is, “Oh. Good to know.”
I want to disappear, want the ground to swallow me up, or for a time machine to magically whisk me back ten minutes to before I rang Cooper Sharp’s doorbell and met him for the first time. Or maybe, even to two weeks ago before I came up with the crazy idea, thanks to Penny’s warnings, to kill two birds with one stone. To lose my virginity to a man who knows what he’s doing and to do it with a guy who’s guaranteed to want no strings attached. Just like me.
A bewitching eyebrow arches, and his grip on my waist tightens, pulling me back to the present, to a situation I’m now knee-deep in. But, casually, as if we’re not talking about his bedroom, he says, “I thought so.”
Cooper
Pennydidn’twantmehitting on Eve, and now, I see why. Ms. Watts is a gorgeous, delectable young woman, who I don’t want to pull my gaze away from, even for a minute. The instant I opened the front door and met those doe-like brown eyes, I wanted her, and damn if I don’t think she wants me to, though we’ve just met.
I push open the playroom door, and Eve’s attention shifts to the sunlit space where my nieces and nephews set up shop whenever they’re over. I spared no expense in making the room a place they’d love even before my first nephew was born nine years ago.
Since then, I’ve added new furniture and toys and even redecorated completely twice as they’ve each grown and their numbers have swelled. Currently, it’s a pastel rainbow theme, thanks to my mom, a local interior designer.
Eve’s jaw drops another inch past where it fell a minute ago when I mentioned my bedroom. Was that crossing the line? Was it making a move? I could put up a good argument for no, although something tells me Penny wouldn’t agree. But I couldn’t resist. Plus, I didn’t want to. I wanted to see what this enchanting young woman would do with something like that coming at her.
But now, the comment seems forgotten, and I commit the look of awe on her face to memory. The way her head tilts to the side, exposing the delicate arc of her neck as she scans the room. The way her eyelashes flutter in disbelief as her gaze travels from the floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with board games to the cozy reading nook nestled in one corner.
Stuffed animals peek out from every direction, and a well-loved wooden train set usually set up in the center of the room is now off to the side to make room for the sleepover.
“Wow,” she breathes, taking it all in. “This is…quite the playroom.”
Her lips press together, and she leaves the wagon forgotten in the hallway to step into the space, giving me full access to study her unobserved while she explores the room that, at the moment, is spotless. Give it a few hours, and it will look like a tornado blew through.
Long honey-blonde hair spills around Eve’s shoulders, and her arm, the one without a hand, falls to her side. Was she born that way? Was it an accident? Curiosity is getting the best of me, but I’ve already stuck my foot in my mouth when it comes to her arm, and she made it crystal clear she can take care of herself.
“My sisters joke that it’ll make the perfect nursery, but the kids would kill me if I took their space.”
“Oh,” she says, spinning to face me, the single word heavy with melancholy.
“What do you think? Will it work?” I ask.
