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“I thought you would at least let me know that you were on your way or something,” she said. “I was about to get into bed.”
“Sorry,” he said, “I don’t mind getting my own room if you’ve changed your mind about me staying with you.” She thought about his proposal and knew that it might help with her nerves, but she also knew that they’d end up spending most of their time together anyway. Colter getting his own room was just plain silly.
“No, you can still stay here,” she said, opening the door wider. “I have two queen beds and this place is huge. It’s bigger than the room that we share back at the beach house.” He walked into the room and dumped his suitcase onto the neatly made bed. “Sure, make yourself at home,” she teased.
“Well, you did offer. Besides, I’m assuming that is my bed since you have that other one turned down already. Did you want to share?” he asked. Her girl parts were shouting at her to tell him, yes, but her brain won out and she shook her head no. “Have it your way,” he grumbled. “Don’t let me keep you from sleeping.” As if she’d be able to go to sleep now that he was in her room with her. Seeing him standing there in her space had her heart racing.
“Um, I thought that I’d read for a bit,” she lied. Just minutes ago, she felt about ready to crawl into bed and sleep for days.
He smiled at her as if he knew she was lying and unzipped his suitcase. “Whatever,” he drawled. “Do you mind if I take a shower?” he asked. Norah did a quick survey of the bathroom in her head and nodded. She didn’t have any unmentionables hanging in there and even if she did, Colter had seen them before since they shared a bathroom at the beach house.
“You’re good,” she said. “I’m just going to crawl into bed and read.” He nodded on his way to the bathroom, toiletries, and gym shorts that he usually wore to bed. When they first agreed to share a room, Norah repeatedly asked him to wear a t-shirt, but he ignored her. After a while, she gave up asking. Honestly, he had a fantastic body and wasn’t a hardship to look at, but she wouldn’t tell Colter that.
She picked up her book from the bedside table and tried to focus on the book, but she was having trouble doing so knowing that Colter was in the bathroom soaping up his naked body. What the hell was wrong with her? She usually never thought about stuff like this. Sure, she thought that he was hot as sin, but usually, she’d tell herself that she wasn’t looking for a man or even some hot sex, and she’d be able to put Colter out of her mind. Maybe since it was just the two of them in New York together, she was thinking about all the things she never let herself think about—namely, Colter’s hot, soapy, naked body in the next room.
“Hey, Norah,” he called.
She got out of bed and went to the bathroom door. “Yeah,” she called through the closed door.
“I forgot my body wash,” he said, “can you grab it out of my suitcase and hand it to me?”
“Um, sure,” she squeaked. Norah routed through his suitcase, finding his body wash, and hurrying back to the bathroom. “I’m coming in,” she said through the door. She took a deep breath and walked into the bathroom. She gasped and shut her eyes when she remembered that the shower had a glass door and not a curtain as they had at the beach house.
“Oh God, I’m sorry,” she breathed. He reached out and took the body wash from her which was a good thing since she still had her eyes clamped tightly shut.
“It’s fine, Norah,” he said. “I don’t mind.” She heard the shower door shut and she thought about sneaking another quick peek, not that her first one wasn’t already burned into her memory.
“I do,” she breathed. “I didn’t mean to invade your privacy.” Norah felt like an idiot standing in the middle of the bathroom having a conversation with a very naked Colter with her eyes closed.
“I asked you to bring my body wash in,” he reminded. “You didn’t invade my privacy.”
“Okay, well, I’m going to go now,” she said. She ran into the sink and cursed, rubbing her sore hip.
“Just open your eyes, Norah,” Colter insisted. “You’ve already seen me naked. If you try to get out of here with your eyes closed, you’ll be a walking bruise by the time you find the doorknob.” He was right, but there was no way that she was going to be caught sneaking another peek at him. She squinted one eye open, careful not to look back at Colter still in the shower.
“Sorry,” she squeaked on her way out of the bathroom. She quickly shut the door behind her to a chorus of Colter’s laughter and she shook her head. A part of her wanted to turn back around and march back into the bathroom to ask him if he intentionally left his body wash in his suitcase so that she’d have to see him naked, but she didn’t want to chance another run-in with her sexy roommate. No, she’d save her questions for later. Right now, she was going to crawl into bed and pretend to be asleep by the time he got done in the bathroom. Then, she’d deal with her embarrassment in the morning, or not. Avoiding intimate situations was what had gotten her through this long with her virginity intact, and she didn’t plan on changing that any time soon.
Colter
Colter knew that he was playing dirty by leaving his body wash in his suitcase when he went into the bathroom to take a shower. Finding that it had a glass door instead of a curtain was a bonus. It took the guess work out of trying to figure out how to pull the curtain open to give Norah a peek at what she was missing out on. He only had about a week with her, and before his time was up, he wanted her naked in his bed. Hell, he’d settle for being invited over to her bed, if that’s what it took. Either way, he wanted Norah, and getting her to agree to be his wasn’t going to be easy, but he loved a challenge—except when it came to his own family.
Colter had made the mistake of telling his mother that he was visiting a friend in New York, and she asked to see him. His mother had moved to New York after he had graduated from high school, and he didn’t see very much of her. She had always been a bit of a religious zealot and the last thing he wanted to do was spend the day with his mom while she tried to convert him. But that was what he was going to do tomorrow. He was going to get his visit out of the way, and then, he’d be able to concentrate on getting Norah in his bed.
Norah was playing opossum, pretending to be asleep when he got out of the bathroom, but he knew her well enough to know that she was faking. “I know you’re not really asleep, Norah,” he said. She didn’t stir and he worried that he had guessed incorrectly about her being asleep. “Norah,” he whispered, “stop pretending.”
She rolled over and opened her eyes to glare at him. It was a look that she had given him often. “What?” she asked. “I was sleeping.”
He flashed her his best smile and she rolled her eyes at him. “Liar,” he whispered.
“What do you want, Colter?” she asked again.
“Well, I was wondering if you’d be good with me going to visit my mother tomorrow,” he said. “I know that I just got here and all, but I’d like to get my visit with her out of the way.”
“Your mother lives in New York?” she asked, sitting up in her bed.
“Yes, and I made the mistake of telling her that I was coming here to visit a friend. She reminded me that I haven’t been back to see her in some time, and she insisted that I stop by,” Colter said. He hated how insistent his mother was and how she could still guilt him into doing just about anything. She was able to do that to him since he was just a young boy—something that he was hoping to outgrow in adulthood, but he just couldn’t say no to the woman when she’d remind him that it had been some time since she last saw him.
“Of course, you should go visit her. I’m just surprised that you never told me about her living in New York before. I guess I assumed that she lived in DC,” Norah said.
