“In that apple dress and those kick-ass heels, you look like a lethal Betty Boop. Makes a man want to know if one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.”
Pi woof. One big, infinite woof!
She focused on his lips, and he stepped closer, smelling earthy and musky. She really liked cerebral guys, she told herself to stave off more tingles, but it was like trying to stop a raging flood with a bucket. No barrier at all. And all that testosterone was going to be releasing in her apartment every day for three weeks. She hoped she could keep her hands off him.
“I should get my shower,” he said absently, now looking at her lips.
She nodded and waited a heartbeat too long for him to move first. He didn’t.
So they were officially staring at each other now. The sudden silence of the Y, devoid of the raucous sounds of men grunting and sweating, made the cavernous gym seem intimate. There was nothing but silence until the next pick-up game.
A silence that swelled in a way that boosted the potency in the very air between them. Heat radiated off his moist skin.
“Later, Taylor!”
Jared jerked and turned around and waved as Poe took a step back.
“Shower,” he grunted, pointing towards the locker room as if words were beyond his ability right now.
She nodded.
And she plopped down onto the bench because her wobbly knees just couldn’t hold her upright any longer.
Would it be immature and totally geeky if she bolted right now? Wait, no, she couldn’t. The whole reason she was here was to help her mom. That was her mission and should be the only thing she was focusing on. So no more touching clavicles—or anything else for that matter—even if they were a fine specimen of a horizontal bone.
Oh shit! She was doing it again. Shaking herself, she spent five minutes trying to eradicate the effect Jared had on her. Then bam, Jared came though the locker room door and all her composure went flying out the proverbial window.
Seeing him with his hair wet, his gym bag slung over his shoulder and the biceps on that arm pronounced, it took her a full minute to move. But she shook it off like a fighter with a near-miss KO and did her best to look nonchalant and cool as she walked toward him.
