Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“I left you a towel and washcloth,” I explain to him, “as well as a pair of shorts and a shirt to wear after your shower. I’m not sure if they’ll fit you. If they don’t, I can dig around my closet for, um, maybe something bigger, or …”
I run out of words.
I keep finding myself lost in Cole’s eyes, the way he stares at me as he leans against the doorframe to the bathroom, a playful smirk on his lips.
I frown. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Cole shrugs. “Your parents are in bed. We’re alone again. Just you and me.” He tilts his head as he gazes at me. “I really like you, Noah. I meant what I said. Back at the restaurant. And what I was trying to communicate during our interview. I … really, really like you. A lot. I’ve liked you for a long time.”
I stare back at him, my face as blank as a wall.
He can tell me that a hundred more times. A part of me still won’t believe it. A part of me will forever question him.
I fidget. “Cole, they’re going to run the story tomorrow. Like I said. And a whole lots of things are going to happen quickly.” To that, he just shrugs, as if not following. So I spell it out further. “It means that very soon, you’re going to have a whole lot of men and women throwing themselves at you. You’ll have the pageant at the McPhersons’. Everyone will be there. And that’ll end with auctioning you off to someone for a … a date.”
“What’s your point? I don’t want any of them.”
“It won’t matter who or what you want. Everything is going to happen, and you don’t know what you’re going to feel like, and …” I cross my arms. “Maybe it’s smarter for us to just …”
“To just what?”
After a moment, I realize I don’t have an answer that sounds good. Or feels good. I drop my gaze to the floor, unsure.
What am I so afraid of …?
The touch of Cole’s hand on my cheek startles me. I look up to find him gazing into my eyes. “Noah, I’m not sure how many ways I can say this, but I don’t give a rabid raccoon’s ass what happens. I don’t care how many articles are run, how many big showy shows Mrs. Strong wants to do … none of that can possibly change how I feel about you.” He smiles. “Haven’t you enjoyed tonight so far?”
I can’t pull my eyes away from his. “Yes.”
“So have I.”
I’m suddenly under his spell. “Maybe I’m overthinking.”
“You are.”
“I should just …” I let out a nervous chuckle. “I should just go with it. I should just let go and … and let things happen.”
“Only what you’re comfortable with. Only what you want.”
“Only what I want,” I agree.
“And what do you want, Noah?”
My eyes drop to his lips.
He smirks, then tilts his head toward the shower behind him. “Do you … want to join me?”
“Join you?” I bring down my voice. “But my … my parents …”
“They’re asleep. It’s just us. We’re the only guys awake in the whole house. The only guys in the whole town. The only guys in the whole world. Just you … and me.” He leans on the doorframe, his beautiful figure eclipsing the light. “We can both do our part in saving the world. Conserve water. Wash each other’s backs.”
“I’m not sure how washing each other’s backs saves the world.”
“It saves mine,” he murmurs.
I meet his eyes.
His dreamy eyes stare back, nearly twinkling.
My heart does a triple backflip off a trampoline, way too high, and lands in a pit of colorful balls. Giggling like a schoolboy. Free as a child on summer vacation.
“If you’d rather take separate showers,” he says, “you totally can. I wouldn’t force you. But you have the option to join me. The door is always … open.” Then he winks and turns away.
And peels off his shirt.
My eyes dive into the smooth, rippling pool of his beautiful back. His muscles move like water as he works his shirt off over his head. When he sets it aside, I see a sly smirk on his face.
He knows I’m watching.
Then he drops his pants and underwear down together with a quick, casual thrust.
Chapter 12
Noah
My eyes drop to Cole’s smooth, firm butt.
His toned thighs that give way to two perfect legs. To his two shapely calves. Even his feet, which somehow carry personality in the light way he treads as he steps out of his clothes.
Then he walks up to the shower, leans in, and twists on the water. He stands there by the side, reaching his hand in to test the temperature, making no effort to hide himself from me.
He glances over his shoulder at me, that sly smirk still curling his lips ever so slightly.