Great, just great.
She had the curtain neatly folded as he came back.
“Sweatpants and shirt.” He held them up.
She took them from him, placing them on the bed. “I need to dry first.”
“Right. I’ll be outside again, just in case.”
She watched him go and then quickly dried her body, wrapping her hair up in a knot in the towel and putting it on her head. She pulled his clothes on, smelling him around her. His scent comforted her and it was a little strange to find so much pleasure from just sniffing him. She felt crazy.
Drying her hair quickly, she looked for a brush but didn’t see one.
Instead of waiting for his help, she hobbled to the door and opened it. “Do you have a brush?” she asked. “Crazy hair.” She pointed at her head.
“Yes, I do.”
He turned to leave, and she admired the curves of his ass.
Head out of the gutter.
No time for it.
He returned with a brush. She took it from him, leaving the door open. She brushed her hair, trying not to look at him.
It was late. She was tired.
What does he feel about me?
“Tomorrow morning?” she asked.
“Breakfast. Mom and Dad will be expecting us. It’s what she does every weekend. Full breakfast, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, all the good stuff. There will even be waffles, pancakes as well.”
“She goes all out.”
“That she does, for her kids.”
She finished with the brush. “Right. I better go to bed. You know, long day and all that.”
“You can’t sleep,” he said. “I promised I wouldn’t let you fall asleep.”
“I think the doctor was being overly cautious for me. He doesn’t want to risk getting sued. I want to get some sleep. I mean, you can keep checking on me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m tired, but I’ve been fine all day. I’m sure I’d have had, you know, some kind of symptom if I wasn’t okay.”
“I’m just next door.” He took the brush from her. “I’m going to head for a shower.”
“Okay. Good night, James.”
“Good night, Eliza.” Her body felt alive under his gaze.
“Wait, I know this is a little crazy, but, why don’t you like to be called Elizabeth?”
“You really want to know?”
“Yeah. I mean, if you want to tell me.”
“It’s not really a big secret. My mom called me Elizabeth whenever she was angry. I always hated the name.” She shrugged. “Changing my name just seemed like a headache.”
“I like Eliza.”
She laughed. “Thanks. Good night.”
It looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn’t. Finally, he turned and left. He didn’t close the door.
She climbed into the bed and lay staring at the ceiling. She heard the shower running and she imagined him naked, under the spray.
Even his cock.
What is wrong with me?
She didn’t fantasize about men in the shower or their cocks. The two boyfriends she’d had even called her frigid because they felt she wasn’t experienced enough in the bedroom. She knew what she wanted, and they just didn’t satisfy her. Their idea of a good time was doing it with the light on. They didn’t believe in foreplay either.
“Why am I thinking about them?” The shower stopped and her thoughts immediately returned to James.
He’d had a reputation in high school. The girls he’d been with, she would hear them talking about how good he was. How he took care of a woman’s needs before his own. Was it real? Did he really care?
Did she want to be another notch on a Hard boy’s bedpost? All three boys were known for working hard and playing hard. Even their dad had had a reputation before he married.
She rolled over.
It didn’t matter because she wasn’t going to fall into James’s bed. He didn’t want her, anyway.
Chapter Four
“I thought flowers, chocolates, dinner, and a date was what got women to fall for you and stay the night. You, you run them down with a bike.”
James was going to pound Rome’s face in. This was the reason why he hadn’t taken Eliza to breakfast with his parents this morning, and they’d hung out instead. He’d called his parents to let them know they would be over for dinner. He wanted to keep an eye on Eliza before he brought her to his family. He’d hoped his brothers wouldn’t be there, but of course, no such luck. “I didn’t do it like that.”
“He was actually trying to look at her in the florist shop,” Caleb said, snorting. “She’d gone out for lunch. He ran her down.”
“Now she’s in there with Mom and she’s probably telling all kinds of unattractive stories,” Rome said, wrinkling his nose.
“You know your mother. She’s taking care of her. Making sure she can cook,” Theodore said.
They were hanging out the laundry. Their mother had decided Sunday was the day to clean the sheets, and as such, with the sun shining bright in the sky, the men could hang it out.