Page 12 of The Plus One Professional
“Shit. I’m sorry,” he apologized as he turned back around, totally oblivious to my aroma arousal. When he looked down at me once again, there was concern in his expression. “Are you…sick?”
“What? No.”
Did I look sick? I hadn’t been sleeping much for the past two weeks since I’d gotten the message from Simon. Was it catching up with me? I’d worn this shirt with this man in mind, and the first thing he’d asked me was if I was sick.
“Oh…okay.” A crease appeared between his brows as he continued looking down at me.
The expression on his face made me realize I was on my knees next to the toilet. “Oh, no, um, the bride lost her grandmother’s diamond earring, so I’m looking for it.”
“Is that in your job description?”
“Sort of. Yeah. I mean, my job is to make the bride’s day go as smoothly and perfectly as possible. So, yeah.” Speaking of which, I wouldn’t be able to do my job if I was stuck up here. I grabbed my phone from my back pocket and sent an SOS text to Billie, then set the device on the edge of the sink. “I texted my sister; she’ll come rescue us.”
He nodded and started to lower himself to the floor. “What does the earring look like?”
“Oh, no!” I rushed out. “You don’t have to do that! It’s definitely not in your job description.”
His eyes met mine, and he looked like a kid who got caught sneaking in after curfew. It made me wonder if he was here on a job. Could Trevor be right that the bride’s sister had hired him to be here?
As those questions were still running through my mind, he smiled, and my mind went blank when I saw a deep dimple in his left cheek. It wasn’t just the dimple that had my lady parts singing; it was the smile itself. His smile was so potent, I had a feeling I could get drunk off it if I stared at him long enough.
“I don’t mind.”
When he spoke, my eyes were drawn to his lips. His perfect, straight lips. How had I never noticed how kissable his lips were? I wondered what those lips would feel like brushing against mine. What would they feel like whispering sweet nothings against my neck? What would they feel like pressed softly to my…
“What does it look like?” he asked.
“What?” I asked, not sure what he was referring to.
My eyes lifted to his, and once again, I found myself stunned. From afar, his eyes were crystal blue, but up close, they were even clearer. They reminded me of the ocean—not the Pacific, which the San Francisco Bay emptied out into, but the Amalfi Coast—at least what I’d seen in pictures—pictures that Simon had posted during his many travels.
“The earring. What does it look like?”
I blinked, just to force myself to stop staring into the depths of his gaze before I drowned. “Oh, right, um, it’s a diamond stud.”
When I said the word stud, I felt my cheeks flush, even though I hadn’t been referring to him. Although, he was a stud if I’ve ever seen one, and, if I wasn’t mistaken, a very young stud. His age had never really been something I’d considered. But now, after seeing him up close, I realized he was young. Really young.
I was considering asking him how old he was when my phone rang out loudly. I jumped with a start and reached up to grab it. My fingers grazed the side, and I ended up knocking it off the sink. It would have crashed to the floor if it weren’t for the cat-like reflexes of dimpled pretty boy.
The phone landed safely in his palm. His verylargepalm. Oh my. As he held my phone, I couldn’t help but notice the size of his hands. They were massive. And they looked like they’d feel good sliding up my thigh…
What?No. Stop it; I reprimanded myself.
He glanced down at the screen, and when he did, I saw his mouth twitch in amusement. I looked down and knew why. Simon was calling, but his name was saved under ‘Do NOT Answer.’ Billie had changed it a few months after the last time Simon Houdini’d, which was what Olivia called it when he disappeared. Like I said, they were not fans.
As he handed me the phone, dimpled pretty boy’s panty-melting smile was still in place. “I’m not sure you should answer that.”
“Oh, no, yeah, it’s just…a friend.” I didn’t know why I was explaining myself. For one thing, he hadn’t asked. And even if he had, it was none of his business.
He turned his attention back to the ground, and as I waited with bated breath to see if Simon was going to leave a message. I was still staring down at my device when Dimples announced, “Found it.”
I looked up, and sure enough, he had the earring in his hand.
“Oh my gosh! Thank you,” I stated as we both stood, and he handed the stud to me. I looked down as he dropped it into my cupped palm. The roughened tips of his fingers grazed my wrist. The barely-there sensation fanned the flames of arousal that were already burning like a wildfire from being in such close proximity to a man who might smell better than he looked, or at least as good.
My head was still tilted down for fear I’d say something stupid if I looked into his ocean-like eyes again when I felt those same fingertips graze my cheek as he tucked a stray strand of hair that had fallen into my face behind my ear. The touch was so tender and intimate that my knees went weak, and I felt a tickle in my nose.
No, no, no.I flared out my nostrils, doing everything I could to keep my sneeze at bay as I slid the earring into my pocket.
