Everything is always my fault or my lesson to learn. Why didn’t Grant get chewed out for not locking the door? They treat him like a brother, but they treat me like an annoying little pest that they have to keep in line or play pranks on to get me to leave.
Which makes Juliet’s idea and Noa’s offer even more appealing. I can’t wait to see my brother's faces when I show up at the party with my fake fiancé. Their heads will explode, and they’ll finally see me as a woman. They’ll have to. Or maybe I’ll just marry Noa for real.
Okay, yes. I know how ridiculous that sounds. But I'm sure I could do a lot worse. That would require me to stop pining after Grant, though.
Which would be a lot easier if I hadn’t just seen his bare chest.
“Hey, Len.”
I jump and fall back in my chair, which, in this tiny office, is against the wall and my head doesn’t stop until it hits it.
“Oh. Sorry.” Grant says as he takes a few steps in.
He’s fully dressed now. Dang it. I mean thank heavens.
I swallow. “Hi.”
He gives me a smile, which acts as a warning to what comes next. He leans over my desk, letting that stupid cologne he wears drift all over me.
I take that back. It’s not stupid. It’s perfect and makes me lose my mind every time I’m near him. I want to spray it all over my room and never leave. Okay, I need to stop now before I make a fool of myself.
“I wanted to come check on you. I know you were pretty freaked out, seeing all this.” He gestures to his torso, and my mind is right back in that bathroom.
Or is it the gutter?
I blink away from his broad chest and pull my brain back in the general direction of my body.
“What?”
“It’s okay. The first time is always the hardest.”
He’s not even bothering to hide his grin.
“That was not my first time seeing a man’s chest!” But it was my first time seeing the tattoo on his chest. It must be new. I’ve seen him with his shirt off before when he’s at our pool or working out with my brothers.
Is that drool on my lip? Yuck.
His eyebrows furrow. “Really? Who have you been cheating on me with?”
“Cheating?” I bark out a laugh that sounds very unladylike and then groan inwardly. “Sometimes I wonder if you even hear yourself when you speak.” I turn my attention to my computer, which is off.
Crap.
As long as he doesn’t come around my desk, he won’t know.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Or do you need to take a sick day after that heart attack?” He’s still going strong, and I need to put a stop to this right now because it is way too close to the truth.
“Yeah, I had a heart attack,” I admit. “Because the pudgy kid I knew in high school doesn't look so bad now.”
He smiles because he knows I’m lying. He’s never been pudgy, except maybe when he was a baby. I bet he was the cutest baby in the world.
“That’s the closest to a compliment I’m ever going to get from you, isn’t it?”
I grin. “Yep.”
“You’re cute. I’ll take it.”
My face burns and I pretend to do something very important on my computer. He has never called me cute before. How do I respond to that? “Sure. Yeah. Thanks.”
