A Stage Five Creeper.
I know I should look away—trust me, Iknow—but I’m completely captivated by the woman I see in Maryn’s window.
It’s not the woman I met yesterday.
She’s smiling wider than I’ve seen her smile in the past twenty-four hours, and the way she dances through her room, relaxed and happy, carefree… like no one’s watching…
It’s fucking incredible.
She’s incredible.
I don’t recognize the song, but it’s definitely more of that R&B shit from the nineties she seems to love.
She strips out of her bra and I know I’m going to hell for this, but still, I can’t tear my eyes away from her.
Who would want to?
My breath is lodged in my throat. Something tells me this feeling hasn’t come easily to her, and I wonder if it’s the new job…
Or me.
It’s a selfish fucking thought from a selfish fucking asshole who thinks the world revolves around him—especially when I don’t plan on sticking around for long—but I want to play some part in putting that smile on her face.
She disappears and I wait on bated breath for her to appear in the window again.
After a few moments, I finally turn away and head into the shed.
I shower quickly, anxious to get back outside before Maryn changes her mind about Taco Tuesday. Keeping it simple in black jeans and a black long-sleeved dress shirt unbuttoned over a plain white tee, I dress quickly and pull on my Valentino combat boots. I run my hands through my hair, spreading some gel through the strands to pull them back off my face. I’m almost out the door, but then I pause and step back into the bathroom, dabbing a quick bit of my favorite Creed cologne onto my neck.
When I leave the shed, Maryn’s sitting at the top step of her back porch.
She sees me and smiles, and something happens in my chest. A flutter. Frowning, I push that aside to ponder later, then flash her the panty dropper because I know she loves it. They all do.
“Ready to go?” She stands and turns around quickly to lock the back porch door, and my steps almost falter.
Her faded blue jeans make her ass look even better than Alexis’ ass—and that shit was bought and paid for. Twice.
Maryn hops down the stairs and joins me on the path that wraps around her property, a sparkle in her eyes and that same gorgeous smile I caught a glimpse of when she was dancing around her room earlier.
She’s fuckingstunning.
Her sweater is loose and cropped just enough to expose a sliver of her belly over those high-waisted jeans. My fingers itch to touch that soft, pale skin. Any other time, with any other woman, I’d just reach out and touch whatever I wanted to touch, but with Maryn…
I have to play it cool. She’s shut down on me already and I don’t want her to shut down on me again. If we’re going to have fun while I’m here, I can’t keep scaring her off.
We reach the gate and I open it, then follow her through, placing my hand on her lower back so I can get a sneak peek of what that skin feels like.
She jumps, looking up at me with wide eyes. “Your hands are freezing.”
“Sorry.” Instead of tucking them both up beneath her sweater and burying them into the warmth of her breasts, I shove them into my pockets and pretend I know what good behavior looks like.
“There’s this cute Mexican restaurant that Danielle and I found the other day. It’s new. They had one of those little table signs on the table and it said they have specials on Tuesdays.” She shrugs. “I hope it’s good, but I’ve only had chips and margaritas there.”
“I won’t hold it against you.”
Her eyes catch mine and I think maybe we’re sharing the same innuendo-triggered thought, but then her eyes return to the sidewalk.
On the main road, we head south without crossing the street.
