He’d left early in the hopes that the extradistance wouldn’t make him miss sunrise. Normally, he was runningto escape the damn demons that haunted him each night. Not the lastfew nights; those dreams were painful in a very different, verypleasant way.
The nightmares really weren’t as bad lately.He slept well most of the time, but now and again, one would wakehim and leave him sobbing. Getting back to sleep after one of thosewas damn near impossible. Thoughts of Sophie were a welcomediversion.
Wiped out, about gasping for breath, heslipped off his running shoes and padded across the house in hissocks. Huh, maybe she was already done with her run, as they hadn’tpassed on the trail. She wasn’t on the patio yet, nor was she inthe kitchen. Perfect; he hadn’t missed her.Sunrise, it wassunrise he got up for every morning,not Sophie.
The house was still dim, save for the kitchenand stairwell nightlights to light his way. The predawn gray glowwas starting to morph into a deep orange that saved him from abruised knee as he nearly crashed into the table at the top of thestairs.
Shutting himself in his bedroom, he flickedon the excessively bright overhead light and peeled off his runningshorts. Studying his shoes, he scowled. Damn, these were wearingout already. He may not invest much in his wardrobe, but goodrunning shoes were critical. Wear something uncomfortable orbroken, and he was off his feet for a week or more.
Rushing so he could catch Sophieandthe sunrise, he opened the lever door to the bathroom and realizedhis mistake almost immediately. She wasn’t downstairs or outside orstill running because she was in the shower. Getting out,actually.
Sophie stepped out of the shower, her skinpinked from the heat, her wet body slick and toned. He instantlywent rock hard. The blood all rushing south, he stood like a moron,his feet glued in place.
“Asher.” She looked as shocked and sounded asbreathless as he felt.
Both stood awkwardly in place, staring ateach other’s naked, wet body. He tried not to stare. Well, maybenot. The opportunity was too good to pass up.
She was so fit, but those breasts were sopert and would be a perfect handful. Her confused, lush lower lipwas red from the steamy shower, just waiting to be sucked on.
Stop it. Not going there.
Although, she looked equally pleased withwhat she saw. Until her eyes landed on his rock-hard erection. Thecorner of her mouth quirked up in amusement. Feeling suddenly shy,he tried to cover himself. No towels on the shelf, he looked like amoron with his hands covering his raging hard-on.
“I’m so sorry.” He slowly started to back outof the room.
“Not to worry, my fault. I thought I lockedit.” She searched the empty shelf for a towel, making do with thehand towel next to the sink. What was she planning to cover withit?
Trying to be helpful, to distract himself,and maybe stay an extra few seconds to enjoy the view, he noddedtowards the switches on the wall. “It’s, uh, there’s a button tolock both doors.”
Not covering, just drying. She was a cruel,mean-spirited, outrageously sexy woman. Did she have to linger,caressing each breast with the towel as she dried it? Run the towelleisurely down each long leg? She pretended to pay attention to hisinstructions, glancing at the switches he’d pointed to.
Trying to maintain a shred of modesty, hekept one hand over the goods, well, as effectively as he could, asthere was a fine line between covering a full hard on and justplain holding it. Regardless, he showed her the locking mechanismwith his free hand. Not that she was shy in the least, apparently,not bothering to hide anything with the hand towel.
“See, there’s one button to lock just yourdoor, but this other button locks both electronically.”
She smiled sheepishly. Who knew sheepish wasso damn sexy? Well, it was on her anyway.
“I’ll just leave you to finish up.” He slowlybacked out of the bathroom.
“I’ll be just a moment. By the way, therearen’t any towels.” She winked at him as he closed the door.
Keeping his hands off of her was going to bedamn near impossible. He was already having a hard enough time.Dammit, don’t say hard.
He was having adifficultenough timebefore but didn’t see her more than their morning routine, and thenagain at dinner with his family, so it was all aboveboard.Otherwise, he spent most of his time in the garage just avoidingher, so he didn’t get too close.
Now, her lithe, naked body was going to takeup permanent residence in his head. He didn’t know manyaccountants, but doubted many others looked quite like she did. Orreacted so nonchalantly in a situation that totally floored him,and he didn’t blush easily.
***
Sophie’s heart was about to beat right out ofher chest. The thundering was downright deafening. She’d about lostit, especially when she’d seen he was rock hard. Just looking ather? Kinda flattering really.
Surely, she should be horrified. But she justcouldn’t make herselfnotreplay the moment over and over inher head. It hadn’t been easy to stay so calm; she had to build aspreadsheet in her mind and try to solve the national deficit tokeep her mind off of his spectacular body. He was not just built,he was… built. Damn, she was overheating just thinking aboutit.
She’d seriously dated a few times. Had beenintimate with a number of no-commitment partners in her brief wildperiod. None had made her feel anything even close to what she’dfelt just now.
The way he looked at her. No one had everlooked at her so lustfully. Had made her feel so desired.
Cracking open the door to his bedroom, shelet him know she was done and dashed into her room before he couldsee her bare ass as she fled the bathroom. Typical, no towels,today of all days.
