Page 168 of Surprisingly Us

Ricardo is visiting family in California. He’ll be there for two weeks and I’m watering his plants while he’s gone, but Rhys doesn’t need to know that.

I lift my brows in question.Is this happening or not?

He doesn’t say anything, just gives me one last heated glance before he starts to unbutton his shirt. It’s off in a matter of seconds, followed by his shoes and socks. Next, he undoes his belt and drops his pants.

There’s a moment, right before he reaches for the waistband of his boxer-briefs that I’m tempted to stop him, but then he’s stripping them off and tossing them at me. My hand snags the fabric out of the air, before I look back to find Rhys standing gloriously naked in my apartment building hallway.

“Does this make it better?” He lifts his arms out to his sides, completely exposed to me.

My eyes scan his body, taking in every inch. Broad, muscular shoulders tapered to a narrow waist. Chiseled abs and strong arms. His thick cock juts out between his muscular thighs. Semi-hard and quickly swelling under my gaze. Under the hallway light, the barbell piercing below his crown winks at me.

At the sight of him, my breath catches. My heart hammers in my chest, as a mix of longing and need courses through my veins. Damn it. It’s not as satisfying as I thought it would be.

He’s exposed, just like I was at the hotel. But only because he’s trying to fix things between us, not because he wants topresent himself to me the way I was blatantly offering myself to him. Rhys is gorgeous and I’m wildly attracted to him, but where he’s trying to salvage this arrangement, I want to change everything between us.

“You can get dressed.” I toss his boxer-briefs back at him and move to shut the door.

“Wait.” He rushes forward, covering his erection with his boxers. “I can explain why I left, but it would be better if I show you.”

I’m exhausted. Tired of this back and forth between us. I thought being clear about what I wanted would help, but now I feel even worse. Raw, exposed and emotionally drained. It’s all but a guarantee my dancing will be absolute fire after this rollercoaster of emotion.

But I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth it.

What could he possibly show me that would make things right between us?

“Please, Lettie.”

Still naked, he drops down to his knees.

He looks so defeated, my heart aches.

How many chances does he get?

I take in a resigned breath before looking at my watch to note the time. “You have one hour. You should get dressed.”

All of them, apparently.

He nods, rushing to stand and pull his clothes back on while I grab my purse, and his now dry suit jacket off the hook and lock up my apartment.

We’re quiet on the drive and I’m thankful Wanda isn’t working tonight. With her boisterous personality, she’d have me laughing and it would be hard to hold onto my anger, my hurt. As we drive, I assure myself that there’s nothing Rhys can do to fix this, but when I catch him looking at me, his hazel eyes filled with hope, I feel as if I’m lying to myself.

The car pulls up to the Seventy-Ninth Street Boat Basin. Rhys opens my door and extends his hand to me.

This time, I take it. Once my hand is in his, he holds it firmly. After a silent walk down the dock, he’s guiding me onto his boat, through the living area and down the hallway to his master stateroom.

I start to pull my hand from his. “Rhys, what are—”

I don’t finish my question because he opens the door and I gasp.

Candles are everywhere; lining the sides of the room, covering the built-ins and framing the bed. When I look closer, I realize they aren’t real burning candles but electronic, which is probably a good thing because if one tipped over it would be a fire hazard.

Gone is the navy bedding and dark comforter, replaced with white sheets and a fluffy white duvet. Light pink rose petals are arranged in the shape of a heart on the bed, with vases of a variety of pink flowers placed around the room.

I pick up a vase of flowers and breathe in their dreamy fragrance.

“What is this?” I ask, setting the vase I was inspecting back in place.

He meets my eyes and I see the hope there again. “Something special.”

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