Page 69 of When Glitter Meets Gold

He looks nonchalantly at the sandy floorboards while rubbing his hair with another smaller towel.

“Oh!” I whip around when I realize I’m gawking, tugging my eyes from his muscled torso and skipping into the nearest room to avoid his gaze.

He doesn’t respond in the way I expect. No acknowledgement of the intrusion, or sarcastic comment to highlight my lack of shame for snooping.

Instead, he laughs. Chuckles.

“What’s so funny?” I peek my head around the doorframe of the bedroom I’m hiding in, calling into the now empty corridor.

“You,” he replies from the other bedroom. The navy towel flies through the threshold of his room before landing in a heap outside the door. “Acting like you’ve never seen me naked before.”

A dizzy feeling coils inside me.

“What?” I cry. “You mean when you saved me from the moose? You were wearing pants. Pants aren’t naked.” My nails dig into the wooden frame.

His voice echoes from the bedroom. “Nope. I mean after that. When I stripped in the tent. I thought we had an understanding, but then I caught you looking.” A pause. “Twice.”

Holy mother of fuck.

My hand covers my gaping mouth as I stagger back to feel my shoulder blades hitting against the door inside the bedroom.

“I…” My voice breaks as I slide down the door. “It was an accident! I didn’t know you were going to be naked,” I say too loud before sliding all the way to the floor, landing in a rough heap on the hardwood.

“It’s cool. I forgive you.” He’s laughing.

“It wasn’t my fault. You should’ve given me a heads up,” I say. “Like I did for you. I told you to turn around, which meant I was going to get a little naked. I mean, if I knew we were going to be naked at the same time, I probably wouldn’t have stripped down.”

A strained groan comes from his room. “Sara, don’t talk about you getting naked, please…or ‘stripping down.’”

I huff. “But you’re allowed to talk about it?”

More groaning. “That’s different.”

I roll my eyes. “How? Besides, it’s not like I’m saying I’m getting naked right now, I’m saying Iwasnaked.” I press my lips together, a mischievous grin forming. “At the same time you were naked.”

He groans again. “Sara…”

“You brought it up,” I say, sliding my legs out in front of me, crossing one over the other.

“And now I’m regretting it.” He sounds grumpy.

Now I’m fully grinning. “What’s the big deal? Are you feeling dumb because you tried to embarrass me, and it kinda backfired?”

The floorboards creak in the corridor and I hear footsteps.

“No, I’m feeling like you’re making me picture you without any clothes.” His voice is getting clearer, closer, until he appears above me, damp haired with pink cheeks from the hot shower. “And that’s not a good idea right now, so I’m begging you to stop,” he barks out the order.

He’s wearing a white T-shirt and light gray sweatpants,no socks—hugefeet—and a fresh layer of leather and pine lightly hovers around him. His entire appearance is exceptionally reminiscent of the Jack from the trails. Even the way he’s scowling is the same. I forgot how cute he looks when he does that.

“Fine.” My eyes relax. I rest my head against the door, my throat exposed, gazing up at him with my lips parted. “I wasn’t naked anyway.” He narrows his eyes. “I was in a little matching lace black bra and panty set.”

His eyes go wide. “Christ, stop!”

“Why?”

A growl rumbles in his chest and the next thing I know, he’s extending an arm, his swollen bicep tensing as he grabs my hand and tugs me to my feet. I’m up in a second, drawn close to his chest, our bodies touching, faces close enough to exchange breath.

“Because I was an inch from touching heaven earlier in that boardroom,” he says in a low hum, leaning further into me so my back jams against the door. “An inch, Sara.” His hand comes to my waist, his thumb pressing into my hip. My back arches as my body begins to tremble. “An inch from feeling you beneath those silk panties I can’t stop thinking about.”

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