Page 83 of Only Ever You

Oh no …

Maisie

How did he take it?

Faye

Better than I deserve.

The knock upon the door was slow and purposeful. The first knock that door had received all day.

Smiling to herself, Faye could imagine how Bash would be on the other side of this divide between them, like a lost puppy waiting to be let in. She called but the door never opened, so she went and peeled it back herself.

Bash stood with his eyes closed, hands clasped behind his back, and a pinkness to his cheeks reminiscent of the glass of wine he’d sipped throughout the night.

“I hope I’ve found the right room,” he said, sardonically smirking, “and you’re not my mother standing in her underwear.”

“No … but who saidI’mwearing any?”

“You—What?” Two blue eyes shot open then snapped shut again. Dots of red on Bash’s cheeks doubled in size. Faye’s stomach hurt from how much she tried and failed at containing her laugh to not disturb the two sleeping girls down the hall.

“Relax. I’m dressed.” Bash hadn’t looked at her for long enough to see the sleep shorts and camisole she wore.

He squinted his eyes open one at a time but still they landed straight on her midriff.

“You’re evil,” he said.

“For the pyjamas?” Faye looked down at herself. The high waisted shorts were a red and white Nordic print, but covered everything that needed to be covered, and the cropped camisole was simply white.

“No, no. Not the pyjamas. The pyjamas are nice. Very … nice.” The red darkened another shade on Bash’s face as he stumbled over his words adorably, fingers playing with his ear.

His thoughts had drifted to when he’d walked in on her naked – Faye knew they didbecause hers did too. She internally begged that the white cami, which in hindsight might not have been a good idea, wasn’t see-through in this low, warm light. Bash’s attention made her nipples halfway hard and she put her faith in the thickness of the ribbed cotton.

Maybe she was ovulating, because so many times today the way Bash looked at her so intensely made her want to climb him like a tree. He did it right then; that look of a thousand different meanings in his eyes like he wanted to reach out and touch her but resisted.

Something irrevocable had shifted between them since arriving in this house and Faye didn’t know what to do with herself anymore.

“Faye?”

“Yes?” Her breath trembled like a young filly for having a man at her door.

Bash peered at her plainly. “Can I come in?”

“Yes! Yes,” she blustered. “Sorry.”

Bash looked down at her as he passed, wordlessly telling her she was acting strange. Faye knew she was, she just didn’t know why. She’d always been good at keeping her attraction to him locked down tight – not letting it show. But today it was as though the screws on that lock untwisted one by one.

Perhaps she’d lost the key this week? Or her mind?

Maybe the one glass of wine had gone to her head more than usual tonight. Why else would her inhibitions seem to have evaporated?

“I want to apologise again for earlier.” Bash’s quick shift to solemnity wrangled Faye somewhat to the present.

“It’s alright.”Light and breezy.She crossed one ankle over the other and waved her hand through the air, the skin of her bare legs prickling with awareness for no reason. “I know it’s not the first time you’ve seen a woman naked. I haven’t tainted your virginal blue eyes.”

Why would you say that–she could hear Ellie hiss from a hundred miles away.

Oh god, whydidshe say that? The last thing she needed was Bash remembering what she looked like naked and unprepared. His laugh was far too low and sexy and Faye had no choice but to smile along.

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