Page 39 of Claim to Fame

Hannah’s eyes opened. “Liv, seriously. You’re freaking me out.”

“How’s your new roommate?” Liv asked in a sing-song way.

Hannah sighed. “I take it you talked to Jamie and Tessa.”

Liv squealed, the sounds of Elmo and his friends growing more distant. “What are the freakin’ odds? Is it amazing? Are you having the best sex of your life?”

“We’re not doing that.”

“Why not?” Hannah could practically hear her friend’s pout through the phone.

“Because he wasn’t exactly thrilled to find out I had a boyfriend,” Hannah said, lowering her voice.

“Fake boyfriend. Come on, he can’t really care about that.”

“He did very much care about that.”

“Okay, well now you don’t have a fake boyfriend anymore, right? The statement is everywhere. Daemon got stopped on his way to the gym this morning by some guy from Encores.com looking for information about how to find you.”

Hannah’s stomach churned. “What did he say?”

“You know Daemon. He grunted and the guy backed off. You haven’t had any issues where you are, right?”

“No, no issues.”

Except I can’t stop thinking about climbing Ethan like a tree.

“You sound tired. I’ll let you go back to sleep and I’ll see you at the premiere.”

They said goodbye and Hannah let the phone drop. The premiere was in a little over a week and she had no idea what she was going to wear. She and Jennifer had planned to go shopping before her entire world imploded. Maybe she could convince Tessa, Kyla, and Sabrina to help her find something nearby on their girls’ day.

Terrence crowed again. There was no use trying to go back to sleep, not with an agitated rooster terrorizing the neighborhood and the anxiety over finding formalwear that fit her hips beginning to gather behind her sternum. Resigned, she pulled herself from bed, tugging on the hem of her oversized sweatshirt as she gathered a change of clothes for the day. A hot shower always did wonders to calm her nerves, even if Ethan did have the largest bathroom mirror she’d ever seen in a private home.

She was so lost in thought about her need for a premiere outfit that she didn’t even notice Ethan standing in the bathroom doorway until she’d nearly collided with his chest. He shot a hand out to grip her upper arm and steady her, holding her away from his bare chest, the swirl of dark brown hair between his pecs and the hard lines of his abdomen. He wore a towel slung low around his hips and her face heated as her eyes fixated on the loose knot keeping it in place.

“Sorry. Didn’t know you’d be up so early,” he said.

“I’m not usually. Liv called and—I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she stammered.

She should take a step back, give them both space to breathe.

But she didn’t.

His lip quirked and she realized too late she’d left her panties on the top of her stack of clothing. With a sharp inhale, she pressed the stack to her chest, trapping the stupid sensible cotton briefs against her. His exhale almost sounded like a laugh and he cuffed the back of his neck, drops of water falling from his wet hair and sliding down his throat, over his chest.

“I was thinking, if you want, I could come with you today. Show you the sights.”

Her eyes snapped to his, stupid, reckless hope fluttering in her chest. “I thought you had to work.”

“They can live without me for one day.”

Her stomach flipped, a strange sort of giddy anticipation bubbling through her, as though she were fifteen again and had just been asked on her first date. “If you’re sure… That would be great.”

He nodded once and moved past her, out of the bathroom and down the hallway, his chest brushing against her arm as he went past. Sparks burst along the place where they’d touched. She watched him go over her shoulder, his powerful thighs and ass moving beneath the towel as he made his way to his bedroom at the other end of the hall.

She was so fucked.

She shut herself in the bathroom, flipping the lock, and hurried out of her pajamas as the shower warmed. The small room was still humid from Ethan’s shower and it smelled like him, like citrus and pine andman. The water hit her overheated skin and her eyes fell closed as she let the scent surround her, losing herself in the knowledge that only moments before he’d been in this same spot, naked.

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