Page 19 of A Way Out
With six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, Oz figured he could take an hour-long shower in peace, if he weren’t starving and ready to eat dinner.
The door directly across from him opened, and in that instant Oz recalled that he’d given Maria the other Jack and Jill bedroom so that she’d feel safe and have an easy escape route, as the room was at the top of the stairs.
And there she was, standing in the doorway, wearing a pale green sundress with a ruffled skirt, her smooth hair draping around her shoulders. Her gaze, which was focused below his belt, went wide while her mouth fell open. He glanced down himself.
Jesus, he was developing a woody.
Snatching the nearest towel off the rod, he wrapped it around his hips. “Sorry. I didn’t?—”
“Don’t even apologize,” she interrupted, shaking her head, her face reddening. “I heard you come in, and you said you were working your landscaping job today. I should have realized you would want to take a shower first thing. I could have gone back downstairs. Or down the hall. I mean, how many bathrooms does this place have, anyway?”
“Maria.”
She blinked rapidly but wouldn’t meet his eye.
“It’s okay. It’s an honest accident.”
“I just saw you naked.”
He bit his lip and cupped the back of his neck. It was hot to the touch. “Yeah. It’s, uh, no big deal.”
“It’s a very big deal.” She flapped her hand at his groin. “You’re built like a Greek god. All those muscles. Well, except for that one, which is much larger than the statues, and oh my God, am I really talking about this? Out loud? In front of you?”
“You are,” he said, trying not to laugh. “And it’s really okay.”
“How am I supposed to look you in the eye?”
“By raising your gaze above my waist, for starters.” He gave in and chuckled. It was flattering as hell that she found him so attractive, but it wasn’t like he planned to do anything about it. She was a woman on the run from an abusive relationship. Oh, and she was a wealthy woman to boot. Two very important facts that equaled hands off.
Her face went even more red as she tore her gaze away from the bulge now tucked behind the towel and stared at some point on the wall that could not possibly be so fascinating.
“Maria.” He said her name quietly but firmly. “Maria.”
She finally dragged her gaze to his face, her frown so pronounced it might as well be etched onto her lips permanently.
“I’m attracted to you too.”
Jesus, why had he just said that? What good could possibly come from giving her that knowledge?
“You are?”
“You sound surprised.”
This time her gaze dropped to her hands, which she was wringing nervously. “I just…I don’t feel very attractive right now.”
He snorted. “You’d have to try awfully damn hard not to be attractive, and even then, I’m pretty sure you’d fail.”
A chuff tumbled over her lips. “Oh stop.”
“Nope. Not going to. Not until you believe it.”
She shook her head. “I don’t mean literally. I mean, I don’t know. Figuratively? I’m not sure that’s the right word either. It’s just my situation…”
Yeah, there was that reminder. He should walk over and gently close the door and forget all about this conversation, because there was no way in hell he’d?—
“I’m a single mother. My divorce was final just three days ago. I have no job, no clue what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. I was a housewife, literally taking care of everything except bringing home the bacon, so to speak, but of course you can’t put that on a résumé. I am normally a woman with a plan, and yet right now, the only plan I have is to fly out to Missouri for my sister’s wedding. That’s it. Nothing else. I have no clue what I plan to do after next weekend, and it’s driving me insane.”
There was a whole lot of information in that little diatribe, and all he could focus on was…
