Page 44 of Secrets in Love
She rolled her eyes. “Snort. I am doing no such thing.” She was. She totally was. I had worn my tiniest, tightest swim shorts to ensure she did.
“Why are your eyes suggestively roaming my body, then?” I saw the bruises again, poking out from the cuff of her shirt, and again said nothing as I began drying my stomach with the towel, enjoying her eyes almost hanging from her head.
“Ach… What? Wh…I…because you’re stupid, that’s why. I am going to wait in the abs—uhhh…in the cafe, the absolute cafe, the cafe is called the absolute café, and I’ll be there. Hurry the hell up and get ready. Oh, and please be dressed the next time you message me to meet you somewhere.” She marched off and was totally checking me out in the reflection of the floor-to-ceiling windows as she did.
It was all going to plan—a plan that contained five steps, each devised last night after my third consecutive dream where Evie pulled off the freeway on our drive home, slipped out of her seat, and rode on my lap. If the cards fell as I suspected they would, Evie would be mine by the end of the week. If not, the day and that front-seat action wouldn’t be just a dream.
That pool move was step one: get Evie to see as much of my body as she could. Yes, I wanted her to see me in a way other women never did, but she was still a woman at the end of the day. And I was still a wet, naked, muscly man. I had to use what I had.
Step two: be super charming and irresistible…to other women. That would commence as soon as I was showered and dressed to impress.
Luckily, I’d watched enough TV and movies with Evie over the years to learn how she liked a man to dress. Miss Austen was an absolute sucker for a crisp white tee—preferably tight—with my dark aviators tucked into the neck, exposing my collar bone and a tease of my pecs, dark denim jeans and brown leather boots. Oh, and the hair—tousled and twisted, the perfect I-just-climbed-out-of-bed, this-is-how-sexy-I-am-when-I-wake do.
Standing before the mirror, I gave myself a quick pep talk, breath, and pit sniff, and one final hair flick. I had to admit it. I looked good. I was having a hard time keeping my hands off myself. Miss Austen didn’t stand a chance.
As promised, Evie was waiting for me in the cafe—surprise, surprise, it was NOT called the absolute cafe—and she looked incredible. I was too busy holding in my gut and flexing to notice her outfit at the pool, but she was wearing a cute, frilly white shirt, an orangey-tan skirt with white tights I wanted to rip off her with my teeth, and a hat. A cute floppy hat the same color as her skirt, covering her curls. She could easily have just arrived in a time machine from the 70s, and it was hot.
Watching me approach the mirror, she clearly mouthed, “OH MY GOD,” to herself before frowning as she turned to face me. The girl really needed to become more aware of reflective surfaces.
“About time. I thought Christmas would get here before you. I only have a few hours before I have to get Iris. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” I said, gripping her elbow. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you before. You look really pretty today, Little Gidge.” Her eyes flicked to mine as I gave her my best Flynn Rider smolder. She considered me, and a tiny hint of that beautiful smile flashed across her pouty little mouth before it disappeared.
“Move it, Romeo.”
This was going to be tough.
I followed behind her like the puppy I was. “Where are we going? Shopping? Sightseeing? Surfing?”
“Do you only know words that start with S?” She laughed at her joke and kept walking. “And yes, we are going shopping. Like I said yesterday, I can’t believe you only brought two bags with you. You’re here for, like, three months. Like J-Lo said, I ain’t your mama, and I am not doing your laundry. You need clothes…socks…and underwear.”
“Right. I get it now. This is all an elaborate scheme to see me in some tighty-whities. You do know we don’t need to go anywhere to do that. We could just go back to my room.”
“Uhh, hard pass. I’ve already seen you in your swimmers, remember? I think that’s more than enough Nate skin for one day.”
“Well, why don’t we get you into your undies, then? Make it even?”
That didn’t even get a response.
Blinding sunlight hit me as we stepped outside. I had expected New York to be blanketed in a constant haze of pollution, but the sky was as blue as Evie’s eyes, and the air was surprisingly fresh. It came as quite a relief. Asthma is not a sexy affliction, but it’s one I’d had all my life. I was concerned the pollution would wreak havoc on my lungs, but so far, so good.
Sliding my sunglasses out of my shirt and popping them on, I was just about to mention this to Evie, who was furiously striding ahead of me, when she suddenly stopped.
I slammed straight into her back and made a weirdoomphsound as her head whacked into my chest. My hands protectively fell to her waist, anchoring her to my body to stop us from tumbling.
“Oh my God, Nate! Get off me!” She squirmed in my grip before holding still. “Wait…what is that? Is that your…? Can I feel your…mini-Nate pressing into my back?! Geez, it is always that…firm?”
“My what?” Fuck! Did I have a massive boner I wasn’t aware of? I glanced down in horror, for some reason, my hands patting myself down like a prison guard before shielding my crotch…my perfectly non-erect crotch. She was right, though. Something hard was digging into her back.
Laughter rolled through me as I returned my hands to her waist and pulled her firmly against me, adding a tiny little roll of my left hip as I leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Trust me, Evie. If that was mini-Nate pressing into your back, you would know exactly what it was.” I pulled my inhaler from my pocket, held it in front of her face between my thumb and index finger, and swung it back and forth.
She spun to face me, her hands flying up to my shoulders, her cute little face full of worry. “You brought your inhaler? Are you alright? Is your asthma acting up? Do you need me to take you back to your room?”
Not going to lie. The temptation to say, “Yes, Evie. I am terribly unwell. Take me back to my room and nurse me in bed,” was strong.
“Hey, Lil Gidge, relax. I’m fine. It’s just a precaution. Don’t you remember how I used to cough all the time when we went to Sydney? I wasn’t sure what the air would be like here, and I didn’t want to ruin our day looking for a pharmacy—or, you know, dying.” Evie laughed and slapped my shoulder…the shoulder her hand was still resting on. My hands were still on her waist. For all intents and purposes, we were in an eighth-grade slow dance position in the middle of a New York sidewalk.
I gripped her tighter, pulled her onto me until she was standing on my feet, and then began to step from side to side. With all the might she contained in her five-foot-nothing frame, she fought the urge to smile…but failed. Ever so slowly, the edges of her lips began to curl. I slipped my right hand from her waist, grabbed her right hand, and spun her beneath my arm. An irrepressible giggle burst from her mouth, and a smile lingered.
