Page 8 of Unconventionally, Elle
"Why hello, mystery boy."
I saw his throat contract when he heard my voice, and his eyes darkened. He motioned me back with a wave of his hand, and when he had enough room, he sat on my chair, one leg tucked under, the other firmly on the ground. He extended one arm and leaned into it casually, looking sexy as hell. My eyes were drawn to his bare muscular arms. He noticed.
"What brings you to the party, mystery girl?" His words hummed through my thoughts.
"Free booze, of course." I shrugged and leaned back into the chair, away from his radiating electricity.
"Ah, yes. Very good reason." He scooted a little closer and turned to the side so that both of his legs hung off the chair. He reached across our pretend boundary, and while his hands moved for my legs, he looked at me, eyes questioning and silently asking for permission. With my nod, he took my legs and placed them across his thighs.Thank God I shaved, thank God I shaved.
"You know Harrison, then?" he asked casually, as if my legs across his lap was a normal occurrence. I wasn't sure how much more of this flirting my sanity could handle. His voice was going to make me do questionable things. It wasn't quite a drawl, but I swear there was a hint of New York in it. But he didn't look like a New Yorker, so his mysterious accent intrigued me.
"I met him today, actually," I said. His eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise. "I'm Katie's summer neighbor."
He nodded in understanding. "Oh, okay, Katie."
"You know her?" I asked quickly. Why did my body feel like it was on fire?
"Not really, no. He's just talked a lot about her. I know they're on-again, off-again"--he paused and took a breath--"and on-again, off-again..."
"I get it," I laughed. "I only met her this summer, and I know they broke up momentarily right after I arrived in town, but then by that Sunday they were back together. So I totally get it. I'm rooting for them, though." My cheeks were sore, but I couldn't stop smiling around him. His presence made my world lighter and my heart beat with real joy. The kind that makes your toes tingle and your eyes sparkle. The joy every woman deserves to feel at least once in her life. The joy of knowing that someone chose you in a roomful of maybes because you're not a maybe--you're the one.
Someone had set up a bonfire in the yard, and most of the crowd made their way from the house over to the gathering. I closed my eyes as his hands gently massaged my legs. I didn't know for sure, but I thought I could sense his eyes on me.He's on my chair. He's holding my legs--no, massaging my legs. Stay cool, stay cool. Oh my God, this is heaven.
"So, you said you're Katie's neighbor. Is this permanent?"
I opened my eyes and placed my hands behind my head, elbows wide. He shifted in his seat, and his eyes dipped again, noticing my tanned stomach with the bonfire's flames throwing shadows over my body. I'm sure he noticed every curve, every breath I took.
I knew what I was doing, and I loved teasing him. "I'm only here for the summer." He squeezed my calf, and a moan escaped my lips.God, this man."I'm not from here. I'm interning in Brentwood and then heading back to Duke in a few weeks."
His eyebrows lifted. "Duke? Interesting, and you ended up in Brentwood?" His flirtatious voice made me ache.
"Well, technically, I'm in Murfreesboro by Katie, but I commute during the week. I'll tell you, though, traffic here is nothing like it is in New York. That's a living hell."
"Wait, I thought you were from North Carolina." He stopped massaging my calf and I actually whimpered. His warm hand rested on my shins.
"No, I'm going to school there, but I'm from New York. My grandparents raised me in Brooklyn, and I have a deep, probably unhealthy, love for visiting Central Park and pretending to live in one of the brownstones."
His laughter made my heart stutter. "Nice, I'd love to move to the Northeast one day. Who knows, maybe I'll get a brownstone." He winked as I chuckled. "I'm not from here either, though I'm sure my accent makes that hard to believe."
Now my eyebrows shot up. "You're not from here? I mean, I figured not Tennessee, honestly, because you're not as twangy."
His forehead crinkled and his smile spread across his face, reaching both eyes. "Twangy?"
I felt my cheeks get warm. "Yeah, you know. That Southern twang that most guys have here? You don't have it." He continued to stare at me with amusement glistening in his eyes. "Now, this sounds crazy as hell, but your accent reminds me of a New York accent. But, like, I know you aren't from New York."
"Yeah?" He chuckled. "What makes you think I'm not from New York?"
"Oh, you might not have a drawl, but you have something, and it's different. It's... I can't place it." My nose scrunched and my lips pursed together as I tried to think where he could be from.
"Well, you're right. I'm from a land far, far away. I prefer my cities surrounded by water." He used spirit fingers as he quoted a fairy tale, causing me to almost cackle.
I bit my tongue to hold it together and pretended to take a guess. I threw out the first city surrounded by water that I could think of. "Miami?"
His laughter echoed around the pool, and the girl from earlier glanced our way. I pretended to ignore her glare, and he never turned around to notice.
"I'll take that as a no?" His laughter was contagious.
"No, a little more west. You ever been to New Orleans?"
