Page 19 of Unspoken Confessions
Swallowing hard, I did my best to pull myself together.
I couldn’t focus with him wearing that. I really didn’t know what to say. This was utterly unexpected. And maybe somewhat welcomed, in my dirtiest fantasies, that was.
Flustered and not sure that I was hiding it well, I shook my head and turned in the direction of the laundry room. I came back out with whatever I could find in the dryer.Hmmm… I wonder how long that has been in there. Did I forget about my laundry again?At least I’d remembered to take it out of the washer and dry it.
“Put these on,” I yelled as I tossed the clothes at him.
He had the nerve to roll his eyes at me, but at least he was sliding the shirt over his head.
Sweet Lord. Yeah, that did not make matters better since my shirt was about two sizes too small. And then when he slid the shorts up his legs, well, all I could say was that they framed his junk rather well. Even more so than thosetrunkshe had underneath. I bet it looked good from the back too, but I wasn’t about to lean sideways to find out.
I turned and bolted for the door. Then walked at a brisk pace down the driveway headed for the road.
I started off down the street, not bothering to see if he was behind me. He was, I just knew it, and that was where he stayed for the longest time. It made me feel awkward. I didn’t want him trailing behind me like a… like a fucking bodyguard. But what did I expect? I was a job. We weren’t going to be friends.
The only consolation was that I felt his eyes on me. I bet he was staring at my ass. Yeah, he had to have been by the way I felt like there was a hole being burned through my ass cheeks.
“What’s the matter?” I yelled playfully over my shoulder. “Can’t keep up with me?”
I heard his grunt loud and clear. I took off, pushing myself to the max. His steps were oddly quiet behind me and I wondered how such a big man was able to move so stealthily.
After a few minutes, I slowed back down to my normal pace, forcing him to come up beside me.
“There,” I said as I shot a smile his way. “That’s more like it. Now I don’t feel like you’re stalking me.”
At that, his body seemed to go stiff. Which was weird since we were both still in motion. But I could see the muscles in his shoulders pull tight and his eyes seemed to sharpen.
Not sure I liked that.
So, I did the only thing I could think of to snap him out of it.
“Got a favorite color?” I asked, peeking at him out of the side of my eye. When he expectedly didn’t say anything, I went on, trying to push him a little. “Come on, everyone has a favorite color. Me? I like green. Reminds me of grass and the ground. Something solid you can plant your feet on, you know? Soft, yet strong. I guess it’s kind of strange to describe a color like that, but that’s just how I see it. But you… hmmm, you seem more like a neon pink kind of guy.”
He snorted and I would have sworn I caught a little lip twitch out of the corner of my eye.
“Or yellow,” I went on. “Bright and happy. Warm and welcoming. Yep, I bet that’s exactly how you are on the inside. Underneath all that cranky is a chipper man that wants to smile every second of the day.”
I let a few beats of silence fill up the space just to make the situation feel a little more awkward.
“Food?” I said. I pretended to think, twisting my lips to get my silly point across. “Most would think a big manly-man like yourself would say something like steak. Butmake sure it’s so rare it’s still mooing.” I made that last part come out deep in a mocking tone. “Or maybe a burger. However, I would put my money on burritos. Like ones full of nothing but beans and rice. It’s secretly your guilty pleasure and you sit at home in the dark stuffing your face with them. Then you watch weird documentaries and bask in your own majestic fart smell.”
His pace faltered for a split second and strangely, I took some pride in knowing I’d thrown him off-kilter, even if it was only for a second.
“I have this vivid image in my head, shame you can’t see it,” I went on. “Well, I’m sure it’s not far off from the real thing.”
I turned my head to look at him and he was staring at me with this expression of stun and horror. But also, his lips were twitching.
I wondered what his smile looked like. I bet it would be bright and warm and beautiful, like the feeling of the color yellow.
“And since you asked, because it’s polite to return questions when getting to know someone, I will help you feel better about your love of fart fuel by telling you that my guilty pleasure is honey mustard dressing.” I took in a deep breath. Jogging and talking was not an easy thing to do at the same time. “And not like I love to put it on salads or dip some chicken nuggies in it. I’m talking about tilt head back, open mouth, and squirt that shit in there.”
He stopped abruptly and since I hadn’t expected it, I kept going for a few pounding steps. When I turned to face him, he was staring at me oddly. Eyes wide and blinking, kind of reminding me of an owl. Mouth parted just the tiniest bit. Brows raised high. Then his whole face seemed to morph and tighten, his cheeks going up to sharpen his narrowed eyes. His brow twisted in a way that said he was trying hard to figure out what was in front of him.
“What?” I asked as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
It was that one word that cracked him a little. His mouth snapped shut and he shook his head at me. And I would have sworn I saw his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
I kind of felt like I won something. Not like the big trophy, but I’d qualified to get to the final round. I was in the running now. Suddenly, I wanted to win. I wanted that victory to be mine.
I was determined to find out what it would take to break down Mr. Intense Eyes and I was going to shatter that armor he cloaked himself in.
Eye on the prize, oh yeah.
