Page 16 of Hot and Bothered
I opened my mouth to apologize but stopped. I had been saying I’m sorry an awful lot. I didn’t need to apologize this time, because for all he knew I had just walked up. If I said I was sorry he would know I had been surreptitiously watching him work out. That was even more embarrassing than tripping over my own two feet in front of him.
“Hey,” Evan greeted me. “Is everything okay?”
“I was just wondering where you kept the charger for the phone you gave me,” I asked him. My voice came out more breathy then I would have liked.
“I’ll get one for you,” Evan said.
My mouth dropped open as he tugged off his shirt. I stood transfixed in the doorway as he ran the towel all over his chest and arms, letting the towel soak up the sweat. He didn’t even look at me as he did so, as if he’d already forgotten I was there.
I closed my mouth with a snap. I turned my back to him and stumbled down the hallway.
The heat between my legs throbbed and ached. The feeling was unfamiliar. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d reacted to someone like this. I brought my hands to my cheeks and felt the heat in them.
Did Evan work out every night? Was this something I was going to be walking in on all the time?
Anticipation tingled through me.
No, I chided myself.
Now that I knew this was Evan’s routine, I would give him his privacy. No peeking in on him, no stolen looks.
After all, would I have appreciated someone creeping on me while I worked out? Of course not.
Still, in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help remember how his eyes lit up with amusement when he had found me standing there in the doorway.
Evan hadn’t seemed to mind me walking in on him at all.
7
My cheeks were still flushed and my heart was still pounding by the time Evan came out of the spare room.
I was sitting on the sofa, absentmindedly flicking through channels on his TV, not paying attention to what was on the screen. I had turned to the news, but the coverage was depressing so I switched it to a talkshow.
I sat primly with my back straight and my hands in my lap. The host’s voice barely registered with me. My mind was still on the gorgeous sight I’d just witnessed.
The heat between my legs hadn’t dissipated. If anything, it had grown stronger. The more I tried to put Evan out of my mind the more my inner voice continued to speak up.
Was I sure it was a good idea to stay at this guy’s place? He was a stranger, he had a girlfriend, or at least, he was in an intimate relationship.
And I’d just been caught drooling over his half-naked body.
Maybe things would be too awkward, too complicated, for me to continue staying here. But the thought of going home made my heart clench in my chest.
It wasn’t just because I was dreading the reception I would get from my family. It was the thought of leaving Evan. He had been so nice to me. It wouldn’t be fair of me to walk out after all the help he’d given me, would it? I was determined to pay him back somehow. Whether that was by working hard at the bar or by helping out around the house, I wanted to let him know how much I appreciated what he had done for me.
If I ran off now it would be rude. Right?
“Here’s the charger for the phone,” Evan said as he came into the living room. He laid it down on the coffee table in front of me. “What do you think about burritos for dinner?”
He was still shirtless with the towel slung around his shoulders. I fought not to let my jaw gape open, firmly clenching my teeth.
Was this the kind of thing Evan did? Walk around shirtless in his own apartment?
Of course he probably did, I reminded myself, considering he lived alone. He shouldn’t have to change his routines just because I was crashing here.
I still couldn’t help my eyes from roving all over the planes of his chest. A few droplets of sweat that hadn’t been sopped up by the towel dotted his skin. His sweatpants were low on his hips, showing off a tempting V.
I quickly snapped my eyes up before I could be caught ogling him.
