Page 12 of A Certain Appeal
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I’m drifting back to consciousness when a familiar jostling sets me rocking. I peel back the corner of my sleep mask and glare down at Jane, sprawled across the foot of the bed, wearing only his blue paisley pajama pants. He twinkles his fingers at me.
I sit up, mindful to keep the sheet high over my bare torso, then note the time on the clock: 10:17 a.m.Not too bad.I push the mask onto my forehead and pluck out my earplugs. “And when did you crawl in?”
“Around four.” He props himself up on an elbow, head in one hand as he traces the vine pattern on my duvet cover with the other.
“Really?” Four’s late for him. I reach to the nightstand and drop the earplugs into the jewelry tray, then arrange the comforter around my shoulders. “How’d the after-hours show go?”
The floorboards on his side of the apartment creak. He gives me a coy smile as I draw my lips into an “O,” clutching imaginary pearls.
“You little minx!” I lean to peer through the open doorway. “Jane Okogu, is there a gentleman in your boudoir?”
Jane inspects his nails, but his smile stretches ear to ear.
“Why are you in here?” I prod him with my foot. “Go tend to your fellow.”
“I don’t want to be clingy,” he replies, voice low. “Plus, I wanna show him off. I didgood.”
“Um, hello?” a voice calls. “Jane?”
“In here,” Jane says, watching me.
Footsteps sound in the hall, and there’s a rap at my open door. A blond head pokes in.
Charles?
At the sight of Jane, Charles smiles. “Hey—oh! Good morning—” He aims a finger gun my way, eyebrows down in recall. “Kitten?”
I school my shock into pleasant surprise, though it’s touch-and-go when he steps in and the friendly face is accompanied by a shirtless form that speaks of an admirable devotion to a fitness regimen. Ming’s “hammer” joke comes to mind, and I will myself to keep my eyes above the waist of his dark boxer briefs.
“Good morning to you, too.” I smile back, internally cursing Jane, who is lounging on top of my robe. “And you’re right, it’s Kitten. Offstage, I’m Bennet. Charles, right?”
“Good memory.” He crosses the room, hand outstretched.
Clutching the comforter, I reach over Jane’s legs to shake. His hand is soft, but calluses scrape against similar rises high in my own palm. I wonder how he got his. Judging from his chiseled form, whatever it is, he does it diligently.
“The two of you room together?” Charles places a hand on Jane’s bare shoulder.
I shoot a quick glance at Jane, who relaxes into Charles’s touch.Interesting.“Yeah. Family got us connected.”
Charles nods, eyes sweeping the room, and I do a quick scan for anything unseemly. My design file is still on the desk and last night’s dress hangs on my chair, but that’s the worst of my offenses. Well, that and my nakedness, I guess.
He points to the cluster of lanterns tiered around the window and bed. Tulle and silk tendrils stream from them in light shades of blue and violet. “Jellyfish?”
“Meryton was in the Mermaid Parade this year,” I explain. “It’s an art parade in Coney Island, kind of kicks off the summer. Those were from our float. We were all jellyfish.”
I get a phantom itch at the memory. Redecorating my room ended up being a productive way to spend the two days I needed to recover from the sunburn I earned frolicking on the boardwalk in only pasties and a frothy tulle skirt.
“Very nice. You have an interesting arrangement.” Charles rubs Jane’s shoulder, as though the intimate contact is something they’ve established over months, not hours. “Is there a common area?”
“My room’s supposed to be the living room.” Jane rests a hand over Charles’s, twining their fingers. “This is a one-bedroom.”
I keep my features neutral, but inside, I’m floored. Rare as they are, Jane’s even-keeled when it comes to hookups: some friendly chitchat in the a.m. and then he sends the lucky fellow on his merry way. This hand-holding and petting is a first; that he’s literally showing off last night’s conquest borders on surreal.
Beneath the covers, I wedge my foot under him again, digging mytoes into his side to get him moving. With such an exceptional situation, he’d best keep the momentum going.
Jane pops off the bed, sidling up to Charles in one smooth motion. “Sorry for disappearing. I didn’t want to wake you. I was telling Bennet about brunch plans.” He links arms with Charles in another move that has me restraining a baffledWha?“I got her and me roped into eating with Andrea.”
