Page 48 of Hacking His Code
I must be high on pheromones because this is so not me.
I enter the open door to the bathroom and brush my teeth alongside Hunter, trying not to look too exuberant.
“What do you fancy for breakfast?” he asks.
“You pick. Something carby.”
“I have just the thing for you.”
Looking in the mirror is slightly mortifying as my hair looks as though it hasn’t been properly combed…well, ever.
“I need to take a shower and maybe just shave my head. What grows back can’t be half as bad.”
He leans against the counter in the casual way that he does, carefree and without thought. “You’ve been stressed. Why don’t you run yourself a bath?”
A bath sounds absolutely decadent, but I’m on a time crunch. Every minute counts.
You’re never going to see a tub like his again, so you might as well take advantage of it. Twenty more minutes washing up won’t make much of a difference.
“That sounds nice.”
Hunter
After closing the door, I lean with my back against it, imagining Arinessa as she removes her clothes.
Determined to be a gentleman, I’ve made every effort to avoid making her uncomfortable. I spent an entire sleepless night frozen in place, worried that I was going to pop a boner at the worst possible moment. It was pure hell.
With Arinessa otherwise occupied, now is the perfect time to relieve my pent-up frustration, so I make my way over to the kitchen trash receptacle and slide a hand into my boxers, gripping my hardened flesh.
I brace my other hand on the counter and begin stroking myself as I imagine Arinessa naked in my bath, water lapping at her breasts.
In my mind, she wants me just as badly as I want her, and her hunger is insatiable. The vision is so powerful, a dozen good pumps do me in, and I spend myself in the can.
Relieved, I call down to the kitchen to have pastries sent up, then I make a pot of coffee, waiting for Arinessa to finally emerge from the washroom.
The wait is excruciating, though I know that when she comes out, I’ll see no reprieve. I’ll get to spend the day around her, theorizing, strategizing—being right fucking next to her as she studies file after file.
Maybe this just means I need to revisit how I meet women. I think back to the last several conversations I’ve had with the fairer sex and remember various discussions of purses, Real Housewives, and the best place to buy drugs. All things I have zero interest in.
Arinessa makes me laugh, and watching her brain at work is addictive. Being around her more is going to be torture.
Shortly after breakfast arrives, Arinessa emerges from her bath dressed in comfortable clothes, hair fitted into a towel, phone to her ear.
She’s talking with her mother, her face contorting from worry to relief to joy. Seeing her smile makes my heart skip a beat, but I force myself to look away, not wanting to intrude on her private conversation.
Maybe I should convince Ari to wake up here more often.
The thought comes out of nowhere and should scare the ever-living hell out of me. After all, I’ve only just met her.
And yet, with her, I feel like I’ll never get bored. Ari strikes me as the type of woman that would love a good Escape Room, or even one of those places where you get loaded and recreate works of art to hang on your wall. This isn’t just about sex, though my body’s reaction to her suggests it’s how I’d like to spend a large portion of our time together.
Ari bounds towards me excitedly. “Oh my gosh, my mother said yes to the trial, and they’re beginning treatment! They’re keeping her in the hospital for the first week to monitor progress.”
“That’s wonderful,” I say, wishing I could take her into my arms but wholly sure that it would be inappropriate.
“They say she could make a complete recovery!”
“I bet she will. You should pick out a gift basket and have it delivered to her. Just send me the one you think she’ll like and her room number.”
