Page 8 of Falling for the Recluse

He arches a dark eyebrow. “You’re a rule follower, aren’t you? A good girl.”

I wince a little. “Is it that obvious?”

Dr. Stark doesn’t respond, but I swear amusement glints in his brown eyes. Then it’s gone so fast that I’m not sure it was there at all.

Though he’s right, it’s not the rule-following good girl in me who finally bends to unlace my boots. Because good girls don’t strip in front of their superiors—even if they’re following orders. And surely they don’t feel a hot flame of excitement quickening in their belly at the thought of doing something illicit and probably wrong.

But wrong according to whom? Dr. Stark is in charge of Needle Island, but not my internship or even me. We’re not breaking any rules…at least, I don’t think we are.

I take off my boots and line them up beside the wall. Then I slowly push off the straps of my coveralls and unzip the bib, wiggling the thick pants over my hips and legs.

“That’s the first outer layer, obviously,” I tell him. “Aside from my parka.”

He rumbles a noise that could be either approval or…something else.

I kick the coveralls aside and unzip my fleece. No, this isn’t like me at all. I’ve never undressed even halfway in front of a man, much less one I’ve just met.

Or maybe this is exactly like me. I’ve already changed from the Josie I was back in California. I was a different person before I flew south like the birds and landed on this inhospitable but fascinating continent that has its own rules and belongs to no one—exactly like Gavin Stark.

An electric surge fills my blood, a sensation both thrilling and liberating. As if my world has turned upside down and inside out, setting free a side of me I’ve kept contained for longer than I should have.

“Second layer…” I shrug the fleece over my shoulders and toss it on a chair.

Dr. Stark watches every movement. I feel his gaze like it’s a touch. My breath comes even faster than it did when I was slogging up the rocky incline with my luggage.

“I think on the field, I’d wear one or two more layers, but now I’m just wearing this…” I rub the arm of the thin blue insulating shirt. “And these stretch pants.”

“What’s underneath?” His voice is faintly husky, and it moves over me like a thundercloud.

God. I’m not just hot; I’m aroused. Between Dr. Stark’s shockingly potent allure, the closeness of the room, and the fact that I’m literally taking off my clothes, my tension is ratcheting up by the second.

“Long underwear,” I tell him.

“Show me.”

ChapterSix

JOSIE

“Yes, sir.”

The response comes out without any thought, and my face heats with a flush. I glance at him from under my eyelashes.

Though he’s still standing there with his feet planted apart and his arms crossed, solid and unmoving as a boulder, the barest hint of a smile curves his mouth.

Sir.He likes that. To my surprise, so do I. Makes me wonder what else he likes to be called.

I pull the stretch pants over my legs and put them on top of my fleece before dragging the blue insulating layer over my head.

A shiver runs through me. Though my long underwear covers me from neck to toe, it’s also close-fitting and clingy, outlining every curve of my body.

Dr. Stark lifts his eyebrows. “That’s your base layer?”

“Yes. I mean, except for my bra and underpants.”

“Hmm.” He slides his gaze over me. “I need to see those too.”

My heart is racing. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. He steps toward me, covering the distance between us in two long strides. He reaches out and plucks the fabric away from my waist, rubbing the hem between his fingers.

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