Wiping her hands on the dishtowel, Faye glanced at the clock and debated whether or not she should make a little effort with her appearance or just go out in the kitten leggings and gray sweatshirt she currently wore. She’d just decided to at least put on a bra and change her shirt since the one she was wearing now had big wet spots all over the front, when there was a knock on her door.
Frowning, Faye checked the time on her phone. Had she gotten the time wrong, and Jules had gotten tired of waiting for her?
But it wasn’t Jules waiting impatiently on her doorstep.
“What are you doing here?” she blurted.
Adam stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her. His green eyes started at the slippers on her feet and slowly roamed up her legs, paused at her hips with a flare of his nostrils, then continued up her oversized sweatshirt to her face, until finally taking in the mess of her hair thrown haphazardly on top of her head with a hair band. “I thought we could go on that real date before our fake one on Saturday. Have you eaten yet?”
The rough gravel of his voice sent chills chasing each other up and down her spine as she stared at him in confusion.
He cleared his throat. “So, is that what you’re wearing?”
Faye frowned, completely thrown off kilter by his appearance at her door. “What?”
He nodded toward her kitten leggings.
She glanced down at herself, completely forgetting in that instant what she had on. “Oh. Uh. I’ve been home all day.” They stared at each other until a gust of wind blew past, bringing some snow flurries with it. Faye shivered and blinked, breaking the spell. “I’m sorry. Come in. Please.” She held the door open for him until he climbed the steps and stepped inside. Her breasts brushed against his chest as he squeezed by, and Faye sucked in a breath as her nipples hardened, keeping her eyes at the level of his collarbone.
Once he was in, she pulled the door closed and watched him as he looked around at her home. It wasn’t much, but it was bought and paid for and, with the help of some friends, Faye had fixed it up until it was cozy and homey. She’d put in new flooring. Then she’d gotten rid of the dark cabinets and refaced them and made them white with new hardware. Behind the stove, she’d added some fun copper-washed white tiles in a floral design. Her fridge was small and white, as was her sink and stove. But it was a good-sized kitchen for her. She’d removed the extra cabinets on the other side to make more room for a table and a couch, painted the entire thing white, including the bathroom and her bedroom and added some accent wallpaper in more floral designs that reminded her of the wildflowers native to Colorado. The bedroom at the other end was mostly used as a giant closet with a large dresser and a small guest bed. She’d done it all herself, and she was very proud of the way it had turned out.
But still, she braced herself for his disgust. Faye could tell by the cut of his clothes that Adam came from money, something she’d never really had much of.
Adam turned back to her. “I like this. It’s…you.”
She listened for the lie and didn’t hear it. “Me?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah. It feels like summer in here.” Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. “And it smells like you.”
What a weird thing to say. “Um, well, I live here. So…” Faye trailed off, her face too warm and her body entirely too aware of Adam standing in the middle of her small home.
He opened his eyes and, if she didn’t know better, she would swear they were glowing.
“I guess I’ll go get changed.” She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb as she backed away toward her bedroom. She’d have to text Jules and reschedule. “I’ll be right back.” Turning swiftly away from the heat of his stare, she was almost to the safety of her room when he spoke.
“Faye, wait.”
She stopped but didn’t turn around.
“I’d like to say something first.”
She glanced back over her shoulder. Adam was leaning casually against the counter with his big arms crossed over his hard chest. Faye remembered the feeling of that chest well. She fisted her hands at her sides, her palms tingling with the sudden urge to touch him again. Only maybe this time without the barrier of his shirt.
But she was being ridiculous. Adam wasn’t interested in her that way. Or if he was, he didn’t think she was worth going there. He’d made that abundantly clear the other day. Her shoulders fell as she turned to face him. “Look, I know what you’re going to say. And you’re right. This is stupid. This whole idea was stupid. And I’m really sorry I dragged you into it. But I still plan to tell everyone Saturday night that we’re not really dating. That I made it all up.” Saying it out loud made her realize it was the right thing to do. Even if the idea made her face and chest burn with embarrassment. “Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting to hear from you again. So you don’t have to take me out tonight or come with me Saturday. Although I do really appreciate that you kept your promise to take me.”
He waited until she was done talking and stood there awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot as she waited for him to respond. “Actually, I wasn’t going to say any of that,” he told her. “And I don’t know if telling your friends the truth is a good idea.”
Faye frowned. “Why not?”
“Because if you do that, Jeff will think you lied to get his attention. I’ve known guys like that my whole life, and that’s how they think. They’re too full of themselves to entertain the idea that a woman could possibly just not be attracted to them.”
Even though that was exactly what she’d been thinking, she released a soft, disparaging laugh. “Or it’ll just make me look like a girl so desperate for a boyfriend that she bullies the first guy she sees into pretending he is.”
“You didn’t bully me. I offered. And I was glad to help.”
That was true. He had.
Pushing himself away from the counter, Faye held her breath as he approached, stopping so close to her she was afraid to take a deep breath for fear he’d feel how hard her nipples were. This man did things to her. Things she’d never experienced before and didn’t understand.
