None of what I have said is true, but I will argue the lie until he runs out of breath.
He smiles, and you know what? It’s the dimples for me. It’s the dimples for me allllllll day long.
“Oh, Little Devil. Didn’t anyone ever tell you; you shouldn’t suffer fools to live?”
He kisses my forehead, and I’m glad that my earlier comments about my non-existent brother haven’t thwarted him from this, butwhat? What does that phrase mean?I’ve heard it before, but I thought it meant you should kill idiots. He didn’t kill Chase. He left him breathless for longer than is expressly safe, but he was alive when he left the club.
We both climb out of the pool, and I produce a beach towel from my bag, handing it to him with a sly smile. He looks down at the towel with obvious surprise. “Your duplicity knows no bounds.”
The towel proves that I planned this trip before he ever picked me up from the service station. I was tired of the not knowing. I had decided that I want Eli in my life; however, I can get him, but I needed to know if we were friends or something else. I regret nothing. Rarely do I ever, and this night went so much better than I had imagined.
Eli comes forward, wrapping the towel around my front and drying my back. He squeezes water from my hair and drops down onto his haunches to dry my legs. This man is a real-life badass. I know he is. He took Chase out on a whim and came back with a smile mere seconds later. It was no big deal to him, yet here he is on the ground in front of me for the second time. First, an apology. Now, a sweet gesture.
He dries me completely before turning the towel on himself, so I take it from him. This is new for me. I’m the one the moves get made on. I’m not the one going out on the limb and doing the moving.You can do this. It’s Eli. Safe, accepting Eli.
I run the towel through his wet hair with a fair amount of tiptoes and stretching on my part. Then I dry his upper body before going to my knees to dry his legs. I look up from my perch on the ground, and his eyes are closed. His chin is slightly lifted, and he appears to be internally grappling with something.
“Eli?”
He looks at me before quickly clenching his eyes shut again and letting out a harsh breath.
“Vaughn, please. Just hurry.”
“What happened? Did I do something wrong?”
He expels an exasperated sigh. “You can’t get on your knees in front of me and expect me not to have some kind of reaction here, V. I’m hanging on by a thread. Hurry the hell up.”
I fail to stifle the laugh that bubbles up from somewhere inside me. Things have never been as good as they are when I’m with Eli. I would’ve kissed a thousand frog/Chase’s if it all led me here.
I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Chapter 13
Elijah
“Can you come in?”
Can I come in? CAN I come in? What happens IN?
“Don’t you need to get some sleep?”
“Yeah. I plan to go to sleep. I was thinking maybe you could stay.....and sleep. Just sleep.”
Damn. This girl is not struggling with the take charge thing at all. It’s like she’s found her niche and she’s settling into it. Do I want to spend the night here? Why do I even pose these stupid questions to myself? Of course, I want to stay here.
“Yeah. Yes. Of course.”
She moves back from the door, allowing me the space to enter, so I do. The air is different in here tonight. It’s charged with desire that I hope isn’t all emanating from me.
“I didn’t bring anything to sleep in.”
Vaughn says nothing and simply looks at me. She’s thinking. There’s no way she owns anything that will fit me. If she attempts to pull out old clothes from a past boyfriend for me to wear, she’ll be seeing a whole other side of me and far too soon.
“What do you sleep in at home?”
The question catches me off guard. It’s not weird that she asked. It’s just that I wasn’t prepared to answer.
“Hunh hmm. Uh..Nude. I sleep naked at home.”
