A bright red tinge colored her honey-kissed skin. She finally looked away and he averted his eyes to give her some privacy. The toilet flushed behind him and she came to the basin to wash her hands.
“So we can’t go up today,” she said. “The tour guide said a thunderstorm is coming and it might be dangerous.”
He tried not to groan his aggravation. These delays were coming in thick and fast. “So what do you wanna do for the rest of the day?”
“I don’t know. We could…we could watch movies on my laptop.”
She sounded hesitant, like she was already bracing herself for rejection. Yesterday when she’d told him that her nannies never ate a meal or watched a movie with her, he’d realized that it was the simple things that mattered most to her. She didn’t mind when he opted out of touring Vegas with her, and he guessed that she would have happily gone on her own even if she hadn’t met theAndys. But things as basic as eating or watching a movie were things she didn’t want to do alone anymore.
“Sure, Jazz.” He rinsed off the razor and moved it back to his face. “But I get to choose the movie.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s fine.” A bright smile beamed on her face. “That’s totally fine. We can just sit on the bed and binge watch the whole day.”
That should have been the end of the conversation and he expected her to leave right after, but she carried on talking.
“I’ve noticed that you take really long in the shower,” she said. “It’s irresponsible to waste so much water. You know, in some countries running water is a luxury and you just abuse it. We need to preserve clean water, because eventually it’s going to become a scarcity.”
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Lectures about all this environmental crap were never in short supply with her. Pollution and recycling and saving water. It was just a shower, for God sakes. “Maybe we should shower together,” he suggested. “That would definitely save water.”
The blush didn’t confine itself to her cheeks this time. It went all the way down her neck. He was hoping the comment would make her feel uneasy enough to get the hell out, but it didn’t. Instead, she made herself comfortable leaning against the edge of the large basin. For some unknown reason, she never got the hint that he wanted to be left alone.
Letting out an irritable sigh, he carried on shaving. Her eyes were still on him, moving between his face and his chest. He’d gotten used to her disrespecting his personal space. He’d gotten used to the inappropriate comments about him being hot, because when she said it, she wasn’t flirting. She stated it like a fact, in the same manner one would say the sky is blue. He’d never once seen it as anything more than innocent flattery. But the way she was looking at him now wasn’t what he was used to.
Her eyes trailed over his body and they weren’t filled with lust, just…awareness, awareness of his semi-nakedness, awareness of how close they were to each other. He was becoming increasingly aware of this too.
He rinsed his face and as he patted it dry with a towel, her hand moved towards him.
“I like it when you shave,” she said, stroking her fingers over his jaw. “It’s so smooth…and clean.” Her hand slowly moved down his neck and onto his chain. “What’s this?”
He didn’t answer and her finger glided down the small silver balls, lightly caressing his chest as it moved lower. Before she got to the dog-tags, he gripped her hand, his fingers closing tightly over hers. Their eyes locked and stayed locked.
“Don’t touch it,” he whispered.
“Relax. I just want to see it.”
He tensed, debating whether he was going to let her do it. This was his most personal, most valued possession, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted her in that space. It took some time, but he eventually let go of her hand and she took hold of the tags with enough care to show that she understood how much it meant to him.
“Saint Christopher,” she read aloud, moving her finger over the engraving. She turned it over to read the back. “Holy Patron of travelers, protect me and lead me safely to my destiny.” A small smile played on her lips. “It’s strange. He’s the guider ofthe travelers and yet they say lead me safely to my destiny, not my destination.” Her eyes moved up to meet his again. “What’s your destiny, Kevin?”
He didn’t respond immediately, because he didn’t know how to answer. People always made destiny seem like something amazing, some great purpose to be fulfilled. When Perry first gave him the chain, he truly believed he was going to do just that. But now he was in the fast lane heading nowhere. Nothing great awaited him.
“I don’t know,” he answered softly. “What’s yours?”
“I don’t believe in destiny, but I do believe that I am going to leave my mark on this world. I got a new job starting next year. I’m gonna meet new people and learn new things. This is a new beginning for me and I’m not going to leave it in the hands of some higher power. I can do it on my own.”
Her outlook on life was so positive, it was enlightening. Even with all her issues, she was completely untainted, so ready to face the world head-on. Maybe it was naivety because she hadn’t faced the hardships others had faced, or maybe it was her ability to accept the hand life had dealt her and rise up regardless. Either way, it was a quality of hers he admired.
“Maybe it’s your destiny to become a stripper,” she teased, pulling him out of his thoughts.
“Not everyone has been given the gift of dance like you.”
“I don’t think that should stop you. Dance is only, like, thirty percent of it and you have the other seventy. This is a rocking hot body.”
Shaking his head, he gave her a wry smile.
Truth be told, he had expected that comment. Playful remarks like that were things he had to listen to every day. But what was completely unexpected was the expression on her face. It didn’t match the playfulness in her voice. Her hand brushed over his chest, her eyes focusing on the tiny patterns she drewon his skin. Moving lower, her fingers skimmed lightly over his abs, inching ever closer to his towel, and the whole situation was becoming less and less playful. The movements were bold yet hampered with nervousness, and he found both equally enticing.
The problem with Jasmin was that she didn’t know where to draw the line. Every day she pushed his boundaries a little more. He tried to brush it off, always telling himself that she had no social etiquette, that she simply didn’t realize how unacceptable her behavior was. She didn’t realize a guy just wanted some alone time to have his morning shave. She didn’t realize that she was all up in the same guy’s personal space and he was craving another taste of those plump lips. She didn’t realize that when her soft, small hand was lingering dangerously close to his cock, she was going to get a reaction.
