Now I see exactly where my playboy boss gets his personality from.
I laugh nervously, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I should probably get cleaned up. I’m kind of a grease monkey right now.”
“You just want to follow my son upstairs.” The gleam in her gray eyes causes my face to flush. My immediate reaction is to object, but I am his girlfriend for the weekend, and I’m sure any woman of Stone’s would want to follow him upstairs.
But I’m not just any woman, even if we are playing pretend.
“Nonsense.” I swat my hand in front of my face, schooling my expression into a soft, loving smile. “That man chases after me, not the other way around.”
Marian’s smile widens, revealing a line of white teeth that adds to her youthfulness. “My, my. You just might be the one, then.”
Her blatant admission leaves me speechless.Me?The one forStone Harper?It’s humorous, and I desperately want to laugh, but I strangle the outburst with a cord.
Instead of laughing at the impossible, I play coy.
With a slight tilt of my head, I ask, “You think so? We haven’t talked about the future.”
She chuckles but then presses her lips into a contemplative line. “You’re the second girlfriend of his that I’m meeting. And the first one was years ago while the two of them were in high school, so it wasn’t necessarily a meeting. I’d known her and her family for a while.”
“I, uh… huh?”Wow. Way to be literate, Little Miss Writer.
Marian rests her hand on my knee in a loving way that only mothers seem to be capable of. “Don’t let it scare you, darling girl. I just wanted you to know that this is a big deal for me. And for him, whether he realizes it or not. We’ve heard so much about you, and the way he talks about you… He’s smitten. You’ve done something to my son.”
It’s all an act, though.He’s been playing a part in a play that I had no inkling I was cast in. This is an episode ofPunk’d, and I'm the unsuspecting star. I’m not scared. Not at the idea that Stone Harper sees forever when he looks at me, at least. That’s an obvious, emphatic no. But I’m growing fearful by the second that I’m going to break this sweet woman’s heart when Stone tells them we’re over.
“Thank you for telling me,” I finally respond.
A balding older man with kind eyes and a warm smile enters the room from somewhere behind the kitchen.
“Hi. You must be Lucy.” He reaches out his hand, and I shake it while verifying his assessment. “I’m Johnny, but most people seem to think my first name is Brother. I’m this beautiful woman’s doting husband.”
I watch the way his brown eyes fall on Marian. There are oceans of love swimming in them, and I’d like to think that one day a man will look at me that way. I suddenly feel like I’m intruding on a life that doesn’t belong to me, and the incommodious moment spurs me to action.
Standing up, I feign a yawn and stretch. “It’s really nice to meet you. I better get upstairs and ask Stone to show me my room so I can get cleaned up and ready for bed. It was a long trip. I’m not sure how Stone is capable of going out tonight.”
I do understand because I’m nowhere near tired, though I do yearn for hot water, strawberry-smelling soap, and a round of listening to1989by Taylor Swift.
We chat for a few more minutes before I go upstairs and turn down the small hallway with three doors, two on the left and one farther down on the right. There are pictures lining the wall, old school photos of Stone and what must be his older sister. As I pad across the wooden floor, smiling at the pictures of their childhood, the door at the end of the hallway opens, and a very shirtless, only-wearing-a-grey-towel version of Stone steps into my view. He’s running a hand through his wet hair while his bicep flexes, and my eyes drop to his bare chest without my permission.He has a smattering of light hair that disappears before reaching his abs. All eight of them. Leading to a prominent…
No, Lucy. Stop it!
My face heats as I snap my eyes back to Stone’s bruised but handsome face only to find him frozen with his hand in his hair, eyes narrowed at me. Like a bird of prey who’s zoned in on an unbeknownst victim.
And he looks ravenous.
Doing what I should have done in the first place, I avert my eyes and turn my back to him. “I’m sorry,” I squeak out. “I didn’t realize you would be… in the state that you are,” I dumbly finish.
Somewhere behind me, a ghost of a laugh echoes off the walls. “No need to apologize. Youaremy girlfriend for the weekend.”
Choosing to ignore the suggestion, mostly because I know he’s toying with me and isn’t serious, I blurt, “Which room is mine?”
I feel the heat from his body behind me before I hear his released breath. “First door by the stairs. It was my sister’s room, so it should be to your liking. Would you like me to show you around it?”
Acting on impulse, I turn around and splay one hand across his chest, glaring into his eyes.
Big mistake.
That’s one very nice chest.
