When we get home, I practically throw myself out of the car and race inside. I’m halfway up the stairs to my room when I hear the door shut behind me.
I turn and look down at him. He must be well over six feet, with muscles bulging out from beneath his T-shirt and a jawline that could put any male model to shame.
Something inside me is turning unstoppably. As hard as I try to ignore it, I just can’t. My lips move without me even thinking. “So you wanna watch a movie or something?”
Oh my God, did you seriously just say that?
Yeah, that’s how inexperienced I am. Netflix-and-chill. That’s the only thing I know to suggest.
Jake’s eyes narrow, his jaw clenches, almost like he’s going to yell at me, and I instantly regret asking.
“I mean—”
“No.” He shakes his head, grabbing his keys and opening the door again. “I’m gonna head out. You have a good night.”
And just like that, he’s gone, and I’m standing alone on the stairs like Cinderella after the ball. Only without a prince chasing after me.
3
JAKE
The next weekis absolute torture.
Having Piper in the house with me is like a willpower test—one I’m quickly starting to fail.
All she does is prance around in outfits that feel like they were designed to tempt me. Short-shorts, crop-tops, belly shirts, lace. Hell, even when she wears PJs, they can’t hide her incredible figure. And bras? I’m not sure Piper even knows what a bra is, or at least doesn’t see them as a necessity when she’s home.
It’s like she’sintentionallytrying to tempt me.
I try to keep my distance, but she spends so much time in the bathroom every morning—taking the longest shower imaginable, then taking forever to fix her hair and dry off. It’s inevitable that I’ll run into her.
I’ve even had to kick her out a few times so I could shower. Yesterday I just said fuck it and moved my stuff to the downstairs guest bathroom just so I could avoid running into her.
Then this morning, when I was making my bacon and eggs in the kitchen, she walked in barefooted, wearing boy-shorts and a tank top that was practically see-through.
I had to twist away so I was facing the counter just to hide the bulge straining against my pants.
“Hey, bro,” she said with a giggle, grabbing a juice from the fridge. Her back arched like she was deliberately giving me a view. “Doing some more woodworking today?”
“Yup” was all I was able to say. I’ve taken to using one-word replies with her, just to keep the conversations short so I can get her away from me.
If she stays too close for too long, it could all come crashing down…
Thankfully, I found a day job with a local carpenter doing woodworking. I picked it up in prison, and now it’s a dream of mine to one day have my own shop making custom furniture.
I work for a great guy named Gus, and I’m learning a lot every day. Being careful around the equipment also forces me to focus, which keeps my mind off of Piper.
It’s nearly an impossible task not to picture her when I’m away. Every second is a struggle to push away thoughts of her curves, her lips, the way her eyes shine when she looks at me…
I’ve started to think she’s deliberately tempting me into doing something, but she’s just so innocent that I wonder if she even understands what she’s doing to me.
My teeth clench as I think back to last week and that scumbag with his arm around her, trying to drag her out of the bar like she belonged to him. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him.
It makes me smile to think about feeling his nose break against my knuckles when I socked him in the face. Maybe now he’ll think twice before messing withmy woman.
All I’ve done, for the last seven days, is dream about her.
I wake up with her scent in my nose, remembering the feel of her skin against mine, the warmth from her body and the dainty breaths she took as I drove her home.
