“Including you?” he asked and blinked, his expression closing off again.
“I mean, don’t presume, but you’re allowed to ask, that’s okay.”
“That seems personal.”
“I think we’re being personal with one another,” I said grimly. “Not on purpose or in the way I’d prefer, but we ended up there all the same.”
“Just how would you prefer it?” he asked with a curious tilt of his head.
On my knees. “Maybe something a little less...nude.”
“You didn’t have a problem with nudity yesterday.”
“Hey, that was a spring! Nudity is allowed.”
“I’ve never been that comfortable or free with my body.”
“I’ve had a few experiences that mean I’m not quite so...private,” I said with a shrug and drained my coffee. “Don’t worry, there’s no requirement to fit in, but you will have to be okay with seeing naked guys, because there are definitely spots where nudity is allowed, and you might walk in on it.”
“What a thought,” he said with a snort. “I don’t mind if other people are comfortable. I’m simply not.”
“One man’s freedom is another man’s exposure,” I said with a smile. “But since we’ve reached the personal level, why don’t we stay there?”
“Are you planning on walking in on me again?” he asked dryly, so dryly it took me a minute to realize what was going on.
I squinted. “Did you...was that ajoke? Did you make a joke?”
“I am not completely without humor,” he told me. “That said, my family has repeatedly said my delivery can be quite dry and...hard to read.”
“Yeah, the desert would envy how dry that was,” I said with a laugh. “But that’s okay, I can work with dry humor. Andno, I am not going to walk in on you again...I hope.”
“Hmm,” he said, and for one crazy second, I wondered if he was considering whether he was against the idea. “So, how do we begin?”
“I think talking is a pretty good start,” I told him. “You know, ask questions, answer them, talk about it, normal stuff.”
“Normal stuff,” he said thoughtfully, then nodded. “Alright, you ask the first question since you have an idea what to do.”
“Okay, what’s your favorite color?”
“You can’t be serious.”
I grinned to show just how serious I was and laughed when he sighed and shook his head.
That was something, at least.
ROWAN
Luka wasn’t exaggeratingabout public nudity at the resort.
Well, perhaps ‘public’ wasn’t entirely accurate. It seemed only designated areas were available for people to dress in whatever they wanted or not dress at all. I could discover which by the symbols outside each room. I hadn’t explored much in the first few days, but ever since the shift in how Luka and I interacted, I had been making an effort to explore the resort, as well as some of its programs.
At least this room’s nakedness made sense as I watched two naked men surrounded by other men, painting or drawing them. Of course, under different circumstances, the artists weren’t typically naked, as far as I knew. Still, here I was, making a go of being an artist and having to avoid being distracted by the nudity. At the very least, I could take comfort in the fact that I wasn’t the only one with their clothes on.
“First time, huh?” the man next to me said. He was wearing shorts, at least. They were exceptionally tiny shorts, though, and they didn’t leave much to the imagination. Considering I didn’t have much imagination to begin with, I found it a little distracting.
“Is my lack of artistic skill that obvious?” I asked dryly, because, of course, it was obvious.
“Actually, I haven’t peeked at what you’ve done yet,” he said with a grin full of teeth so white and shiny I had to wonder how many thousands of dollars had gone into his dental work. Then again, considering how ridiculously fit he was, I suspected he had spent a great deal of time and money on his appearance. Not that it was a wasted effort; he was a good-looking man, and considering I’d been a little gun-shy about releasing steam on my own after last week, I was easily distracted. “But the new guys always look lost, even when they’re doing something that doesn’t require instructions.”
