“Before you ask, I saw some frat guys on the floor, so I messaged Ryan and told him I didn’t want you going down alone. He agreed.” I can’t help but notice how his eyes roam my body as he steps closer, cutting the distance between us.
“You know I’m a grown adult and I’ve been maneuvering through life just fine without having a man to protect me.” I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him.
He laughs, letting go of Angel’s hand, putting both of his up in the air and backing away.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. But since I’m here, may I please escort you downstairs? It’s not often I get to have two beautiful ladies on my arm.”
My face heats as I bite my lower lip, dragging my teeth across it as I nod. As much as I know nothing can happen between us, him calling me beautiful makes my heart race. One day, I hope to find a man that makes me feel the way Jeremiah does.
We make our way to the elevator and I move to the other side of Angel, keeping a body distance between us. I don’t trust myself. My desire for him is still so intense. if Angel wasn’t here, what would I do? Would I seize the opportunity to flirt back? Knowing it would end up nowhere?
Thankfully, I’ll never have to know.
The tension is so thick between us, it’s almost suffocating in the small space of the elevator. We only make it down one floor before we come to a squealing stop, making me wonder if we should have just taken the stairs. All the movies with people dying gruesomely in an elevator come to mind instantly.
When the doors open, I sigh. It just stopped to pick more passengers up. As other people enter, I step back until I hit the wall, trying my damndest to squeeze my body into the corner—trying to keep distance between Jeremiah and myself.
But Jeremiah obviously doesn’t feel the same. No, instead, he moves Angel in front of him and scoots his body so close to me, my bare arm brushes against his for the second time today.
Fucking elevators.
I begin naming off books I’ve read in my mind, trying to distract myself from how good he smells and calm my racing heart.
One by one, going by series, I recite titles. Slowly, my heart stops pounding and my breathing levels out. I can still feel his presence beside me, his cedar essence dancing through my senses.
Why does he have to smell so good?
If he reeked of onions and bad breath, his damned good looks wouldn’t affect me like they do.
“Are you coming?” Jeremiah asks loudly as Angel tugs on my shirt. When I look up, he’s outside the elevator doors, holding them open with his hands while a group of middle-aged women look at me with their lips pressed tightly together, tapping their feet on the floor.
I shake my head, pushing all thoughts of Jeremiah to the back of my brain.
“Yeah. Sorry ladies, I zoned out.”
As I go to step off the elevator, one of the ladies closest to me whispers to the one beside her, just loud enough for me to hear.
“I’d be zoned out too, if I had a man like that. Oh, to be young again, I’d give that girl a run for her money.”
The ladies erupt into laughter and I can feel the heat rising on my face. Keeping my head down, I rush past Jeremiah, hoping he didn’t hear them. But when he laughs, my hope is crushed. I should have known I couldn’t be that lucky.
“I bet you would too. You’re gorgeous now, so I can only imagine how stunning you were thirty years ago. But my heart is taken by a brunette bombshell.”
Jeremiah responds to her, but I’m too embarrassed to turn back and look.
“She better know how lucky she is to have a young man like you,” one of them says. Thankfully, the further away I get, the less I hear.
My feet keep moving, steering me toward the lobby where Ryan is standing by one of the chairs that Maddy's sitting in.
“It's about time! What took you so long?” A wide grin spreads across Maddy’s face, looking like the cat who ate the canary. When Ryan turns his head, she gives me a wink.
“When I pulled my bikini out of the bag, I decided to go ahead and unpack and put everything away. I didn’t realize I had taken so long.”
“She also fell. You probably even heard the thud all the way down here in the lobby,” Jeremiah jokes, but my heart sinks. Is he calling me fat? I’m no size eight, not even on a good day. But I’m proud of all my curves. They make me feel more feminine, desirable. Does Jeremiah not feel the same?
“Yeah, it was loud. Daddy was worried about Aunt Lee Lee,” Angel adds in as she sits down in the chair with RJ.
“You were worried about my baby sister?” Ryan turns to Jeremiah, raising an eyebrow as his stance becomes rigid.
