He lets out a low growl of sorts as he thinks, closing his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Well, if you want, you can finish showering over at my place.”
My heart instantly races. “What?”
“It’s the neighborly thing to do, Vienna,” he says with a shrug.
“Oh, so now we’re being neighborly?”
“Uh, I ran over here when I thought you were being murdered. I think that earns me some good neighbor points.”
“Rhonan…”
“Vienna,” he fires back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just come over and take a shower at my house, and then tomorrow, I can take a better look atyourshower and see if it’s an easy fix, or if we need to call a professional.”
“You would do that?”
He tilts his head to the side, studying me, as if he’s confused by my question. But then he stands up tall, drops his arms, and crosses the room to close the space between us, tipping my chin up with his fingers. When he speaks, his voice is low but steady, forcing me to give him my attention, even though he already had it the second I saw him. “I know this thing between us is complicated, but I am not about to let you go without running water when I could potentially solve that problem. I know I can seem like an ass, but I don’t let others go without. You’re my neighbor, and you need help. Let’s leave it at that, all right?”
I nod, unsure of any words I could say in response because the command he just delivered in combination with his touch is making me clench my thighs together to fight off the burn between my legs. “Okay.”
His eyes dip down to the towel around my chest and then slowly make their way back up to my eyes. “And just so we’re clear, you shouldnever be shy about what’s beneath this towel, Vienna Lewis. Trust me, I’ll never forget what you look like underneath.” His thumb toys with my bottom lip before he releases my chin.
With an arch of his brow, he turns on his feet and heads for the door. “Grab your stuff and come over. Ellis is still up, and I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” And then he opens my front door and leaves me standing there, not sure if the dripping sound around me is from the water leaving my hair, or the flood this man just caused between my legs.
Chapter 8
Vienna
Showers & Sprinkles
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I mutter to myself while standing on Rhonan’s front porch, holding my bag of necessities so I can shower. I managed to soak up most of the water on the floor of the bathroom with the few towels I have in the house, dried myself off, slipped on some comfortable clothes, and then packed up my things to take Rhonan up on his offer.
But now I’m wondering if this is the smartest thing to do.
The front door opens before I can knock or run away, Rhonan revealing himself on the other side of the screen door still secured to the door jamb. “How long were you planning to stand there before you knocked?”
“Just a few more seconds, actually.”
He shakes his head. “Sure, whatever you say.” Opening the screen, he waves me inside and I cross the threshold nervously.
“Ms. Lewis!” Ellis comes running over to me in herFrozen-themed pajamas, bouncing up and down.
“Hi, Ellis.”
“Daddy said you were coming over, but you’re really here!”
“I am,” I say, smiling down at her because her excitement is impossible not to match.
“He said you needed to take a shower because yours broke.”
“It did,” I say with a laugh while mentally revisiting the ordeal—her father seeing me naked is just another catastrophe to add to the ever-growing list.
“Hi there, Vienna.” Joanne comes into the room from around the corner, drying her hands on a dish towel. “Heard you had a bit of an ordeal with your shower.” Her eyes drift over to Rhonan and then back to me, her lips curling into a knowing grin.
“Oh yes, it wasquitethe ordeal.”
“Well, it’s a good thing Rhonan was there to help you, isn’t it?”
I tuck my wet hair behind my ear. “Uh, yeah. I guess you could call that lucky…”
