I smiled into the stream of water currently cascading down my face. I’d know that pissed-off drawl anywhere. I cleared thesuds from my face before turning to the sprite that’d haunted my dreams as of late. My very explicit, sweat-inducing dreams.
“Oh, good, you’re up.” I leaned my head back into the spray. “That makes two of us,” I added, wagging my brows suggestively.
I couldn’t help myself. It didn’t take much to get her riled up, and there was something sexy about the way she slipped deeper into her accent when I ticked her off. Or when her nostrils flared.Great, now I’m turned on by her nostrils. What a freak.
Blondie lifted her shoulders before letting out an almost pained breath. My eyes raked over her body, admiring the way her thick ass jiggled with every step. I didn’t care if she noticed me staring. In fact, I hoped she did. She was wearing the same ridiculous (or ridiculously cute) robe as the first night we met, only this time, she’d tied her hair into a messy bun atop her head. What I wouldn’t give to unravel it and knot my hands through it while she . . .
“You know what? No.” She marched toward the stall on the opposite end, the one farthest from mine. “You are not ruining showers for me. If I want to shower at 10 p.m., then by golly, I’m gonna do it.”
Well, shit.I’d expected her to turn tail and stomp off like she had during our last shower encounter. Instead, she flung open the curtain of the last stall.
“That one’s out of order,” I told her.
Her nostrils flared again. I half expected them to emit to flames. Maybe I’d gotten her wrong all along. She wasn’t the damsel in distress; she was the fire-breathing dragon.
She tried the next stall, only to find that the water only ran cold.
“You did this, didn’t you.”
I scoffed. “How’s that?”
“I don’t know, but it’s still your fault.”
“That seems to be the case more often than not.”
She trudged toward the next stall, the one directly across from me. “There, happy now?”
“Ecstatic.”
She turned away from me, but not before glaring over her shoulder and scolding, “Just keep your eyes to yourself, okay?”
She still hated me.Thank God.It was a blessing in disguise if you asked me. I’d come to Rose City to get away from temptation. That didn’t make it any less fun to flirt with danger.
“Whatever you say, blondie.”
As much as I enjoyed teasing her, I didn't make a habit of spying on women while they showered. Unless they asked me to, of course. I turned away from her, wincing when the scalding spray hit my back. My traps were aching from that extra set of push-ups. Hopefully, the hot water would loosen them up. Otherwise, I might have to make a pitstop at the pharmacy in the morning to pick up some Icy Hot, and—
The sound of glass shattering followed by a loud, “Fuck!” snapped me out of my musings. I was already wrapping a towel around my waist and rushing around the divider before she finished the expletive. I’d just tucked the edge of the towel into my waist when I rounded the corner and flung open her curtain.
“What are you doing?!” She gasped.
“What happened?” I asked, ignoring her question and scanning her body for injuries. She’d only partially untied her robe, and I did my best to ignore the way it parted, exposing her ample cleavage. My eyes zeroed in on the blood pooling around the drain. “What. Happened?” I asked again.
“It’s my salt scrub,” she said, her voice waning. “It’s too dark out. I thought I had a hold of it, but obviously I didn’t and I—oof!”
She half-squeaked, half-grunted when I scooped her up, one hand under her bare legs, the other cradling her back, and carried her out of the stall.
“Put me down!” she cried. “You can’t—” She lowered her voice. Even in the limited light, I could tell she was blushing again. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Please,” I said when her eyes met mine. “Don’t insult me.”
So, she didn’t have a rail-thin, size-six body.Who cares?She didn’t realize she was talking to someone who benched three hundred on a bad day and hip-thrust four hundred every day that ended in y.
“Wrap your arms around my neck.” When she opened her mouth, no doubt ready to protest further, I tightened my grip on her thighs. My hand was nearing dangerous territory, inches away from her bare pussy. “Don’t make me say it again.”
She squeaked but did as I asked. Er, ordered. There wasn’t a peep the entire walk back to my trailer.
As much as I wanted to relish the feeling of her in my arms, I was too caught up in medic mode. Even though I’d always envisioned a career in pro baseball, my mom had encouraged me to take some college courses as a backup. I’d chosen mostly biology and kinesiology-based classes—something I could apply toward baseball—but I’d also become EMT-certified. It wasn’t something I talked about with people, not even my teammates.
