phenomenon firsthand.
She didn’t like it.
Gripping the sheet to her chest for all it was worth, Nicole watched as her two uninvited houseguests helped themselves to the tray of food balancing on her knees.
It was an unreal feeling having Ty’s long fingers hover over the plate only inches from her very naked body as he decided on a slice of apple.
It crunched between his white teeth as he looked at her.
Unreal, she decided, and definitely…arousing, if the way her body tingled was any indication. “I…need to get up.”
Taylor used the fork to bite into the homemade hash browns, then moaned. “Oh, these. These are to die for. Ty?”
Leaning in, he opened his mouth to the forkful Taylor was offering him.
“Fabulous, right?” Taylor said as he chewed.
He licked his lips, and for an instant, as he looked at Nicole, something hot and dangerous flashed in his eyes. “Oh yeah.”
“More?” Taylor asked. “A man your size, who works as hard as you do, needs to keep up his strength.”
Still gripping the sheet, Nicole grated her teeth. “I really need to—Hey!” she said around the bite of warm hash browns Ty shoved into her mouth. And not too gently either. She had to open quickly and use her tongue to keep from spilling them down her front.
His electric-blue eyes never left hers. She would have opened her mouth and blistered him if she hadn’t had it so full of the food. And oh man, the food. Heaven.
Not that she was going to admit it. “I don’t eat breakfast,” she said, trying not to moan in pleasure as the food started to hit her stomach. “Just—”
“Coffee,” Ty finished for her, bending so close his lips almost brushed hers. “We’ve heard. It’s here.” She could feel his body heat, the warm breath that caused goose bumps to skitter down her side. “You’re going to give yourself ulcers the way you eat.” He tsked. “And you claim to be a doctor.”
“Oh, I definitely like you,” Taylor said to Ty, who grinned at her. “We can tag-team her. I know you like to move around a lot, but I don’t suppose after this job you’d stay on and reprogram my friend here?”
“I really have to get up,” Nicole said, jaw clenched. “So if you could…” She gestured to the door.
“Go ahead.” Ty’s eyes were lit with the dare. “Get up.”
Nicole thought about how very naked she was under her sheet and gripped it tighter to her chest. She’d never been shy, had never felt anything but comfortable in her own skin. This came from years of no privacy in a tiny house with too many family members, then college dorms, and more recently, the locker area at work, which wasn’t much bigger or more private than her bedroom happened to be at the moment. But in front of this man, she suddenly felt…inadequate. He was red-blooded, through and through. She figured she knew his type; big boobs and breeding hips, with lots of hair to drape over his chest, that’s what he’d want.
Her virtual opposite.
Not that she cared. She just didn’t plan to flaunt her small boobs and small hips anywhere near him.
Then, from across the small bedroom, under a mountain of clothes and more medical journals on a chair, came the unmistakable sound of her beeper going off.
Taylor held out her hand to keep Nicole in bed. “It’s your day off.”
“I can’t just ignore it.” But it was a shame she hadn’t piled more clothes on top of the beeper before last night. A few more days’ worth and no one could have possibly heard the thing go off. “Okay, fun’s over. You guys did good, you fed me. Now get lost.”
“Nicole,” Taylor said sternly, still sitting on the bed. “Do not get that pager.”
Nicole turned to Ty, whose daring, smiling gaze had never left hers. “I have to.”
“Sure you do, darlin’.” He lifted an inviting hand. “Go right ahead, if it’s meaning that much to you.”
“You have to move first.”
Generous to a fault, he scooted down on the bed a tad, giving her enough room to leave the bed if she so desired. “Go on now.”
With as much dignity as she could muster, which wasn’t much, she grabbed the sheet and held on to it for dear life as she slid from the bed. Standing was a bit tricky, but she wrapped the sheet around her so fast her head nearly spun. Surely no one had gotten a glimpse of anything. Still, she didn’t quite dare to look back and catch a peek at Ty’s face as she headed, chin thrust high, toward the chair.
She had to shove the medical journals and clothes to the floor to verify, but yep, it was work.
“Don’t tell me.” Taylor stood up. “You’re going in. You’re hopeless, you know that?” With a dramatic sigh, she headed toward the door. “But we’ll be there, Nicole, if you fall.”
“We?”
“Suzanne and I, of course. Ornery as you are, you’ll need us to stick by you. So go. Go work yourself to exhaustion again. Enjoy.”
“I will, thanks.” Half amused at the genuine compassion and worry that she’d seen on Taylor’s face, she turned back to face Ty. “Don’t let the door get you on the ass on your way out. I’m taking a shower.”
“Maybe you’d better take your caffeine with you.” He held out a mug of coffee.
“Thanks.” Grateful but not about to admit it, Nicole held on to the sheet for dear life and hobbled into the bathroom. She shut the door harder than she should have, and clicked the lock into place with what sounded like a gunshot.
She might have had to wake up with an audience, then eat with one, but hell if she’d shower in front of one, no matter how pretty he was.
Still, the hot steam worked wonders, and she stayed there for a good long time, until the hot water turned warm, then tepid. Finally, she stepped out and sighed.
Damn, she’d been looking forward to a day off.
There was one dry towel left on the rack, which meant she needed to seriously consider the pile of things behind her bedroom door as well as the pile now on her floor, both of which she so lovingly referred to as Laundry Mountain Range. Tucking the towel beneath her armpits, she studied herself impassively in the mirror.
Not bad, she’d give herself that. And though she’d prefer to be taller than so damn short, her bones weren’t bad either. Thanks to her workouts, she was a lean, mean, fighting machine.
But breasts would have been nice.
Laughing at herself, she turned away. What would she have done with cleavage? It wasn’t as if she had dates lining up.
Still smiling, she opened the door and marched into her bedroom, dropping her towel as she went.
Because
