Page 45 of Decidedly Off Limits
We ended the call and I went back to my assignment. Mr. Kitty Whiskers jumped onto the couch and tried to sit on my lap. “Sorry, boy, no lap for you right now. But what do you think?” I pointed at the page and was rewarded with a meow.
Or it might have been a critique of my abilities. In which case I don’t think he was too impressed.
The doorbell interrupted any further comment he may have had. I put my “artwork” aside and answered the door.
And my breath almost stole away at the sight of Trent in the doorway. He was wearing khaki shorts, sneakers, and a light grey T-shirt that practically molded to his body. His black hair was messy and only served to make him look even sexier than normal—if that was at all possible.
“Love the outfit,” he said, his gaze taking in the view. It swept up my cute-cartoon-owl pajama bottoms and landed on my white tank top. His eyes darkened and for a moment I couldn’t figure out why—and then the reason hit me. The fabric of my bra was thin and did little to hide my nipples, especially when teamed with my tank top.
I crossed my arms over my breasts.
His gaze continued to my messy ponytail. I hadn’t even bothered with my makeup yet, other than a layer of lip gloss. His gaze locked on my mouth and the tip of his tongue traveled along his lower lip. The sexy lip that Holly wanted to kiss. The sexy lip that Ihadkissed.
The thought of Holly broke the spell and I blinked. Trent shook his head, as if to snap himself out of the same daze. Then he glanced behind me. “Is Josh still here?”
“No, he left last night, shortly after you and Holly.”
“He did?”
I nodded. “I’m not interested in him that way.”
A small smile appeared on Trent’s face, and he leaned his forearm against the doorframe. “I’m glad to hear that. He’s my friend, but I’ll be the first to tell you that you can do better than him, even if you aren’t looking for a relationship right now.”
I didn’t want to discuss Josh, so I quickly changed the subject. “So what are you up to today?”
“Depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“You.”
“Me?”
He nodded, my favorite sexy grin on his face. “I thought we could go hiking.”
“You, me, and who else?”
“Just you and me.”
My brain wanted to calmly discuss the pros and cons of accepting his offer. My body chimed in with its own opinion, which was more along the lines of “hell, yes.” My brain reminded my body that after the kiss last night, the last thing my lust-filled body needed was to spend the day with Trent. My body gave my brain the finger, and my heart decided it was best to keep out of the discussion.
“Let me get dressed.” I opened the door farther and let him in. Mr. Kitty Whiskers rubbed against Trent’s legs and purred. I wasn’t sure if that meant he was siding with my body or he was just happy to see Trent.
“I picked up some sandwiches and drinks at the deli before the cab dropped me off here,” Trent said, “so we’re good to go.”
I returned a short time later, showered, dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and my hair in a neater ponytail than before. I grabbed my point-and-shoot camera and stowed it in my small backpack. Trent then drove us through San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to a popular wooded area. For the entire drive there, we avoided the topic of the kiss, but that didn’t mean the memory of it still didn’t taunt me. With the clean, familiar scent that was all Trent sitting next to me, it was hard to ignore how the same scent had been wrapped around me just hours before, when his lips were pressed against mine.
“I tried to get tickets for Cavalia,” he said. “Unfortunately they’re all sold out. The person I know who might’ve been able to help me couldn’t get any either.”
“That’s too bad.”
“So, how’s the drawing class going?”
“We haven’t done much yet.”
He glanced at me. “Are you enjoying it more than the cooking class?”
I shrugged, unsure how to explain it. “I liked the cooking class, but not enough to get excited about cooking. The art class is interesting so far, but it’s just not what I was hoping for.”