Page 10 of Drive Me Wild (Owl Creek #2)

I can’t help but feel inspired this morning as I climb out of bed and get ready for work.

Despite knowing I need to keep my hands to myself, Zoe will be here in an hour or two, putting a spring in my step.

I also finished my model robot last night, so I’m excited to start on something very different this afternoon.

I water all my plants in the south-facing windows, giving them a bit of the liquid fertilizer Cody gave me.

He made it from his compost pile, which he spends way too much time fussing with.

You’d think he was in a relationship with that steaming pile with as much attention as he gives it.

I guess I can’t fault him, though. My indoor garden looks fantastic as a result.

Once the babies have their food, I make my breakfast and take a quick shower. I hear a frantic knock on the downstairs door when I’m hopping out.

I race down the stairs in my bare feet and a towel and swing open the door to see Zoe standing there looking sheepish in a pale yellow sleeveless dress that does something to my insides.

Her eyes take in my wet hair and then rake across my chest and down to the towel and bare feet, and I see a flush bloom across her cheeks as she brushes by me and steps inside the shop.

“Sorry, I…it’s just…I…Cole passed me on the road, and I didn’t want him to see me come in. He pulled in across the street at the diner.”

I see her bite her lip and try not to look me in the eye, and I can’t help but chuckle.

“What?” Her eyes dart to mine and away.

“You seem a little flustered, Zoe.”

“I told you, Cole is across the street.”

“Uh-huh. My truck is blocking the view of this door. It’s not likely he could see you. But come on up. I’m just getting ready.”

“I can see that.” She blushes again, and that’s when I notice she has two cups of coffee in a carrier. “I brought you this.”

“Thanks.” I follow her up the stairs. “Smells really good.” We reach the apartment, and I enter the bathroom while she settles into the dining table. “I thought you were spending the mornings at the diner before coming here? To keep up appearances.”

“I am. I did. I was there very early.”

“But these aren’t the to-go cups from the diner.”

“How would you know when Avery gives you mugs to hoard?”

I like that she’s comfortable enough to poke fun at me.

“I returned every mug yesterday afternoon. Have to start all over again.” I take a sip of the coffee, and it is damn good. Velvety and nutty. “So where’s the coffee from?”

“The bookstore.”

“Seems early for Mabel to be open.”

“She isn’t open. She let me in early.”

I walk across the hall to my bedroom but pause to study her. This woman has been living here all of four days and she already won over Mabel. It’s no surprise, they are both big-hearted people.

Zoe’s nose is in her laptop, and her low-top sneakers are kicked off. She seems comfortable here, and it makes me feel proud that I’m helping her. I can be more than a grease man and playboy—at least to one person in the world.

“Why’d she do that?” I step inside my room and drop my towel to get dressed.

I don’t hear a reply at first, and then when I do, it’s close.

“I met her yesterday and told her I’d come back for—oh! Oh my god!”

Zoe covers her eyes and runs back into the living room. She got an eye full of me standing at my dresser, buck naked and flying half-staff.

And that’s the thing. I was flying half-staff because she’s in my house, and this little domestic scene of us having a morning together did something to my brain.

I’ve never done mornings with a woman. It’s easy to leave before falling asleep. So, having Zoe in my living room with her coffee and her breezy cotton dress is doing a number on me.

I don’t know what to do about it. About her. For the first time, I feel at a loss around a woman.

“I’m so sorry,” she squeaks when I step out of my room in some jeans and a black t-shirt.

“S’alright. Nothing you haven’t seen before.”

“You were in your swim trunks before.”

“No, I mean, you’ve seen other guys before.”

She bites her lip and stares at the screen of her computer.

“Zoe, you’ve seen other guys before, right?”

“Yeah…yes. I have. But…”

“But what?”

“Nothing. Um, do you need some privacy?”

I pull out the chair across from her. “Privacy for what?”

“To finish getting ready. I just barged in on you and—” She reaches for her backpack, and I stand up and grab her wrist.

“You already saw me naked, so no. I don’t need privacy.

” I can feel her pulse hammering under the skin of her wrist and see a blush that has bloomed across her cheeks.

The asshole in me wants to kiss her pulse, breathe in her fresh vanilla scent, and make her blush all over.

The guy who’s trying to be good and noble lets her hand drop.

“Hey. No big deal. Plenty of people have seen me naked.”

She flinches, and I realize how bad that sounds. How it makes me sound like all the gossip is true. And it is. Maybe I should accept that fact and stop trying to be something I’m not. Sure would be a lot easier than keeping this damn promise to myself.

But when I’m near her, I know I can’t give up. Not if it means I might be good enough for her one day.