Page 104 of Learn Your Lesson

And I internally rolled my eyes at myself, because once again, I was drooling over this man’s feet.

“Ava asleep?” I guessed. She and Will were staying in the room right next to mine, and Chef in the room on the other side of that.

“She begged for a sleepover in Arushi’s room. Pretty sure they both knocked out before I even finished my shower,” Will confirmed. “I found us some champagne,” he said once I let the door shut behind us.

I walked toward the bathroom again while he flopped down in the swivel chair at the desk that was piled high with the random things I’d strewn out of my suitcase. My heart was beating in my ears as I tried to figure out this confusing man.

He’d set all these boundaries, all theserules… and yet today, we’d talked and talked. He’d found a way to make one of my childhood dreams come true, for fuck’s sake.

How was I supposed to figure him out?

“Us?” I asked as I unfastened my necklace and set it next to the earrings. “You don’t drink.”

“I don’t drinkoften,” he corrected. “But I’m in the presence of a princess. Feels like the perfect time to make an exception.”

I snorted on a smile, reaching behind me for the zipper of the dress. Except it was harder than I thought to grasp. The Fairy Godmothers had helped me dress, and therefore, I hadn’t realized I’d have to twist my arms and elbows in the most unnatural ways to try to reach the zipper at the top of my neck.

I strained a bit too hard in my attempt and winced, but managed to grab the zipper and pull it down a couple inches. When it reached the middle of my shoulder blades, I lost it again, and had to switch positions to reach for it from the bottom, instead.

“Jesus Christ,” Will muttered, standing and crossing the room in long strides. “Let me do that before you break yourself.”

“I’ve got it.”

“I’m not doubting you do, but it might be easier if you just let me.” He paused when his fingers found the zipper, his eyes on mine in the mirror as he arched one beautiful brow. “Unless you’re too independent to accept help from a measly man?”

I elbowed him, which earned me a grunt that almost sounded like a laugh.

The moment he slid the zipper down my spine, though, all humor left me in a little gasp. I sucked in air and held itlike my last breath as his warm knuckles skated from my shoulders all the way down to my hips. That zipper didn’t need to move as slowly as he dragged it, but he seemed to be in no rush, seemed to be savoring every centimeter of that trail.

When I looked at him in the mirror, it was in time to watch his throat constrict.

And then he released me.

“There,” he said. “Wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“I think my feminist card has been revoked, actually.”

Will shook his head, and then surprised me with a playful slap of my ass that made me yelp and drop my jaw in his direction. He just smirked and leaned around me, plucking the plastic-wrapped bathroom cups from where they sat by the mirror before he turned and made his way back toward the desk.

He popped the bottle of champagne while I dug through my suitcase for the t-shirt and panties I’d brought to sleep in. For a split second, I felt a little embarrassed at the thought of changing with him in the room, of parading about in just my underwear with him here.

But then I remembered he’d had me naked, on my knees, and making me prove to him how wet I was less than a week ago — and any embarrassment left me like the air from a quickly deflating balloon.

“You were great with her today,” Will said as he carefully poured the two cups of champagne. It fizzed like crazy, so he alternated between the two in slow tilts of the bottle. “Ava.”

I shimmied out of the dress, carefully hanging it in my closet like the priceless gem it was before I stripped out of the panties and bra I’d worn all day. Deciding it would bedisgusting to sleep like this, I turned on the water for the shower and stepped in.

I noted the way Will’s back tensed a bit when he heard the sound, but he didn’t turn around.

“Do you want me to leave and let you get changed?” he asked.

“Like you haven’t seen me naked,” I shot back, and then I stepped into the shower. “Just taking a quick one. Anyway, what do you meanIwas good with her?” I asked, speaking loud over the water. “Did you not see the way she looked at you all day? I think you just secured father of the year.”

Will didn’t answer — or if he did, I didn’t hear him. I quickly washed my body and my hair before climbing out of the shower and toweling off. I’d left my t-shirt and panties on the bathroom counter, and I slipped them on with a sigh before making my way to where Will sat at the desk.

He was watching me with his jaw tight, the little muscle in his cheek flexing as I strode over to him and snatched the cup of champagne his hand wasn’t nearly folding in two with its vise grip.

“Thank you for this,” I said, tilting it to my lips. The bubbles were light and refreshing, and combined with how I felt after a hot shower, I couldn’t help but hum my delight.