Page 45

Forty-Five

SUNNY

Using my fingers, I blend the two paints together on the canvas to create a one-of-a-kind color.

It isn’t until I’m done that I realize the luscious forest color reminds me of something other than the pine trees I’ve used as a filler for the background.

Damn Rhodes and his flirty green eyes.

I can’t get them out of my head.

Frustration backs every swipe of my paintbrush.

My pulse speeds with each thought circling. There’s something about his presence that gets me all twisted on the inside.

I grab my phone and swipe his name away.

Instead, I text Ruby.

Me: I’m dead serious when I say this…but I think my body is trying to make up for my abstinence.

My finger hovers over Rhodes’s name in my messages.

I did the same thing last night.

I debated texting him until I convinced myself that it was okay to message him because it was about Ellie. Plus, it was a lot easier to do so with him in a different state. Tonight, though, he’s just a few rooms away. It’s much riskier.

My phone vibrates, and I nearly drop it.

I roll my eyes after reading Ruby’s message.

Ruby: HAHAHAHAHA

Me: Unhelpful.

Ruby: Go get some d, bestie. You deserve it.

I snort.

If only she knew I was semi-fooling around with the father of the girl I’m nannying that she begged me to move to Chicago for.

Before things turned sour, Ruby might have been more on board with the idea. She has always been the wild one of our duo. But after watching what I went through, I’m not so sure she’d be encouraging this.

I need a true fuck buddy. Someone I can turn to when I need to release some sexual tension, and then we go our separate ways.

It can’t be like that with Rhodes, despite his promise of keeping things physical.

I have to be around him all the time.

We live in the same house!

It’s fine.

I shush my subconscious.

It is not fine.

In an attempt to calm my racing thoughts, I get ready for bed.

Teeth brushed, hair pulled into a high pony, sleep shorts on.

But after tossing and turning for what feels like hours, I shove the blankets away and go back to painting another tree.

Sure enough, it’s the same shade of green as before, which is impressive since I made the color on a whim. It’s scarily similar to the color of Rhodes’s eyes.

My teeth sink into my lower lip.

I wonder what he’s doing.

Watching a hockey game downstairs?

Sleeping?

I stare at my cracked door. Butterflies fill my stomach when I think about him in his room, thinking about me.

Water.

I need water.

Creeping out of my bedroom on bare feet, I stare over the ledge of the banister.

He isn’t down there. There’s no faint sound of a hockey game or flickering lights, so I quickly pad on quiet feet and slink down the stairs one by one until I’m gulping cold water in the kitchen.

My nipples perk from the cool wintery air seeping underneath the back door.

Their alertness has nothing to do with my memory of the last time I came downstairs for water.

After placing the cup in the sink, I tell myself to go right back to my room.

Except, there is something pulling my attention to his bedroom door as soon as I take the last stair.

With each step down the hallway, my body grows warmer.

I pause outside his room.

What the hell am I doing?

A voice distantly fills my head as I stare at the closed door.

No one will believe you, Allison. I’ll just tell them that you came onto me and then wanted to turn it around so you’d get money out of me. You’re a slut, Ally.

His threat is a bitter reminder of who’s in charge, day in and day out. Would anyone even believe me if I spilled the truth? Ruby believed me, of course. And my boss. But the league? The world? Rhodes?

Just go back to your room, Sunny.

My shoulders fall, and I force myself to head in the direction I came. I hate that I’m allowing someone who doesn’t deserve any part of me to control my actions again, but?—

“Sunshine.”

My soft gasp fills the quiet hallway. I press a hand to the wall and stare at the very half-naked, dark figure standing mere feet in front of me.

“Rh–Rhodes,” I stutter. “What are you doing here?”

He gets closer, and I run hot.

“What am I doing here?” Shadows move over the dips and valleys of his bare chest. “Well, I live here…”

I clear my throat but talk quietly with Ellie sleeping a few rooms down. “I mean…”

“What are you doing lingering right outside my door?”

“Nothing.”

I said that too quickly.

His raspy chuckle zips down my spine.

I think fast on my feet. “I was…coming to see if I could borrow some toothpaste.”

Great save —never mind the toothpaste taste in my mouth already.

“Oh?”

Why does his voice have to be so…attractive?

“And I wasn’t lingering.”

I so was.

Was he watching me? God, he probably was. For how long? Long enough to see me argue with myself, I’m sure.

“I’m beginning to think you enjoy lying to me.” He casually leans his bare shoulder against the wall. The closer he gets, the more I can see: shirtless, too many abs to count without staring, and low-hanging black sweats.

He’s quite possibly the hottest man I have ever seen.

My mouth runs dry, but in between my legs is anything but.

“I’m not lying.” I glance away.

“Toothpaste, was it? That’s what you needed?”

“Mm-hmm.” I nod quickly, still keeping my attention far away from his.

Rhodes has been around me too much. He’s beginning to see right through me. I don’t trust that he won’t spot my lies the second our gazes crash.

He pushes off the wall, and I let out a shaky breath.

“Okay, follow me.”

He believes me. Whew.

I turn and follow behind him. We walk into his dark room, and it takes everything in me not to glance at the bed. The moon shines brightly through the far window, but I keep my back to it and walk over to his bathroom to wait.

The light flicks on, and my heart races. All I can think about is him being naked in here.

He calls over his shoulder as he rummages for the toothpaste I most definitely don’t need. “Ellie told me she had fun at the studio yesterday.”

I nod while staring at the muscles rippling on his back. Wow.

“Oh, yeah? Good. I had fun too.”

“She wants me to go next time.”

A small smile creeps onto my face. “I’d honestly pay money to watch you spin pottery.” I giggle, and he grimaces at me over his shoulder.

“You don’t think I could do it?”

I shrug. “It’s a lot harder than it looks.”

He’s definitely going to make it a point to go now. I already see the challenge brewing.

“I’m good with my hands,” he says, walking toward me with a tube of toothpaste in his hand. “Something you already know.”

His eyes dart to my mouth, and I’m suddenly winded.

“Here’s your toothpaste, Sunshine.”

I reach forward. “Thank y?—”

A squeal rushes from the pit of my stomach. I’m suddenly flush with Rhodes, and he inhales deeply before pulling back, keeping a hold on my wrist. “You did lie.”

My eyes grow wide.

“Minty.” He leans closer. “Fresh.” He sniffs the air. “Breath.”

Oh no.

“Want to tell me what you’re actually doing here, Ms. Edwards?”

My breaths are choppy, and the room spins.

His throaty chuckle brushes against my neck. “Don’t be shy. Just tell me what you want.”

He pulls back and stares into my eyes while keeping a gentle grip on me, one arm around the small of my back, the other holding my wrist hostage. There’s a flirty glint in his eye, but the flickering of his jaw tells me that he’s just as hungry as I am.

“I don’t want you to think I’m a slut.” I wince when the word leaves my mouth. “This isn’t something I do, and with your past experience…”

Shock moves across his features. A line digs in between his eyebrows, and the vivid green color of his eyes darkens.

“That’s the last thing I’d think of you.” He sighs. “I touched you, and it did something to both of us.” His pupils dilate as he gives me a once-over. “Might as well get it out of our systems before one of us snaps.”

I relax into him, and his eyes flare.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” I state, letting him back me out of his bathroom.

He shakes his head and pushes me to sit on his bed. “Of course it doesn’t.”

“And we tell no one.” My legs spread slightly with the gentle push of his hands on the insides of my knees.

“Not a fucking soul,” he mutters, leaning over me. “I’d never live it down.”

Neither would I.

The soft glow of the moon is the only thing separating us.

Rhodes draws his lower lip into his mouth, and he stares at me from above.

I’ve never felt more desired in my entire life.

“You remember your safe word?” His voice is raspy and tight.

I peer up at him. “Dah.”

His mouth curves with my Russian.

My heart flies so fast it may take flight.

“Relax, Sunshine. I’ve got you.”