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He looks down, at my chest, rising with each breath. At my pebbled nipples. He blinks slowly, dragging his eyes away.
“I mean, it wouldn’t matter if I was, right? That’s not breaking our agreement, is it?” Why don’t I ever shut up?
He swallows.Hard. “Pad thai,” he says. “Martin made it.”
“Great.” I look at the vibrator still clutched in my hand. “I love his pad thai.”
“I know.” He runs his thumb over his jaw, like he’s trying to work out what just happened. “I’ll see you in five.” He turns on his heels and strides out of the door.
I stare after him, my cheeks flushing. Then I throw the vibrator on my bed.
Could this day get any worse? I guess I’m about to find out.
twelve
WEST
Eden walks into the kitchen five minutes later, barely able to look me in the eye. To be fair, I’m not sure I could return her gaze even if I wanted to.
Every time I close my eyes I picture her hands around that vibrator. And yeah, I imagine it’s my cock.
I need to get laid. Or take a very cold shower.
“Wine?” I ask her, determined to make this a pleasant evening after my talk with Parker. Despite the thickness in the air between us.
“Water please,” she says, sitting down on one of the thick leather chairs. “Can I help?”
“I’ve got it.” I pass her a glass of water, then lay out the plates with the pad thai for us both.
“Tofu for you, shrimp for me,” I tell her.
“You remembered.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. God, they’re pretty lips. Soft too. Jesus, man, concentrate.
“That you’re a vegetarian? Of course.”
“Thank you.” She actually smiles at me. It hits me in the chest. Just what an ass I’ve been. How I’m the one who made this whole situation more difficult for us both.
“You’re welcome.”
“And there was me thinking you keep your heart in a climate controlled vault,” she says. Yep, she’s thawing. And I like it way too much.
“I only keep it there on Thursdays.”
“And the other days?” she asks, like she’s delighted I’m being an idiot with her.
“On other days I go full asshole.”
She grins and it hits me like a sucker punch.
I pick up my chopsticks and lift the noodles. “I arranged something for you in the morning,” I tell her. “You’ll get the full resort induction experience. Thought you might want to see what I’ve got planned before you decide I’m the devil.”
She blinks, surprised. “I get to come to work with you tomorrow?”
I nod. “Yeah. I offered you a job after all.”
“I think we both know that it’s not a real job,” she says.
I look her dead in the eye. “I’ll listen to any suggestions you have. I can’t make any promises. We have a tight budget and schedule. But I like this place and I want to treat the land as carefully as I can.”
