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“Better,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“Better that you’re dressed,” he replied. “Can’t have you walking around the hotel hallways in the nude. I mean, I’m sure a lot of the staff would appreciate it, but—”
“What are you talking about?” I snapped. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Matt ran a thumb over his stubbly jaw. “I see. Do you want to share the bed or sleep on the sofa?”
“I don’t know if you think you’re being funny, but I gotta tell you if you are, you have one sick sense of humor because I’m not laughing.” I took a deep breath and steadied my breathing, trying to ignore the fact that I’d been thinking about him moments before. It was almost like I’d summoned him with my mind. Made sense, since he was a sex demon. Demons can be conjured up by thoughts, right?
“You’re in my room,” he said, clipping the words off.
“There must have been some type of mix-up.”
“You think?”
“Yes, because this is MY room,” I said emphasizing the ‘my’.
“Incorrect.” He produced a key card from his pocket. “Room 302. Unless there are two room 302s in this hotel.”
“Or we’ve entered a parallel universe where all my worst nightmares come true.”
Matt’s expression remained somber, but his eyes sparkled. He’d changed. Grown even harder somehow, if that was possible. He’d been so detached when we were younger, but after what had happened to him, how could I blame him?
I don’t blame him for that. Just for everything else.
“There’s obviously been a mix-up,” he said, after a beat.
“Yeah. So, I’ll call the front desk, and they can find you another room.”
“Me,” he said, once again, dry humor clinging to his lips.
“Yes, you. I was here first.”
“I didn’t realize that ‘dibs’ was a thing when it came to hotel rooms.”
“Well, given that they’re first come, first serve, I’d say so,” I replied, tapping the heel of my bare foot on the carpeting. Oof, don’t think bare. Bare naked. Nude. Two bodies intertwined, sweating and heaving and moaning and…
“You are looking flush. You okay there? Is anything making you uncomfortable?” he asked.
“I am not! I’m completely fine. I really don’t have any clue what you are talking about.” Sure, so I was trying to play it cool. I could not dare let him know he was getting to me. I’m a grown independent woman now, not some lovesick teenager.
“Right,” he said, drawing the word out. He swaggered forward, carrying strength and power in every step. He stopped a foot away. Good thing too—I didn’t want to have to step back and give him the victory of knowing how rattled I was.
Except that I knew. I was rattled. Big time. He had gotten to me.
How was it possible he could still be this handsome? And this infuriating.
That was the problem with Matt. It didn’t matter what I did or said, the man turned my brain into mush.
Breathe, woman, you’re fine. It’s just some guy from the past. It’s really no big deal.
Matt took another step, and I was reminded of how silent I’d been the past few seconds. Had I been staring at him? Had he seen me staring at him?
My cheeks grew hotter.
A couple inches separated us now. Not enough distance. The warmth from his body, radiating from that tan, tatted skin, bathed me. He captured me with a stare, a slight twitching of his lips doing worse.
“What?” I asked.
He inhaled, and I tried not to do the same, but his cologne invaded my space as thoroughly as he had. Lemony and sharp, but mellowed out by an earthiness. Maybe that was just the way his skin smelled.
I’d forgotten—thank god for that.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
My breath hitched in my throat. Don’t buy it. He’s just trying to… but I couldn’t fathom what he might be trying to do. He had left me after we’d been together. He was the one who had walked out after we’d done the no-pants dance. Sexy way of putting it, Summer.
“You don’t have anything to say?” A smile parted his lips, and his entire face changed from serious to the guy I’d known back in high school before everything had changed. “Or is it possible that I’ve struck you speechless?”
“Please, you’d have to be divine to do that,” I said.
“You’re saying I don’t look good?”
It shouldn’t have been possible to get any hotter right now, but I did. “No, I was saying that it would take some type of god to—”
“I know, Summer,” he said and lifted his hand, tucking my hair behind my ear.
I was frozen on the spot.
This was bullshit. All I’d wanted was to make it through this wedding, get the money I’d need to attend the school I’d never been able to afford, and avoid seeing him at all costs. Was that so much to ask?
“What are we going to do about this?” he asked, his breath brushing my cheek. Minty fresh.
