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Knowing Neo, he was likely out for a run. I hadn’t even heard him leave. Taking advantage, I got up and was about to shower when a card on the end table caught my eye.Open me, was written on the front of it. So I did.
A note from Neo.
Massage at 8:30, will be back soon.
Massage at 8:30? He’d booked me a massage? Of course he had. Neo was one of the most thoughtful people I knew. One mention of the fact that I loved them, and boom. I hadn’t been hinting at all, but I couldn’t say the idea didn’t excite me. It had been forever since I’d gotten a massage, and this spa was supposed to be incredible.
As I got dressed and brushed my teeth, forgoing a shower to make it to my massage on time, I thought about last night. After the near heart attack I had when Neo walked out in a towel, I’d actually really enjoyed chilling with him. It had always been so easy with Neo. Granted, he never took things very seriously. I thought it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy, Min and his brothers always teasing him about being the carefree baby of the family, making it so he acted like one sometimes. But yesterday, I saw another side of him. And it was nice.
That look he gave me, though. Not what I’d callnice, exactly. Unless I was losing my mind, it had been the opposite. Naughty, actually. As if the memory I shared had stirred something in him. In the past if there had been a significant glance, I’d always thought I imagined it. That I’d wanted it so much, I envisioned something that wasn’t there.
But I didn’t think I’d imagined things last night. I had lain awake recreating the way Neo had stared at me, as I listened to him breathing. Before we’d fallen asleep, we had talked some more, his soft, hushed tone like a lover’s. Somehow, I’d fallen asleep. I still wasn’t sure how I’d managed that with him not ten feet from me.
“Thayle?”
My heart jumped. I finished dressing quickly and joined Neo in the room. He’d gone for a run, as I’d suspected.
“You got my note?” He handed me a cup of coffee.
“I did. A massage?”
“Yep.” He grinned. “I’m going to try it out too.”
“You’re getting a massage?”
I took a sip of coffee. Delicious. Exactly how I liked it. “I am. Figured why not. You almost ready?”
This morning, there was no hint of attraction. Just the same old Neo, the one who would turn women’s heads not because of his cocky good looks, like Marco, or sexy coolness of Cosimo, but because he was a unicorn. The hot brother who also knew how to relate to people, who smiled at everyone and made them laugh. The one who sucked people into his orbit not because he tried, but because they simply couldn’t resist gravitating toward him.
“All set. I didn’t do makeup or a shower—figured I’d grab one afterward. Do we have time?”
“Plenty.” He walked toward the door, opened it, and then as casual as could be, “You don’t need makeup anyway.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
We crossed the courtyard toward the spa. It was in the main building but had its own entrance, which we’d seen yesterday sitting out here.
When we arrived, Neo opened the door. “Good. I meant it as one.”
He didn’t crack a smile or give me any sort of a suggestive look. But as I brushed by him, Neo’s shoulders looking mighty fine in a sleeveless shirt, there was still, I don’t know...something. I couldn’t explain it, but the energy between us had shifted.
Neo had complimented me in the past. So why did this feel different?
“Holy shit,” I said as we entered.
It was by far the nicest spa I’d ever seen. We were welcomed and given a tour, and now I was especially glad Neo had been so thoughtful. The relaxation room was incredible. A fountain in the middle of a huge room wasn’t even the most striking feature. The ceiling was painted like a night sky, the music subtly French and relaxing. Only a handful of people lounged around in towels, and I simply stood there, mesmerized.
“You’re welcome to use this room before and after your treatment. Let me show you the lockers,” said the woman who simply would not stop staring at Neo, leading us away.
I was used to that reaction. Growing up with the Grado brothers, it had been par for the course. Usually, I didn’t think twice about it, even when Neo looked back. He was a fun, flirty guy. Most often, nothing came of it. Though when it did...
I wouldn’t think of Neo’s hookups, or girlfriends, now. Talk about a mood killer.
“The women’s locker room is here,” she said, leaving me. “I’ll show you the men’s.”
I bet she would.
Neo left with her, and I tried to pretend she didn’t have perfect skin and perfect hair and wouldn’t attack Neo the second they were alone. Hell, I would, if he’d let me.
