I sighed and shut the laptop before flicking off the TV. Why did the men in my life have to be so difficult?
***
The buzzer rang half an hour early. Considering I was running late and had just gotten out of the shower, I hoped it was my neighbor in 4D who’d forgotten her key again.
“Hello?”
“Morning, sweet pea.” His voice was extra gravelly through the intercom. My nipples perked up.
I looked down, and spoke to them. “What am I going to do with you guys? Haven’t we talked about this? You get your hopes up too fast, and then you’re sorely disappointed.” I pressed the intercom. “Fourth floor.” I buzzed the front door open.
A few minutes later, Hunter stepped off the elevator and sauntered down the hallway toward me. He had a natural, confident swagger that made even his damn walk sexy—not to mention he had his work boots on again today. Those things really did it for me for some odd reason. And since I was standing there doing nothing but holding the door open, I couldn’t help admiring the rest of the package. Unfortunately, that didn’t help my nipple situation any.
Hunter’s eyes dropped and took lingering note before his gaze returned to mine with a triumphant smile. I rolled my eyes and stepped aside for him to come in. Of course, he stopped in the doorway so we were toe to toe. Leaning down, he kissed my cheek and then leaned in—it seemed to be his thing, a few words that made the hair stand up on my neck after a superficially innocent kiss.
Only this time, he didn’t say a word. Instead, he took an audible, deep inhale and groaned out the exhale. I felt the rumble from it shoot down to my toes, making some interesting stops on its way.
Seriously? I was a puddle from a fucking sniff. I needed an extra thirty seconds to collect myself after he walked inside.
“You’re early.”
He held up a bag I hadn’t noticed. “I brought breakfast.”
I read the logo. “Jamba Juice?”
“Steel-cut oatmeal with bananas, shredded coconut, and brown sugar.”
My eyes widened. “That’s my favorite breakfast in the world.”
“I know. Bella told me.”
“You called my mother to ask her what I liked for breakfast?”
“No. She called me last night to invite me for dinner on Sunday, and I mentioned we were going to Izzy’s game. She might have suggested I pick up breakfast on my way and told me what you liked.”
I spoke under my breath. “Of course she did.”
Hunter smiled. “Come on, let’s eat before it gets cold.”
It would’ve been stupid to let a perfectly good breakfast go to waste as a form of protest against my mother and Hunter’s new-found friendship. So I sat down and dug into the awesomeness.
I hadn’t realized I’d been quiet for so long while I shoveled oatmeal into my mouth until I caught Hunter’s lip twitching while he watched me.
“What?”
“I take it you really do like this stuff?”
I spoke with a full mouth. “It’s better than sex.”
“Then you haven’t been fucked properly.”
Mid-swallow, I choked on the oatmeal, sputtering and gasping.
Hunter dropped his spoon and looked like he was about to dive across the table to deliver the Heimlich.
I put a hand up to stop him and spoke with strain. “I’m fine. Water.”
He grabbed a glass and filled it while I worked to catch my breath. My throat burned as I downed the water.
“You sure you’re okay?”
I patted my chest as everything finally made its way down the right pipe. “I’m fine.”
Hunter sat back down. “You shouldn’t try to talk while swallowing.”
“You shouldn’t say inappropriate things.”
“You started it. Answering the door with your nipples all perky, smelling so fucking good, talking about sex. I think you’re the one who’s inappropriate here.”
My eyes bulged. “You showed up half an hour early, so I’d just gotten out of the shower, and my nipples were still hard as a result. That smell you like so much? It’s called soap. And I wasn’t talking about sex. I made a statement that was a metaphor to describe how much I like the oatmeal.”
Hunter scooped a heaping spoonful of oatmeal from his container and spoke before shoveling it into his mouth. “The only thing I heard from that explanation was nipples and sex.”
***
“How was your date last night?” Hunter side-glanced at me before returning his eyes to the road. We were sitting in traffic on the bridge on our way upstate for the game.
“It was wonderful.”
He chuckled.
“What?”
“You’re a shit liar.”