I was relishing his lighthearted side. When I had seen him in the bar a couple of months ago for the first time, I had thought he was a hard ass. I had automatically put him in the category of douchebag, and assumed he was in town for other reasons. Those other reasons couldn’t have been further from the truth. He’d had no idea what I’d gone through. He’d wanted to save me from it. He’d threatened to kill whoever it was that did it to me. And the scary reality is… I think he really would. But if he found out it was Adam, would he still choose me? Would a lifelong friendship beat out possible feelings with me… a girl that he hasn’t yet figured out if anything is going on between us? I don’t know why, but I find that even scarier than the possibility of seeing Adam again.
It didn’t take long to realize that I’d become attached to Timber. I looked forward to being with him. I liked the way he made me feel. When had I crossed the line of liking him to something deeper? I didn’t know if I loved him, but if there’s an in-between, that’s where I was at.
There was a knock on the door. “Hurry your cute ass up. You’re going to take all the hot water.”
I giggled and busied myself with washing off the residual soap. “I’m going, I’m going.”
I heard him laugh. When I got out and toweled off, I slipped on one of his long t-shirts and a pair of boxers, which was quickly becoming my wardrobe while I stayed here. Timber liked seeing me in his clothes and who was I to not oblige him? Walking out of the bathroom, steam poured out behind me.
“Jesus, woman. How can such a small person that barely has any mass to wash take so much time getting clean?” He seemed thoroughly amused as his eyes traveled the length of my legs. When he looked at me like this, it felt like more than him watching me. It felt like his fingertips were skimming up my body. When his gaze met mine, he winked at me, indicating that he knew the reaction he was getting out of me.
He passed by me, brushing his body along mine. My nipples pebbled from his brief touch, and I could have sworn I heard him groan. “Cocky bastard,” I grumbled as I walked into the kitchen. He chuckled and closed the bathroom door.
A short time later, he and I were sitting at his two person table, chowing down on spaghetti, which was what he’d offered me the first time he asked me to come over. I teased him because he’d twirl as many noodles as he could onto his fork before bringing it to his mouth. I’d never seen someone put away such a big bite and still be able to chew. When he noticed me staring at him, he stopped eating and said, “wha?” around a mouthful of food. He couldn’t even say the whole word without some of his pasta slipping out.
“We have all the time in the world, Timber. You don’t have to shovel it in like it’s your last meal.” I curled my lip at him as he stuffed another forkful in.
He chewed, and took a long drink of his water. “It’s damn good spaghetti, what can I say? Besides… maybe I’m anxious to get to dessert.”
I was about to say I didn’t make any dessert, but then I caught his heated glance. My cheeks flushed as I understood what he was referring to. Warmth flooded my lower half and I squirmed in my chair. After the beach earlier, I hadn’t realized that my body was still humming with need. Nope. It seemed that it had just put itself on pause, waiting for Timber to hit play and pick up where we left off.
I cleared my throat and tried to change the subject. He wasn’t oblivious to my avoidance but he let me have this one. “So what are we going to do for the Fourth of July? It’s the only time besides Christmas when Ed closes the bar. Crazy old man has a thing for fireworks. Pretty sure it’s because Rose loved them so much.”
“Well, it’s funny that you ask, because I have a proposition for you.” He was leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head. It caused his shirt to ride up and I could see a sliver of skin. It was golden from the sun and all I could think about was licking it. He cleared his throat and brought my attention back up to his bright blue eyes. They looked positively mischievous as he smirked at me. “Focus Kat, I’m about to ask you a question and I’m not sure how you’re going to respond.”
For the millionth time today I was certain I was blushing. “I was listening.”
“No you weren’t, but that’s okay. I like it when you look at me like that. You can touch whatever part of me you want later. But for now, I want to ask you a question. What would you say to coming with me to my dad’s place? He lives in Houston and I haven’t seen him in a few months. He texted me while you were in the shower and said he’d like me to come up for a BBQ and stay for the weekend.” He paused, as though he were gauging my reaction. “I told him it would depend on you.”