Page 10 of Goldie's Grumpy Grizzly
And is there anything sexier than a man doing chores without being asked?
“A girl could get used to this, you know,” I quip as my gaze slips down to his tapered waist and totally pinchable ass.
Pressing my lips together to keep from giggling at the thought of unruffling the sexy grump a bit, I reach up to the cabinet and retrieve a coffee mug to keep my hands busy.
He glances at me over his shoulder. “Used to what?”
“Finding a man hard at work in her kitchen.”
“It’s my kitchen,” he grumbles, nostrils flaring. “That’s my robe you’re wearing, by the way. And my towel wrapped around your hair.”
I smile at his back as he sniffs the air.
“Did you use my toiletries?”
“I used the amenities,” I correct teasingly. I don’t know why I have the urge to touch and tease him. Maybe it’s because he’s so prickly and snarly, and well… fascinating. Because if I’d ever pictured Bruno as a real-life man, Cole would one hundred percent be him.
Maybe I can get Janelle to cast him, or someone who looks like him, as Bruno in the TV adaptation.
I sneak another peek at his ass. High. Curved. Solid.
Good lord, would every part of him look so strong and muscled?
My cheeks redden when he shuts the water off and turns. I glance up to find him looking at me expectantly. Judging by the withering, impatient look on his face, I must’ve missed him saying something, but I’m too distracted by his intense gaze and big body.
“What was that?” I ask, blinking, still unable to stop checking him out.
He’s just so damn big. With striking facial features, dark, longish hair streaked through with sun-kissed highlights brushing against his bulky shoulders. The buttons on his flannel shirt look like they’ll pop open if he makes any sudden moves. As I stand there wondering if he’s got any chest hair or if his happy trail has any of the golden highlights that he sports on top, my gaze wanders south. A sizeable bulge presses against one leg of his jeans, and my heart rate speeds up while my mouth runs dry.
Oh shit. He’s big. Like big, big.
“Tea or coffee?” He snatches away the mug that was dangling dangerously from my slackened fingertips and points at the gleaming, fancy silver monstrosity taking up a chunk of counter space.
Something hot and hungry whirls in my belly as I swallow hard and jerk my head up, rattled. Refocusing on his handsome, frowny face does nothing to quell the desire pooling inside me.
“Coffee, please.”
He glances back at me as I set up my laptop and load my work-in-progress. I should work. Need to funnel all this excess energy into something productive.
“How do you like it?”
“I like my coffee like I like my men,” I answer absently, stabbing the power button on my laptop and shrugging out of his robe so I’m standing in my Bear Shifters Do It Better shirt and shorts. “Strong. Sweet. With a healthy squirt of cream.”
Oh my God.
Cole fumbles the portafilter and nearly spills all the ground beans. He saves it at the last second and shoves a mug in place before growling, “Get a lot of suitors, then, huh? Men. Plural.”
I laugh.
“Nope. Not at all. Never had one, actually, unless you count the fictional ones I dream up.” I watch curiously as the stiffness leaves his hunched shoulders and he looks inordinately pleased to hear this. His mouth tips up half an inch and my heart thuds. How devastating would it be if he turned the full force of his smile on me?
Pretty sure my clothes would just spontaneously melt off my overheated body as I sprawl out on the kitchen table, begging for—
“Here you go.” He puts the steaming mug down in front of me and I reach for it. Before I can touch the mug, our fingers brush against one another for a second, and a thrill ripples through my body.
He must sense it too because he freezes. Only his gaze lifts to mine, and the feeling I’d had when we’d first laid eyes on each other rises up in me.
Like I’m being seen.
