Page 37 of Finding Hayes
It was a side of Hayes I didn’t know. A softer side.
I hurried down to the bathroom just in time to turn off the water, and I set my coffee on the ledge surrounding the large tub. I pulled off my jeans and sweater from yesterday before unstrapping my bra, because who in the world wants to sleep in a bra? I pushed my panties down my legs and glanced out the small window to see the snow falling once again.
This was exactly what I needed. I dipped my toe in the water and a loud shrieking yelp escaped, and I stumbled back.
My God. This man must have his hot water heater cranked up.
I leaned over to turn on the cold water just as a loud voice startled me from the doorway.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
I whipped around to see Hayes standing there gaping at me, and he wasn’t looking away.
“Oh, my gosh! What are you doing?” I covered my parts with my hands and reached for the only thing I could find, which was a small hand towel. I frantically tried to cover anything I could as he moved past me like this was no big deal. He opened the cabinet across from me and pulled out a towel and held it up, with a deviously sexy smirk on his face.
I quickly wrapped it around myself and glared at him. “Why are you so calm?”
“Because it’s my bathroom.” His lips turned up in the corners. “And I’ve seen you naked before, remember?”
“You are the one who doesn’t remember,” I said, my heart racing because he’d just seen every inch of me.
When was the last time I shaved?
My God, this was so bad.
I liked to prepare before someone saw me naked.
And especially before Hayes saw me naked.
“Well, I can promise you this, Shortcake. I will not forget it this time.”
“What are you even doing here?” I snarled, tightening the towel between my breasts. “I thought you left fifteen minutes ago.”
Why am I breathing so heavily?
He was fully clothed, but it was the way his eyes trailed up my legs as he took in every inch of me that had my body betraying me.
“I live here.” He pulled out another towel and set it on the counter.
“You could have knocked.”
“Why would I knock? The door wasn’t closed. I heard a shriek, and I thought your hungover ass fell down or something.”
“That’s because I thought you were long gone.”
“I came back in here to tell you that I drove your car around the block, and it’s running great. I can’t have my little woman driving an unsafe car,” he said, as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Thank you?” I said, sarcasm pouring from my almost naked body.
Why was he still in here?
“You’re welcome. I thought you were leaving. That’s why I started up your car.”
Damn it. His reasoning made complete sense.
Once again, I was the asshole. How was that possible?
I sighed. “The hot water heater isn’t working at Abe’s place, so I saw the tub, and I thought you were gone…”
