Page 13 of Wish I Might
He hadn’t changed.She didn’t know why she’d expected him to, but somehow it was a jolt to see him looking much the same as he had when she’d seen him two weeks ago, just before he’d left for his vacation.He was still tall, still had blond wavy hair and brown eyes and the double eyelashes she bitterly envied.He still had a dimple in his left cheek that winked when he was trying not to smile, and dug deep when he let himself.
That the dimple was covered in a layer of beard—that was new.
“You have a beard,” she blurted out.
“Yeah.”He lifted a hand to scratch at the dark gold pelt, those puppy-dog eyes twinkling with amusement.“I haven’t gotten around to shaving yet.”
“It looks good on you.”She spun the apple in her hand lightly, casually.So casually.“You going to keep it?”
“Probably not.”He dropped his hand to shove it in the pocket of the cutoff jeans he wore with a faded Chicago Cubs T-shirt.“It’s too hot for this much hair on my face.”
It’s not too hot for that much hair on my inner thighs, she mused, and with that wild thought circling, gave the apple another spin.But she forgot she was slightly drunk, tried to spin it too fast, and lost control.And while trying to snatch it back, slapped it out of the air and sent it flying right at Nash.
She squeaked, watching helplessly as it flew toward his face, then blinked when he snatched it out of the air a split second before it could smash into his nose.
“Nice catch,” she said admiringly.
“Thanks.You drunk?”
She held up a hand, her thumb and forefinger an inch apart.“Little bit.There were mimosas at brunch.”
He grinned, the dimple digging deep.“And how are the other musketeers?”
“They’re good.Chloe’s making jewelry now, in addition to working at The Wild Orchid.”
“Nice.”
“Gwen, too—the bar, not the jewelry.They said to say hi,” Bailey said, even though they hadn’t.
“Uh-huh,” Nash said, looking skeptical.While Chloe and Gwen had long since renounced their vow to kill him on sight, he was well aware that the end of his romantic relationship with Bailey had created bad blood with her friends.“You didn’t drive home, did you?”
She rolled her eyes.“No, Grandpa.Jesse dropped me off.”
“Jesse?”
“Chloe’s boyfriend.One of them.”
“Right.”Amusement replaced the concern in Nash’s eyes.“Where was the other one?”
“Driving Chloe and Gwen home.”
“You all had to be driven home?”He frowned.“I thought when you said you wouldn’t be here, you’d be at one of their places.”
“We were at The Mark.”
One tawny eyebrow rose, and he whistled.“Fancy.You land yourself a sugar daddy while I was out of the country?”
She snorted.“No.It’s a long story.”
“I bet.”He stood smiling at her, one hand in his pocket, the other still holding her apple.
“Are you getting settled in?”she blurted out.
“Mostly,” he replied.“Didn’t have to do much in the office except unpack my laptop.Thanks for letting me have that, by the way.”
“No problem.”She used the second bedroom on the main floor as a small library and occasional office, and apart from doing her monthly books, rarely ventured in there.She’d been more than happy to take a few hundred dollars more in rent in exchange for letting him have it for his work-from-home setup.
“Coming along in the bedroom,” he continued, and held out the apple.“Do you want this?”
