“Simon?” I twist the handle slowly, announcing my presence extra noisily. “Simon, I’m coming in?-“
The second the door swings open, my world tilts.
We knock into each other, and I stumble back slightly, my eyes going cartoonishly wide as the towel wrapped around his waist unceremoniously falls to the floor.
Time freezes.
My breath lodges in my throat as I struggle to process the scene in front of me:
Simon, completely naked, droplets of water clinging to his toned body, muscles defined in ways I didn’t even know were possible.
My heart pounds, heat rising to my face as I cover my mouth in shock.
Oh. My. God.
A startled squeak escapes me, and I whip around so fast I nearly drop the body wash. “I didn’t see anything,” I yelp, my voice high-pitched and panicked.
Great. I’ve just made it a hundred more times awkward.
Behind me, I hear a low chuckle. “Didn’t see anything? That can’t be true-I have a lot to see.” His voice is rich with amusement. “Besides, I’m your fiancé. I don’t mind you seeing me naked.”
My face burns hotter than the surface of the sun as I clutch the bottle of body wash tighter against my chest. For the record, I definitely didn’t mind, either, but my mouth has gotten me in enough trouble today.
Instead, I blurt out, “My iced tea is melting!”
Why???
Smooth as ever, I bolt out of the bathroom, escaping into the safety of my living room. My chest rises and falls rapidly as I try to regain some semblance of composure.
Why is my heart racing so fast? I press a hand to my chest and attempt to slow my breaths.
Calm down, Victoria. It’s not like you’ve never seen a naked man before.
I pause, realization hitting me like a semi truck.
No, I’ve actually never seen one like that.
Between the arm and pec muscles, the ripped abdomen that led down to that tantalizing V and… let’s just say he wasn’t lying about having a lot to see.
Before I can dwell on that thought or certain appendages, my phone rings and vibrates across the kitchen counter, startling me. I fumble to answer, my fingers trembling slightly as I hit the button to accept the video call.
“Hey, baby girl!” Mom’s enthusiasm stretches across the distance, her beaming face filling the screen. “I’ve told everyone I know, and now the whole town knows about your engagement. Your grandma is super excited about it.”
Craning my neck one way and then the other to stretch it, I head into the living room and perch on the edge of my ottoman, my feet in dire need of a break-hazards of working at a restaurant.
“By the way, when’s your flight?” Mom asks.
I open my mouth to respond, but she suddenly leans closer to the camera, her eyes and her mouth going wide. “Oh my. Wow, Victoria. Who is that?”
My brows knit together in confusion-until I realize she isn’t looking at me. She’s looking behind me.
I whirl around, both eager and afraid, already suspecting what I’ll see.
Simon is standing just a few feet behind me, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, beads of water still clinging to his bare torso. His beard is freshly shaved, his hair trimmed shorter, making him look almost unrecognizable.
He legitimately looks as if he stepped right out of the pages of a GQ magazine. Or perhaps the cover.
Effortlessly polished and utterly breathtaking, I’m absolutely floored. Inside my chest, my heart thumps harder than it has in a while as I openly gape at him. As I notice the bulge in the towel.
My phone slips from my fingers, clattering to the floor as I endeavor to form a coherent thought.
He’s so freaking hot, yet I’m the one on fire. Is this really the same homeless guy I picked up off the streets?
Mom’s voice echoes from the receiver, her face peering up from the floor. “Is that my son-in-law? Let me talk to him. Victoria, can you hear me?”
I snap out of my daze, scrambling to pick up my phone. “Sorry, Mom.” I pivot around, pointing the camera toward the wall of pictures.
My favorite’s the one in the middle, where I’m standing between my mom and grandma in her wheelchair, graduating from high school. “My flight’s…”
There’s a man wearing only a towel in my living room, and he looks like a statue of a Greek god. The chances of me conveying proper flight info with him standing a few feet away, steam literally still wafting off him, are slim to none.
“Mom, I’ll text you all the details a little later. We’ll talk when I’m back in Texas, okay? I’ve got to go.”
While she’s reluctant to agree, I flash her a wide smile, assure her everything’s good, and tell her I’ll see her soon. Then I hang up the phone and count to five.
When I finally lift my gaze, Simon is standing directly in front of me. The air in the room shifts, charged with promise and an emotion I’m unsure what to name. His hulking presence whooshes the air right out of my lungs, and I can’t help but backpedal a step.
I’ve never been smooth when it comes to flirting or romance or speaking to a guy this unspeakably hot. Something tells me I’m not about to start now.
Simon doesn’t move, though. He watches me intently, mischief twinkling in his emerald eyes. His smirk is subtle, but undeniably there.
My heart takes off on a high-speed chase and dizziness comes rushing in. And just like that, I realize I’m already in so much trouble.
Simon
Victoria is staring at me like she’s still trying to process everything that’s happened today, not that I blame her. A few days ago, she was engaged to someone else.
She’s been through an intense amount of change. From receiving the information about her grandmother’s health, to finding out Carl was cheating on her, and with her cousin, no less…
Now, she’s sitting across from me in her living room. And we’ll be getting married soon.
I’m wearing her pink robe that’s a little too tight in the shoulders, looking like a fuzzy, terry-cloth stuffed sausage. As for the length, I’ve only ever seen hemlines like this in Vegas.
I glance down at the robe, stretched wide enough to expose more than a peek at my chest, and run my hand down the front. “Who knew pink would suit me so well?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.