“Oh, please. What other twenty-three-year-old woman do you know who is a virgin?”
“None, but I’m not going to complain that you are. The thought of another man touching you makes me wanna f**k something up.” My grip around her hips tightens slightly.
“You’re scaring me.”
“Don’t be scared.” I pull her face towards me and then tilt it down so I can kiss her forehead. “Now go pack a bag.”
“Geez, you’re bossy,” she grumbles, getting off my lap.
I sit in the living room, waiting on her for a while. I’m not really sure how long it’s been, because I start to doze, and my eyes are closed when I hear her enter. I open one eye to see her standing across the room, watching me.
“You ready?”
“Yeah,” she says, walking into the kitchen to grab her keys and purse off the counter. We head out the front door. “I’m going to follow you in my car so I’ll have it there in the morning when I go to work.”
“That’s fine. Now let’s go. I’m ready for bed.”
“I’m not sleeping with you,” she says from beside me as I tug her keys out of her hand and lock the door.
“Not yet, sweet Sophie,” I tell her, leading her to her car and not saying anything else about it. I make sure she’s in before I make my way across the street to my own.
Once we pull up to my house, I pull into the right side of my driveway so she can fit her car next to mine. I hop out, meeting her at the front of her car, where I take her bag from her and then put my hand on her lower back to guide her up to the front porch.
“This is your house?” she asks in awe.
“Yeah,” I tell her, trying to see what she sees.
I live in a 2,2,000-square-foot two-story brick townhouse with a two-car garage at the end of a cul-de-sac. My brothers hate where I live, preferring to have lots of land, but for me, I don’t need all that. I like having neighbors and a sense of community.
“It’s really nice.”
“Thanks,” I say, opening the door, and immediately, Daisy starts jumping around at our feet.
“Oh my God!” Sophie squeals as she bends down, plucking Daisy, who is all too happy to have someone to lick and pay attention to her, off the floor.
I set Sophie’s bag down on the couch before walking into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge. “You want something to drink?” I ask, watching her as her eyes move around the house to take everything in.
“No, thanks. I’m just ready for bed.” She yawns, and Daisy takes the opportunity to lick into her mouth. “Ewww.” She laughs, kissing Daisy’s head before setting her on the ground.
“You finally see me, huh?” I ask, scooping up my dog. I pet her for a minute before grabbing her a treat and setting her down again. “I’ll show you to your room if you’re ready to sleep.”
“Yes, please. I’m exhausted.” She yawns again, covering her mouth.
I walk to the couch, getting her bag before heading to one of my spare bedrooms. I want her to sleep in my room, but I know without even trying that it would be pushing it. “I’m right across the hall if you need me.”
“Thanks,” she says, looking around, seeming a little unsure of herself.
“This is the bathroom,” I tell her, tapping my knuckles on one of the doors. I go to the closet to get down an extra blanket and set it on the bed. Daisy runs in excitedly and jumps up on the bed, looking between us for a second before curling up and lying down. “I don’t think so, girl.” I pick her up, bringing her to my chest.
“She can stay in here with me if she wants,” Sophie says, looking at Daisy with a small smile.
I unconsciously give the pup a peck on top of her head, eliciting wet licks under my chin when I look up and ask, “You sure?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind,” she says, looking at me with soft eyes.
I set Daisy back on the bed, and then pull Sophie into me. “Remember, I’m across the hall if you need me.”
“I remember,” she whispers.
“All right, baby. Get some sleep.” I bend down, kissing her forehead and then her mouth before heading out of the room.
I walk across the hall, take off my clothes, and get into bed. I lie there, hands under my pillow, looking at the ceiling, thinking about my life and what I do for a living, and wondering how that could affect the girl across the hall. It takes a while for sleep to take me even though I am completely exhausted, but when it does, I dream about a brown-eyed girl.
What I didn’t know was that, for the first time ever, the girl across the hall felt something other than fear when she went to sleep.
Chapter 5
Sophie
“Hey, you need to wake up.”
The voice close to my ear makes me scream out, and I roll away and sit up, looking around and not recognizing where I am. Then my eyes land on Nico, and last night comes back to me. I flop back down on the bed and cover my face with my hands while trying to get my heart back under control.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, but your alarm has been going off for the last twenty minutes.”
I uncover my face, look over at Nico, and inhale deeply. He’s only wearing a pair of loose basketball shorts. His whole body is perfect—from his defined arms, the expanse of his wide chest, his abs, and the deep V leading into his shorts.
“You were working out?” I ask like an idiot, seeing sweat covering his entire torso.