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Turning on the tap, she closed her eyes and cleaned off her face Once that was done, she squatted to see if there would be a ain, her prayers were answered, and a fewclean All that reer combed with a little water

She looked at herself in the rimaced at the way her fresh-faced look clashed with her leather dress What she wouldn’t give to be able to change into jeans and a T-shirt right now

And, oh, what she really wouldn’t give to be able to sneak out of the bathrooain

Her heart was beating way too fast by the time she stepped out of the bathroom She tiptoed out into the hall until she could see the couch if she craned her neck But it was empty

Ten seconds later, she found him in the kitchen His back was to her and frouessed that he was grinding coffee beans

She didn’t want to sneak up on him, but there really was no way to announce her presence apart fro to do Moving slowly toward hiht before in the club, she waited on the other side of the kitchen island for hi to look as good this ht? From the back, his clothes barely looked worn, and his dark hair certainly wasn’t sticking up all over the place like hers had been

He finished grinding the beans and turned to her, looking as if he’d known all along that she was there He looked evenwith a dark layer of stubble across his jaw

"See to smile, but she was so nervous her lips felt all wobbly "Thanks," she finally got out "Coffee would be great"

His eyes held hers for a long"I turned the heat up a bit, but I thought you ht be cold for a while" He lifted a sweatshirt frorabbed it before he could finish his sentence It was as if he’d heard her silent prayer to cover up her skimpy dress A few seconds later, she looked down at herself in the ridiculously big sweatshirt The bottom of it went past her kneecaps and there no point in even trying to roll up the sleeves, they were so long

"I’ll find you so the excess fabric up her arms, she shook her head and finally found her smile "No It’s perfect Thank you"

She couldn’t read his expression as he stared back at her, but finally he nodded "You’re welcome"

As he moved back to the expensive coffee ranite countertop, she couldn’t stop thinking hoeet it was of hi cold, rather than taking the opportunity to stare at her chest in the ridiculous leather dress

Knowing she needed to get her brain to focus on soeous and sweet Marcus was, she turned away from him and ht

It was nice Really, really nice Although, she quickly noted, there was nothing all that personal about it either, almost as if it were just an extended version of one of her fancy hotel roo it all in, because he said, "My brother owns the house"

She could feel a flush h voice It was a voice at odds with his polished clothes and the fact that he was clearly a successful businessiven the way her body was responding to a few simple words

The dark shadow on his jaw should have seemed out of place, too, but, soertips,that calluses and business suits were a dichotomy she couldn’t make sense of But, oh, how she suddenly wanted to Far too much than ise for a er

"It’s very nice," she replied

And then it hit her What if his brother was about to walk in on their cozy little coffee scene? Odds were pretty darn low that he wouldn’t recognize her either

For the thousandth time since she woke up, she wondered what she could possibly have been thinking, going hoht It had seemed okay when it was just the two of the pleasure washis brother was going to come down the stairs any minute and find her there in her totally inappropriate leather dress and bare feet esther hotel roo away from the counter "I should leave before he--"

"Don’t worry, Nicola" Marcus’s saying her na, the rest of her sentence falling away "He’s out of town for work It’s just you andthat should have made her feel better But it didn’t Because she honestly wasn’t sure that being alone with Marcus was such a good idea Not when she felt so off-kilter around hi with her stoht