Exposed Exposed (Dom Nation #1) - E. Davies Page 0,32
look at him. Or does he just like unique furniture? Like desperate boys?
The memory of last night made me bite my lip with a pleasurable prickle that tingled across my skin, and once more, I wished I could entice Rex into… something.
I didn’t know what I wanted, exactly, but I definitely wanted him.
Rex didn’t wake, to my mixed relief and disappointment. I smiled down at him, my breath catching at the sight of his soft blond hair and pretty pink lips. He looked even more delicate asleep, which fascinated me.
Awake, his energy was defiant—or maybe it dared me to defy him. He wore that attitude wrapped around him like an armadillo’s shell. But it was gone now, leaving him gentle as a sleek little blond otter.
I was fascinated. I wanted to stroke his hair and tuck the sheets around him a little tighter, but I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just bite me in his sleep.
Carefully, I eased myself out from between the sheets and wondered if they were made from babies’ bottoms or angels’ feathers.
Softly, I stepped up the stairs toward the frosted glass sliding door. It glided open almost silently and closed with the faintest snick behind me. I breathed a little easier, stepping into Rex’s living room.
Holy shit. Had we broken into a movie star’s apartment or something? I barely remembered last night. I’d really walked right past… all of this?
Natural floorboards drew the eye to the kitchen, with dark wood cabinets, white marble countertops, and bronze knobs on stainless steel appliances. The backsplash was dark, with recessed lighting overhead. Beyond the kitchen were full-length windows that revealed a breathtaking view of the office buildings I’d never seen from this angle against the gradually lightening sky.
To the left was the living room, with plush carpet, a fireplace, and cozy sofas. The TV on a pivoting attachment in the corner between windows made me smile—it seemed almost unnecessary, with these views.
I felt like I was in a panoramic restaurant at the top of some skyscraper. But instead of ogling the sunrise just yet, I made my way to the kitchen.
I didn’t trust myself to cook, but I could make Rex coffee. Or… maybe not.
The silver machine on the countertop looked like it belonged in a hotel lobby or behind the counter at a cafe. It even had a freaking touchscreen.
Did Rex run a hotel for lost boys here? Was the machine going to charge me in quarters? I gingerly touched the dark screen, and it lit up like it expected me to know what I was doing.
That was a bold assumption. I didn’t even know what kind of coffee Rex drank. I’d expected a pod coffee machine or something easier than this career-day exercise.
The screen had a whole wheel of options, but it was already set to lattes, so I decided to take a chance. I took a glass mug from the steel pegs above the machine and put it under the dual spigots where I figured the water would come out, but with a metal tube to the right and some contraption to the left, I couldn’t be sure.
This was a trial of my wits and nerves.
Was Rex a barista to the stars?
Don’t be dumb, I thought a moment later, looking around at the place again. That wouldn’t buy this place.
Right. Coffee. I fidgeted with the handle of the thing you put the beans into, and then it came off all of a sudden, surprisingly heavy in my hand and sieve-like. Crap. Okay, what did I do with this?
This was where the coffee grounds went, probably. Judging by the touchscreen, the gadget on the left was a coffee grinder, and to the right was a milk steamer. The little metal pitcher on top of the coffee machine made sense, too.
Did I have to put beans into this thing? Feeling like Robinson Crusoe, I gingerly eased the funnel over top of the grinder open and peeked in. The hopper, my brain supplied.
Okay, good. There were beans in the hopper.
“I don’t hide the family jewels in there, you know.”
The voice close by made me yelp, whirling around and flattening myself against the counter as I raised the heavy, sieve-like thing in my hand as if to throw it.
Poor Rex ducked reflexively, just as I caught myself.
“Jesus!” I exclaimed, clutching my chest as I quickly put the metal implement on the counter and sidled away. “Sorry. I just wanted to make you coffee.”