line when she’d made it crystal clear these past two years that I was only best-friend material.
There must have been enough of my desire glimmering in my eyes because after studying me for a moment, she said, “Maybe I should lock the door just to be safe.”
And because I knew I was only human and my abilities to restrain my feelings were considerably weakened after a hard afternoon on the field, I said, “Maybe you should.”
20
Cole
The charged feeling that had been electric in my veins while we’d stood in the kitchen dissipated only slightly as I led Arianna down the hall and into my master closet to find her something that would work as pajamas for the night.
“So you just want a T-shirt?” I asked, working hard to make my voice come out relaxed and not at all full of the nerves I currently had bouncing around inside me.
“Uh-huh,” she said. “And maybe some gym shorts.”
“Right. Of course.” I pursed my lips as I opened the drawer where I stored my tees in. “Any of these good enough?” I gestured at the tidy row of colorful shirts my housekeeper had folded and put away for me when she was here last Monday.
Arianna stepped closer to examine them, her delicious perfume filling the enclosed area and making my muscles feel almost as weak as my willpower. “How about that one?” She pointed at the green shirt I’d bought from the company who had taken me on my fishing trip in Florida last year.
“Sure.” I pulled it from the drawer and handed it to her. My fingers brushed against hers in the exchange, and while it had only been the slightest touch, my whole arm lit up with sparks.
My gaze briefly flitted to hers, and I never would have guessed it but her cheeks were slightly pinker than they’d been a moment before.
Was it possible that she was just as hyperaware of me as I was of her tonight?
She cleared her throat, the sound loud to my ears as all my senses were heightened. “Do you have any shorts that might fit me?”
“Um, maybe.” I snapped myself back to reality.
I shut the shirt drawer and opened the one below it where I kept my sweat shorts. I had a dozen or more in there, but I doubted any would really fit her tiny frame without her having to cinch them tightly around her waist.
But since I didn’t exactly have anything else that would work better, I grabbed a pair of black shorts that fit me the most snuggly and handed them to her. “These might fit.”
“Thanks.”
I followed her out of my closet, flicking off the light, and then to the doorway that led to the hall. She was about to head toward the guest bedroom when she turned back to me and said, “Do you happen to have an extra toothbrush?”
“Of course.” I glanced around, trying to remember where I’d stored my extras. I wasn’t used to having houseguests, so it had been a while since I’d stashed them somewhere. “Just give me a minute and I’ll find you one.”
She dipped her head in a nod. “Okay, I’ll just change into these then.”
I watched her walk down the hall for a moment, her hips swaying slightly with each step, before I headed to the linen closet in the hall.
After finding an extra toothbrush, I changed into my own T-shirt and shorts to give Arianna time to change. Then, after a few more minutes, I knocked on her door. “You decent?”
“Just a sec,” her voice came from the other side.
There was a rustling sound, but then the door handle twisted open and I was face to face with a vision of an angel.
My breath caught in my throat as I raked her in. She’d taken her hair down from its high ponytail, long waves cascading around her shoulders. She’d also washed off her makeup, showing a fresh face that had me wondering why she ever wore makeup in the first place—she had to be one of the most naturally beautiful women I’d ever laid eyes on.
But that wasn’t what caught my eye the most. What my eyes really wanted to linger on was the way she looked in my green T-shirt. It was oversized on her, the hem hitting her mid-thigh. And my eyes widened when I noticed that she wasn’t wearing my gym shorts underneath.
I gulped. “Did the shorts not work?” I asked, forcing my gaze back up to her face. The