I’m sorry to tell you this, Emma, but you’re a little hottie.”
I blush. “Anyway,” I say cutting her off. “He wouldn’t stop staring. And I kind of yelled at him. He knows I’m a dancer, and probably assumes I’m an easy lay.”
“Hmm.” She clicks her tongue.
“What?” I ask, peeling my eyes away from Axel’s muscular back.
“Oh, nothing.” She smiles.
“Mom, I know you. That was not a nothing sound.”
My mother nudges me with her elbow as she passes by to deliver the drinks she’s holding. I follow behind her, nerves fluttering through my stomach as I get closer to Axel.
He turns when he hears my mother’s footsteps. A smile hits his face when he notices me following behind her. I frown at him, and he smiles even bigger.
Oh no, he’s got a dimple. A real-life dimple marring his cheek. And I want nothing more than to kiss it.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” He winks at me. Felicity tries to copy him, blinking both eyes at me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, moving over to kiss Fel as she shows me her hammer with all the excitement of a three-year-old.
Axel drinks half the bottle of water before capping it. And then, all his attention is aimed at me. The butterflies swarming inside my core, flap their wings even harder and I try to remind myself to breathe. “I wanted to apologize to Felicity for yelling at her yesterday. I promise I’m not normally a bear.”
At the word bear, Felicity growls, stomping all over the yard with her hammer clenched in her hand, imitating a big, grizzly bear.
We all smile at her. I mean she’s adorable, how can you not smile at her antics?
Axel clears his throat, focusing my attention back to him. He stares at my face with sheer determination. My face flames bright red and it has nothing to do with the sweltering Vegas heat already pouring down on us. No, it has everything to do with what I’m wearing, or should I say not wearing. It was so hot last night all I could stand to put on was tiny pajama shorts and a white tank-top, and in pure Emma fashion there’s no bra under the tight material.
Yes, it’s all the heat’s fault.
Seriously. If it were winter right now, I’d be bundled from head-to-toe.
My mom smiles, taking off to chase Felicity, giving us time to talk. I’m pretty sure I know what her ‘hmm’ was about now.
“I want to apologize,” Axel says. His eyes still firmly fixed on mine.
I have to hand it to him, he hasn’t checked me out or made me feel cheap in any way.
“For what?” I ask, stepping closer.
He takes a deep breath, his eyes dipping to my chest before bobbing right back up. “For everything.”
I quirk an eyebrow up.
“I should have never treated you like an object. That’s not who I am. I’m sorry.”
I lean my head back. “I get it. Listen, I’m a dancer in Vegas. I get paid to get men to look at me. I guess I should take it as a compliment.”
“Yeah, you should.”
I laugh a little. “I just don’t like when men make presumptions about me based on what I do for a living.”
“Presumptions?” Now it’s his turn to quirk an eyebrow up at me.
“Yeah, you know.”
His face breaks out into a glorious, heart-stopping smile. “I don’t think I do.”
Oh man, this guy wants me to spell it out for him. “Sex,” I whisper, glancing around to make sure Felicity didn’t overhear me.
I swear his eyes gleam, or something to that effect. “I would never think that. I mean, I’m not that type of guy.”
I study his face. He looks so sincere. I want to believe him, but I refuse to trust another guy. And I definitely refuse to trust a guy who looks like him.
“Just so you know, I’m not going to sleep with you.” Ugh, I sound so awful, but I think I’m saying it more for a reminder to myself than actually implying anything.
He steps back, his face shocked as if I’ve grown another head. “I didn’t ask you to.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I gesture toward the half-built play structure. “This. Building a play structure and buying Felicity a pink baby hammer. I’ve had men try different things to get with me, but this is new.”
He puts his hands on his hips, stepping closer until his boots meet my bare toes. “I don’t want to sleep with you.”
I blink. “You don’t?”
“You think you know me