1. He had horrible taste in television. His favorite show was about people going out in the wilderness buck naked for a thirty-day survival trial. He’d made her watch a few episodes (okay, so it was kind of addicting) and she’d had nightmares about being forced to eat cockroaches (in her dream they’d been delicious. So gross!).
2. He drank his breakfast. If you could call a protein shake a meal.
3. The man was a total workaholic. He was supposed to be on vacation, but when he wasn’t sleeping or fishing, he was on the phone to his office.
4. He was obsessively neat. Down to meticulously wiping off the bathroom sink each and every time he used it, which made her feel like a slob in comparison.
5. And, last but not least, the man had the Adonis muscle (that V-shaped muscle that really buff men had low on their hips). She knew this last thing because she was staring at it right now.
He came waltzing out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel when he spotted her. “Oh, sorry. I thought you’d be at work by now.” Not sorry enough that he ran back to the bathroom to put some actual clothes on, however.
“Lucy is doing the early morning shift today so I’m not going in till ten.”
He walked to the kitchen and back to the living room with an apple in his hand. It was like she was in a bad version of the Garden of Eden. The towel on his hips hung dangerously by a thread. It if dropped… She concentrated on the TV screen in front of her.
“So, you won’t be back till later in the afternoon?” he asked.
Something in his tone made her turn to look at him. Big mistake. She tried to keep her gaze above his collarbone. Was he trying to get rid of her? Maybe he had a hot date lined up. As far as she knew in the week they’d been living together, he hadn’t done much more than fish, bark orders on the phone to his assistant (poor woman, he was probably the kind of boss who made her pick up his laundry, too), and go to his parent’s house for the occasional dinner, although eating his mother’s home cooking hadn’t kept him from stealing her leftover mac and cheese.
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m taking care of Cameron for the weekend so Mimi and Zeke can take Claire to college orientation, so I won’t be home for the next couple of days.”
He was babysitting his nephew? “Oh, that’s nice of you.”
“It should be fun.”
“When will you be back?”
“Sunday evening, I guess.”
Which meant she’d have the whole weekend to herself. “That’s great!” He narrowed his eyes. Maybe she sounded a bit too enthusiastic about his impending absence. “I mean, that’s awesome to be able to spend time with your nephew, one-on-one like that.”
“Apparently, there’s also a dog involved.”
She nodded. “Toby, the drooler.”
“You know about Toby?”
“Everyone in town knows about Toby. Cameron brought him to The Bistro one day, although we really don’t allow pets unless they’re service animals, but no one made a fuss so I didn’t object. What do you plan to do? I mean, he’s a kid. Have you ever taken care of a thirteen-year-old before?”
“We’ll do the usual manly things,” Luke said. “I thought I’d start with a fishing trip, then end up at a topless bar, maybe even hit a brothel or two. Like you said, the kid’s thirteen. It’s time he grew up, don’t you think?”
Okay, so there was more than just five things she’d learned about him. Add in Item number 6: Sarcastic sense of humor.
“Ha-ha.”
“If the brothel is closed, then we’ll stick to the fishing and add in some pizza and video games. I might not have much experience in the kid department but I was a thirteen-year-old boy myself once upon a time so I think I have it covered.”
“Once upon a long time,” she muttered.
He ignored her snarky reference to his age. “You’ll be okay here at the house all alone, right?”
Was he kidding? It would be like before. She could watch whatever she wanted on TV. Or listen to music. Or just flop out on his soft leather couch and read. Or better yet, maybe she’d take a swim in the gulf and then take a nice warm, overly-long bubble bath in the tub afterward. Maybe she’d even
open up a bottle of wine. The whole thing sounded deliciously decadent.
It also sounded a little bit…lonely.