Adrenaline

“Oh,” was all I said. By the time I had my wits about me, Natalie had picked everything up that had fallen off the tray and both women were retreating away as they whispered, but loud enough for me to here.

“She ruined the whole environment. Next time I will insist he comes to the spa.”

Staring at them as they walked around the corner, I continued to sit on the floor like an ass.

“Why are you on the floor?”

His voice no longer sounded angry. He seemed relaxed. Yeah . . . I wonder why.

I slowly stood and turned to him. I froze in place as I got a good look at him.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Father in heaven, help me for I am about to sin.

My tongue instinctively ran along my lips as I took in the glorious site in front of me. Malcolm had an amazing body. His chest was broad and his abs looked like something out of magazine. The towel wrapped loosely around his hips, not leaving anything to the imagination.

My lower stomach clenched as my nipples hardened.

“I’m sorry I interrupted your little ménage à trois.”

The smile that spread across his face pissed me off. “What were you doing at my bedroom door?”

The heaviness in my chest made it hard to breathe. No . . . the fact that he stood before me almost naked made it hard for me to breathe.

“I wanted to apologize for my . . . my um . . . um . . .” I couldn’t even think straight with him looking at me the way he was.

“You’re what?”

Finally shaking the thoughts running through my mind of Malcolm taking me up against the wall, I shook my head. “My actions earlier on the bench. It was insensitive of me to lead you on the way I did and my reaction was not at all professional.”

He lifted a brow and stared at me. “You said you were leaving.”

Trying not to focus on the V that dipped down into the towel, I mumbled, “What was that?”

“You said you were leaving.”

The way his blue eyes were looking at me had me so confused . . . like I wasn’t already confused enough, I needed his intense stare to add to it.

“You want me to leave?” I asked.

His face softened. “No. I don’t want you to. But you said you were.”

My lips were dry, but I was afraid to lick them.

My hands came up over my face as I let out a frustrated sigh. “I can’t think straight with you standing in a damn towel!”

Spinning on my heels, I took off as fast as I could for my room. I needed space between Malcolm and myself.

A lot of space.

I COULD HAVE EASILY TOLD Paislie that Jessica and Natalie were there strictly to give me a massage, but I kind of liked the idea that she got what she deserved.

Making my way into the kitchen, I gave Clarisse a wide grin as I slowly made my way over to her and kissed her on the forehead. “Smells really good. What’s for dinner?”

“Fish tacos.”

“Yum.” I glanced around and when I didn’t see her anywhere, I sighed. “Have you seen Paislie?”

Clarisse looked at me like I had grown an extra head. “She didn’t tell you?”