On impulse, I picked up the shirt and lifted it to my nose, keeping it over my face as I breathed in deeply for several seconds. Inhaling the earthy cologne mixed with a delicious scent that was all Jace was sweet torture. This made it easy to imagine what it would be like to have him up against me. Closing my eyes, I rubbed my face against the soft material, pretending he was inside of it. This was as close as I was going to get, so I let myself enjoy it.
“What the hell are you doing?” a gruff voice demanded.
My heart nearly stopped. The shirt fell to the ground as I lifted my chin to meet Jace’s incendiary stare. He’d apparently entered the garage through the side door while I was immersed in my olfactory fantasy.
Feigning calm, I said, “Oh…hi. You’re home.”
“Yeah. I had to take my dad to an appointment, so I left work early. Is…this what you do when we’re not here? Sniff the dirty laundry?”
His confused expression held a mix of anger and amusement.
I pulled the most insane excuse out of my butt. “I have this…strange habit of smelling things that aren’t mine. Sort of like…a compulsion.”
My heart thumped out the word liar…liar…liar repeatedly.
“So you decided to smell my shirt out of everything in here?”
I gulped. “Yeah, I guess. It was bright red—caught my attention. Not to mention, your cologne is…nice.”
He chuckled. “You’re weird, Farrah.”
“Never claimed not to be.”
His brow lifted. “How did it smell otherwise?”
Letting out a shaky breath, I nodded. “Good. No strange odors or anything—unlike Nathan’s shirts. His smell like tacos.”
Jace chuckled. “I guess if I’m on the fence about throwing something in the wash, I should consult you from now on?”
“Could’ve been worse, right? I could have been, like, smelling your underwear or something. I’m not that weird.” I snorted and closed my eyes in shame.
“Well, thank fuck for that.” After an awkward pause, he said, “I’ll…let you get back to what you were doing—whatever it was.”
Saluting him, I smiled. “Thanks.”
After he left, I turned around and let out a silent scream of horror.
Once I put my load in the washer, I decided to take a walk around the block to burn off some nervous energy and avoid having to face him inside so soon. The more time that passed the better.
After I circled the block, I headed toward my yard, planning to pick an avocado off our tree. As I passed the side of the house, I spotted Jace through his bedroom window. Sweat glistened on his back as he pumped iron. Since he wasn’t facing me, I took a few moments to admire his physique. Gorgeous ripples of carved muscle. Round, hard ass. Perfectly tanned skin. Jace had always had a nice body, but at twenty-seven, he was in the best shape of his life.
A rush of water suddenly emerged from under my feet. If only the shock hadn’t caused me to scream. If only. If only Jace hadn’t turned around to find me standing there, looking like an idiot—a drenched idiot who didn’t even realize Nathan had installed a new sprinkler on this side of our grass.
Jace rushed to the window and opened it. “What the hell are you doing? Are you wet?”
Um… Not even going to go there with that.
Covering my soaked chest, I said, “It’s so…hot today. I thought I’d let the water run over me for a bit.”
“I thought I heard you scream.”
“Wasn’t expecting it to be so cold.”
He squinted. “Are you okay, Farrah? You seem off today.”
“Yes, of course I’m okay.” I laughed nervously when he continued to look at me. “I’m fine. I swear.”
“You know you can tell me if something is up, right?”
“Yup.” I nodded vigorously.
“Okay.” His eyes lingered for a moment. Then he shut the window and went back to his weights.
Is 4PM too early for vodka?
• • •
The following evening, Nathan and I had scheduled a family movie night. He’d somehow guilted Jace into staying in and joining us. Our one must-have on movie night was ice cream, and since my car was still at Rusty’s, and Nathan was still at work, Jace drove me to the market to buy some.
The ride to the grocery store was a bit tense. I assumed maybe Jace was quiet because he might’ve still been thinking about me sniffing his shirt, or the sprinkler incident outside his window yesterday. Maybe I assumed that because getting caught twice in the act of stupidity was all I could think about.
When we got to the supermarket’s freezer aisle, I grabbed a container of Rocky Road and sniffed it. You know…to throw him off.
A look of horror crossed Jace’s face. “You’re doing it again.”
“You caught me. See? Told you I like to sniff things,” I lied. “If you breathe in hard enough, you can get a feel for the taste.”