Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 96046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
When I licked the spicy seasoning off my fingers, I noticed the way his eyes fell to my lips, following the motion of my tongue.
And suddenly my tongue wasn’t the only thing burning up.
CHAPTER 5
* * *
A few days later, I was tucked into bed when my friend Janelle FaceTimed me. Janelle and I went to school together, but we hadn’t crossed paths lately due to our class schedules. I’d just finished telling her about my late-night encounter with Dorian.
“You went on a date with him,” she informed me.
“It wasn’t a date. It was an accidental…moment in time.”
“He ditched his potential hookup to watch a movie with you.”
“He didn’t ditch her. She was grossed out by Tess’s asshole.”
“What?”
“Never mind. But Dorian didn’t mean to hang out with me. It was sort of a fluke.”
“But he specifically found you again down in the basement, didn’t he?”
“Well, yeah.”
“After, you had a midnight snack together per his suggestion, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds like a freaking date to me.”
I hated that she was getting me all riled up about this. The last thing I needed was to buy into some delusion that my secret crush on that man could actually go anywhere. Even if he did like me in that way, I needed to not complicate this living situation so I didn’t end up out on the street.
“Doesn’t mean anything, Janelle. Trust me.”
“I googled him,” she announced.
“Why did you do that?”
“I wanted to see what he looked like. He’s totally gorgeous.”
I felt my face heat, flashes of his fantastic face now all I could see.
“Dark and mysterious,” she continued. “I love his vibe.”
That was exactly how I thought of him. Dorian was a whole vibe. If there was a word to describe him, though, it would have to be dangerous. Crushing on a man like him would be like playing with fire and setting myself up for disappointment all at once.
“Let’s change the subject,” I insisted.
“Okay, then. How was the naked model you had to sketch?”
“Awful. I got a guy. Thought that was what I wanted, but then I was distracted the entire time, trying to make sure I wasn’t staring at his dick for too long.”
She laughed. “But aren’t you supposed to stare to get the job done?”
“Yes. That’s the problem. It didn’t seem right in this case. So the drawing didn’t come out as well as it could’ve.”
“Will you have any more opportunities to get it right?”
“He’ll be coming back a few more times, much to my chagrin. I’m more comfortable not using models and doing my art from memory.”
“Well, I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.”
“There’s not much to see.” I yawned. “Anyway, I’d better go to sleep. It’s late.”
“Sweet Dorian dreams…” she teased.
Rolling my eyes, I vowed never to talk to her about him again.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, I fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean.
But in the middle of the night, I jumped awake to another sound, this one far from peaceful: the fire alarm. A rush of adrenaline shot through me. This was the first time the alarm had gone off since I’d lived here. Unfortunately, this very scenario was my biggest fear.
As I leaped out of bed and headed out of the room in a panic, I ran smack dab into Dorian’s shirtless body in the middle of the hallway.
“Sorry.” He wrapped his hands around my arms to steady me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here,” I said, grabbing his arm and attempting to get him to move faster.
“I don’t smell smoke,” he said as he followed me. “Probably a false alarm.”
“We can’t risk it,” I told him, my voice shaky from panic.
The cool air hit my face as we made it outside.
“Stay right here,” Dorian said before turning to head back in.
I ran after him. “What, are you crazy? Get back here!”
“I’ll be right back,” he said, darting inside.
My heart raced every second he was gone.
I let out a sigh of relief when he emerged again, carrying a throw blanket I recognized from the living room.
He placed it around my shoulders. “Here.”
Benjamin emerged from the guest house. “The fire department is on its way.” He looked at Dorian and me. “You guys all right?”
My teeth chattered. “I think so.”
“Our alarm system automatically alerts them to come,” Dorian explained. He turned to Benjamin. “I think it’s a false alarm. I don’t smell smoke.”
I closed the blanket tighter around my body. “Better safe than sorry.”
A minute later, the sound of sirens began in the distance and after a moment, two fire trucks and an ambulance arrived at the property.
Over the next several minutes, they surveyed the house as Dorian, Benjamin, and I waited outside.
It took a full half hour before one of the firefighters approached us. “Looks like there might’ve been a power fluctuation of some kind, which prompted the system to reset and go off. Probably what caused the false alarm.”