Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
She’d been foolish to stay out so long and get so cold. Maybe even more foolish to allow Jay to all but rescue her. Still, she’d solved one problem. Now she wouldn’t have to send him an awkward text to ask if he would mind being interviewed—she could do it in person.
And yet the bubble of nerves in her stomach hadn’t disappeared. As she soaped her body with a creamy ylang-ylang gel, she was reminded of how odd she’d felt standing in front of Jay in her bikini, even though they’d been out surfing together on countless hot days over the years. She couldn’t help but imagine herself through his eyes—eyes that had appreciated a hundred supermodels and lingerie models with their perfect, sculpted bodies. She wasn’t ashamed of her own—she loved her small frame and her curves, but next to those gazelles she must have appeared unimpressive at best.
Then she shook her head. What did she care what Jay Malone thought?
She stepped out of the shower and rubbed her gleaming skin dry with another of his warm and fluffy towels. A pleasant tingling in her toes told her there must be underfloor heating beneath the slabs of white and gray marble.
As he’d insisted, she helped herself to the body lotion, feeling like she was in a high-end spa, taking the time to massage it into her skin. It smelled heavenly. But as she reached down to smooth it over her legs and thighs, the image of Jay’s large hands came to mind. For a split second, she closed her eyes and imagined it was his fingers traveling across her skin. The image felt so good she shuddered with pleasure and then caught herself.
No, this was Jay. Her brother’s brash, loud agent. What was she thinking? Mila and Tessa, as well as the hot water and steam, had gone to her head.
She dressed quickly, leaving her hair to air dry, and then made her way downstairs.
As she walked past the library, she couldn’t help but peek in. The reading light was on and a book lay open on a side table, reading glasses beside it. She was almost certain she’d interrupted him reading.
Dammit, couldn’t he have been doing something she really disliked, like watching sports?
Reading was her favorite activity in the whole world. She had a momentary vision of the two of them sitting in this library, both reading, maybe talking about what they read. Other women had wild sex fantasies about their men, but to Erin, the sexiest thing she could imagine was a man who read for pleasure. Then, that moment when they closed their books for the night and looked over at one another with a certain expression in their eyes, when all thoughts of reading would be forgotten.
She shook away the image and scolded herself.
When she walked into the kitchen, he said, “Perfect timing,” and poured warmed milk into two thick earthenware mugs, then gently dropped three marshmallows into the liquid.
When she took the first sip, she let out a deep sigh of bliss. It was perfect. Rich and creamy. She licked a melted marshmallow and a hint of chocolate from her lip. There was a pause and she searched her brain for something to say, sifting through subjects, but nothing felt right. For once, Jay was also quiet. It was weird, because they knew each other so well, but normally they were in a group. Until today they’d rarely—if ever—been alone together.
It was as though they were playing poker, both looking at their cards, thinking about what they might put down, what the other might have. But the trouble was the card she really needed to play was sort of a joker.
She might as well get it over with. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
He looked surprised. “Okay. Shoot.”
She took another sip of hot chocolate to buy herself some time. With her index finger, she poked at a marshmallow, watching it bounce up and down on the hot chocolate like a life raft. That way, she didn’t have to look at him. “It’s more of a favor, really.”
“I’m listening.”
“And it wasn’t my idea.”
“Noted.”
Finally, she took the plunge. “My editor at the Sea Shell was understandably annoyed that I never told them about Arch getting married right here in Carmel.”
“Your editor should know you’d never throw your brother under the bus like that,” he said gravely.
“I think she does. But in her journalist’s eyes, I denied the paper the scoop of the year.”
She glanced up and saw that Jay was nodding and, without words, clearly understanding what she was getting at.
“She found out that you’ve moved here, and that you’re Archer’s agent.” She paused. “She wants a profile piece on you. And she wants me to write it.” She ended the last bit in a rush and waited for Jay’s response. When it didn’t come, she blurted, “You don’t have to do it. The thing is, a lot of celebrities live here, and since a number of them are perfectly happy to be profiled in the paper, my editor insisted that I ask.”