Page 34 of Happy Trails & Honey Pots

My legs were jelly as I walked to the door and opened it. When I did, I found Miles looking like a Greek god. He wore a gray shirt and blue jeans. Nothing special on anyone else, but on him, it was Sexiest Man Alive magazine cover material. It was truly unfair that one man could be that perfect. His square jawline peppered in stubble, full lips, dreamy whisky-colored eyes, long lashes that any woman would kill for but somehow didn’t make him look feminine at all, and thick brown hair that made my fingers itch to run through it. And that was only above the neck. Below it was where the real fun began.

The contours of his broad shoulders and planes of his muscular chest were visible beneath the cotton of his shirt, which was incredible considering it wasn’t tight on him. It was just the way it lay on his chiseled-by-the-gods body.

“Hi.” The single word came out like a whisper as I reminded myself to breathe. I wasn’t sure where all of the oxygen had gone. Miles Ford had the ability to knock the wind out of people just by standing in front of them.

“Hi.” He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m a little early.”

“That’s okay.” I stepped to the side. “Come in.”

He walked past me, and the scent of sandalwood and musk drifted through the air. I found myself leaning into it as I closed my eyes. When I realized what I was doing, I took a step back and closed the door.

It was the same scent that was on the hoodie he’d given me. The one that I’d slept in every single night. The one I hadn’t washed even though I knew he was coming over tonight and should have given it back to him.

“Hey, pretty girl.” Miles bent down to pet a very excited Daisy behind her ears. “Hey, Daisy.”

“Um, let me get AJ.”

I turned and walked to the bottom of the steps. “AJ! Miles is here!”

“Um, you have…” Miles rose to a standing position.

I asked, turning my head. “What?”

He was pointing around my waist. “On your back, you have a…”

I looked over my shoulder and didn’t see anything. “What? I don’t see…can you get it?”

He stepped forward, and his arm snaked around me. His body was only an inch away from me, and my hands lifted up out of instinct, landing on his firm chest like a cat clinging to a screen door. We both froze, and my eyes flew up to his. I felt hishand rub against my backside. I sucked in a startled gasp when out of the corner of my eye, I saw that in his hand was a dryer sheet.

Right.I had a dryer sheet on my butt. That’s what he was doing.

Neither of us moved. I told myself to move. I said,Self, step away from the sexy man.Stop groping his very hard, very muscular chest.

But I did not listen to myself.

We both stared at one another. It might have just been in my imagination, but I was pretty sure we were both breathing a little harder than we had been a moment before. Again, it might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn his head was lowering down to mine when I heard the sound of elephants stampeding down the stairs, and we both took a step away from each other.

I was dazed and more than a little confused as AJ rushed past me.

“Hey! I have all my lines memorized!” AJ announced excitedly.

“Great!” Miles replied enthusiastically.

Trying to pull myself together and act normal, I asked, “Um, can I get you guys anything? Water? Soda?”

A grin lifted on Miles’ perfect lips. “I’m good.”

“We’re fine, Mom,” AJ said in a tone that communicated he clearly wanted me to leave them alone.

“Okay, well, I’ll just be in the kitchen if you need anything.”

As I walked away, I tried not to think about how good it felt to be pressed up against Miles's body. How right it felt to be in his arms. My body was lit up like the Christmas tree in Times Square, and there was nothing I could do about it.

“Oh, I forgot my pot for the honey. Mom said I could use it for the audition.” I heard AJ running back up the stairs as Iturned to close the pocket door between the front room and the kitchen.

When I did, I saw Miles’ eyes flick up to my face. He’d been watching me walk away. Not just watching my back either. He’d been watching my butt. The jeans worked.

As I slid the door in place, I couldn’t help but smile. I shouldn’t be happy about that. I was too old to feel giddy over the fact that I’d caught someone checking me out, but the truth was that’s exactly what I was.

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