Page 34 of Melting the Ice

Hopefully, she had a lot of dogs to walk tomorrow.

JOSIE

“Uh, not to be annoying, but I seriously have to pee, Micahtron. You almost done?” I tapped on the bathroom door the following morning. The shower had turned off at least tenminutes ago. What the hell was he doing in there, anyway? “Are you pooping?”

“For fuck’s sake,” I heard him mutter before the door swung open, and he was standing in front of me with his bare chest on display. I held back an audible sigh and reached out, my fingers barely grazing his biceps before he jerked back.

“Jeez. You have muscles on top of muscles, Micahtron,” I teased, trying to sound blasé when I really wanted to trace every last line on his body.

With my tongue.

Shit, he was hot.

My gaze instinctually traveled down to see a towel wrapped around his trim hips, his powerful thighs stretching the terry cloth. He was a freaking feast for the eyes.

“Josie.” His growly voice sparked need throughout me, and I met his gaze. The look in his eyes made me shiver.

“Hmm?”

“Stop calling me that.” Then he stepped around me and walked into his bedroom, closing the door behind him, but not before I took my fill of that beautiful hockey butt. Too bad he hadn’t dropped the towel before the door shut.

I blew out a breath, attempting to calm my rattled brain, and did a little shimmy before remembering that I had to pee.

After I was done, I knocked on his door again.

“What?”

“Don’t sound so testy,” I taunted him through the door.

He pulled it open, unfortunately, dressed. “I’m not testy.”

“Oh-kay. Anyway, I’m making breakfast bowls with eggs, turkey sausage, and veggies. Want one? I even picked up that sourdough bread you love for toast.”

“Sure. I’ll make coffee.”

“Great. I’ll just change quick,” I said, walking into his bedroom. Since his guest room closet was full of puzzlesand, I discovered after some snooping while he was away, a few Megatron action figures and a large cardboard cutout of Megatron tucked into the back—I wasn’t ready to reveal I’d found them yet—he’d let me put my clothes in his closet.

He grumbled something and walked out of the room. Why was he so grouchy today? I padded into his closet, ignoring the rumpled sheets on his bed. Had he been restless last night? I shook my head. Thinking about him in bed wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

Slipping into his closet, I tugged off my sleep cami and shorts and pulled on a pair of yoga shorts and a sports bra. I didn’t have any dogs to walk until later this afternoon, so I was going to try some yoga.

Piling my hair on top of my head into a messy bun, I walked down the hall and into the kitchen, where Micah stood, staring at the coffee machine.

“It’s not going to move faster with you glaring at it,” I said.

“I’m not glaring.”

“Damn. You’re super grouchy this morning. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” I asked, heading to the fridge.

“Sorry. I didn’t sleep great, I guess.” Then he paused, taking me in. “What are you wearing?”

I glanced down at my outfit and laughed. “Should be pretty obvious. You don’t mind if I use your yoga space, right? Thought I’d give it a try.”

Were his pupils expanding? I should not feel so gleeful at that. Just for the hell of it, I opened the fridge and bent over to grab some spinach and mushrooms from the veggie drawer, and I swore I heard his indrawn breath. I really shouldn’t have been fucking with him when he was so grumpy, but teasing him was just too much fun. And it was nice to know he wasn’t immune to me.

That wasn’t pathetic, was it?

“So, can I?” I asked, standing up and shutting the fridge with my hip.

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