Page 17 of Mysterious

When the door clicks closed, I hurry to get out of the tub and grab one of my favorite white towels off the stand a few feet away. After a quick drying-off, I slip into my white robe that’s made of the softest Egyptian cotton and rush toward the door.

Oh, God! I might look like a disaster. Ainsley was concerned about him saying something about my wearing a ton of makeup for the show, but now I don’t have a stitch of anything on my face. I’m probably all blotchy from the heat of the bath too.

I take a look at myself in the mirror and see things aren’t terrible. I wish I had some makeup on my eyes, though. They always look better with some dark eyeshadow to highlight the dark brown color of my eyes. Surprisingly, the rest of my face doesn’t look too shabby, thankfully.

With a quick swipe of my tongue across my lips, I give them a little sheen and smile at my reflection. My heart’s racing, and I feel like I might crumble to the floor I’m so nervous.

“Relax,” I say to the me in the mirror. “You’re great. This is fine.”

I give myself one final smile and turn to walk toward the door. If I’m so great, though, why am I shaking like a leaf?

CHAPTERNINE

Mia

I takea deep breath as I walk toward where Liam sits on the edge of my bed. He looks like he’s ready to bolt at any second. Maybe I’ve been reading all the signals I thought were coming off him wrong? I was so sure he felt something for me.

“Okay, now I feel much better. A bath can do a girl a world of good.”

He nods like he agrees, but I get the feeling he’s not a bath guy. Maybe he would be if he had the right woman?

Sitting down next to him, I wonder where the smiling Liam who stood gawking at me in my bathroom a few minutes ago has gone. Now he seems uncomfortable, but that doesn’t make any sense.

“So tonight was exciting, huh?” I say with a smile and hope he gives me on in return.

He glances over at me and nods. “Definitely more exciting than I had expected,” he says quietly.

Then he looks away, like he can’t stand to see the sight of me.

“Is there something wrong, Liam? You’re acting strange.”

I don’t want to sound like his behavior is hurting me, but it comes through loud and clear. Is it that I don’t have any makeup on and my hair is still sopping wet? Is he disappointed by how I look now?

That can’t be it. I looked pretty much like this when I was in the bathtub a few minutes ago.

He doesn’t turn to look at me when he says, “Your robe.”

“What about it?” I ask, wondering if this guy has some irrational hatred of Egyptian cotton or white robes.

I watch his expression as he winces like he’s in pain before he points toward me, still not able to face me. “It’s open.”

Glancing down, I see my robe has come open right above my waist, so he has a clear view of my naked breasts. Horrified since he probably thinks I came out here looking like some cheap floozy hoping to get a little, I hurry to pull the parts of my robe together, covering myself up to my neck.

“Well, no surprise left with me, I guess,” I say, trying desperately to make a joke of what feels like the most humiliating moment of my life. “You can look at me, Liam. Trust me. I’m so covered I look like I’m straight out of the Victorian Era over here.”

When he finally turns to face me, he smiles and shakes his head. “You surprise me every day, Mia. I doubt that’s going to change just because you flashed me.”

I feel heat flood my cheeks at his words. Slapping his arm, I protest, “I did not flash you. Man, a girl doesn’t tie her robe tight enough and a guy thinks she’s flashing him. Trust me. If I flashed you, you would have gotten more than a little peek at my boobs.”

This is not how I wanted this conversation to go. I had hoped we could talk a little so I could thank him again for coming to my rescue tonight, and then we could kiss. I didn’t have the whole thing planned out, but it certainly didn’t look like what’s happening now when I imagined it.

When I see his face turn red, at least I know I’m not the only one feeling completely awkward here. Something about him being embarrassed too charms me, though. That’s probably the uptight side of him. Not my favorite side, but if it’s the part that blushes, I could get used to it.

“So now that we’re both feeling weird, I wanted to thank you for what you did tonight, Liam. Nobody has ever bothered to worry about me like you do. I know it’s your job, but still, nobody else has ever done your job like you do.”

“I’m happy to do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe.”

I watch his mouth as he says that and all I can think of is how much I want to kiss him right now. Well, that and how good he looks in that white T-shirt. Who knew a man could make a plain white shirt look so hot?

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