Page 38 of After Tonight

“What?”

“I woke up alone.” She shrugged. “And I needed to see you as soon as possible.”

Okay, they were doing the this-is-what-it-would-be-like-with-a-real-girlfriend thing. Then he peered closer. “Did you go home and shower?”

She shook her head. “I went home and got my shower stuff and new clothes, but I didn’t want to wake anyone up over there.”

She didn’t want to wake up her parents, but she had no trouble waking him up. And he should be annoyed by that. But he couldn’t quite get past the idea that she’d been naked and wet two doors down.

He cleared his throat. “What the fuck are you doing up so early?”

“I had a nap yesterday.”

Right. The nap. With him. He ran a hand through his hair. “Why do I have to be up right now?”

“You had a nap yesterday too.”

“I didn’t sleep through an entire movie last night,” he told her.

“Guess you should have been more interesting to keep me awake.”

He wasn’t sure that her thoughts went where his did—namely to all the things he could have done to keep her awake—but the way she paused and her eyes widened slightly made him think maybe her thoughts did stray in that general direction. And that was…interesting.

“Lucy likes to walk.”

Riley’s voice was a little husky and she was looking at his mouth, so it took Derek a second to compute the four words. Then he frowned. “What?”

“Lucy likes to walk in the morning.”

“I thought she likes to do yoga.”

Riley nodded. Her gaze was still on his mouth, and Derek felt like she was running her fingertips over his lips. They tingled, and he wanted to do something with them. Something that involved the bare skin of her throat.

“She does yoga some mornings. Some mornings she goes for a walk.”

And then Riley’s gaze tracked lower than his mouth. And his did the same to her. She was dressed in a fitted workout tank and capri-length workout pants that hugged her—yes, sweet—ass. He bet that Lycra would be warm and silky if he ran his hand over it.

He was dressed in a lot less. He had his boxers on. Just his boxers. And he was sure that she could tell he liked the look of her in Lycra. His cock stirred even more as she made it past his chest and abs and below his waistband.

Then she licked her lips. And turned away. “I’ll meet you out front.”

Out front. Of his house. At just after eight in the morning. His neighbors were going to think something was wrong with him.

But, muttering under his breath about brats and early mornings, he turned back into his room and grabbed clothes and tennis shoes. He was going for a morning walk. With Riley. Because Lucy liked doing that, and if he was her boyfriend, he’d want to go with her.

As he tied his shoes, though, he admitted that no, he wouldn’t want to go with her. But he would still do it. Because that would be a way of spending time with her that worked for their conflicting schedules and didn’t involve naked time. Until afterward, when they were both sweaty.

He joined Riley on his front porch and took a moment to appreciate how she looked bent over, stretching. He didn’t even think about resisting saying, “Why’d you shower before going for a walk?”

She looked back where she was bent over her left leg. She slowly straightened. “I didn’t shower yet.”

“I thought you said you showered here.”

She shook her head. “I said I went home to get my shower stuff.”

Oh. Why had he assumed she’d been in his shower? Because images of Riley naked and doing intimate things in his house, with him, were becoming far too regular in his mind. “So you will be showering here?”

She nodded. “I was actually hoping you’d let me work here today for a while.”

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