Page 43 of The Secret

Actually, impressive was doing him an injustice. He wasn’t impressive. He looked like he’d been carved from a slab of golden marble. Magnificent. Spectacular. Hedonistic.

He was hedonism personified, and I wanted to derive all my pleasure from him.Allof it. Every. Last. Drop.

His throat cleared waking me from my trance, and I looked up to find him staring with what I could swear was a tiny leer, his emerald eyes sparkling brighter than anything I’d seen in the jewelry store windows on Fifth. “Kit..? You okay there?”

“I… er… I forgot my bag… I called when I… I…” I trailed off, totally unable to focus on anything while he was standing in front of me.

“Bell threw up her bottle all over both of us, so it was easier to clean off together,” he explained, like it was perfectly normal to be standing in front of me, a small stretch of thick, soft cotton away from being naked…in front of me.

“Is she okay?” I wanted to step forward to touch her but that meant I’d be right up against his nakedness, which was far too close not to be affected by the scent of him already intoxicating me to the point of inebriation. I could smell him from here; smell his fresh, clean, woodsy scent, like a forest at twilight and April rain showers. My eyes widened as he kept walking, until I realized he needed to pass me to get to Bell’s room.

“Yes, she’s fine. Drank too quickly probably, it was a big burp.”

I swallowed thickly, trying to moisten my cottonmouth. “Okay, well, I need to go. I’ll see you later, have a good day.”

I dodged to the side as he stepped forward, running back down the stairs as quickly as I could, focused solely on getting out and away, putting as much distance between us as possible. I didn’t stop running until I hit the sidewalk again, sucking in the fresh air the second I was out of the building.

Jesus.

Unfair. That’s what this was. Holy,wildlyunfair.

I was living with a walking fantasy come to life, twenty-four hours a day.

I’d never been in this position before. Couldn’t remember the last time I’d had the hots for someone so unattainable, andsoinescapable.

Not to mention so inappropriate.

This wasn’t a celebrity crush situation with the poster on the dorm wall where I’d stare at it wonderingwhat ifandI wonder what he’s like in real life, or one which saw me lusting after the Varsity quarterback from across the quad, both of which I had experience with.

No.

I knew.

I knew what he was like.

Sweet, smart, kind, protective, assertive, masculine. Oh, so masculine.

Pulling it out of my pocket, I answered my phone as it rang.

“Where are you? You’re so late! We’ve missed the class, so I managed to get us into the next one, as someone cancelled.”

I shook my head, focusing. “Crap, sorry, I got tied up. I’m on my way. See you in twenty.”

I slung my backpack over my shoulders and took off at a brisk running pace.

I needed this workout.

I needed something so hard and sweaty it would melt my brain and all thoughts of what I’d witnessed this morning, along with the visual branded into my retinas.

* * *

“I’ve never done one of Mikey’s classes before; I didn’t think they’d be so hard. Now I’ve sat down, I’m really starting to doubt I’m going to be able to stand back up…”

I was holding my coffee in my hands, just holding it halfway to my lips, not moving. I could see her talking, I could hear her talking, but I wasn’t really listening. I wasn’t even really sitting across from her in this busy, noisy, popular brunch spot with a line round the block. No, I was still in the apartment with Murray and his towel.

And his muscles.

When you’re a nanny, you see stuff. You’re in the thick of a family during one of the most personal times of their lives. You stand in the middle of blazing rows. You hear things you shouldn’t. You walk in on things you shouldn’t. Not once had I ever dwelled on any of it again, because the second the doors closed, my focus would be taken elsewhere, normally by a hungry, crying infant.

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