Page 30 of Outside The Wire

“Good night.” Against every instinct in me, I closed the door and locked it immediately, then turned and squealed as I did a little happy dance.

Then I heard laughter outside. “I heard that.”

Embarrassment flooded me and I sank down against the door.

“Don’t worry,” he called out. “Made my night.”

Yeah, I was such a sucker for this man. How the heck was I going to survive even one day without him?

I loved this part of dating—when you found someone you liked so much that you couldn’t wait to see the other person again. Granted, I’d never once dated someone that made me feel like this. I melted in a puddle on the floor, staring up at my ceiling. I was on the verge of falling for this man hard, and if it all fell apart, it would be a real heartbreaker.

I woke up with the taste of you on my lips.

I smiled,biting my lip as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. Asher had sent that three hours ago. It was ten o’clock now, and I just woke up, but that wasn’t surprising, considering I laid on my living room floor for the better part of the night, just staring at the ceiling and grinning like a fool.

Rolling over in bed, I tucked the comforter around me, snuggling in deeper. I was too happy to get out of bed when I could lay here on this sunny winter day and think about the sexy man texting me.

I just woke up. I couldn’t sleep last night. Someone was keeping me awake.

I hit send beforeI could think twice about it. I felt like a teenager, lusting over my high school crush. Though, I couldn’tremember ever saying anything so bold when I was in high school. I didn’t have the courage to even talk to boys back then. I was still in the phase of passing notes and having my friends talk to boys for me.

While other girls were already sleeping with their boyfriends, I was still too shy to even think about what it really meant to date someone. I liked to think that protected me from the realities of growing up too fast. But I wasn’t like the other girls in my school who got pregnant at the age of seventeen and had to face the difficult choices life threw at them.

I waited for an answer and was disappointed when I didn’t see the little dots bouncing right away. It was silly to think that he’d be waiting by the phone for me. After all, it had taken me three hours to message him back. He was probably out running errands or something.

I laid in bed, twirling my hair around my finger, trying to figure out what I was going to do today when the doorbell rang. It was probably Mrs. Johnson next door. Sometimes, she baked me cookies when she had nothing else to do on the weekends. I was hardly ready to see anyone. Hell, I hadn’t even taken a shower, and I hadn’t bothered to wash off my makeup from last night, but it was fine for my neighbor.

I grabbed my fuzzy blue robe with bright yellow stars off the back of the door and pulled it on. I’d had this thing since I was in college and hadn’t bothered to replace it. It was warm and still had a few good years left in it. I slid my feet into the matching slippers and headed for the door, pulling my hair out of the back of the robe where it got tucked in.

The doorbell rang again and I hustled through the house, kicking the couch on the way. “Coming!”

I swung the door open, my smile fading almost at once. “No,” I whispered.

Asher leaned against my doorframe, looking absolutely stunning in faded jeans and a winter jacket and that sexy grin on his face while I…

I slammed the door in his face and spun around, groaning as I thunked my head back against the door.

“Holly, are you gonna let me in or are you gonna make me stand out in the cold?” he called through the door.

I grimaced, smelling my armpits. God, I hadn’t showered yet. I pushed off the door and looked in the mirror on the hallway wall. I had mascara smudged under my eyes. I was a freaking disaster.

“Holly?”

I shoved my fingers in my mouth and then rubbed furiously under my eyes, trying to wipe away the dark marks, but that did little to help the situation. The only thing that would help was makeup remover.

“Go away!” I shouted.

“I have hot cocoa.”

“Ugh. He’s so perfect,” I grumbled. I grabbed a hat off the coat rack, pulling it over my head, but that only made me look even more ridiculous. There was nothing I could do to fix the disaster that was me. “I’m not decent!” I shouted.

“I’ve already seen you and I still don’t care.”

I glared at the door. Did he really have to be so freaking perfect? It wasn’t fair. I mean, it was totally and completely wonderful, but that was supposed to come after months of dating when I was comfortable letting myself slowly be me around him.

Not after the first date.

Sighing heavily, I knew there was nothing I could do. If I let him stand out there in the cold, I would essentially push him away. But if I let him in…he would see the real me. It was a chance I was going to have to take.

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