Page 23 of Too Good to be True

I feel my face fill with color.

“I’m being a shitty friend aren’t I?”

“No, I’m just worried about you.”

"Ian seems like a nice guy, but I'm really into Tim. Besides, hooking up with one of Sam’s friends can get complicated and cause problems between us in the long run. It’s better this way. I just wanted to let you know so you don't worry.”

“Give me fifteen minutes,” Tim says when the elevator doors open on my floor. I have a few things I need to check for work.”

It’s odd that he’d look to work now. I remind him of my room number and walk down the hall to my room. Alone.

I take a quick shower to rinse off and throw on a pair of very short pajama shorts and a tank top. It may not be the sexiest thing I own, but they're cute and comfortable. Fifteen minutes come and go. I sit on my bed, trying to find something to do.

Twenty minutes. Nothing. I pull a pad and pencil out of the night table drawer and start to sketch.

Thirty minutes pass, and still there's no sign of Tim. Disappointment settles in my belly. He changed his mind. Or maybe he never intended on coming to my room and work was a ready excuse. Maybe I should be happy that I have an amazing memory to keep with me. I've all but given up hope when the knock at my door sends my heart soaring in a frenzy.

I shouldn't be so excited. I know that I'm setting myself up for a world of pain. It's almost twenty-four hours since I first laid eyes on Tim, and already he's turning me and my world upside down.

I jump off the bed and head to the door, trying hard not to look like I've been waiting for him with bated breath. That's a fact he doesn't need to know.

Tim wears a pair of loose-fitting shorts and a tight t-shirt that stretches across his broad chest and shows off the muscles beneath it. Standing behind a food cart, he looks just as sexy in his casual attire as he did earlier in the night.

I step back and let him in.

"I thought you might be hungry," he says, pushing the cart with silver-covered trays and an open bottle of champagne into my room. "After fucking like that, I'm starved."

“Oh? Do you . . . fuck like that often?" I struggle to sound casual. He doesn't answer right away, and I fight the urge to clarify.

His eyes search mine. He snickers, shakes his head, and pours champagne into the waiting glasses on the food cart. I can't help but feel like he's avoiding the question. I wonder why? It's not like I have a right to be upset if he says yes. He doesn't owe me anything.

Once he's done, Tim takes my hand and pulls me to sit down on the bed next to him. “I don’t normally behave the way I did tonight. And it was the first time I had sex outdoors in a public venue. Man, was that amazing.”

My first instinct is to call bullshit. He was too confident, too comfortable in that situation.

"How about you? Have you ever had sex under the stars?"

I'm so embarrassed, I feel a blush come over me. My eyes drop to the comforter so I don't have to see the scrutiny of his intense stare. I pull on a loose string.

"Nah. I'm pretty boring."

He laughs. "I've seen boring, and you are not it. Walking the halls naked in the middle of the night isn't something a boring woman does."

"I had a robe on!"

"But nothing underneath."

Why did I admit that? "That's not the point."

He laughs. "That's exactly the point. If you were as dull and boring as you'd have me believe, you never would've spoken to me last night."

Tim brushes a lock of hair behind my ear. His simple touch sets off a shower of hot, burning sparks between us. Everything about the moment that was light and playful a moment ago changes. The moment is serious. Intense.

“And you never would've had sex with me tonight." His voice is low. It sounds almost nostalgic. “That was a gift. Thank you.”

Before I can protest, he reaches behind my neck and leans in for a kiss. Within seconds, the soft, gentle kiss changes. It deepens.

It's desperate.

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