Page 40 of My Heart To Heal

‘You still with me?’ His voice has me lifting my head and then sitting up to see him leaning against the door frame to his bedroom, wearing nothing buta pair of shorts that leave nothing to the imagination and a smirk.

His muscular arms fold across his mouth-wateringly perfect chest. When I first saw him without a shirt, I was rendered mute. He’s big — like wide and defined and his chest is covered in soft dark hair that I just want to nuzzle into, the tattoos I'm suddenly dying to catalog, creep up his arms onto his chest and now I've seen them up close I realise they are paw prints, from all sorts of animals cleverly woven into the design that on first glance, looks just like pretty shapes and shading, trees and waterfalls than hug and define every curve of muscle in his beautiful arms and torso.

‘Ms. Morgan, are you objectifying me right now?’

He raises one eyebrow, and I nod, grinning.

‘I am. I most definitely am.’

He laughs, a deep, rich sound, as he drops his arms and pushes away from the doorframe.

‘You hungry?’

That surprises me, and I smile. ‘I could eat.’

‘Come on then.’ He nods out of the room and turns to walk away. I consider putting my boxers back on but grimace at how wet I know they got. Fuck it, he had his face between my legs not all that long ago. I can walk around his place with no panties on.

‘Grilled cheese, okay?’ he asks as I find him in his kitchen, and I nod, yes, then take a seat on his beautiful and oh,oh my god, insanely comfy sofa.

His place is nice. It has definite bachelor pad vibes, all black and gray, and sleek lines. Everything looks like it has a place, and it doesn’t surprise me that Nick is neat. He doesn’t have a stack of paperwork on the dining table or toys littering random areas. I’m not a slob by any means, but neatness was never a priority for me before Jonah, and it’s out of the window now. I’m clean. I keep on top of things for the most part, but if Nick saw my makeup strewn across my vanity or the pile of laundry I just never seem to find the time to put away, he’d probably have a heart attack.

‘Where’s your Christmas tree?’ I ask, noticing the absence of anything remotely festive.

‘Um, I don’t really bother with one. I’m usually working anyway.’

‘You don’t see your family?’ I ask absently, still looking around the space when his silence grabs my attention, and I turn to see him focusing on the sandwiches. ‘Did I say something wrong?’

He looks up to meet my eye and shakes his head.

‘No, you didn’t. I don’t really get along with my dad.’ His words surprise me, and I can’t think ofanything to say. ‘It’s not a big deal, Missy. You can’t choose your family, right?’

I think about telling him that yes, you can. I think about reminding him about the room full of happy people he spent the day with today, the fact that they all opened their arms to both of us, but as he walks toward me, a plate in each hand, I’m dumbstruck again. The man is perfection.

‘So, don’t judge me,’ he smiles as he hands me a plate and sits, ‘but I’ve been dying to watch this new reality show. You feel like watching with me?’

‘Reality TV? Nicholas Barber, is that your dirty secret?’

He laughs. ‘I can’t even pretend it’s not. I’m addicted. I don’t sleep well a lot of the time, so I watch these trashy shows late at night to switch off, and this one is insane.’

He reaches for the remote and turns on the TV, and I get comfy before taking a bite of my cheesy goodness.

‘What is it?’

‘It’s calledChopped. Have you heard of it?’ I shake my head, no. ‘Okay.’ His eyes widen with a childlike excitement, and I giggle. ‘So, it’s presented by this buff, like, social media star who got famous chopping wood or something.’

I laugh. ‘Oh yeah, I knowexactlywho you mean.’

‘Oh, you do?’He raises an eyebrow, and I nod.

‘Yep, I’ve spent a few lonely hours watching his videos from time to time.’ I waggle my eyebrows suggestively, and he shakes his head.

‘Okay, dirty girl, I get it. He’s a good lookin’ dude.’ I take another bite to hide my smile. ‘So, there’s eight women and eight men, right, and they’re all paired up in single-sex log cabins in the woods. They have to carry out all these tasks that your lumbersnack dude sets for ‘em, and then each week, one of them gets voted out.’

‘Okay, that sounds kind of boring.’

‘Oh, my sweet Missy, here’s where it gets interesting. Say you have a cabin with two dudes, and one gets sent home, anyone else in camp can then request to take his place in that cabin.’

‘So, one of the girls could be like, get me in there with the guy left behind?’

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