Page 29 of Fragile Hearts

Taking Mochi with me, I set him down on the bed, and he instantly curls up and promptly falls asleep. What it must be like to be him.

Sliding my shorts off, I toss them into the laundry basket and pull my bra off through the sleeve of my T-shirt.

I climb into bed, staring up at the ceiling, my thoughts a jumbled mess. Why have I spent so much time trying to keep Owen away, turning him down and thinking it couldn’t work? Maybe I am deserving of a guy like Owen. But what if it fucks everything up? We work as roommates. Things are easy.

But what if he’s worth the risk?

I wake early the next morning, the smell of food wafting from the kitchen, and when I roll over, Mochi is gone. He was obviously distracted by the delicious smells, ditching me for the prospect of food over sleep.

Wearing just my T-shirt and underwear, I head out to the kitchen. Not even thinking about how Owen might react to seeing me dressed like this since we spend a lot of time together with me in a bikini pretty often.

But I guess this is different because when I walk into the kitchen, his mouth falls open and his eyes widen.

“You okay over there?” I tease him, sitting down at the island, pulling my feet up and tucking them underneath me.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters, shaking his head. “You just have no idea, do you?” He leans back against the counter, shirtless as always, his shorts low on his hips.

“Me? What about you?” I hit back, smirking, my eyes trailing over every square inch of lean muscle and tanned skin. “I’m fully covered.”

“That is a bit of a problem,” Owen says, quickly turning back to the stove and the breakfast he has cooking.

“You’re cheeky, you know that?”

“And I never got to thank you for the malasadas yesterday,” he replies, changing the subject. “That was really nice of you.”

“It’s really nice of you to let me live here, so it’s just a small token of my appreciation.”

Owen sets a plate down in front of me, piled with scrambled eggs, spam and fresh fruit, and it looks delicious.

“Breakfast,” he says, taking a seat next to me, his plate loaded down just like mine. “There are mango and banana trees in the yard. I picked some this morning. It’s one of my favorite things about this place.”

“That’s awesome. We had a lemon tree in the yard at the house I rented with Alana and Daisy, but we never did much with it.”

“What do you have on the agenda for today?” Owen asks, taking a forkful of eggs.

“I have to work till three, but nothing after that. Probably need to get to work on a paper I have due, but it’s not for a couple of weeks.”

“I’ve got a lesson soon over at Orchid Bay,” Owen tells me, checking his watch. “I’ll catch you there, I’m sure.”

He quickly finishes off his breakfast, and when he stands, his hand on his plate, I reach over and stop him. My hand rests on top of his, and he immediately looks over at me.

“I’ll get it. You cooked. I’ll clean up. Leave it.”

His eyes are trained on mine, his gaze smoldering, practically burning a hole in my skin, and I love the way it feels, the way he looks at me.

He looks at me like I’m the only girl in the world, the only girl for him, and there’s something so pure and simple and perfect about it.

I wet my lips, and Owen’s gaze falls there, his lips slightly parted, his breath coming out in short, warm pants. Taking in his face, his long, dark lashes, his full lips, his chiseled jaw that’s dotted with stubble, and my mind instantly wonders what it would feel like to have that stubble rubbing the inside of my thighs.

Fuck. Me.

There’s a silence passing between us that is charged with electricity and desire, and when Owen leans in, his mouth next to my ear, goosebumps dot my skin.

“Thank you for breakfast,” I start, but my words drop off the second Owen lets out a soft exhale against my skin.

“I think it’s obvious how much I want you, Sloane,” Owen whispers, and my breath catches in my throat. Suddenly feel like I can’t breathe, but in the best possible way. “But I’ll wait for you. When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

He kisses the shell of my ear and then disappears into his bedroom, leaving me with a war raging in my head.

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