Page 66 of Just (Fake) Married
My wife needed her coffee.
At the exact right moment, just as she came out of her bedroom, I swung open the door to the bathroom, letting out a plume of shower steam behind me.
I might have been only wearing a towel.
Okay, I was only wearing a towel.
But these were desperate times. Harmony was avoiding me and I’d had enough. The week after the wedding I’d been busy giving patient notes to the doctors who were taking over my cases. There’d been some paperwork to fill out and I’d answered dozens of emails I’d let pile up over the last few months. But now that the work was done, I was at loose ends. Some might say bored.
And I missed Harmony.
“Ethan…what are you…why are you…”
Her voice trailed off as I casually rubbed my chest down over my six pack, and her eyes followed like she couldn’t help herself.I took that time to take her in, too. Messy bun, brightly colored clothing, a bit disheveled. Minimal make up, either because she’d run out of time, or didn’t bother, I wasn’t sure. And it didn’t matter. She was beautiful with or without makeup.
“Don’t you have a shower in your room?” she asked.
“This was the bathroom my brothers and I all shared growing up,” I said. “Only my parents had ensuites.”
“This is a thing you do?” she asked, breathlessly. Her eyes watching a bead of water make its way down my chest.
“Shower?” I asked her. Was I being objectified for my physical appearance? Yes. Did I love it? “Yes. I actually do it once a day.”
“I meant naked.”
“That’s usually the preferred method of showering. Harmony, are you okay? You look a little flushed.”
Her hands immediately flew to her cheeks. “No, I’m…I’m…not…anything.”
“We haven’t really had a chance to talk since you moved in.”
“Well, we’re not talking now. Not with you all…” she waved her hands up and down in the direction of my body. “Naked.”
“Have you been sleeping okay?”
“Yep. Great. So good. It will be hard to go back to my lumpy twin…you know, when this is over.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about it being over, until it’s begun.” I leaned against the door frame. Did that make my abs flex? Just a bit. “I think the folks in town should see us out more.”
“Out?”
“You know, where people can see us together. Being…”
“In love?”
I snapped my fingers. “Exactly. That.”
“Hookay,” she breathed, clearly flustered. By our conversation or my nakedness, I wasn’t exactly sure. “But I’mrunning late. So I’ll just go. And then we can talk…later. About…love.”
She didn’t walk, she ran down the hallway toward the grand staircase, and for some reason, that put a smile on my face.
She was still affected by me. Our wedding night wasn’t a one-off.
Carter thought we should be avoiding each other.
Me, I’d decided we shouldn’t.
When I got down to the kitchen, Mrs. Walker was fussing with the coffee pot. “Sorry, Ethan, but the auto timer didn’t go on. It should be just another minute.”
