Page 32 of Best Man
Paulina’s eyes widened as he ran through the rain. He wasfast—he had the speed of a cheetah, and the smooth grace of one, too.
But no one was fast enough to escape the rain.
“Oh my goodness!” She couldn’t help but giggle at the drenched athlete standing before her. “You poor thing!”
Niko’s damp hair laid flat on his head. Water streamed from his jacked arms, and puddles quickly pooled at his boat shoes.
He surveyed himself with a comically defeated grin. “Wow. Look at me. I’m soaked.”
Look at you, indeed,she thought, biting her lip as she ran her eyes up and down his body. Drenched by the rain, the fabric of his t-shirt was painted to his skin, showing off every toned bulge and chiseled crevice of his muscular torso.
Yummmm,she thought, her insides twisting with desire.God, what a man.
“Sorry. Can’t wear it like this.” He grabbed the hem of his shirt and began to pull.
Sorry?she thought.Ohhh no. You’ve got nothing to apologize for. No, sir.
Paulina stared and watched, slack-jawed, as he peeled the sopping t-shirt completely off his body. He was built like a God. His wide shoulders and broad chest tapered to a narrow waist. Every muscle group on his torso wasperfectlydefined, from his jutting pecs to his deliciously toned washboard abs. And yetmorerippling muscles appeared when he balled up his t-shirt and wrung the water from it.
Don’t just stand there and stare, help him!
“Let’s, um, find you a towel,” she stammered at last.
“I will be fine.”
Paulina was inclined to agree if it meant he’d hang out shirtless for the rest of the night—but no, she couldn’t do that; that was cruel.
“Don’t be crazy,” she said. “You can’t sit around all wet like that! You’ll catch a cold.”
Besides,she thought,I’ll get absolutely nothing accomplished.
She found an assortment of hand towels among the dish towels and linens for tomorrow’s event. She apologized she didn’t have a bath towel, but Niko didn’t mind. He quickly toweled his hair and wiped his torso dry. Miraculously, his cotton cut-off shorts hadn’t gotten soaked—though Paulinawishedthey had because, judging by the meaty outline between his powerful legs, he wasn’t just well-hung—he wasn’t wearing any underwear, either.
For God’s sake! Focus!she reprimanded herself.Stop staring at him like a piece of meat!
“We should find you a dry shirt,” she said, tapping her chin. “I bet I can borrow one of Jax’s from Piper.”
“It’s okay. I have some in my bag. It’s out there,” he said, pointing towards the truck. “Only problem is, how do I get it?”
Paulina grabbed her umbrella and offered it to him. “With this handy tool.”
“Ah. Yes.” He took it with a wink. “Thank you.”
While Niko went to get a new shirt, Paulina hooked her phone up to the radio and queued up one of her favorite playlists for burning the midnight oil. She hoped he’d like it.
He returned a moment later. “Back,” he said, wearing a sexy scoop neck t-shirt. “And ready to work.”
Well, I could get used to this, too,she thought, running her eyes all over his strong collar bones.
“Cool!” she said, making room on the bench next to her. “Come on over and we’ll get started.”
He sat next to her. He hadn’t sat as closely as she hoped he would—was he feeling shy? Luckily, she had an excuse to get even closer.
“Let’s get started. I’ll make the first one, so you can watch me do it.” Borrowing from the tutorial she’d sent him earlier, she demonstrated how to fold and glue the tissue paper to form the shell of the lantern. “Ready to give it a try?”
“Yes.”
She watched over his shoulder as he got to work. His scent reminded her of the fresh mountain air, woodsy and just a touch sweet, when she hiked in the morning. Was that his cologne, or did he just naturally smell like the outdoors? She couldn’t tell, which only made her want to get closer. But the closer she got, the less she could focus—his smell was an irresistible aphrodisiac. She wanted to climb into his lap and do all sorts of unspeakable things to him.
