Page 36 of Home Team Advantage
“I moved around a lot,” she said vaguely. “I was in Florida for a while. Then Kansas. Ohio. South Carolina.”
So far, everything she’d said corroborated with what Ian had found, which he took as a good sign.
“No desire to stay in one place?”
She offered him a sad smile. “Being a personal caregiver to the elderly isn’t typically a long-term position. When they move on, so do I.”
“I think Mrs. C might challenge that.”
“I hope she does,” Anna said with no trace of insincerity.
“So, where are you from originally?”
Anna reached for her drink and knocked it over, effectively spilling soda onto herself. She immediately jumped down to the ground and pulled off her hoodie, briefly lifting the shirt underneath and exposing her midriff.
For a moment, Matt couldn’t look away. Her stomach was flat and smooth, her skin the same light-olive tone that made him think of sun-kissed flesh at the beach. A navel ring glinted in the sun, and a sudden and powerful flare of lust came out of nowhere, short-circuiting his brain.
“I am so sorry!” she said, using the hoodie to mop up the little bit that had dropped on the carpet, snapping him back to reality.
“It’s fine,” he assured her.
“It’s not fine. We can pick up some carpet cleaner on the way back, and I’ll fix it, I promise.”
“It’s fine. Most of it landed on you.” Matt reached into the back seat and pulled out a zippered hoodie of his own. “Here. Put this on.”
“No, that’s okay.”
His eyes dropped to her chest, where her nipples were making a bid for attention through the thin shirt she wore. “Please.”
She looked down at herself, the delicate skin of her neck turning a lovely shade of rose gold. “Right,” she said, and accepted the hoodie. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and zippered up the front. “Thanks.”
He couldn’t help it. He started laughing. The hoodie was so big on her; she looked like a little kid playing dress-up.
“What is so funny?”
“Come here.” He reached for the front and tugged her closer, then began to roll back her sleeves until her fingers were visible again. The hem fell down to mid-thigh, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.
“It’s not my fault you’re not a normal-sized human,” she muttered, attempting to tug her arm back. He let her reclaim it, then went for the other one. “I can do it.”
“I know. Let me help anyway.”
She wasn’t happy about it, but she stopped fighting him and watched his fingers make quick work of the cuffing. She did these little inhales every time the pads of his fingers accidently caressed her skin, and that did absolutely nothing to stem that rising tide of desire he was experiencing.
What the hell was wrong with him? He’d been infiltrating sex clubs for years, and yet a flash of skin and a few incidental touches had him wanting to toss her in the back seat.
He stepped back with reluctance and a whole lot of effort because every instinct demanded he decrease the distance between them, not add to it. More warning bells sounded in the back of his mind.
Snap out of it. You’re a grown man, for Chrissakes, not a horny kid, getting his first nip glimpse. And this is a friendly, get-to-know-you, information-gathering session, not a date.
Right.
Together, they gathered the remains of the meal and got back in the car.
“I should probably head back,” Anna said, pulling the seat belt across her torso.
Matt checked his phone. “There’s no hurry. My mom just texted. She and Mrs. Campbell are going to the farmers market.”
Anna bit her lower lip. “You can drop me off anyway. You’ve already gone above and beyond. Besides, I’m sure you have better things to do.”
