Page 30 of Give Me Forever

When I heard the bathroom door open, I stilled, peeking from the corner of my eye.Oh hell no.He was only wearing a towel. My little heart couldn’t handle this. I moved very precisely with the intention of trying not to look at him, which, of course, made me bump into the corner of the table.

"Ow," I cried, stumbling backward into the kitchen island.

Sam came up to me right away. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just wasn't paying attention and bumped into the table."

"Where did you hit?"

"My thigh."

He was so close that my mind became a blur. I didn't think I'd be in such proximity with his abs so quickly. I hadn't braced myself for this.

"I was distracted," I mumbled.

"By what?" His eyes were more alert. He seemed so much more awake than before. That shower had a magical effect on him.

I cocked a brow. "Can you put on some clothes?"

"Oh, I see. You see me half naked and bump into table corners."

"Sam," I admonished. "You find this funny?”

He threw his head back, laughing. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down. “I find it hilarious.”

Seeing him laugh made me laugh too. I took a step back for a good measure, and he was the first one who seemed to regain his breath.

"Okay. I’ll take mercy on you and no longer distract you. I’ll go to my room and change."

"Yes, please do." I put the back of my hand theatrically to my head. "How else can I resist your holy hotness?"

His eyes glinted, and I swallowed hard, realizing what I'd implied. I cast my gaze to the table again and focused on splitting the salad as evenly as possible between our two plates.

Thankfully, he went to the laundry room for his clothes and then up to his bedroom without saying anything else. I fanned myself as I sat down at the table, hoping that by the time he was back, the tension between us would subside a bit.

It didn't.

The second Sam appeared again at the top of the staircase, I felt as if all the air in the room had been sucked out.

He was wearing shorts and a shirt, but he could very well have forgotten the shirt. He hadn't dried himself properly, so the white fabric was clinging to his skin. His hair was still wet.

"That shower was just what I needed," he said, sitting down at the table. "It woke me up, and I made you blush deliciously."

I looked up from my plate. "Sam!"

"What?" he asked, feigning innocence. "Your voice is stern."

I nodded vigorously. "I feel like we should make a few more things off-limits, but I'm just not sure about the parameters exactly.”

"The parameters," he parroted. "Since when did you incorporate business vocabulary in your day-to-day life?"

I groaned. "Since I spent the entire day looking up business lingo for Etsy. I never thought I'd have to start from scratch again, but I have a good feeling about it," I said, digging into my salad. “They do everything different on the site, but I think for my new startup, it’s the best way to go.”

"I'm very proud of you."

"What for?" I asked him between bites.

"Because not only did you follow your dream, but you lost it, and now you're building it back again."

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