Page 117 of Illicit Education

Hmm. Maybe if I rolled them?

I stepped into them, then rolled the top a few times. Reaching up to the top shelf, I grabbed a gray t-shirt and pulled it over my head. Slipping into the bathroom, I instantly regretted it. My hair was a tangled rat’s nest and my makeup was still on from last night, only now it was smeared and I looked like I’d spent the night on a park bench after searching for the bottom of bottomless mimosas.

As I started to back out of the bathroom, my eyes caught on a row of bottles displayed on a glass tray and I got an idea. Grinning, I picked up the one closest to me and pressed the top to my nose.

Eh. It was good, but nothing set it apart from any man I might pass by on the way to work.

I picked up the second one, and before I’d even brought it to my nose, my stomach did a little flip of excitement. I pressed it to my nostrils and pulled in a nice big hit.

“Mmm,” I moaned. “That’s the stuff.”

And then I spritzed it on the t-shirt because I am a totally rational, sane person.

Whatever. Don’t judge.

Ta-da.Now his clothes actually smelled like him.

No shame in my game.

I ran my fingers through my hair, bent at the waist to tie it into a knot atop my head, then hurried to join him downstairs. Smelling like him was a great idea, but it also made me want to lay eyes on him again.

Speaking of eyes, wow. I’d really have to make it up to mine. What an eyesore. No offense to Gram-gram, but… I shuddered.Bleah. I tried not to make eye contact with any of the furniture downstairs as I searched for Reed and Mina, following their hushed voices until I found them in the kitchen.

Thepinkkitchen.

Lovely.

“She’s wearing your clothes.” Mina offered a tightlipped smile as I sat down across from her. “And… is she…” She breathed deeply, shaking her head. “Did yousprayhiscologne?” She asked it in such a way that I could tell the appropriate answer would be no. Definitely no. What kind of normal person would do such a thing?

But we already established the fact that your girl can’t lie. So I shrugged.

What could I say? The man smelled fuckinggood.

Reed set a cup of coffee on the table in front of me and I slid my hands around it as I smiled up at him. But his eyes were tight around the edges, his jaw set.

Something was wrong. This certainly wasn’t the man I’d been intimate with last night.

This wasReed TowerCabot Reed.

The sorta scary version of the man I loved.

Mina clicked her tongue. “I don’t even understand what I’m looking at.”

My gaze flicked to her.

“You’ve…domesticatedhim.”

Reed made a sound of displeasure and we both looked up at him. His face was set into hard lines and his eyes were tight as he looked at Mina over the rim of his coffee mug. He was still shirtless, still wearing those sexy jeans from last night, and even with that dirty look on his face, the way he leaned back against the counter made my mouth water.

If this was what domestication looked like, sign me up!

The man looked good enough to eat.

His gaze met mine and his eyes darkened, as if reading my thoughts.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Mina tapped something on the table, drawing my attention away from Reed.

I looked down at the magazine and nearly dropped my coffee.

---