Uniting the Souls (Souls of Chicago #6)(11)

Sometimes though, I would catch a glimpse of something more, something that looked a lot like longing. I’d caught Matt staring at me a few times as well and I would feel a strange stirring in my chest when that happened. He always turned away quickly though, leaving me to wonder what he’d been thinking.

I found myself acting differently too on the days when I knew Hudson would be working at the center. I always enjoyed my job, but those particular days, I felt myself smiling more and anxiously watching the clock. I liked the fact that Hudson always took the time to stop by my office and say hello and ask how my day was. He flirted with me occasionally, but I never managed more than a few mumbled words as I felt my face heat up. I’d never had anyone show an interest in me before and I was quickly becoming addicted to the way he would look at me as if I were the only person in the room.

The train came to a stop and I looked out the window, my forehead wrinkling when I saw it had begun to rain. The forecast hadn’t shown any rain and I blamed our local meteorologist for my lack of an umbrella. I stood, pulling my earbuds out and tucked them and my phone into my pocket then lifted the hood of my jacket over my head trying to protect myself as much as possible. I walked as quickly as I could to the center, but the rain came down in thick sheets and I was soaking wet by the time I reached the front door.

“Rough morning?” Allison asked, giving me a sympathetic look.

“It was fine until I got off the train. I didn’t know it was supposed to rain,” I explained as water dripped from my hair. I was sure I looked like a drowned rat.

“Why don’t you go get a change of clothes from the free store? Get into something dry and I’ll bring you your coffee and the breakfast Gladys left for you.” I managed to thank her as a shiver wracked my body, then walked down the hallway to where the free store was located.

The store had been Kathy Greene’s idea. She’d contacted many of the local churches and schools, asking them to set up boxes at their locations where people could donate new or gently used clothing and various toiletries. The response had been tremendous and donations continued to pour in more quickly than we could give them away. Many of the kids at the center arrived with only the clothes on their backs and so they’d been thrilled when the store opened and they could pick out clothing for themselves.

I sorted through the piles of clothes and finally found a pair of socks, jeans, and a shirt I thought would fit me then grabbed a small bath towel and headed back to my office. I was thankful to have dry clothes to put on, but I wouldn’t take anything away from the kids so I made a mental note to wash and return the clothes to the store the next day.

I shut my office door behind me and pulled my wet clothes off. Standing in just my boxer briefs, my teeth began to chatter and I quickly toweled the worst of the water from my hair then rubbed the towel vigorously over my body, hoping the friction would warm it. I’d just picked up the shirt when I heard the door open behind me and I cursed when I realized I’d forgotten to lock it. I turned around, ready to apologize to Allison for putting her in an embarrassing situation, but the words died on my lips as I saw it wasn’t her in the doorway.

Matt’s mouth hung open as he stood there, staring at me and he reached out and gripped the frame of the door with his hand. I felt frozen in place as his eyes traveled over my body, and I swear, I felt it as surely as if he’d reached out and touched me with his hands. I shivered again, but that time it had nothing to do with my being cold. In fact, I suddenly felt warm all over and I lowered the shirt in front of my groin when my cock began to stir. Matt’s eyes narrowed as they caught the movement and I was mortified that he’d noticed the physical reaction I was having to him.

“I got…I got caught in the rain. I was just changing,” I stammered.

“I’ll, uh, leave you to it,” Matt mumbled. His eyes swept over me once more and his tongue darted out, wetting his lips before he finally stepped back, shutting the door behind him.

I sagged against my desk and laid my palm against my chest, feeling my heart beat wildly beneath my rib cage. What the hell just happened? I recognized the look of desire on his face, but I never thought Matt would direct that kind of heated look my way.

I tamped down my excitement as much as possible, reminding myself that Matt had always seen me as a friend and nothing more. There was no point in getting my hopes up. The more my heart rate slowed the more I was able to convince myself that I’d imagined the whole thing. I quickly got dressed, sighing when I slipped the dry pair of socks on over my cold toes and placed my shoes next to the heater to dry.

Allison brought me my coffee and breakfast and I thanked her, although I knew I wouldn’t touch it. My stomach was too tied up in knots to handle food at the moment. I was tempted to go find Matt and ask him why he’d stopped by my office to begin with, but I was afraid he’d be able to see my desire too clearly on my face. I didn’t want to make things any more awkward between us, so I sat at my desk and dove into my work instead.

Sometime later, there was a knock on my door which made me jump and I glanced up as it swung open. Hudson stood there, his large frame taking up most of the doorway and I glanced at the time on my computer, surprised to see how late it was. I’d worked straight through the entire day, not even stopping for lunch or dinner and my stomach let out an embarrassing rumble in protest. Hudson’s deep laugh had me glancing back at him.