Worth It (Forbidden Men, #6)(10)

“You’re funny.” Reaching out, he caught a piece of my hair and rubbed it between his fingers.

I think he liked my hair. That made me feel...warm...all over.

“Funny, pretty, and nice,” he murmured more to himself than to me. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

My mouth fell open. My head was so jumbled with crazy, crushy feelings I knew I shouldn’t be having, I had no idea how to reply.

“So, really,” he said, continuing on as if he hadn’t just flipped my world upside down. “What are we going to do to pass the time?” Strand by strand, he let my hair tumble from his fingertips before he gathered another lock and repeated the action.

When his gaze shifted to my mouth, I almost lost myself, sucked into his captivating charisma. But at the last second, I realized how crazy insane lifting up onto my toes and kissing him would be.

I had to stop this.

I was going to crack a comment about how obsessed he’d become with my hair to douse the moment, but then I realized I’d become just as obsessed with watching him play with it.

We were quite the entranced pair.

I licked my dry lips. “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

He shrugged, his attention slipping back to my hair as he began to wind it around his finger and force it to bob into a corkscrew as he pulled his finger free. “If you really need to shave your legs, don’t let me stop you.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, sorry, but I’ve already shaved them today.”

Which was odd. I’d shaved them yesterday too, and the day before that, along with every freaking day since I’d run into him in the woods.

Seriously, what was it about a cute boy that suddenly made a girl want to shave her legs every single day? There had to be something very wrong with that. Damn cute boys.

“But feel free to shave yours.” I motioned my hand toward the bathtub, and he laughed again.

Ugh. What was it about damn cute boys who laughed at a girl’s corny jokes that made her heart beat harder?

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

I loved that I could hear the smile in his voice. My soul sang.

Blowing out a loud, dramatic sigh, I flipped my bangs out of my eyes, only to accidentally brush my hands against his where he was still fiddling with my hair.

Stomach beginning to cramp from all the sensual heat in there, I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and rambled out nervous words.

“I guess we could do each other’s hair, paint our toenails and gossip about cute boys, like a regular ol’ slumber party.”

The humor in his eyes made them a darker chocolate brown. “I thought you girls only had pillow fights in your underwear at slumber parties.”

I huffed out a disgusted breath. “Not even close. That’s just what you guys assume we do. The fact of the matter is we pig out until we’re disgustingly bloated, and then we try to burp our bad garlic breath on each other.”

Knox gaped at me as if I’d kicked him in the shin. “You just shattered every dream I ever had about slumber parties,” he said in the most serious voice I’d ever heard him use.

I blinked before I realized he was joking. Then I cracked a grin and shoved at his shoulder. “Whatever.”

“No, seriously. Please tell me there’s at least some experimental kissing. Or boob touching to compare sizes. Trying on each other’s panties?”

“Eww.” I sent him a glare, but he only laughed.

“Oh, come on. You gotta give me something. There has to be at least one indecent thing that actually happens at slumber parties, or there’s no hope left in the world.”

I opened my mouth to call him a pig when a knock on my door made me yelp.

“Felicity?” It was Max this time. The good brother.

He sounded concerned.

Slicing a worried glance at Knox, I called back, “Y-yeah?”

“Sweetie, I don’t want to worry you, but someone broke into the house again. We’re not sure if he’s gone yet. So I’m going to stay in your room until you get out, just to be on the safe side. But Father’s already called the sheriff, who should be here soon, so don’t be scared, okay?”

I gulped and looked up at Knox, who’d gone pale. “Oh, shit,” he mouthed.

“Umm...actually, I didn’t bring any clothes into the bathroom with me,” I told Max, biting my lip and praying he bought that.

“Do you want me to bring some to your door?” Max so considerately offered.

I slumped my shoulders and met Knox’s gaze. His brown eyes swirled with worry.

“No. No, just...can you wait outside my bedroom door? I’m not sure what I want to wear yet.”

He hesitated. I was positive he’d tell me no, but then he finally said, “All right, but hurry, okay? Father wants us all downstairs in the sitting room so we can be in one place.”

“Of course. I’ll be out in a second.”

I closed my eyes and held my breath until I heard his footsteps move across my room and then my bedroom door close.

Exhaling silently, I slipped out of the bathroom as quietly as possible, even though I had no idea why I was being quiet about that.

I tiptoed into my bedroom, and immediately I missed the close intimacy I’d shared with Knox.

Seeing that the coast was clear, I opened the door fully to set him free. He stepped into my bedroom, very pale.