rie

ightstand and closed around the first object they found-a heavy ceramic sculpture, an abstract piece Caleb had bought years ago. I gripped it like

f. My pulse thrummed in my ears. Who could possibly be in there? Caleb was downstairs. The chef wasn't due for hours.

o swing, when the bathroom door

asily over six feet-with broad, sculpted shoulders and a lean, athletic build that spoke of regular gym sessions or maybe just good gen

very obvious, very

elessly in my grip, trembling with my fingers. Every coherent thought evaporate

staring into a pair of familiar blue irises. Familiar, yet I couldn't place why. There was someth

‑naked, impossibly handsome stranger in my own bathroom. By any

roosting in the ancient oaks surrounding Oak Manor into panicked, flapping flight

n't flinch. His hands remained steady on th

sing. "Who are you? Caleb's girlfriend?" His

amic piece remained tight. So this guy was probably an acquaintance or busi

ght?" He tilted his head, studying me wi

ect abs had actually called me by name. He knew me? I hadn't lived at Oak Manor for tw

ease, his deep blue eyes fixed unblinkingly on me. His expression rem

the sharp‑featured, confidently posed man before me now. He had changed so much: his frame had filled out, his jaw had squared, his voice had deepened into something smooth and reson

my gaze away, fixing it on the far wall, but it was too late. The image of those perfectly sculpted abs was already bur

ps pounded up the stairs, and Caleb's voice rang out, s

ic sculpture like a caveman, Nathaniel half‑naked and dripping wet in my bathroom doorw

g against the doorframe for suppor

ven hotter. "What is going on? Why i

t to mention. Nathaniel's moved back. He bought his famil

k?" I demanded, gesturing

heater broke. Repair's scheduled for tomorrow. Caleb offered his spare bathroom." He

dy's bedroom?" I blushed furiously but refused to back down verbal

y. "Noted. Won't happen again." No ap

s on?" I shot back, my voice steadi

nclined his head, grabbed his shirt from the counter, and walked past me w

amily picnics and who once cried when I fell out of a tree and scraped my arm. When he was a teenager, he'd been all elbows an

o had just dismissed me with a curt n