“Thanks.” And there he was, his body so close she felt some kind of vibration coming off him. She inhaled and breathed him in—the scent of the sea and musky, sweaty male, which unfortunately was not a turnoff to her. Definite sexual chemistry. She was afraid to even look up at him, and she was no coward.
But Garrett Scott represented her job, and if she did her job well, it would be a shot in the arm to her future with the Rivers. As one of the therapists in the lower echelon, she really needed to do well on this. Having the hots for her client was a terrible way to start.
She pushed off the counter.
“I was thinking omelets for breakfast. I know you’re a vegetarian, but do you eat eggs?”
She stopped, turned, forcing herself to face him. “I do. Do you want me to fix your breakfast?”
He laughed. “No. I was going to fix breakfast. Unless you have some objection to that.”
“Uh, no. No objection.”
“Good.” He laid his empty glass in the sink and grabbed a pan from under the counter. “I’m going to make bacon. I hope that doesn’t offend you.”
She couldn’t help the smile that quirked her lips. “I won’t run screaming as long as you don’t make me eat it.”
“Fine. You go work or something. I’ll cook.”
“How do you know what I want?”
“Eggs. I’m going to mix some vegetables in with it. Then I’ll cut up some fruit, too. Would you like some yogurt?”
She sighed. He was just too good at this. She was going to have to keep her distance when she wasn’t working with him. “That all sounds great, but I can help.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got this.”
She went into the bedroom and grabbed her notebook, brought it out to the table, and tried to finish up her treatment plan, but it was hard to work when Garrett was cooking. Hot man in the kitchen? There was nothing sexier. He cracked eggs, sliced fruit, and she was certain he sizzled hotter than the bacon, which actually smelled delicious. Too bad she gave up meat five years ago.
She finally couldn’t take doing nothing, so she got up, poured juice, and set the table. By then breakfast was ready, and Garrett filled their plates.
They sat at the table and ate. The omelets were delicious.
“You’re very good at this cooking thing.”
He waved a piece of bacon at her. “Amazing what a guy can do when he has to fend for himself.”
“And you had to fend for yourself a lot?”
“Totally. You should feel sorry for me.”
“This is where you’re going to tell me you were homeless, you had to forage in the streets for food, you survived by using your street smarts, and you were some kind of baseball prodigy. That’s how you got your scholarship, right?”
“You must have read the Time Magazine article about me. Dammit, and I wanted to impress you with my backstory. Now you’ve ruined it.”
“Ha ha. Seriously, tell me about your family. I’m sure you were raised by loving parents and you’re as boring as me.”
He laughed and shoved a forkful of eggs in his mouth, followed by a couple of gulps of orange juice. “Yeah, just like your story. Very uneventful.”
“I’m so disappointed.”
He grinned. “I’m surprised you’re not weeping into your napkin.”
“So, what you’re telling me is you had a very happy childhood, raised by two parents who adore each other, and there are no skeletons in your closet.”
He popped a piece of cantaloupe in his mouth. “That’s me. I’m pretty dull.”
She finished her omelet and set it aside. “That’s not what I’ve read. I read that you love to party, all women adore you and want to have your babies, but you steadfastly remain single. You haven’t had a single serious relationship despite your immense popularity with the opposite sex, and you’ll be turning thirty this year.”
“Ancient, I know. I might as well hang it up now.”
“Usually, all the sports studs carry on with some famous actress or model.”
“And yet here I am, unattached.”
“Maybe you’re gay.”
He arched a brow, searing her with his gaze. “Give me an hour in the bedroom and I’ll prove that theory wrong.”
Alicia’s entire body went up in flames. She knew she shouldn’t have baited Garrett that way, but they were having such an easy, fun conversation. He liked teasing her, and despite her attempts at wanting to establish boundaries with him, she couldn’t help but respond to him. So she teased him back. All the distance she’d tried to create had evaporated with that one comment.
The look he’d given her, the way he’d said the words, and the challenge in them filled her mind with images of what he could do with her in the bedroom during that hour.
She realized it had been a very, very long dry spell for her in the sex department. Between finishing up her master’s and getting her certification, then interning and working, sex had been more or less an afterthought for a long time. It was only natural for her body—and her mind—to want to jump all over the first really hot guy she was stuck in close quarters with. And she and Garrett had been together a lot—with her focus on his body. Of course she would feel connected to him in such a physical way.
Unfortunately, said hot guy attached to said hot body was most definitely off-limits.