khaki shorts she wore, her feet small and pretty with rosy-pink polished toenails. He dragged his gaze up and away from her legs.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “We just had toast…”
Dag shook his head. “Nah. I never eat much in the morning. Coke’s good, and then I’ll head back to the hotel.”
She nodded and picked up her mug of coffee then padded over to the couch where Chris sat. She curled up beside him and he absentmindedly slid his arm around her and pulled her closer, his hand going into her hair and playing with the silky dark strands.
Dag watched Chris’s long, tanned fingers caressing Kassidy’s hair, slowly rubbing a strand then dragging his fingers down the length of it. Something clenched inside him and he felt like he couldn’t take his eyes off the mesmerizing motion.
He lifted the glass and took a big swallow of nose-stinging fizzy Coke. He had to get out of there. Now.
He walked across the living room to the arched window overlooking the tree-lined street. Nice neighborhood. The sun lit up the fresh green leaves of the maple trees, the sky above a perfect clear blue. He turned back to the couple snuggled up on the couch together, Chris absorbed in the news show he was watching, Kassidy watching…Dag. Heat suffused him.
He guzzled down the rest of his Coke. “I’ll uh…get dressed,” he said. “And get out of your way. I’m sure you have a lot to do.”
“No rush, man,” Chris said. “What are you doing today, anyway?”
Dag paused in the hall. “I have some business stuff to go over. To get ready for my meetings later this week.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Dag returned to the bedroom where he’d slept, found the rest of his clothes and quickly dressed. He pulled the sheets and blankets off the bed, folded the mattress back up into the sofa frame and replaced the cushions. Then he gathered up the bedding in his arms and took it out to Kassidy.
“What should I do with this?” he asked her.
“Oh, thank you, Dag.” She rose from the couch and accepted the bundle of laundry with a smile. “You didn’t need to do that. I’ll just toss it in the washer right now.” And she disappeared into a small room off the kitchen.
“So I’ll call you later this week,” Chris said, standing too. He followed Dag to the door. “We’ll get things set up for Friday night. But hey, we can do lunch or something one day. If you have time.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Kassidy came to the door too, and Chris pulled her in front of him, slid his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her head. His forearms sat just below her breasts, plumping them up a bit, which made Dag notice they were braless beneath the soft cotton tank top she wore, her nipples hard little points. Another demonstration of the warm and sexy chemistry between the two of them.
Out. Of. There.
“Thanks for dinner, Kassidy. You’re a great cook.”
She grinned. “Thank you. Any time. It’s been great getting to know you.”
And he got the hell out.
On the leafy street, he sucked in big breaths full of fresh morning air as he walked to his car parked at the curb halfway down the block. Oh man. All the emotional crap twisting and turning inside him was completely unexpected. There was no fucking way he could move back to Chicago.
He rubbed his face as he unlocked his car door then slid into the vehicle. His best plan would be to get through these business meetings he had lined up, and then get the hell back to San Francisco.
Kassidy had the day off Friday and planned to do some shopping. They needed towels for the main bathroom—Chris’s mismatched, well-worn towels didn’t fit in with their new condo. And they needed curtains for both the extra bedrooms. When Dag had slept over, it made her want to do up the rooms nicely. Not that she anticipated having guests very often.
Dag.
She got all warm inside when she thought about seeing him that morning. Jesus, the man was walking sex. Those worn jeans sat so