My Unexpected Vow: California Billionaires Book 2 by Harlow James (top 10 inspirational books txt) 📕

His gaze tightens on mine and then drifts down to my lips now. “I’m sure you will, Wave. But maybe I’ve just found a reason to stay in more.”

“Oh?”

He nods. “Where else am I going to get cooking that makes me grateful I have a drawer full of takeout menus just over there.” He points to said drawer, and all I can do is roll my eyes.

“Ha-ha. Very funny.”

His chuckle resonates in my limbs as he moves around me, scrapes his plate, and then proceeds to rinse and scrub the dirty dishes in the sink.

“You don’t have to clean up.”

“Nah. You cooked, I clean. Well, I mean you attempted to cook,” he jokes, glancing up at me with a teasing grin.

“Alright. I’m just going to hop in the shower then.” I make my way upstairs and start to undress in my bathroom, still feeling the effects of Hayes’s lingering stare on my mouth. He hasn’t brought up my inadvertent kiss, but does that mean that he hasn’t thought about it either? And why does a part of me want him to be thinking about it? Is it because I can’t stop reminiscing on how soft his lips were, on how intense his eyes were on me before I pressed my lips to his? Is it because slowly but surely, he’s become a friend, someone I’m sharing aspects of my life with, although not by choice? And I’m starting to feel like maybe this situation won’t be as bad as I thought it would.

Is Emma right? Am I developing feelings? And is it the end of the world if I give in to them? Is the risk of getting hurt worth the potential to explore this pull to him that has taken hold of my mind and won’t let go?

As I shower and contemplate the pros and cons of the decision, I’m no closer to deciding what to do once I step out from under the blazing hot water. Part of me thinks I may just be making this shift because we’re living together. If I were living with any other man, I’m sure the same feelings would be happening, right? I mean, I’m a young woman with needs that aren’t being met, and the sexual frustration is building in my body at an alarming rate.

Maybe I need to invest in more toys. A dildo would be nice since my vibrator just doesn’t have the girth that a penis would. Yeah, that’s what I need—something to quench my thirst, so to speak.

After I finish drying off and changing into more comfortable clothes, I hobble back downstairs and find Hayes nestled into the couch, clicking away on his phone.

“Hey. Do you have plans for the second weekend in March?” Hayes lifts his head to find me standing by the arm of the couch, admiring the bulges in his biceps visible under the hem of the sleeves of his shirt. His muscular thighs peek out from under the hem of his shorts too, and it’s all I can do to force myself to look away from the man I hated more than oatmeal raisin cookies just a few months ago.

Yup, I’m definitely horny. And oatmeal raisin cookies are the devil—masquerading as chocolate chip until you bite into one and flames burst from your head.

I walk into the kitchen, reaching to fill a glass of water. “Not that I recall.”

“Great. We’re going to learn how to cook.”

“What?” I spin around as he stands from the couch and walks over to me.

“I signed us up for a couple’s cooking class.”

“Are you serious?” My heart is beating wildly, but not from nervousness. More like admirable shock. Hayes signed us up for cooking classes while I was in the shower? “Why would you do that?”

He shrugs, like what he did is no big deal. “Because you’re right. We should learn how to cook. It’s better for us than eating out. And I don’t know…” He reaches up to brush a hand through his messy, dark hair that I desperately wanted to tug on when I kissed him, but never got the chance to. “It’d be nice to be able to cook for each other sometimes, you know?”

“You want to cook for me?”

“Well, I mean, you tried cooking for me tonight. It’s only fair that I return the favor.”

“But… but we’re not a real couple,” I counter, desperately trying to understand why I feel like I have to fight this so much.

Because he did something thoughtful and it’s making you own some of those feelings you’ve been denying, Waverly.

Shut up, subconscious. No one asked you to point out the obvious.

“Technically, we are by law. But I’m pretty sure they’re not going to ask for our marriage certificate when we check-in.” He rolls his eyes. “Come on, Wave. It will be fun. It’s three classes, one every two weeks, and if anything, it should provide us with some laughs if it ends up being a disaster.”

I can’t help but huff out a laugh. “Okay. What the hell.”

“That a girl.” He winks at me and then pushes off the kitchen counter he was leaning up against. “Alright. My turn for a shower and I’m beat. I’m probably going to call it a night.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, me too.”

As he heads up the stairs, I can’t help but trail after him with my eyes.

“I can feel your eyes on my ass, Beaverly.” He stops in the middle of the staircase.

I gasp, but more out of indignation. “I was doing no such thing.”

“Yeah, just like you weren’t looking at my lips earlier either, right?” His gaze falls over his shoulder as he smirks in my direction.

My jaw drops open.

“It’s okay, babe. If you want to kiss me again, you can. I know signing us up for that cooking class just scored me major brownie points.”

“I didn’t know there were points to keep track of!” I yell back at him as he chuckles on the stairs.

“Better step