In the kitchen, she made quick work of measuring out the coffee. The huge jumble of blankets on the couch didn’t move, so she had to assume that Eli was a pretty sound sleeper. After adding water to the machine, she set the coffeepot to brew. She turned at the sound of a door opening. Startled, she glanced over at the couch. The jumble of covers still hadn’t moved.
“Then where is—”
Kay squeaked in surprise when Eli walked past, a white towel wrapped around his waist. His skin was still damp, as evidenced by the beads of water clinging to his neck. Without the barrier of clothing, his muscles stood out in stark display. His chest was massive, and then there were the perfectly delineated abdominals. Once her eyes made it past those, they landed on the most interesting muscles on his sides, shaped like a V leading straight down to his—
At her gasp, he stopped and looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Morning. Everything okay?”
Stunned, it took her several moments to register the question. Then several moments more to realize she was standing in the middle of the kitchen gaping at him. Worse, gaping at the towel around his waist. The incredibly tiny towel.
“You’re n…naked,” she stammered.
“I am.” Eli didn’t bother to hide or run for cover. Oh no, the jerk had the nerve to come closer. “That’s generally how I take my showers.”
“And really…” She tried in vain to get her eyes to land anywhere other than the broad expanse of his chest. “Really, really big.”
His lips curled up at that statement and Kay immediately realized what she’d just said. “I meant muscular. And really muscular. Is that an eight-pack? I didn’t even know there were that many packs possible…”
There really ought to be some sort of law about how fine a man was allowed to be. Especially men who were gruff and difficult to understand. It was bad enough that she couldn’t figure out his signals, but now she was supposed to think while confronted by a chest that looked like it had been chiseled out of concrete?
“Kay?”
“Hmm,” she breathed.
He crossed his arms. “I meant to bring my clothes with me in the bathroom but I forgot. So I need to finish getting dressed.”
“Right. Of course.”
When she still didn’t move, Eli grabbed the edge of the towel where it was tucked next to his skin. “I generally don’t have an audience for this part, but if you want to stay… “
Now that got her attention.
“Oh my God. Omigod.” Kay stammered something that sounded vaguely like an apology and then ran for her room. She closed the door behind her and rested her head against the door.
Of course Eli was the type to be up at the crack of dawn. As if being built like a linebacker and covered in skin like dark chocolate wasn’t sexy enough, he was an early riser who probably ran three miles every morning just for fun. Was there anything about him that wasn’t completely intimidating?
Her phone beeped on the nightstand. With a sigh, Kay sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to read the text message. It was from Ridley.
Give me a call when you wake up?
Kay quickly texted her back. A few minutes later, her phone rang.
“Hey! I didn’t actually think you’d be awake this early. What’s going on over there?”
“Nothing.” Kay clutched the phone tighter as an image of Eli’s perfect chest flashed through her mind. Suddenly she just had to tell someone. “I just saw Eli naked.”
“What!” Ridley’s shocked squeak was so loud Kay glanced behind her instinctively to make sure Eli hadn’t somehow heard.
“It was an accident. Plus, he wasn’t completely naked. Almost naked. He was wearing a towel, but it didn’t cover much.” Kay sagged back against her pillows and let out a long sigh. “I had no idea my towels were so small.”
Considering that Ridley was married to an Alexander man, she figured her friend would understand exactly why she was so affected.
“No wonder you sound so winded. Looking at that is enough to make any red-blooded woman lose her breath.”
“I can’t afford to lose my breath. I’m supposed to be looking forward, remember? Finding Mr. Right?”
“That’s true. As a matter of fact, that’s why I’m calling. I have some news that might take your mind off things.”
“I seriously doubt that.” Kay sighed.
“Mara found the perfect guy for you.”
Kay cringed. Pretending to let the girls fix her up had been a ridiculous idea even when they were just doing it to make Eli jealous. There was no way she was actually going through with it. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
“Why not? Mara knows him from work and she says he’s super smart and a great dancer. He’s going to meet us tomorrow evening to hang out. There won’t be any pressure. Just a chance for you to meet a nice guy.”
Kay still didn’t like the sound of it but figured it couldn’t do any harm. Especially if they were surrounded by a group of people. If the guy was a weirdo, she wouldn’t be stuck there alone with him. Maybe if she went this time, the girls would be satisfied and lose interest in fixing her up.
“Okay, I’ll go. Just tell me where and when.”
Ridley let out a little squeal. “This is going to be so much fun! Just meet us at the Alexanders’ house at seven o’clock. We’re not doing anything fancy, just going to The Rush for burgers. Julia volunteered to watch all the kids, including Hope, so we can all go out together and have a good time.”