Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
He smiled at my shock. “Aunt Evelyn’s no spring chicken, and neither is her husband..”
That was a good point. And since Evelyn was on her fourth husband, it seemed likely that some of the others had been of advanced age, too. “The stairs are fine.”
Except he went first, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the way his ass moved under the towel as he climbed upward. God, what was with me today? I saw bare bodies every day. Why were these three guys affecting me so much?
Well, besides the fact that they all had abs of steel. And sculpted pecs. And bulging biceps.
“Still with me?” Dominic had paused on a landing and was staring down at me.
“Yes.” I scrambled to catch up with him. As we started up the next flight, I cleared my throat. “Are you really Evelyn’s nephew?”
He turned and patted his hips, as if they were pockets. “I don’t have any ID on me, or I’d prove it.” I tried to ignore the way the towel stretched straight across his pelvis—with a noticeable bulge in the middle.
“No, I mean… are you just a nephew or a great-nephew?”
He shot me a quick smile before resuming climbing the stairs. “She’s my great-aunt. But I wouldn’t say that in front of her.”
“Will she be here this week?”
Dominic shrugged, and the muscles of his back rippled. “Who knows? She travels a lot, and she’s got family everywhere.”
“Do you know Claire and Penny up in Chicago?”
Dominic paused again, his forehead wrinkling. “I don’t think so. As I said, she’s got family all over—both blood relatives and her husbands’ kin. That’s where she found you, right? At a wedding up there?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you must’ve made quite the impression. She’s been talking you up ever since.”
After two more flights of stairs, I was starting to wish I’d chosen the elevator. Dominic, on the other hand, looked as if he could climb forever. Even if he hadn’t been showing so much skin, it would’ve been clear he was incredibly fit. The way he moved was like a cheetah or something. Coiled strength with no wasted movement.
Finally, he led me into a long hallway. I’d only followed him a few steps when he paused by yet another staircase. It was all I could do not to groan.
“Up there is where the massage tables are set up. Do you want to go up there now or see your room?”
“The room, please.” I was curious about what the staff quarters looked like. Hopefully, my room would be bigger than the cat’s.
Some of the doors were open as we passed, and I couldn’t help peeking inside. There was a large bedroom with the biggest bed I’d ever seen. Then two identical rooms that looked like they could’ve been in a five-star hotel.
“Here we are.” Dominic pushed open a door and I gasped. This room blew the other two away, though the bed wasn’t as big as the one in that first room. It appeared to be queen-sized, however, and there was an actual canopy above it. The soft, translucent fabric reminded me of the billowy curtains in the great room below us.
Impossibly thick carpet cushioned my feet as I stepped inside. The furniture—a chest of drawers with a mirror, a desk, and several chairs—was all made out of white-washed wood that fit with the beach theme. Paintings of seascapes adorned the wall. And directly opposite me were two doors. “Is that a balcony?”
“We figured a landlubber like you might enjoy an ocean view.”
God, he’d figured right. I resisted the urge to run out there right this minute. Instead, I turned in a slow circle. It was the most beautiful room I’d ever seen. “I never thought staff quarters would look like this.”
Dominic frowned. “It’s a guest room.”
“Oh, right.” Was I really supposed to be here, though? But then I spotted my suitcase and bag on the far side of the bed, so I supposed I was.
I turned around one more time, taking it all in, and when my gaze returned to where Dominic stood in the doorway, I suddenly saw two of him.
Blinking, I took a step closer. On the wall behind him was a picture of him in a baseball cap and a gray uniform with black trim. “So you guys really are baseball players?” Evelyn had mentioned that once, but that was when she was trying to convince me to fly out here. I’d figured maybe it was a tall tale to make the week sound better—as if a stay in a house on the beach wasn’t tempting enough.
“We were.” Dominic’s voice was casual, but his face seemed to shut down. I bit back the many questions that were bouncing around my head. He and his friends looked to be around thirty—that seemed much too early for retirement, though I didn’t know much about professional athletes.