Bare It All

God, she felt like a needy child. She’d worked too hard for independence to backslide now. Forcing her chin up, she met his gaze and willed her voice to be steady and strong. “I thought you’d left.”

“No, you thought I’d snuck out while you slept.” He stepped back and handed her the coffee. “I like to think I’m a little more honorable than that.”

“You’re very honorable.” She sipped the coffee. Perfection. Was there anything he didn’t do well? As far as she could tell, no, there wasn’t.

And of course, that meant he’d also be good at relationships, even dysfunctional relationships with damaged, needy neighbors.

“I’m sorry.” Feeling like a wounded mouse, Alice wanted to limp off and hide. But that wouldn’t do. “I should have known—”

“Yes, you should have.” Reese gestured for her to join him in the kitchen.

Reluctantly, she went along, sitting in the chair he pulled out for her.

After getting his own cup of coffee, Reese sat across from her. Brows drawn, expression stern, he stared at her. “If I spend the night and you wake up alone, instead of assuming the worst, look for a note or wait for a phone call.”

Now that she understood nothing had changed—Reese hadn’t left, hadn’t lost interest—she found her backbone again. “Don’t leave without waking me, and I won’t have to.”

His left brow lifted. “So, I’m to give you notice of my comings and goings?”

She hesitated, but... “Yes.” So much daring made her pulse race. It was exhilarating. “If you stay the night with me, you owe me that courtesy.”

Seconds ticked by—and he smiled. “All right.”

Wow, she’d just successfully debated with an ultra-appealing alpha male. Her entire mood lightened. “How long before you have to go?”

“Soon.” He set his cup aside. “While you slept in—and I’m not complaining about that, just so you know—it occurred to me that you’d done all the sharing last night. Hardly fair, is it?”

She tucked her messy hair behind her ears and struggled to keep up with him. “It’s okay. You had—” have “—questions.”

“Yes, and with each answer you give, it seems I have more.” He held up a hand. “No, don’t draw wrong conclusions again. I’m not ready to launch into a cross-examination.”

Yay.

He moved the cup a little, turning the handle. “I just wondered, don’t you have a few questions of your own?”

None that she could voice first thing in the morning, after making a fool of herself, on only half a cup of coffee. But she could tell he wanted something from her. She licked her lips. “Yes?”

Proving she’d given the right answer, Reese smiled and held out his arms. “Let me have it.”

She gave him a blank stare.

“Questions, Alice.”

She wracked her brain and came up with a subject of interest. “Family.”

“Everyone has one, don’t they?” He took another drink of coffee, visibly sorting his thoughts. “Mine is large. Mother, father, brothers, sister, nephews and a niece, aunts and uncles, cousins...even my grandparents are still around.”

“Wow.”

“There are a lot of us, and despite the occasional conflict, we’re a good group. Dad is hilarious. Overly educated but still a comedian. He makes my mom nuts, but she loves him.”

Fascinated, Alice pictured them all together, and that made her wonder. “Did you get your size from your father?”

“And he from his father, and on down the line. The men are mostly all big, some bigger than me. A few of the women are tall, too, but obviously with more feminine features.”

“Your mother?”

“She’s average height. Around five-five. By the time I was twelve, I towered over her. When she wanted to lecture me, she made me sit in a chair in front of her. Said it hurt her neck otherwise.”

Alice smiled. “You said brothers and sisters?”

“Two brothers, one sister. And yes, being the only girl, she’s bossy but kind, so we tolerate her.” He grinned to let her know he was teasing. “She has sons, and my oldest brother has a daughter.”

Caught up in the picture he painted, Alice asked, “What were you like in high school?”

“Pride demanded I get good grades and do well in sports. I was cocky, I guess. Full of myself.”

“Were you popular?”

“I didn’t want for friends.”

“Or girlfriends?”

Grinning, he said, “Not exactly, no.” He reached for her hand, worked his thumb over her palm, examined each finger. “During my junior year, I got dubbed ‘Bare it All Bareden,’ a name that stuck after a bunch of cheerleaders caught me naked in the locker room.”

She almost blushed for him. “That must have been so embarrassing!”

He rolled a shoulder. “You’d think so, right?” Before she could question that, he went on. “The girls, all fifteen of them, claimed to come in on me accidentally. I mean, who would think a football player would be in the locker room getting dressed after practice? Better still, none of the other guys were around. I hadn’t really noticed since I’d just stepped out of the shower, buck-ass.”

“Oh, my.” The visual crowded into her brain and stuck there. Reese young and naked and still damp... “They set you up?”