Chapter 3

Who’s showering?

—

I woke up again to find myself completely wrapped in Travis’s arms.

Something hard and unmistakable pressed against the top of my thigh. His breath was hot.

Travis seemed to be waking up too. He ran a hand over my forehead, slow and careful. “You’re still a little warm. How do you feel?”

I snapped fully awake. Yeah, because you’re the one burning up.

I tried to shove him off with my elbow, but he caught my waist. His rough fingertips brushed my skin, sending a jolt through me. I couldn’t stop the soft moan that slipped out.

“Anna.” Travis’s lips hovered near my ear, his voice low and dangerously tempting. “Wanna do it?”

If this had been before, I would’ve melted right into him. But after last night, there was distance between us. To me, his offer felt like charity.

My body was still weak from the fever. I pushed him away, my expression cold.

“Not in the mood.”

Travis went pale instantly. A flicker of embarrassment crossed his face as he backed off. When I turned, I ran straight into those deep, unreadable eyes.

“It’s my fault,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have asked right now.”

I snorted. At least he had some self-awareness.

“But don’t do something like that again, okay?” His lashes lowered. “I’ll worry if your fever comes back.”

Before I could respond, he went to the wardrobe and pulled out clothes for me. He usually wore a robe, but now he only had a towel tied around his waist. The hard lines of his muscles were, annoyingly, pretty sexy.

My gaze slid over his narrow hips and the curve of his ass, and my heart skipped.

Whatever. Put any top male model in front of me and I’d look too.

He handed me the clothes. I changed right in front of him without thinking twice. As expected, he politely turned his head away.

I didn’t know then that the moment I walked out, Travis slipped into my private bathroom and turned the water on again.

A few days later, I noticed things missing from my dressing room. At first I didn’t care. I had plenty of cheap fast-fashion stuff, so whatever. But the Victoria’s Secret lace set Wendy gave me last week was gone, and that made no sense.

At dinner, I told Travis, “Someone’s been stealing from the house.”

He was spreading butter on toast with a knife. The moment he heard that, his hand froze. He didn’t look up, but his lips pressed into a thin line. “What’s missing?”

“My lingerie.”

I said it casually, but he completely lost his composure. The knife slipped, smearing a greasy streak of butter across his fingers.

I watched him, suspicious. “Why are you so nervous? Did you steal it?”

Travis stayed quiet for a few seconds. Then he let out a low chuckle and finally looked at me. “What do you think?”

I gave him a flippant smile. What did I think? A man like Travis, so rigid and serious, borderline obsessive about cleanliness… what would he want with my underwear?

I dropped the subject. “What time will you be back tonight? I have a ‘gift’ for you.” The divorce papers were already in my bag.

He pushed a piece of toast toward me. His voice came out fast, almost too fast. “Whenever you need me, I’ll come back.”

I barely had time to process the strange edge in his tone before his phone rang. His assistant walked in with a briefcase to remind him about a meeting.