Page 1 (1/2)
Chapter One
Jess
Even at nine in the evening, the Arizona te relief Jess hit the button on her phone and the screen lit up; the display read ninety-six fucking degrees With a quick tug, she removed the elastic band from her wrist, did her best to secure her wild, curly hair into a bun, and let out a s the strands off her neck
Her no-good landlord was supposed to have had the AC fixed three days ago She lived in the goddamned desert It should be criminal to make people live in these conditions with no AC Since her job transfer ti her days down from forty-five to twenty, she’d not had much time to look for a place
She’d thought she’d lucked out finding this two-bedroom townhouse in Desert Rose Station, located on the northern end of Phoenix, because it was close to work Good area of town, perfect size, right price, it fit all her needs However, as she stood in front of the fan that really only served to circulate the hot air, lucky was the last thing she felt
She ran a hand across her sticky skin, and the thin fabric of her sea-green tank top clung to her, damp and uncomfortable She rolled up her shirt and let her breasts act as a natural weight to keep it tucked beneath the there
“This is bullshit!” she ground out
She stalked toward the attached, small master bathroom and turned on the shower Quick as done to strip free of her clothes, before she secured the plastic shower cap over her curls and stepped in The initial shock of the cold water caused her to squeal, before sighing from the sweet relief it offered, if only temporary
After drying off and applying lotion, Jess put on a new tank top and a pair of boy-short panties Once downstairs, she grabbed a bottle of water froe Its cold sweat hts and walked outside to her “semiprivate” deck At least the place was quiet, and she didn’t have to worry about too n of the complex provided nearly zero privacy
Her building and the one across the way sat in the middle of the subdivision and she’d wonderedthere if the developers threw these two up once they realized they could squeeze in more The weird layout was probably why Jess couldn’t recall a single ti their patios in the month she’d lived there
She settled into her lireen Adirondack chair, cracked the seal on the bottle, and stared at the darkof the townhouse directly across froht flicked on and theonly a black towel around his waist Nofroreenspace” didn’t even have tall cacti for an attempt at privacy; instead its desert scape consisted of low colorful bushes and reddish river rocks of soht source co from his unit, Jess had a clear view into his house
A mess of dark wet curls sat atop his head, and when she squinted she swore she could almost see the beads of water as they rolled down his well-toned chest Theadvertiseym, or a combination of the two Maybe she needed to hbors after all
Jess took a drink but started a choking cough when he removed the towel, rubbed it across his hair then tossed it on his black leather couch She turned and ducked her head in an atteh the slits of the fences on either side for signs of life Nothing Not a sound
Ena played out before her, Jess couldn’t tear her attention away Surely he’d close the blinds He ran his hands across his tanned chest then downdown
“Holy shit,” she whispered then covered her mouth
He took his i the length until it stood full and erect Even froine seeing that thing up close and personal Jess brought the bottle to her uzzled more of the water The s up on the coffee table, and bent them at the knee with a wide stance
The bottle fell froe of her chair Her mouth went dry as she watched his movements How could he—ould he do this with the blinds wide open? But he was