“Hello, Roomie.”

“Hello, Aleck,” I say, feigning indifference, ignoring that the way he’s laying displays every muscle in his abdomen. Every. Single. One of them. “Have a nice run?”

“I did. It was very satisfying. Very productive. I got quite a few calls made, scheduled a few meetings… Overall, a very satisfying run. I could almost sing a song about it.”

The glint of smugness in Aleck’s eyes is almost enough to send me over the edge, but I peer back at him, refusing to show my frustration, and run my brush through my wet hair.

“That’s good for you. We have to meet with the wedding planner in an hour, so I suggest you go take a shower.”

“You got it, Grimm.” He scoots off the edge of my bed, his self-righteous smile still in place, and stands slowly with his eyes boring into mine.

I hate Aleck Fox. I do. He’s everything I can’t stand in a man. He’s narcissistic, privileged, and conceited. He’s probably had every single thing handed to him without having to work for it—women included. He doesn’t know what it is to be humble, gracious, and kind. That said, the way Aleck looks at me, the way he studies my face when I speak, the predatorial spark he gets in his eye when I provoke him, makes my body heat to dangerous temperatures.

The way he’s looking at me now, like getting under my skin is his favorite pastime, makes my equilibrium falter. And I don’t know if that’s because Aleck Fox is one of the sexiest men I have ever seen, felt, and experienced. Or if it’s my heart sending warning shots into my brain...

Don’t get close. Stay away. Run!

Aleck turns toward me just before he passes through the doorway. “Oh, yeah, one more thing…” He leans his hip against the frame and pushes his hands into his pockets. “Who were you expecting that you felt comfortable enough opening the door naked?”

His goading smirk makes my jaw tic with anger.

“I wasn’t naked,” I say with an unaffected smile. “I was in a towel because my shower was rudely interrupted. I thought maybe you had locked yourself out.”

“This morning you pranced your pretty ass around the kitchen in those hot little panties of yours…” He pushes off the door frame and ambles toward me slowly.

Swallowing hard, I plant my feet, refusing to react. Sex appeal is Aleck’s bread and butter… but I need to swear off carbs. I will not react.

“You could have just as easily thrown on that robe hanging beside the shower. Instead, you chose the towel…”

I will not react.

Aleck steps into my space, immediately sucking all my oxygen into his atmosphere. “Are you trying to tell me something, Winter?”

Mere inches from my face, he stares down at me, and for the sixty seconds I take to gain composure and be an actual human being with the ability to form full educated sentences, I stare back, blinking at him like I don’t understand the English language.