“Lonely. Come with me tomorrow…” He whips his shirt off, then wipes his face and chest with it. The sunlight from the windows highlight his sweat, making him look like he’s been rolled in diamonds.

“Nuh-uh. Once was enough for me, big guy.”

Aleck chuckles and the way his chest rises and falls with deep breaths makes my mouth water.

“Would you be surprised to learn I actually tried to wake you up this morning, but you slept through it like you were dead.”

My eyes narrow on him, suspiciously. “You tried to wake me up?”

“Well, sort of. I went to my room to get some clothes to change into for my run. When I realized you sleep like a hibernating bear, I slammed things around a little, nudged you with my foot, whispered sweet nothings in your ear… I considered waking you up by eating your pussy, but I felt that would have crossed a line, so I thought better of it.”

The visual of Aleck waking me up by sucking my clit into his mouth jolts my senses, and goosebumps cover my skin.

I laugh nervously, then clear my throat. “Keith and the girls always make fun of me. One time they drew a dick on my cheek with eyeliner.”

I ignore the part about him waking me up with oral because I decide that’s just way too much this early. Especially since I would like to formally invite him to do it.

Aleck’s smirk shows amusement as though he can tell I’m now thinking about his tongue on my pussy. His eyes travel my body from head to toe. His smile grows, then he leans his hip against the counter, and I wonder if he can see my racing pulse from where he stands.

“What?” I ask, anxiously, feeling the weight of Aleck’s stare. I put the orange juice back into the refrigerator and take a sip from my glass.

“Nothing.” He shrugs.

“Don’t lie. There’s something…”

Aleck shakes his head, his smile becoming more flirtatious. “Do you know what time it was when we entered the bathroom last night?”

I give him a side-eye glance, not sure where he’s going with this. “No. I was a little distracted.”

“It was midnight. And when we got back from the bar and I laid you out on the island…”

My nipples pebble from the memory. “Midnight, I’m assuming?”

He nods. “And the night you made me have ice cream for dinner—”

“I didn’t make you! And anyway, you loved it.”

“I did. Who knew?”

“Me. I knew. Ice cream for dinner is the tits.” I tilt my head, regarding him with caution. Why is he being so weird? “And the first night we met, when you brought two women to fuck into my space, it was midnight then, too. What’s your point, Fox?”

Ignoring my jab, he shrugs, his nonchalance comfortably holding its ground. “No point, just an observation. Some people view midnight as the end of one day, but it’s literally the beginning of the next. In the four days I’ve been here, I’ve started each day with you. Consequently, we started half of those days sucking each other off.”