FIVE #3
Feeling awkward that he was witnessing the way I appeared to be ogling his bare, ripped torso, I tugged my eyes up, but heat already stained my neck.
Kieran was wearing a layer of smug, lazy amusement as he leaned back against his door like he had all the time in the world.
He had no qualms about being on display.
Kieran tracked my gaze down to his nudity, then tilted his chin. His wicked drawl broke the silence. “You’re looking at me like you’ve never seen a man without his shirt, princess?” The mockery in his voice sent a frantic shiver racing down my spine.
The roots of my hair started to tingle, and I tried to look away, but my eyes were glued to his hard chest. “I haven’t,” I croaked, my throat suddenly drier than the Sahara Desert I had read about. I had seen Adam’s chest a few times, but that didn’t count.
The smirk vanished, that playful malice evaporating.
The air in the hallway seemed to thin as Kieran pushed off his door and prowled toward me, closing the distance until I was pinned against my own bedroom door.
He smelled of salt, musk, and the faint, metallic tang of adrenaline—a scent that reminded me of hard work.
My mouth dropped open, the closeness of his bared body was doing odd things to my tummy, but I was mesmerised as I eyed his muscles. My pulse hammered as confusion at my reaction to him muddled my thoughts.
“What’s going through that head of yours?” he murmured. I felt the vibration of Kieran’s voice in my bones. His breath grazed my cheek, fresh and minty.
I peered up at him, lost in the intensity of his stare, the truth slipping out before I could stop it. “You’re beautiful,” I sighed, a breath catching in my throat.
There was a moment of silence as the blood rushed through my ears.
Kieran’s body tensed up. “I’m beautiful?” he echoed, his tone hesitant, having lost some of its usual confidence. I had half-expected him to laugh, but thankfully, he didn’t.
“Yes,” I said, shyly looking away.
“Look at me, Amelie.” That wasn’t a request, and I lifted my gaze. A ghost of a smile curled his lips, but his eyes were unreadable as he said. “I’ve never been called beautiful before, but I’ll take it from you.”
His gaze then narrowed at the towel I clutched.
I appeared to be holding it in front of my body like a shield.
I jerked as he brushed my hand aside. Kieran’s touch caused my skin to hum.
Without breaking a sweat, he asked. “Did you see your sister?” My mouth dropped open at the question.
I hadn’t expected that. How did he even know that Sophie had come with Kathy? I wasn’t even told.
I scanned his expression; his closeness when he was half naked should have felt wrong, but it didn’t.
If I had any good sense, I would have dived back into my room, but I couldn’t move; the need to lean against the heat radiating from his naked skin was immense.
My fingers itched to trace the dusting of hair between his pectoral muscles, to see if that ridged skin felt as hard as it looked.
“Please stop,” Kieran husked with a chuckle, tilting his dark head. “You’ll make me blush.”
A moment of panic swept through me, and I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. My expression made him grin and place one hand on the door beside my head, bringing his mouth so close to mine. “Maybe you should just answer my question before I do something we’ll both regret?”
That sensual promise of those words made my body tighten with awareness. Everything felt stiff beneath the hoodie I was wearing. “Sorry, what?” I babbled, my brain short-circuiting.
With a raised eyebrow, he repeated his first question, not his threat. “Your sister?”
Clearing my throat, I blinked. “Yes. I saw her?” I felt flustered and didn’t know how to act.
Kieran raised his head, giving me some space, his tone now passive. “And how did it go?” That bulging bicep by my head was giving me palpitations, as was the rough, masculine hair under his armpit.
My eye started to twitch. Why was he suddenly being nice to me? “You really want to know?” I just stopped myself from stuttering like a fool.
Impatience flickered across his face. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.” I silently noted the side of pissed-off that came with those words.
“I’m sorry,” was all I could say.
“Stop apologising and answer the question, Amelie.” His comment was bossy, reminding me of Adam again.
My breath hitched as he reached out, one calloused thumb catching a lock of my hair, which he then tucked behind my ear.
His fingertips kissed my neck with a lingering, mesmerising slowness as he lowered his hand.
Kieran stared at the strands, almost hypnotised.
What was his fascination with my hair? He then added to my confusion.
“You have such cute ears,” he whispered, rocking his head from side to side as he appraised both sides, still caging me in.
I felt super self-conscious and had an urge to pull my hair forward to cover that area.
I swallowed, so nervous again, feeling exposed; the towel I'd been holding hit the floor with a soft thud. My hands were then empty, fidgety, and useless.
I pursed my lips, aware of the escape behind me and how my back was now flat against the door. “Erm, my sister. It went well, thank you,” I breathed.
“Just well? That’s a rather bland reply,” he scoffed in a soft voice.
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
The arm by my head, flexed. “Tell me how it went. Did she look OK? Are they treating her well?” he prompted, pushing off the door and lowering his arm. A wave of relief hit me, and I managed to pull myself together.
“Yes, she looked well, thank you. It was lovely to catch up, and she was so much better than the night I ran away…” My voice trailed off as I realised that I’d said too much. Snapping my mouth closed, I pushed back against the barrier behind me, suddenly feeling trapped.
Kieran frowned, deep creases marring his brow. “The night you ran away?”
“I meant, the night I left the house—to get help—I mean. Sophie wasn’t well. My parents weren’t around. Anyway, yes, thank you. She looked good, and it was great to see her again.” I knew I was rambling.
Kieran then dashed a hand across his jaw, and for a second, the predator vanished.
His eyes tracked the pulse in my neck. As I stared back, I saw the raw exhaustion on his face, the bruising weight of the fight with his father.
My heart did a slow, painful roll in my chest. Fortunately, he didn’t demand I embellish my answer.
“You appear to be a natural with kids. It’s only been a few weeks, and Maisy can’t stop talking about you. Apparently, you cried together during Bambi,” Kieran said, rocking back and pushing his hands into his joggers.
Thankful for the space and change in subject, my face brightened. “Of course I did. Didn’t you?”
Kieran’s expression became shadowed as he shook his head slowly. “Never seen it.” I guessed that this boy hadn’t cried in a long time, and maybe he should? Crying was a release of pent-up frustration, and it usually made you feel better afterwards.
“I wanted to.” His voice was barely a whisper.
That confession was aired with a sadness that pulled at my heartstrings. “You should watch it now. It’s a lovely story.” I almost added, ‘I’d watch it with you,’ but held back.
Stupid, silly little girl. Like he would want to watch anything with you.
A muscle in Kieran’s cheek started to tick. “It was my mother’s favourite. But I never got the chance to watch it with her.” The air felt heavy with all the things he wasn’t saying, and that vulnerability I recognised so well made my chest ache. I wondered how his mother had died.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said with genuine sympathy. “Of your mother, I mean,” I added quickly. How stupid I must have sounded.
We must have stood like that for another minute before Kieran’s mask was tugged back in place, and he turned his broad back on me, calling over one rippling shoulder.
“If you need a shower, you’ll have to wait.
Mine’s fucked. And so, I’m taking the main one.
” He then turned his body slightly so his eyes locked back on mine as he added, “Unless you want to join me?”
The sexually suggestive undertone and cockiness of that comment made heat flare between my legs. It happened so quickly and was so intense that it forced me to clench my thighs together. My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I couldn’t speak. I must have looked like a goldfish.
Kieran winked and then gave me a wicked smile. “I guess not then.”
That switch in personality was as fast as the strike of a match and left me reeling.
What the hell had just happened?
I peered down the landing as Kieran entered that bathroom without another glance back.
I had been dismissed. Did he really think I would join him in the shower?
Did people really do that when they’d just met?
I was so confused, especially when the image of his body, soaking wet under the shower spray, appeared in my head.
Grabbing the towel from the floor, I let myself back into my room and threw myself onto the bed, a thousand thoughts racing around every corner of my mind.
What a frustrating, annoying person! Were all teenage boys like that?
One minute, Kieran Rook was a cold, unwelcoming stranger with no heart, and the next, he was a caring man with a warmth and empathy that drew you in and made you want to bear your all. I could also have added pervert to that list.
After that confusing altercation outside my bedroom, the truth of the matter was, in a house full of contradictions, which version of Kieran Rook was real?