The day had been a whirlwind. After getting her things from her house, they had stopped by Rhett's house and dropped everything off. Rhett had been quiet all the way back. They hadn't spoken much on the way to her place, but it had been a comfortable silence. The drive back was quite different.

Ever since they'd left her apartment he'd been in a mood, and she couldn't figure out how to get him out of his funk. The rest of the day, she had tried to get to know him better, to no avail. He was being standoffish in the nicest way possible. It was so frustrating.

Deep down, she felt like she knew him on a deeper spiritual level. Even with that deep connection and chemistry, she still didn't know all the facts about him. Like, where had he grown up? Was he from the old shifter world or the new? Did he use magic? Why didn't he have a girlfriend? When was his last love? Would he like to have sex with her?

Embarrassingly, the last one had been on her mind a lot. He was so handsome, and he thought she was hot. That was according to him. Yet he hadn't made any moves. She wasn't about to do anything herself, but she was starting to get really frustrated on that front, too—especially after she had to sleep all night long in a bed that smelled like him. The scent from the night before hadn't worn off. It was like he was sleeping in the bed with her. Only he wasn't. He was still across the hall.

Maybe she was being crazy. They had only just met, after all. She couldn't expect him to read her mind and jump her bones just because his scent made her horny. Maybe he was the kind of guy who wanted to take things slow.

She spent the whole night tossing and turning. She barely got any sleep at all.

She couldn't stop thinking about being with him. How would he be in bed? A man as big as he was could do a lot of damage to her, the kind of damage she hadn't experienced in a while. It took everything in her not to reach between her legs and stroke herself at the thought of him. But that wouldn't be right. He was so close, he would probably be able to hear her sigh his name.

And what if the noise made him come check on her? She would be mortified. Not that she wasn't already a little embarrassed that she was considering masturbating while she was lying in a bed that smelled like him, while she was in his house, while he was sleeping not fifteen feet away. She should be walking across the hall and asking him if he wanted to watch. That was what a good guest would do, after all.

This new vow of hers was starting to get really old, really fast. There was no way she could keep this up with someone like Rhett. He moved at a glacial pace. At least that was how it seemed with how badly she wanted him.

She had already made the first move, in a way. If she wanted to get technical, she had already broken her vow—the one that was supposed to keep her safe from douchebags like her ex, the one who hadn't ever even liked her.

But Rhett was different. He was a much better man than her ex and every other man she had ever met. No one else would work this hard to keep her safe and also make sure she was comfortable in his home. That was part of what made this so hard. If she threw herself at him, would she be resigning herself to only having a sexual relationship with him? Because that was not what she wanted. She wanted to be in a real relationship. That was what she wanted to try to do with him, but she wasn't sure he felt the same way. At least if he made some kind of move on her physically, she would have that much to hold on to. She needed to know that he wanted her with all of his heart and all of his body, but if she couldn't get that much validation, she wanted to know he at least wanted her body.

She checked her phone. This was going to be a very unproductive night, and all the ones after it were going to be the same if she didn't get her mind off him. Maybe she could organize stuff while she was here. That would keep her mind off him and his hard, hot body. It would get her to stop picturing all the things she wanted to do to him.

She lay there, not sleeping, for a few more hours and then got out of bed. She strolled around the room. It was more cluttered than a single man's guest room usually was. Usually, men's extra rooms were turned into home offices or gyms, in her experience. She hadn't taken much time to look around the first night, but now she zeroed in on all the clutter.

There was a chair in the corner with three pillows and a blanket on it. The dresser had knickknacks along the top and toiletries on a mirror. It was very cute and looked like the rest of his house. Not exactly what she'd expected from a gruff shifter like him.

She would ask him if she could make some changes. It wasn't like she could start organizing without asking him first. But there was no way he'd be up yet, and she didn't want to knock on his door. Instead, she would shower first and hopefully then he would be awake. She was starting to get restless.

The cool shower really helped bring her temperature down. Even on little sleep, she was all the way awake and singing her favorite songs. When she was done with her shower, it was like she'd washed away her bad mood. It was a whole new day and she was ready to take on the world again.

She put on a towel and went back to her room. While she was getting dressed, there was a knock at the door. She was putting on her shirt and hadn't picked out pants yet. "One minute."

The door opened, and Joseline scrambled to pull her shirt down.

"I said one minute!" she huffed.

Rhett's jaw was practically on the floor, but he took a moment before he said anything. "I'm so sorry. I thought you said to come in."

"What do you want?"

He held up a cup of coffee. "I just wanted to bring this coffee in your room. I wanted to see if you were awake. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks for the coffee. Please get out."

He stared at her a moment longer, letting his eyes travel slowly down her body and back up again. When his eyes reached hers again, his face turned a deep red. "I'm so sorry. I'll make breakfast now. Come down whenever you're ready. Or never, if I've offended you too much. Again, I'm sorry."

He backed out of the room, still staring at her body, and stumbled when he got to the threshold. He reached forward and grabbed the door and slammed it shut.

Joseline was shaking. That could not have gone worse. She hadn't wanted him to see her in her underwear yet, and she'd never wanted him to see her in this underwear. She'd brought a lot of cute pairs of underwear with her, but she was wearing her ugliest pair. It was incentive not to throw herself at him. If she had on cute underwear, it would be more tempting to give him a peek. Her foolproof plan had blown up in her face.

She sat on the edge of the bed, near tears. He had already seen her body, and he was probably already done with her. The way he had apologized meant he was sorry he had seen her naked. Sorry he had seen her at her worst. So much for being with him now.

When she had collected herself, she went downstairs to face the music.

"I hope you like waffles," he said from the stove. "I made chocolate chip, blueberry, and buttermilk. Take your pick."

"Thank you," she said demurely. "I'm sorry about what happened up there. I know it had to be unpleasant for you."

He snorted. "Unpleasant? I guess that's one way to describe it."

She hung her head. "I'll be more careful and get dressed in the bathroom from now on."

"Pick your waffles." He pushed the plate toward her, not meeting her eyes. "You don't need to get dressed in the bathroom. I won't come into your room anymore without you opening the door first. I won't make you uncomfortable again. Sorry I broke your trust."

"No problem. I don't want to risk you having to see me naked again."

She sat down at the breakfast bar and put a blueberry waffle on her plate. Reconsidering, she grabbed a buttermilk, too. She would have one of each to start. There was no need trying to pretend she didn't have an appetite anymore. She didn't have to impress him. He had already seen the whole awful picture.

"I don't know if you're trying to tease me, but it's not very funny," he said, flipping the waffle maker. "I already feel bad enough. You don't have to make me feel worse. I know there's little chance you'll let me see you like that again, and I'm sorry I walked in on you like that."

"I'm not teasing anyone," she said. "I know that wasn't that nice for you to see."

"Wait. What? Are you kidding me?"

"I know men don't enjoy looking at my body." She shrugged. "I know what I look like."

He set his spatula down hard. "I don't think you do. There was nothing unpleasant about that for me, unless you consider having a raging erection unpleasant. Which I do and I can't do anything about it. And it's very unpleasant to be so close to you but not be able to touch you. That's very unpleasant for me. I haven't been this sexually frustrated since I was a teenager."

She smiled and ducked her head so he wouldn't see how happy he had made her. He was probably saying all of that for her benefit, but she did appreciate it. "You don't have to make me feel better. It's okay."

"I'm not saying anything to make you feel good. I would rather we didn't talk about it, but if we have to be honest, I liked what I saw very much. I wasn't lying when I said you were my type. You're exactly what I go for. I understand if you don't feel the same way about me. I know you can have your pick of men. I'm not surprised you don't want a man like me."

Joseline almost choked on her waffle. She had to take a drink of water before she could speak. She couldn't believe her ears. "Any woman would be glad to have a man like you."

"That's funny." He flipped over the waffles. "You think I'm some great catch, but you don't think the same about yourself."

"Well, there's always time to change that stupid line of thought." She smiled at him. "I guess we're two peas in a low self-esteem pod, you and I."

Maybe him seeing her naked wasn't the worst thing that could happen. Maybe she should show him her body with a few less layers next time and see what happened.