Burned by Unknown Page A

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    Getting dishes from the cabinet, she set the table. Nothing elegant was going on with this meal. The dishes were everyday dishes and the table was not fancy. There were no candles, champagne glasses, or linen napkins. Paper napkins and regular drinking glasses for soda or juice, whichever Nick preferred, graced this table.
    He was lucky she did that much. Normally, she sat in front of the television to eat. She nibbled on a piece of garlic bread as she finished the table.
    “Since you are busy cooking, I can put my dirty clothes in the washer.”
     She looked up and saw Nick standing in the doorway. She swallowed the bread too fast and almost choked. He wore nothing but a towel wrapped tightly around his waist. Her eyes traveled from his bare feet up his body to look him in the eye. The man was freaking gorgeous. He was built to be either a firefighter or a male model. From his broad shoulders, washboard stomach that led to a narrow waistline and athletic hips, he would look great on any billboard in Times Square. His arms were muscular and the large colorful skull tattoos that covered each bicep screamed ‘bad boy.’
    Nick had the reputation of a bad boy and the image in front of her depicted a true statement and made her melt inside. His dark wet hair was slicked back on his head to reveal how handsome he really was. His beautiful bedroom eyes hooded by thick black lashes were hard to ignore. The dimples in his cheeks when he smiled were super sexy. The Italian blood that ran through his veins reflected in his bold features.
    She dragged her eyes away. “Your clothes are in the washer already,” she said, pointing to the stacked machines running softly in a corner of the kitchen.
    Lincoln’s eyes burned from staring at him. He must have felt her ogling as he did a self-check to make sure the towel was secure. “Um, I’m sorry about the towel, but I don’t have anything to put on. Poor planning on my part,” he chuckled.
    “Oh…right, darn it, I didn’t think about that either,” she stammered. “Um, I threw away Anthony’s clothes he left behind. But let me check the food in the oven and I’ll go look through my closet again. I might have a pair of sweatpants you might be able to fit.”
    He raised a questionable brow. “Will the pants reveal more than this towel?”
    Tilting her head to one side, she pulled at her earring. “I’m sure they will. But fear not, I know I have something you’ll be able to wear until your clothes are done.” She breezed by him and into her bedroom.
    Sifting through the closet, she had to find him something. There was no way she could sit across the table from a half-naked man and concentrate on her meal and not him.  She hadn’t had sex in forever and her body was craving it.  She had to admit she often wondered about Nick and what skills had women flocking to him.
    She pulled a hospital robe from the hanger. “Aha!” He would probably object to wearing it, but it was big, roomy, and better than the towel that that gave her an impression of what lay underneath.
    Nick was in the living room when she returned. “I found this old hospital robe. I wore it home from the hospital when I had my appendix removed.”
    He took it from her and slipped it on. “It will do until my clothes dry. I hope I’m not making you uncomfortable this time,” he said tying the strings of the robe together before removing the towel.
    Lincoln blushed after getting a glimpse of Nick’s body as he removed the towel. He was not lacking in the hardware department and the confident look on his face proved he was not shy about her knowing that. Her voice was shaky as she said, “No, not at all. It’s not like I’ve never seen a man naked before.”  She turned her back to him to go to the kitchen. “I’m going to check on our dinner and switch your clothes to the dryer.”
    As they ate, they talked very little about Anthony. Lincoln wanted to know more about Nick, but his exhaustion