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“I’ll be waiting.”
He heads back downstairs like the tall, silent beast he is.
I absolutely donotcheck out his butt as he goes.
Then it’s just me and my newly appointed swimming pool of an apartment.
I chew my lip as I rage dial the maintenance number one more time.
* * *
It takesus hours to rescue everything important and ferry it from my apartment to Dexter’s house.
By the end, we’re both filthy and exhausted and miserable.
I wipe the back of my hand across my forehead and look around. My belongings are piled up in a pitiful heap in the middle of Dexter’s enormous guest room that’s bigger than most people’s master bedroom.
The last time I was here, I didn’t have a chance to appreciate just how huge this place is, more imposing physical proof of just how insanely rich this man is.
Also proof of just how ludicrous it is that he’s just spent his evening getting dirty and rescuing me and a bajillion plants from a flood.
“Sorry,” I say. “It’s chaos right now. I’ll get some better bins ASAP.”
“It’s fine. Don’t stress,” he rumbles.
There’s an instant peace in his voice, deep and rolling like a wide river rushing by. You know I’m in a weird state of mind when just listening to Dexter Rory makes this calamity tolerable.
“I’ll get it all sorted tomorrow.” Though, really, I don’t know what I’ll do.
None of my stuff belongs here, but I sure as hell can’t go back to my apartment. Catness strolls around the room like he already owns it, circling his new litter box in the corner with his tail flicking.
“Junie.” Dexter takes my shoulders and looks down at me seriously. “Quit worrying.”
“But your carpet—I know the plants dropped some dirt when we dragged them in.”
“A little,” he says with a shrug. “Hardly the end of the world.”
“…but Catness could cough up a hairball at any time. It’s pretty much his superpower.”
“And I can get my floor steam cleaned if it comes to it. I already have a cleaning service that drops by a few times a month.” He half smiles, daring me to continue, although he’sstillwearing that partially see-through shirt and it’s driving me insane. “The floors don’t matter. Not like making sure you’ve got somewhere to put your feet up.”
“I appreciate it,” I say again, gratitude breaking my voice. “You didn’t have to do this. It’s way outside the bounds of our little agreement…”
“No. I wanted to,” he whispers as he leads me away from the room.
Holy hell.
I follow helplessly, my feet sinking into the plush carpets I’m sure he’ll have to get cleaned no matter what.
He brings me into the nearest bathroom, all gleaming high-end tilework, warm wood drawers, and glass everywhere. The huge soaking tub looks like it’s designed to suck you down the throat of a balmy dream you’ll never want to leave.
The biggest shower I’ve ever seen in my life dominates one corner. It’s big enough to host a freaking cocktail party with a bench and multiple powerful-looking rainfall heads above.
But my mind isn’t on the shock and awe money aspect.
What Dexter could do to me in that shower.
What Iwanthim to do to me.
