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I hurry behind him, surprised to find myself becoming annoyed. I don’t like that he’s so indifferent. Or that the box I was struggling so much with is light as a feather to him. So light, he can carry it with one arm while he strolls leisurely through his house.
“The kitchen. Your space doesn’t have its own kitchen, so feel free to keep whatever you want in here. You can help yourself to whatever we have. Just don’t cook something that makes the house smell bad.” He walks ahead of me, not checking to see if I’m following behind or paying attention. “Down this right hallway is my office and a dining room we never use. To the left is the laundry room and the garage. You can keep your car in the garage, just remind me to give you the code for the app.”
The garage opens with an app. This is a whole other tax bracket.
“Upstairs is Violet’s bedroom and the guestroom.” He waves a hand at the staircase. “Come this way.” He gestures for me to follow him down the hallway in front of us. “This is my room,” he says as we pass a closed door. “And then through here, is your room.” He opens the door at the end of the hall, which leads to the basement steps. He flips up the light.
“So the basement has two entrances. Obviously where we came from. That door locks, so feel free to keep your privacy. And then you’ll see the other door down here to the right, it leads to the garage and?—”
He keeps talking, but I stop listening. It takes all my effort to keep my mouth shut and not hanging open in shock.
The place is beautiful. I wouldn’t know I was stepping foot into someone’s basement if he hadn’t told me. The walls are painted a deep grey with wall trim that gives the room an elongated feel. The living room area is dark, with muted greens and sconced lighting that gives the space a cozy glow.
“Through here is your room. I’m sorry, I didn’t have a bigger bed, but,” he looks me up and down. “I don’t really think that’ll be a problem for you.”
This room is smaller, but more than plenty enough for me. There is a full-size bed, two nightstands, and a dresser, which is good, because most of the hand-me-down furniture from my apartment was broken and had to be thrown away.
I walk around the space. There is a closet. I open the other door. Wow. A spacious bathroom. A walk-in shower and, “are these floors heated?” I turn towards him, wiggling my feet against the tile.
“Yeah,” he says it as if that should be obvious. “So, this is your space. I won’t invade your privacy, but if you need anything, let me know.”
I nod my head.
“Do you need anything?” he asks. He crosses his arms when he looks at me. It seems that every time he looks at me, he’s unhappy.
“I, uh, nope. I don’t think so… I’m just going to move my stuff in and then?—”
He cuts me off. “Don’t worry about it. I was supposed to lift today, and I missed my workout. I’ll grab your stuff.” He runs a hand through his hair, his t-shirt lifting with the movement, revealing a glimpse of his defined abs.
“But there is a lot,” I say, fighting with myself to keep my gaze on his face and not the little bit of skin that is still showing. This man is off limits.
He smirks. “You packed it all?”
“Yeah.” I realize it is the first time I’ve ever seen him smile. Maybe it is a good thing he doesn’t do that often. I don’t like the way my heart beats in my chest as he looks at me.
“I think I’ll be alright then.” He grins, and then walks away.
CHAPTER 5
SEAN
Ican’t believe it’s her.
I run a hand over my face as if I can scrub the image of her out of my mind. How is this possible? Small neighborhood, I guess. But still. Of all the people to end up beneath the same roof. I think back to that day I saw her. Shit. I can’t believe that she’s here, in my house.
It’s too much to be a coincidence.
I text Connor and the guys to tell them I’ll miss the workout. I wasn’t planning on helping the stranger move in. But she’s not exactly a stranger. I’m not sure why I feel obligated to help her, but I do. I guess for the same reason I ran over to make sure she was okay the day I saw that car nearly kill her.
I clench my fist at the memory. I was either going to make sure that she was okay or track down that driver and strangle him. I didn’t think an assault case would go over well with Coach, though. Never did I expect to be enthralled by her attitude. And now, somehow, I’m stuck lifting her few furniture pieces out of a rented box truck and into my basement.
Astrid tries to help. It’s adorable, but not really helpful when there is over a foot of height separating us. Luckily for me, she doesn’t have much stuff. And luckily for her, I’m strong enough to do this mostly alone.
I try to finish faster when the clear blue sky starts to turn gray, and the wind picks up. Good thing I was here to help. She would’ve spent most of the afternoon moving stuff in the rain. At this rate we should be done well before it storms.
A few times, we bump into each other. The stairway is small, and I don’t always see her over what I’m carrying. I try to be more careful. I don’t want to hurt her, and I have to grab her by the arms a few times to make sure I don’t push her over.
“God, you alright?” I ask, catching her by the waist to keep her from falling backwards as I navigate the corner with a particularly large box. I shift to hold it with one arm so that I can steady her with the other. “I’m sorry.”
