Page 90 of The Need to Know

She moaned, letting me know she wasn’t up for company.

“Sadé isn’t the nice type, at first at least,” Ezekiel warned.

“I bet you if I come back with treats you’ll be nice,” I said as I squatted down and eyed Sadé.

Ezekiel shook his head in a tsk-tsk motion. “You inviting yourself back already, huh?”

I shot him a mean look that made him laugh.

Briefly, I admired his gray and mostly white color scheme and the serious effort he must’ve taken to keep everything neat. There was nothing like a man who was actually clean.

Points for that.

“You know, I’m a little offended I couldn’t be trusted to dress myself,” Ezekiel teased as he led me to where his bedroom was. “I’m a grown man.”

I took a deep breath and followed him. He was in a long-sleeved cream-colored top and dark gray pants, proving my point.

For the late July evening, I was in a cami top along with some cutoffs. It was fun for the summer and not at all serious.

“Yeah, yeah, quit your whining,” I told him as we stepped into his bedroom.

Right away I noticed the stark contrast between his bedroom and his living room. While the living room was bright with its white color scheme, the master bedroom was dark with its gray walls, dark hardwood floors, and black furniture. His large king-sized bed called to me, luring me to crawl in between its inviting black sheets.

One thing about Ezekiel’s taste that I really liked, was that it was effortless and minimalist. There weren’t many personal effects littering the place that stuck out, but that just called attention to how neat and organized he was. I suspected he had a cleaning lady, but even still, his living space got two thumbs-up from me.

“Excluding Monday, I’ve been good all week. I figured if I ate clean, I won’t feel bad for pigging out this weekend,” I said as I ran my finger along his silky comforter.

“Great minds think alike,” Ezekiel spoke up. “I’ve been hitting the gym in anticipation.”

I turned, opening my mouth to say something, but the words got caught in my throat where they died.

Holy shit.

Behind me, was a massive glass walk-in closet, and standing in the doorway was Ezekiel. He’d taken off his shirt and was standing there peering inside at his wardrobe ever so casual.

The muscles of his back stood out, the rippled waves of his abs could be seen from the side, and that tattoo on his arm looked every bit of decadent.

He turned and looked at me, as if what he was working with was normal. “How was work?”

I snapped out of it and tried to go for nonchalant as I sidled up beside him in his closet. In the center of a wall of drawers was a rack of dress shirts. Uh-uh. On the left wall were shelves where a few piles of T-shirts could be found on the first three. Bingo.

“Good. We got a new shipment of bathing suits in. I just got a wax and I’m off next week, so I’m ready to go swimming,” I said. I hadn’t gone swimming all summer. Part of me wanted to wait until August when school was in so I could have a pool to myself, but I was ready to be active with all my time off.

“You’re off next week?” Ezekiel repeated.

“Yep.”

“That’s one of two things you said that stuck out to me.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And what’s the other?”

He grinned. “You know what.”

I bit my lip and busied myself by walking over to his shelves of T-shirts. “Anyway, Pay and I decided to treat ourselves to some time well earned.”

“Nice.”

“Do you have a cleaning lady or something? You’re way too neat to be believable.”