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“A lady has to have some morals.”
Jamie snorted, but I liked the way his shoulders bounced there. I would’ve bet he was smiling, and for some reason that made me really happy. Maybe I wasn’t about to get evicted after all.
I hurried to wrap the first towel around my body. The second I ran over my long, straight dark hair, wringing the extra water out.
“I’m decent. Or as decent as I can get.”
As if realizing the predicament, Jamie looked to his feet, to my clothing, which was noticeably soaked from our frantic meeting.
“You still have more to explain,” Jamie said softly. “But first, clothes.”
“I—” I started.
“Fresh clothes. You stay here.”
I drew a circle in the splashed water across one of his tiles, waiting as I heard the crash of drawers being hurriedly opened and closed. A moment later, Jamie reappeared, a pair of athletic shorts on his body and a pile of clothing in his arms.
I yanked my eyes away from the way he somehow balanced being immense without looking like bulk. I especially liked the way the muscle of his stomach cut over his hips just by where a narrow trail of auburn hair dusted his abdomen.
“For you, little one.”
“Don’t call me that,” I said, my chin jerking up to stare at him. “I told you, my name is Margot.”
He gestured towards what I knew to be the master bedroom attached to the bathroom. I skipped past him and slipped into the room, closing the door quietly behind me. I stared at the door, half sure that he was about to come charging through and evict Jackson and me. I could hear the thump on the other side of the wall. I could picture Jamie leaning there, waiting.
“Yes, but you see, I don’t know that for sure. What I do know is you are little. And I like the way your eyes get all squinty when you want to fight about something.” His voice is muffled through the closed door.
My mouth gaped. Shaking my head, I dragged the enormous long-sleeved tee over my head, flinching as my wet hair immediately made the fabric cling to my skin. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
“I’d say you keep working on that explanation before I toss you out on your very cute ass.”
I swallowed, pushing my legs through his sweatpants and cinching them up as much as I could. Since I had the figure of a prepubescent boy and he was built like a tank, there was a lot of spare fabric. I was sure that from the outside, I would look like a laundry experiment gone wrong, all draping rolls and extra fabric. I ran my hands nervously over the fabric. I knew I was running short on time, and it wasn’t like this was some kind of fashion statement anyway.
“Doing alright in there, little one?”
With a groan, I yanked the door open. “Please stop calling me that.”
Jamie’s eyes roved over me again, and suddenly the rolls of extra fabric didn’t feel like enough to keep my body from his gaze. But instead of being mad, my skin tingled and drew tight. You would think from the way he looked at me that I was wearing some kind of lingerie. I bit down on my bottom lip. His eyes jumped to the movement, one of his hands reaching out as if to touch the skin there too.
“I’m sorry again, Mr. Calvin, for all the trouble.” I stepped back, and his arm dropped midway. “We live next door to Josephine. When I knew she wasn’t feeling well, I went over and offered to take her shift. I’m not the best maid, but I know how to keep a house. She mentioned that the top floor apartment—” I swallowed “—your apartment was left empty for your use if you were to ever need it. But that you hadn’t been here in years.”
I paused, watching Jamie’s serious face. “My brother, my baby brother, got accepted into college today. I was overwhelmed by everything, and after I cleared the landings and the other rooms. I just saw this tub, and I don’t know. I just decided that I’d try it. Just the once.”
“Do you often take baths in strangers’ houses?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m a bartender. We don’t do anything with strangers.”
Jamie’s face suddenly broke, a wide grin pulling at his lips as he leaned down to brace his hands on his knees, deep, rolling laughter filling his bedroom.
I crossed my arms. “What?”
“Calm down, darling. I believe you. I really do.”
“Are you going to evict us?”
“Evict you? Never. Why would you think that?”
I gestured down at myself. “I mean…”
