Page 44 of The Roommate


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She’d just entered in general information like her age and city when Gertrude’s click-clacking nails tapped across the hardwood. Claire glanced up to see the tiny asshole trot over to the front door and sit immediately underneath the hook with her leash.

“You know that haircut makes you look like you have a mustache, right?”

Gertrude blinked, looked up at the pink leash, then resumed staring at Claire.

Claire darted a look through the window at the beautiful day outside.

June in Denver was the best.

With a theatrical sigh, Claire closed her laptop and stood. “Look. I know Graham takes you on walks, like, every other day. And his house arrest is basically the same for you, and you tend to take your frustrations out on me. So, purely out of concern for the safety of my pillows and shoes, it’s probably best we take a quick walk around the neighborhood. To be clear, this is for Graham and my personal belongings, not for you. Got it?”

Gertrude continued staring as Claire slipped on her shoes. When Claire grabbed the leash from the hook, she thought she saw a faint tail wag and leaned down to get a closer look.

But everything about G’s tiny body was still as a statue except for those beady brown eyes, unrelenting and likely some form of evil.

Claire shrugged and clipped the leash to her collar.

She must have imagined it.

When Claire got into bed beside Graham that night with her laptop in hand, he raised a single brow at her.

She opened the lid and settled back. “I’m finally signing up for a dating website/app thing.”

His other brow lifted to join the first.

“Don’t look at me like that. My friend Steph swears this one’s actually pretty good at matching compatibility. As you so astutely noticed, the last guy I went out with wasn’t right for me and the only attractive guy at the club the other night—present company excluded—was a smoker. I might as well give this a try.” She clicked to the site and logged in to pick up where she’d left off.

She felt Graham’s gaze on her as she skimmed the questions she was supposed to answer. “I have no idea how to answer some of these.”

Graham pointed to her computer and gestured for her to hand it over.

Claire laughed. “You want to help?”

He nodded, expression serious.

“Just don’t hit Submit on anything,” she warned, handing him the laptop. She scooted closer to see what he was doing.

He smelled good, which was unfair since he’d just been sitting in bed all day, and she regretted the move immediately.

Note to hormones:snap out of it.

Graham focused his attention on the screen for several seconds. He’d probably come to the same conclusion she had, and wouldn’t know how to answer them, either.

But then, he started typing.

Describe your perfect day.Sleeping until the sun wakes me up. Strong black coffee and a carb-filled breakfast on the patio at a local café. Maybe a little shopping, especially if there’s a good sale. Would have to include a trip to Nordstrom Rack. A lazy afternoon on the couch binge-watching my recent Netflix obsession, then take-out dinner at home and wine on the porch until the stars come out.

He stopped and shot her what was probably meant to be an arrogant smirk, but his smile wasn’t quite there yet. She just stared at him, shocked as hell.

He sighed and mouthed,Right?

“That’s pretty on point,” she admitted. “Better than I could have come up with, and startlingly accurate. What else have you got?”

Provide one random fact about yourself.I leave half-eaten bags of chips all over the house.

He gave her the side-eye and she burst out laughing. “Yeah, sorry. But we’re not putting that.”

Graham rolled his eyes and hit the backspace key, then typed,I take card games very seriously.

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