“I know,” I agree as he studies me like he’s trying to figure out how I can afford to live in that area.
“Where do you work?”
“Are you a cop?”
“No.”
“You should be,” I inform him, and his lips twitch. Letting out a sigh, I roll my eyes when I see he’s not going to give it up. “I rent an apartment above a garage from a doctor and his wife who live in the subdivision. I help them out with babysitting, and they give me a break on rent each month,” I rattle out quickly then pull in a breath and let it out. “Is there anything else you need to know right now?”
“I want to know everything.” He turns away from me to face the windshield. “But I’m thinking that will all come with time.”
My breath leaves on a whoosh, and my heart starts to pound against my ribcage as I watch him back out of the parking spot. I don’t know if he meant to make that statement sound like we would be spending time together or not, but it did, and the thought of getting to know this man has my stomach filling with butterflies and my palms sweating.
“You okay?”
Turning my head, I find him studying me closely. “Yeah, totally cool.” I drop my purse to the floorboard then wipe my hands down the front of my bare thighs. “So, if you’re not a cop, what do you do?”
“I work with my cousin.”
“Okay…” I wait to see if he will fill me in, but he doesn’t. “What kind of work do you do with your cousin?”
“Private security, bounty hunting, PI work, we do it all.”
“So you’re kind of like a cop, but you’re not a cop. Why is that?”
“My dad’s a cop. He loves his job but hates that he has to deal with red tape. He can’t just go in and get a job done. He has to make sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.”
“So you don’t like red tape.”
“Basically,” he concurs as we pull into the drive through line of one of the small coffee huts that sits in a parking lot on Main Street. “Do you know what you’d like?”
“A large iced green tea,” I murmur, leaning forward to grab my purse so I can get some cash out. As soon as we pull up in front of the window, he places our order with the girl working inside. “Here.” I hold the ten-dollar bill in my hand toward him, and he shakes his head. “Please, let me pay for our drinks,” I press, but he ignores me and pulls down his visor, taking down a twenty from the bills he has stacked there. “You know, it’s kind of annoying that you won’t let me pay,” I inform him as he hands me my drink.
“You’ll survive.” He smiles at me before giving the girl a tip and pulling away from the window. “What’s your plans for the day?”
“I have a date with a bookshelf I bought from IKEA that will likely take me a year to put together. What about you?” I ask, taking a sip of my drink.
“My schedule’s clear. Do you want some help putting it together?”
“Really?” I ask, stunned, and he brakes at a stop sign then turns to look at me.
“Sure.”
Wow, okay.
“That would be really nice,” I respond quietly as warmth and something soft and sweet spreads through me.
“Good,” he replies just as quietly, heading back to the mechanic shop, where he waits for me to pick up my car and pay before following me back to my place.
As soon as we reach the house, I lead him down the long driveway that curves around the back of the property. My apartment is above the third garage, but the way it’s set up makes it feel like I have my own space and I’m not living in someone else’s house. Hitting the remote for the garage, I pull inside and watch Sage drive up and park behind me. Grabbing my bags from the passenger seat, I open my door, get out, and head toward the trunk, where I meet him.
“Have you been over here before?” I ask when I see him looking around the neighborhood.
“I’ve spent my whole life in this town. When I was younger, I wanted to buy a house over here before the developers got a hold of it,” he says, taking my bags from me.
“You did?”
“Yeah, years ago, when this was nothing but farms and open land for miles.”
“I would have liked to see it then.”
“It was beautiful. My parents own a house a few miles down the road from here. Their house used to be in the middle of nowhere. Now, the city has grown up around them. My dad loves it, but my mom hates it and has been talking about moving farther out to get away from everyone.”
“This place is growing fast. Since I moved to town a couple months ago, they have built a Starbucks and a Taco Bell. I have never seen buildings go up so fast before,” I tell him as I head for the set of stairs inside the garage. With him at my back, I open the door to my apartment and turn on the light.
My apartment is just under six hundred square feet, with a combined kitchen and living room. There’s a small bedroom that is just big enough to fit my queen-size bed, two side tables, and a dresser, and a bathroom with a pedestal sink, and standup shower.
“This is nice,” he says, looking around, and I smile. I love my place. The dusty blue of the walls sets off the light gray colored wood floors that run through the place, making it seem bigger than it is, which is a bonus for sure.
“Thanks.” I take my bags from him. “But you should see the view from my bed,” I gush, then realize what I just said when his lips tip up. “Not that you will ever see it,” I add quickly, dropping my eyes to the floor as my cheeks get hot. “I just said that because I have a huge skylight over my bed that makes it feel like you’re sleeping under the stars,” I finish, then turn and head for my room without looking at him muttering, “I’ll be right back.”
Kicking off my sandals, I dump my bags on the bed then pick up my pillow and hold it to my face, wishing I could just scream. I’ve had three boyfriends. Two of them were when I was in high school, and one of them was in college. I haven’t dated since the last. Not really, anyway. I mean, I’ve gone out to dinner with a few guys, but nothing serious, and none of them ever came back to my place, so I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. Knowing he will hear me if I scream, I toss the pillow to the bed and head into the living room, where I find him standing over the demolished box my shelf came in.
“Did the box come like this?” he asks, looking at me, and I shake my head.
“No, it was in one piece when I bought it,” I say, and he looks from me to the destroyed box then back again. “It might have fallen down the stairs when I tried to carry it up here.”
“Just once?” he asks, and I let out a breath watching his lips twitch.
“Okay, a few times,” I revise, and he smiles.
“You got any tools?”
“Tools?” I repeat, and he presses his lips together like he’s trying not to laugh at me. “I obviously know what tools are. I just don’t have any. Besides, it came with the little thingy to put it together.”
“Thingy?”
“Are you going to make fun of me or help me?” I ask, putting my hands on my hips, and his eyes move over my face then drop to where my hands are resting.