Page 12 of The Au Pair Affair

“You’re not wrong,” Burgess said, tipping his head at the door.

Tallulah nodded, keeping an eye on him while she collected her purse and jacket, folding it over her arm and leading their party of two into the hallway. They were quiet as he locked the door, quieter still while taking the short elevator ride down to the lobby, but her shoulders visibly lost their tension as soon as they were outside.

“Whatever you do,” she said, walking past him when he held the door of the smoothie shop open for her. “Please don’t let me order the peanut butter and espresso smoothie again.”

“I still think that’s on the menu as a joke.”

“If it is, I fell for it. And so did my taste buds.” They stopped at the counter, side by side, looking up at the menu fastened to the far wall. “I’ll take one peanut butter and espresso smoothie, please.”

He dropped his chin. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

“I can’tnotorder it.”

“Be strong.”

“Be strong,” she mimicked, adorably. “You can’t do a French braid, but you can concoct a whole scheme to funnel me into an apartment of your choosing?”

“You’re not even going to wait until we order our smoothies to address this?”

“The fact that you’re makinglightof it—”

“I’m not making light of it,” he rushed to say. “That being said, I came up with the idea knowing full well that if you found out, you would hate me, but at least you were going to be somewhere safe. It was a conscious trade-off.”

“That’s... why I’m having trouble being as mad as I would like to be.” She gave a sharp cluck of her tongue. “It’s very annoying.”

“I’ll take annoyed over you hating me.”

“I don’t hate you. And it’snotyour fault that I’m apartment hunting.”

“Yes it is.” His voice scraped like gravel. “You’re scared of me.”

“I’m scared of a lot more—” She snapped her mouth shut. “It’s notonlyyou.”

Burgess had the most inappropriate urge to pick her up and hold her. He couldn’t think of a better use for his strength than wrapping it around her after an admission like that. It wouldn’t be welcome, though, so thankfully the smoothie shop employee chose that moment to pop up from behind the counter.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“The usual for me,” Burgess said after a moment. “Don’t give her that peanut butter and espresso smoothie.”

“Give it to me.” She shielded her mouth with her hand, whispering to the smoothie shop employee. “Extra espresso, please.”

Smirking, Burgess tossed a twenty on the counter. “Can we sit down?”

“Maybe.” She sucked her teeth at him on the way to a table. “Is this one good or do you want to choose a different table behind my back?”

He squinted an eye. “I’m picking up on some sarcasm.”

“Good.”

She sat down, crossing her legs... and he heard the slightest creak of her too-tight jeans. Felt that sound deep in his Adam’s apple. It would take some work to get that denim peeled down her legs. He’d have to rough them down her hips, probably taking her panties along with them. Nowthatwas a task his hands could perform without watching a tutorial. Because he’d been undressing Tallulah in his dreams since meeting her last summer.

Burgess took the seat across from Tallulah, ordering himself to act natural, despite the semi he was sprouting in his briefs. “I assume you took the room with Chloe, regardless of my meddling.”

“No, I did not,” Tallulah answered, very succinctly. “That room is worth four times the rate advertised. Renting that room for seven hundred dollars a month would be a crime. I’d be taking advantage of you both.”

“A small price to pay for . . .”

Jesus, he was revealing way too much. She’d come here to hand him his balls and here he was, making his admiration of her painfully obvious. He might as well be wearing a sign around his neck that saidout of practice.

---