Page 8 of When Annika Met Thom

Leo had said his latest roommate was a big guy, but that description hadn’t prepared Annika for the truth. This guy was massive. He was like an upright refrigerator and looked just as likely to move out of the way. He only opened the door a few inches but his size was obvious. Did he have to duck to go through the door? Turn sideways? It was also easy to remember Leo’s jokes about how stupid Thom was.

Funny but Annika didn’t have the sense that this guy was dumb. Cautious, certainly, but there was an intensity in his expression that made Annika wonder whether he let people underestimate him.

Why would anyone do that?

His eyes were dark and his hair was dark brown and wavy, a little too long. He had a bushy beard that was darker than his hair and his gaze was piercing. He was wearing a black T-shirt and she could see extensive tattoos on his arms that continued beneath the shirt sleeves. There were Celtic knots winding up his arm from wrist to elbow, as if he was wearing the Book of Kells. The T-shirt was also tight enough to reveal that he was completely ripped. His expression was impassive or maybe inscrutable. If she’d had to cast someone as the leader of a notorious motorcycle club, he’d get her vote.

Actually, he’d get her vote for more than that. She could cast him as an action hero, the taciturn guy who always got the job done, no matter the price. She could see him in a movie, as the heroine’s unlikely ally, the gruff one who never said much—let alone the right thing—and ran off with the heroine’s heart. She could imagine him peeling off that T-shirt, gaze smoldering, then making love to a woman so thoroughly that she forgot her own name.

Annika wanted to lean forward and take a deep breath of testosterone, maybe run her hands over him, maybe follow her fingers with her tongue. Annika blinked. She wasn’t going to be attracted to Leo’s hulk of a roommate, no matter what he looked like, no matter how welcome his obvious masculinity was. She straightened, reining in her thoughts. It would be a bad idea to surrender to impulse, no matter how desperate for intimacy she felt in this moment.

Leo. She was minutes away from being with Leo.

In the back of her mind, she acknowledged that Leo wasn’t half this hot and she’d never wanted to run her tongue over him.

She was losing her mind out of sexual deprivation.

Meanwhile, this guy was staring at her, like he’d never seen a woman before.

Maybe he was mute.

On the other hand, she wasn’t saying much either.

“Hi. Leo’s expecting me.” She smiled and put down her suitcase, then switched the cage to her left hand so she could offer her hand. “I’m Annika.”

He looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on Percival’s cage. He didn’t take her hand and he didn’t open the door any wider. “Tomorrow,” he said firmly, as if it was non-negotiable. His voice was low and rumbly, like he was a mountain surrendering a secret. Annika felt her body respond to the sound in a most unwelcome way. He spared a glance over his shoulder and closed the door a bit, as if to hide her from view. From whose view? “Leo said you’d be heretomorrow.”

“Yes, that was the plan. But I was able to leave Tuesday instead of Wednesday, so I’m here a day early.” Her smile was beginning to feel stiff. “Can I come in and put these down, please?”

“Tuesday? It’s Saturday.”

“I didn’t fly,” Annika explained, understanding his confusion. Few people liked the train as much as she did. She lifted Percival’s cage. “I took the train. It was easier.”

“Slower.”

“I like that about the train. There’s time to see where you are, instead of just zooming over it.”

“Portland,” he murmured finally, proving that he did know about her.

“Portland, Oregon,” she agreed wearily. “Portland to Chicago, Chicago to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh to New York. And here I am.” She eased a little closer to the door but he still didn’t budge.

“He said tomorrow.”

Maybe hewasstupid. “We’ve been over that,” Annika reminded him.

“Leo was going to call you.” His voice had dropped lower, so deadly soft that Annika felt prickles rise on her skin. That rumble was incredibly sexy and her reaction made her obvious that it had been way too long since she’d seen Leo.

Touched Leo.

Had Leo touch her.

Even though Leo did not have a low sexy rumble of a voice.

Hmm.

A bit late, she realized what he’d said. Annika felt the first twinge of alarm. “Why would Leo call me? He gave me his address. He told me to come here. Isn’t he home?”

The huge guy shook his head slowly. “You should go.”

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