Page 27 of Firecracker

“Thanks.” She turned, and he caught the shadows in her eyes even though she smiled that sweet smile of hers.

“So come and see the bathroom.”

“Okay.”

She followed him and he pulled aside the plastic he’d used to cover the door. He gestured for her to enter the small space, and she brushed past him, with a quick glance at his bare chest as she did so. He caught a hint of that fruity floral scent he’d banished by tearing down the walls of the room. He wanted to grab her and bury his face in her hair and breathe in the sexy scent.Focus, man. “So, you can’t shower or have a bath now.” Jesus. His throat dried up thinking about her having a bath…all naked and soapy and slippery… He gritted his teeth. “But I replaced the toilet so you can still use it for now. Sorry it’s ugly, but at least it’s functional.”

“Yes, that’s fine. I can handle ugly for a while, thank you.”

“If you want to shower, just come over to my place. My door’s always open. I work at eight tomorrow morning for a twenty-four-hour shift, so I’ll be gone until Wednesday morning.”

“Um, okay.”

Yeah, thinking about her in his shower didn’t help the tightening in his groin.

“Okay.” The word came out gruffly and he cleared his throat. “I’ll be back Wednesday to do more. Not sure what time…depends on if I get any sleep while I’m at work.”

“You sleep at work?” She gazed back at him with big, beautiful dark eyes.

“If it’s not busy.” He made himself smile. “It’s a twenty-four-hour shift. If things are quiet, I might get some sleep. If not…well, I’ll be ready to crash when I get home.”

She nods. “Okay. Wednesday morning. Got it.”

He started back toward the door, grabbing his T-shirt from where he’d hung it on her bedroom doorknob. Then he hesitated at her door. Dammit. He didn’t want to leave her alone.

She was so proud of herself for getting that job. And yet there was still an air of sadness about her. He sensed that she really felt shewasalone, even though she was living with the three of them, and he absolutely knew Jamie would take care of her, even though she’d outright said she wanted to make it by herself.

His jaw tightened.

“What?” She stared back at him, elegant dark eyebrows lifted.

There it was. The princess look. The one that had intimidated him in high school. Now, though…he wasn’t intimidated. He was seeing there was a lot behind that look.

She lifted her chin.

He smiled. “Nothing. Let me know if you need anything.”

He knew she wouldn’t. But at least he was right across the hall.

She gave a tiny eye roll, pursed her lips on a smile, and shook her head. “You’re as bad as Jamie. I’mfine.”

“Yeah.” He studied her face…smooth skin, high cheekbones, the appealing curve of her mouth. “You are. See you later, Arden.”

He left her apartment, crossed the hall to his own, and shut the door.

He paused there for a moment.

Arden Lennox—er Hughes, he had to remember that—living across the hall from him was going to kill him.

He closed his eyes briefly, then strode to his bathroom. He needed a goddamn shower. She smelled like passion fruit and orchids, and he probably stunk of sweat and dust.

He cranked on the water and stepped in, and of course was immediately assailed by images of Arden in there with him, naked, hair dripping, water running over those perfect fucking breasts he’d caught a glimpse of yesterday. He’d never, ever forget that.

Jesus. He was still fourteen, crushing over a girl. He needed to get a grip. He needed to get laid.

He also needed to have a little talk with Arden’s new boss.

Yeah.

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