Page 31 of Firecracker

She nodded and picked up the tray again. The kitchen was sweltering chaos because things were so busy tonight with people off celebrating the Fourth. Her entire body was hot, sweat trickled between her breasts, and her feet hurt, and she hated screwing up.

Maybe taking this job had been a mistake.

Chapter Seven

Arden slowly opened the door of Tyler’s apartment the next morning. She poked her head in and called softly, “Hello?”

Silence greeted her.

Tyler had finished work at eight, so she expected he was sleeping. She didn’t want to disturb him as she used his bathroom. She carried a bundle of towels, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving cream and a razor, a loofah sponge dangling from one of her fingers.

She could easily use Mila or Jamie’s apartment, but Tyler was right, this was closer. She edged into the apartment and paused to look around. Curiosity about where Tyler lived danced in her belly.

She tiptoed into his living room. The apartment layout was similar, but instead of an island separating his kitchen from the living room, he had a small dining table. She took in the details of the renovations that had been done…similar shiny hardwood floors to her apartment, the walls painted a nice taupe color with deep, white baseboards and casings around doors and windows. The fireplace was beautiful, the brick painted white with a heavy oak mantel, his kitchen stunning with black cabinets and white counters.

For a bachelor apartment, it was pretty clean and tidy. A bowl of fruit rested on the counter along with a newspaper and what appeared to be some mail. A squarish taupe sectional sat in the corner of the living room facing the fireplace, which was topped with a big screen TV. The square table in front of it held an empty bowl with crumbs of what appeared to be potato chips, the remote control, some magazines and—she had to smile—a hammer.

She turned to a long low bookcase that was stuffed with all kinds of things…electronics, video games, and books, of course. She took in the titles—lots of science fiction and fantasy and…holy shit. She peered closer. A bunch of books by one of her favorite authors, Lora Leigh. It was the shape-shifter series she herself hadn’t read, although she’d read many of the author’s other books. But all Lora Leigh books were super sexy. She smiled.Thatwas interesting.

A little guilt poked her at how she was snooping around. She glanced over her shoulder as if expecting to see Tyler watching her. But hey, she wasn’t opening cupboards and drawers or anything. She didn’t look at the mail to see if his bills were past due or if his bank statements showed a negative balance. She was just observing.

She headed to the bathroom, pausing for a peek into the second bedroom across from it. The room held a black desk and leather chair, a small couch that probably folded down to a bed, a bike, and a bunch of exercise equipment.

Stop, Arden. Shaking her head, she turned to the bathroom.

And sighed with pleasure.

Was this what her bathroom would look like when finished?

A big soaker tub occupied a lot of space, but there was still room for a separate glassed-in shower stall, a toilet, and a double sink vanity. The floor was gray and white hexagon-shaped tile, the vanity a charcoal gray, the walls a lighter gray, and the tiles in the shower a mix of various shades of gray and white.

She eyed the tub with longing. Her intent had been to jump in and out of the shower and get out of Tyler’s place. But her feet and lower back were still aching from her shift at Shenanigans last night, and the idea of soaking in steaming hot water was so enticing…she couldn’t resist. Biting her lip, she set down her things on the marble counter and started filling the tub. She hesitated, then locked the bathroom door. Tyler was sleeping, but just in case…she didn’t want a repeat of him walking in on her naked in the bathroom. Nope, that hadn’t been embarrassing at all. Gah.

She eyed Tyler’s bath products…a masculine sponge hanging in the shower with black bottles of men’s shampoo and body wash. Pretty minimal. Although there were several hair products, a hairbrush and an electric shaver/beard trimmer sitting on the vanity. If she snooped, would she find prescriptions drugs? Guyliner?

She laughed at herself as she stripped off her clothes, then squirted a generous amount of her Bombshell body wash beneath the faucet to create some bubbles. Heaven.

Soon, she was submerged in steamy, soapy water up to her chin. This tub was amazing. She sighed, closing her eyes and wiggling her toes. Long baths were a guilty pleasure of hers that she hadn’t indulged in for too long. She’d been busy packing, traveling, and now living in an apartment with no tub or shower.

Tyler was going to regret offering his bathroom to her, because she was going to be in here every chance she got.

Well, not if he was home. Probably. Maybe.

She wished she’d brought her e-reader (which she tucked into a Ziploc bag when she had a bath), but she hadn’t planned on this. Damn. She could have borrowed one of Tyler’s Lora Leigh books…but she wasn’t going to get out of the tub and trek naked through his apartment to get one. So she relaxed and let her mind wander, reliving her long shift yesterday and the various humiliations she’d endured.

For a moment, she let herself indulge in a little pity party for one. When she’d trudged home late last night with burning feet, sore legs, and an aching back, feeling like an idiot, she’d questioned her sanity. Maybe she should have waited and looked for a nice office job where she could sit and answer phones or something.

She sighed. There was nothing stopping her from looking for a job like that while she worked at Shenanigans. Other than the fact that answering phones all day didn’t sound a hell of a lot better than waiting tables.

She wasn’t going to feel sorry for herself. Waitressing was hard work, but it was work. To her surprise, she’d left with a share of tips in her purse even though she hadn’t waited on any tables herself. Liam seemed like a good boss, although he was a little slapdash about rules and policies and procedures. It appeared that Sorcha stayed on him about those things, while he kept staff and customers alike charmed and happy.

After her bath, she was going to study the online menu of Shenanigans. She’d had another embarrassing moment when a table had flagged her down and asked which she’d recommend between the pork tacos and the fish tacos. Her response had been brilliant: “Well, the pork tacos are made with pork, so if you like pork, you should definitely have those, but the fish tacos are made with fish so they’re really good if you like, um…fish.”

They’d all stared at her while her cheeks flamed.

Now she closed her eyes, held her breath, and slid down until the water closed over her head.

Dammit. She wasn’t going to let shit like that happen again. She at least could have made up some bullshit about fish tacos being lighter, even if she had no idea what was in those dishes.

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