Page 24 of Hard to Resist

“Or, and this is me just thinking out loud, it’s because you gave me your address to call the rideshare.”

She stops walking, her lips pulling into a thin, awkward smile as she glances at me from the corner of her eyes.

“Oh. Right. That. That makes a lot more sense.”

Although I’d had no idea which apartment was hers—I’d only known the building. Paying the delivery driver extra to knock on the door of each apartment until he found the right one is something I don’t need to divulge at this point.

I am just lucky she lives in a small walk-up; if she’d lived in some fancy high-rise, I would’ve been screwed. Going through eight apartments is a lot easier than eighty.

“What about you, Cullen? Tell me three things?”

“Three things, hmm.” I toss my empty coffee cup in a nearby trash can and then use her grip on my elbow to steer her around the corner and down one of the main streets.

“Come on,” she nudges me. “I was quicker than this.”

“All right, all right. One, I got no sleep last night because my friend was bothering me at four in the morning.”

“Ouch. Was he drunk or something?”

“No. He’s in London and has no respect for time zone differences.”

She laughs. “Okay, what else?”

This game was a lot more fun when I was the one asking the questions.

“Two, that was my second coffee of the day.”

“So, we’re both caffeine addicts.”

“Who isn’t?”

“My boss. She refuses to drink coffee and instead has her assistant buy her a ridiculous number of matcha lattes every day from the place next door.”

“She sounds like fun.”

“An absolute riot. Okay, last one.”

I groan, trying to think of something simple.

“I have a sister. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that yet.”

“Vaguely. Is she younger or older?” She stops walking and holds out her hand. “Wait. Let me guess. Younger.”

“Correct. What gave it away?”

“The anti-subway vibes.”

“I told you, I’m not against the subway system. I’m just against gorgeous women taking the subway at one a.m. while drunk.”

“Tipsy,” she corrects. “But your argument only supports my observation. Older brothers are more protective.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“Nope. Only child. Always wanted a sibling. My high school bestie had an older brother, though, and he once punched the daylights out of this guy who was shit-talking behind her back.”

“I respect that. I suckered my best friend into helping me remove all the tires from my sister’s ex-boyfriend’s new car when he dumped her after the fall dance.”

“That’s less violent but almost more concerning because it’s premeditated.”

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