Page 48 of Man Seeking Woman

“Speak for yourself. I might not like your friend, but as long as she isn't talking to me, I could watch her have sex.”

“You're disgusting,” Kayla said, laughing off his comment.

But I could tell it made her uncomfortable, not only was he a jerk, he was a fucking pig too.

I'm going to fucking him knock him to the floor one of these days.

The door closed, finally leaving me alone with Ella. The entire night all I felt was this urgency, like a weight on my chest, anticipating that moment when it was just the two of us.

Turning to face her, our eyes connected, causing me to stop in my tracks. Ella was still sitting down, her hands nervously picking at each other. I was standing still, stuck in the empty space between my kitchen and living room.

It was hard for me to tell if it was nerves or excitement or a mixture of both that was rushing through my body. My love life had mostly been based around convenient sex with women my mother considered close in status.

But not one of them gave me the feelings that Ella did. My stomach never turned, my muscles never buzzed, my heart never sped up, sweat never beaded up across my forehead. Yet, with Ella Day, all of that was happening at once.

“Let me ask you something.” Stroking my jaw, I let my gaze settle on hers. Swallowing hard, she looked at me like she was worried about what was going to come out of my mouth. “What the hell Does Kayla see in that guy?” Furrowing my brows, I watched the tension in her body relax.

Sighing, her shoulders rolled forward and she let out a weighted breath. “I've been asking myself that question for a long time. Kay is just someone who got sucked into his trap, but I'm working on setting her free.”

“Well, maybe I can help, that guy needs a swift kick in the ass.”

“That guy needs to just disappear.” Ella giggled as she pushed her hair away from face. “He's no good for Kay, and she knows it too. But I can't get her to see it.”

“She will, change takes time and so does seeing the real person. Love is blind, that's not just a cliche, it's the truth.” Stepping down the small step into the living room, I rolled a finger against the air. “Not to change the subject, but it looks like we have the whole place to ourselves now,” I said, resting my hand on my chest.

“Yup, it sure does.” Her voice pitched, wavering slightly as she watched me. I knew she was worried I would demand sex. Her body jerked subtly as she tried to brace herself for what she expected.

Ella slowly seemed to fold into herself, not purposely, but guardedly. Her shoulders caved in at the same moment her chest did. Her eyes went from green to gray, scanning me uncomfortably.

“Let's get you settled in.” Crossing the room, I picked up a box labeled clothes. “Want me to bring this into the room?”

Her muscles loosened and she laughed nervously. Standing up, Ella started picking up the garbage off the table, gathering it in the crook of her arm. “That's perfect,” she said, looking over the table. “I'll pick up this mess, then I'll help move my stuff.”

“You know normally I have a maid here to do that. So don't worry, cleaning will be a distant memory for you once she gets back from vacation.”

“Oh,” she said, her tone baffled as she let out a light giggle. “I actually don't mind cleaning. It'll probably feel weird to have someone else doing it for me.”

“You can still cleanup after yourself if it feels weird, it's not a rule you have to turn into a slob just because there's a maid.” Chuckling, I coddled the box in my arms.

“Don't you ever feel lazy having someone else cleaning your mess?” Dumping the paper plates into the trash, she carried the glasses to the sink. “I would probably keep everything cleaner if I had someone coming in to clean for me.” Ella laughed as she shook her head. “The maid would get to my house and think I was crazy for calling her. When really it would just be because I was embarrassed about the mess to begin with.”

Angling my head, I thought about her question. The answer was no. It wasn't weird to me because this was my life, but I guess when you came from a different background, your experiences were different.

“Honestly, I'm used to it, but I'm not incapable of picking up after myself.” Carrying the box down the hall, I set it on the floor in the bedroom, and went back out to get another one. “But it is nice to have someone else to dust, I hate dusting.”

Groaning, Ella gave me a funny smile. “Yeess,” she said, drawing out the word. “Dusting is the worst. Most of the time I just forget to do it, and when I finally decide to, it's an inch thick, growing an entire ecosystem of its own.” Taking a paper towel, she began to wipe the crumbs off the table and into her palm. “I'm pretty sure I heard screaming the last time I dusted.”

Laughing, I sat on my couch and pulled one of her boxes towards me. “What's in this one? Pics and year books? Sounds scandalous. . .” Arching a single brow, I started to pull back the cardboard tabs slowly.

“Whoa, do not open that.” Shooting forward, Ella had her arms out in front of her as if she was going to scoop up the box and steal it away.

“Oh come on,” I said, blocking her easily and holding her back. “Let's see these pics.” With one hand, I opened the top and started to dig around.

“No, don't you dare!” she yelled playfully, doing her best to break through my arm.

“Look, we're going to be living together and sharing basically everything, which means we need to share it all. No secrets. If you had spiked hair and a tail when you were in grade school, I have the right to know.” Plucking out a frame, I saw an image of Ella when she was a teenager, wearing jean overalls and a pair of roller blades. “Look at you, don't you look cute.”

And she did. She was probably about fourteen, her body slender and lacking the current curves she had now. With a big goofy grin, she was holding her arms up over her head, while her feet tilted in towards each other as she balanced on her blades.

---