Page 30 of IOU

Don’t thank me just yet.

“So, we have a deal?”

She jumps up and down. “We have a deal.”

It’s way too fucking easy.

I slip my hand into my back pocket and pull out a card. What the hell did I do with my marker? I spot it on the counter and eat up the distance in a couple of strides. Now, where was I?

Oh right. “Turn around,” I bark, my voice gruff and edgy with an absurd amount of frustration.

“What? Why?” She notices the playing card in my hand. “I only asked for one favor,” she starts to argue.

Rookie mistake.

“No. You asked for two.” I take a few steps closer, coming toe to toe. I don’t need her to turn around after all. I can be flexible.

I hold the card in front of her face. “The first favor you asked was to help you, which got you through the door.” I push the card against her lips, cutting off any argument. “The second is for finding you an apartment. Don’t get it confused. I offer no freebies. Everything with me is quid pro quo.”

I take the marker and scrawl the letters IOU, taking my sweet ass time. I want her to know I’m the one in charge here. No pouty mouth and tight body is going to make me forget who I am. I’m not doing this out of charity. It’s a deal just like any other. A favor bought and housed in reserve.

When I’m satisfied she understands the shit she’s now in, I release my hold on the card and let it fall to the floor, her shocked expression morphing into something else entirely. Something incredibly sexy. Something incredibly pissed.

“You lied!”

I cock my head to the side, a silent warning to watch her fucking mouth. “I didn’t lie. You didn’t know the rules. Not my problem.”

Sure, I could have warned her, but where would be the fun in that?

“You could have been a little more thorough,” she says, her bottom lip quivering just a bit. She doesn’t beg me to take it back, and I admire that she’s accepting the terms and dealing with them, even if she doesn’t agree.

“Do I get a key?”

I bark out a laugh. “No.”

She shrugs, unaffected. “Whatever. Don’t blame me when you have to crawl out of bed at 11:30 to let me in. That’s when I get home from work.”

Don’t blame me when your ass sleeps out in the hallway with that smart mouth.

“I’ll be up,” I assure her, going back to my beer.

She takes a deep breath and nods. “I need to take a shower before work.”

Motherf—“Fine.”

Now she needs a bathroom. Next thing I know, she’ll want something to eat.

The smile she flashes me makes my dick jump.

This is a bad idea—a terrible idea, Maverick. The worst you’ve ever had.

“Great! I’ll just be a second. I need to grab a couple of bags from my car, so don’t lock me out, okay?”

I clench my jaw and try to seem hospitable. “Sure.”

“Eep! You’re so not as awful as people said.” And there lies the problem. She’s too observant, and I’m breaking all the rules. This is what happens when you only sleep two hours fulfilling a fucking favor you should have never had to do in the first place. Never again.

“Your phone,” I demand, holding out my hand. At the tone of my order, the smile falls from her face, and she reaches into her back pocket, pulling out her phone, pausing only a second to unlock it. That’s better. That’s the fear I need to see from her.

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