Page 19 of The Luck of Finding You
I twist the doorknob, adrenaline pumping through my body. Maybe I can talk the murderer out of killing me.
I step into the hall and look both ways; no one is there. My heart is thundering in my chest. I tiptoe to the right, toward the main room, and the floor creaks under me, making me cringe. Why do old buildings have to have the loudest floors?
No one is there.
“Hello?” I call out, wishing my voice wasn’t shaking. A dog starts barking and I scream, turning to go back into the bathroom, where I should have just stayed, but I run into something hard and muscular instead.
I scream louder.
Warm hands grip both of my shoulders. “Tally?”
I jump back, startled. “Noah?”
My hair is dripping water everywhere and I’m in nothing but a towel. We stare at each other for a heartbeat.
“What are you doing here?” Noah asks, confusion in his voice but his eyes never leaving my mine.
“What are you doing here!?” I ask, my voice coming out louder than I expected. The dog starts to bark again, then comes and starts licking my toes. “Stop that,” I say to the dog.
“I’m living here.”
“This is where you’re living?” I ask, again remembering that I’m wearing only a towel, clutching it tighter around myself. “When did you get here? You weren’t here when I got up here!”
Noah blinks at me. “I flew in early this morning. I just got back from taking my dog on a walk and then I was going to head down to the shop. Why were you showering here?”
His explanation makes sense, but how did he get in the apartment? “When did you get a key?”
Noah stares at me like this is a dumb question. “Mr. Thorne gave keys to me during our meeting. It’s how I got into the shop on Monday.”
Now it’s my turn to stare at him, trying to remember everything that happened on Monday. I knew he had keys to the shop. I didn’t realize that meant he got keys to the apartment. Then I remember I never answered his question.
“I shower here sometimes. I’m not a morning person, and some days that makes me almost late—but I always open on time—so Marsha let me shower here on my lunch break when that happened. So I have a key.” The words come out in a rush.
I really need to get back inside that bathroom because I. Am. Naked. And do not want to be anymore.
“What exactly were you going to do to me?” Noah bites back a smile. “You know, if I hadn’t been me?”
“I have no idea,” I tell him honestly, and without another word, I skirt around him and into the bathroom and lock the door behind me. Noah’s low chuckle from the other side of the door floods my body with heat.
“Am I really feeling something toward him right now? Really, body?” I whisper-hiss at myself. My face is the color of a tomato as I pull on my clothes and stare at my reflection, shaking my head. Part of me wants to laugh because this situation is exactly the type of thing that would happen to Holly. But me? Things like this never happen to me. Except for today, apparently.
My skin is flushed as I blow-dry my hair. It’s not quite long enough to put into a bun on the top of my head, so wearing it down will have to do.
I’m angry that Noah showed up. I’m embarrassed by my loud scream and by the fact that he saw me wrapped up in a towel.
“Ugh,” I groan as I put the blow-dryer back under the sink.
“Everything okay in there?” Noah asks. I jump but thankfully don’t make a sound.
“Why are you standing by the door?” I ask.
“I’m not.” His voice is farther away now. “I was just walking by.”
I wait in the bathroom for a few more minutes because I’m still not quite ready to face him. I grab my hair tie from the counter, changing my mind about leaving it down, and I pull it into a ponytail. I square my shoulders and take a deep breath. I can do this. I have to do this. As much as I’d rather spend the rest of the day in this bathroom hiding from Noah, I have to leave.
Noah is sitting on the couch watching TV when I make my way down the hall. He glances at me once, then looks back to the TV. I think he’s trying to ignore me.
“I’m sorry I was in the shower.” I break the awkward silence. Noah’s dog stares up at me from where it’s sitting on the couch. “I didn’t realize you’d be here. I mean, I knew you’d be in the shop later, I just didn’t know you’d beherein the apartment, and Marsha was always fine with it. It won’t happen again.”
