Page 10 of Puck with Karma
“I don’t even understand why you’d think I’d want pictures of you,” she continues. “And you should probably stop with your hands. You’re just spreading all that stuff around, rubbing it into your pores. It’s not good for you.”
Her words stop me in my tracks. I know she is right about the grease getting into my skin, but that’s not what makes me stare at her. I can’t believe she’d stick around to talk to me after I was such an asshole to her.
“You just moved into the building?” Her words from earlier are finally starting to make sense in my head.
“Yeah,” she nods in confirmation. “Today. I moved in today. This is not how I thought my move in day would go.”
The corner of her mouth lifts in the cutest smile, and I can’t help but smiling back.
“How did you manage to get an apartment in this building?”
I know for a fact that not just anyone can live here. The building is owned by the Minnesota Cats hockey team. All their executive staff, players included, are offered an apartment in this building. We don’t have to take it, and a lot of my teammates chose to buy lavish places in high dollar neighborhoods.
I decided to live here since not spending money has been deeply ingrained into my head from an early age.
“Through work,” she informs me. It is obvious that she is trying really hard to project an aura of strength, but it just makes her all the cuter to me.
I cross my arms over my chest, not missing the way her eyes take in the width of my shoulders. “Where do you work?”
The girl watches me intently for a few long seconds. I almost wonder if she heard my question, when she opens her mouth to speak.
“They’ll know it was you who did it, so you know. My friends will make sure of it.”
“Did what?” I snort in amusement.
“Killed me.”
Her answer is short and to the point. I want to believe she’s not serious, but the expression on her face says otherwise. On one hand, I’d love to mess with her some more. On the other, I think I like her a little too much to freak her out like this.
“I live in this building. I’d hate to lose my apartment here. It’s hard to score one.”
“Okay…” She licks her lips, the nerves getting the best of her. I have the sudden urge to kiss her, see if that calms her down or freaks her out more.
“And that is why,” I continue, ignoring my more carnal urges. “That is why I can’t kill you.”
She shakes her head in confusion. “Because…”
“Because I can’t lose the only shelter I’ve known for many years now.”
I’m not even lying when I say this part. I’ve been living in this building since the day I signed the contract with the Cats. I’m their most loyal tenant. Besides, I hate just the idea of moving. That’s one of the reasons I don’t want to deal with possiblynegotiating a deal with another team. I don’t want to deal with the moving part.
“That is…” The girl almost starts laughing, covering her mouth with a delicate hand at the last second. “That’s very generous of you.”
“It is, isn’t it?” I grin at her, still wondering how she ended up in this building. “Where did you say you worked?”
“I didn’t,” she giggles softly. “It’s none of your business.”
“Well, you are in the building that I manage.” Going along with what she thinks I do for a living seems a lot easier. “I like knowing what my tenants are up to.”
“Oh, so this is vital information pertaining to your job?” she teases me, and I like it.
“Yeah,” I grin again. “That.”
“I’m an intern for a company here. Like I said earlier, I just moved in today. I never expected my first day to be this eventful.”
Before I have time to ask her more questions, Burt, the doorman to the building, bursts into the room.
“Miss,” he lets out a sigh of relief when he spots my companion. “Are you okay?”
