Page 50 of Huge Dynamite
“I need to talk to you.”
“The way you just talked to Julius?”
“Holly.” I cock my head at her. “Be serious. You know I would never touch you in that way. The kid was saying things he shouldn’t.”
“He’s fifteen, Seth. What’s your excuse?” She lifts an eyebrow.
“Okay, yes, I deserve that, but please, Holly. It’s important. Really important.”
“Fine.”
She pushes her grocery bag at me and then fishes in her bag, pulling out a giant set of keys. Keeping my eyes peeled, focused on the street, I still don’t see a single stray Dog. Walking up the steps of the decrepit building behind her, I wait while she puts the keys in the locks. Stepping back, I put my hand out, but there’s no railing. Crap. I catch my balance no problem, but she could easily fall any day if she’s not extra-careful.
Her phone rings. Pulling it out of her jacket pocket, she glances at the number. “Shit.” Mumbling under her breath, she switches off her phone and then buries it in her pocket again.
Pushing open the front door, she nods for me to follow her. Walking in, I realize that the railing is the least of her problems. Turning in a circle, I look around and—damn. Is she joking with this place? What is she doing here? Why would she rent some shithole like this? It’s pretty dark, but I can make out a few things. My gaze jumps from boarded-up windows to filthy floors and crumbling walls to spiderwebs everywhere.
Eyeing me, she locks the door behind us. Then, she walks to a wall and clicks on a switch.
“Ta-da!” Light comes from the overhead fixtures. “I have electricity. And plumbing. All in less than a week.” Taking the bag of groceries from me, she plops them onto a tiny nearby table. “Isn’t that amazing?” Pointing to the light, she smiles. “Now I can start cleaning and scrubbing. I have to do as much as I can myself, and then I’ll call in a service. This is going to cost me even more than I anticipated, and since I can’t work at the hospital around the clock to cover expensesandbe here at the same time…” She takes a deep breath. “Well, I’ll be busy.” She covers her smile with her hand and shakes her head. “I’m sorry. You came here to say something, and here I am rambling on about the place.”
Smiling at me, I see she’s absolutely glowing. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen her, but that doesn’t change anything. She can’t be here. I hate to be the one to crush her dreams, but it’s better to live with a broken dream than to die.
“No, it can wait.” Itcanwait. As long as I’m here, she’s safe.
“Well? Isn’t it great?” She nods to me.
“Um.” Is she serious?
Tilting her head, her bottom lip pouts just the slightest bit, and all I want to do is pull her into my arms, keep her safe, and kiss her—over and over again. Her gorgeous face clouds over. She’s looking for more of a reaction from me, but what can I say?
“Well.” She pulls herself together. “Maybe it doesn’t look all that great yet, but you have to use some vision and imagination. Look.” She gives me a tour as she talks.
Conceding, I stay put and listen. Yeah, I’m desperate to tell her why I came and to get her the hell out of here, but with the door locked and me here, she’s about as safe as she can get.
“The bottom floor is obviously for the main clinic.” Holding out her hands, she twirls around in a circle. Moving closer toward me and the front door, she explains, “I’ll have a big front desk for check-in as well as a large waiting area over here.” She motions with her hands. “Then I’ll have private rooms back here, separated by curtains like they have in the ER.” She walks backward as she narrates. “Then, on the second floor—”
“How many floors are there?”
“Three. Come on.”
Gesturing for me to follow, she leads me up a staircase to the second floor. As we step out into a big, open loft area, she seems even more excited to tell me her plans.
“This will be storage for now. But maybe—come on. Let’s see the third floor.”
Following her up another flight of stairs, I’m selfishly glad this one is also missing its handrail. Focusing on not missing a step and plummeting to my death keeps my eyes off of her incredibly fine ass.
Pushing open an old door with chipping paint, she reveals the third floor. Smiling, she has an incredibly proud look on her face. “The third floor.”
Walking in, I spy an old, dusty couch and some other random furniture. Huh. Whoever rented it before her lived here. Poor bastards.
“So, my big plan for this is that someday I’ll open up this floor, and over here, I’ll put an inside stairwell between the two floors. I’ll have a two-floor living space.”
“W-wait a second. Living space?”
“Yeah.” Moving over to the area that was probably the dining room, she explains, “The kitchen is so big, there’s no way anyone needs a separate dining area. So, my idea is to knock out the dining area and the floor here and put in a staircase to the downstairs.” Sticking her hands into her jeans’ pockets, she smiles. “And you know what else? There are three bedrooms.” She holds up her fingers to emphasize the point. “And there are—”
Holding up my hand, I cut her off. “Holly, you can’t live here.”
