That gets my attention. He fixed my computer? Really?
Still, a girl can’t be too careful. I’m thinking of how to ask whether he has a prison record when he seems to read my mind. “I understand if you’re nervous about opening the door to a stranger, but I couldn’t read your phone number on the intake form.”
“How did you read my address, then?” I call through the door.
“You’re two blocks from Hot Swap on the same street,” he points out. “And this street number is pretty tough to mess up, even for someone with a doctor’s handwriting.”
“I am a doctor,” I mutter, mostly to myself. A PhD in soil science, but still.
“Ma’am?” On the other side of the door, he clears his throat. “Look, I can just leave it here next to your door. You seemed so upset earlier that I assumed you needed it quickly, but I can set it down right?—”
His words halt when I throw open the door and take him in. Good God, he’s hotter than I remember. The man looks like someone chiseled him out of oak. Rounded biceps, broad shoulders, abs with every last ridge and bump visible through the cotton of his T-shirt. The tortoiseshell glasses he wears frame brown eyes the exact color of undrained alluvial silt.
That sounded sexier in my mind.
I stand there gaping at him like an idiot for a few seconds before remembering my manners. “Simon,” I repeat, pretty sure that’s what he just told me his name was. “Wow. Thank you. You really fixed my laptop?”
“Yep.” He grins at me, and those eyes light up like something you’d order out of an eyeball catalog. God, I’m losing it. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tip the guy or blow him. The fact that I’m even having these thoughts makes me wonder if I pickled my brain with last night’s chardonnay binge.
“Thank you,” I manage, wiping one sweaty palm down the leg of my pants. “What do I owe you?”
The words come out sounding more suggestive than I meant them to, or maybe that’s only in my head. Hottie Geek’s expression doesn’t change, so I probably imagined it.
“I’m feeling benevolent today,” he says. “No charge. I did install a larger hard drive, though. You were almost out of space. If you’d like, I can show you a couple quick tricks for maximizing your storage capacity. Or you can return to the shop and have one of my associates show you how to?—”
“No, I want you.”
Shit. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Or maybe I did.
I lick my lips and try again. “Look, given what was frozen on my laptop screen, I’d really rather minimize the number of people who—uh—are privy to this.”
“What was frozen on your laptop.”
It’s a statement, not a question. He just repeated my words in a bemused tone, and I can’t tell what the hell that means. Did he read it or not? I study his face, trying to figure it out, but my brain gets sidetracked. Lord, it should not be legal for a man to have cheekbones like that.
I step aside and usher him into my living room, hoping to salvage some dignity and the possibility that I’m a polite, professional member of society. “Look, Mr.—”
“Simon,” he says, dropping onto my sofa and setting the laptop down on my coffee table. He doesn’t look at me while he boots it up. “Just Simon. Not Mister.”
“Right. I’m Cassie.” I stand there like a dumbass, wondering if I should offer him a drink or something.
He looks up then and flashes me that megawatt smile. “Cassie.” He pats the sofa next to him. “Come on. I’ll show you a couple things and then get out of your hair.”
The fact that he hasn’t said a word about The List makes me think maybe I’m off the hook. Either he really didn’t read it, or he’s just being a gentleman. Either way, it emboldens me enough that I sit down next to him. My leg brushes his, and I swear to God I feel sparks arc straight from my knee to my nipples. I start to scoot away, but he pins me there with his words.
“Okay, really quickly,” he says. “I’ve created a link to your new backup system right here. I updated your antivirus protection and did a thorough cleaning of the keyboard. You’ll want to watch out for this X key, though. It’s still a little sticky.”
I nod. “I’ll try not to type too many words with an X in them.” The second I say that, I think of half a dozen.
* * *
Excite.
X-rated.
Fixate.
Sex.
