“So is that a yes?” she asked, following him. She leaned against the counter while he pulled out a cold water bottle from the fridge. In every way the rest of the house was dark and depressing, this room was very much the opposite. The lemon-yellow towels looked freshly laundered, the surfaces were spotless, and a plate of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies were stacked on a fancy glass-covered platter.
“It’s a: I don’t have a choice.” He took the lid off the cookies, and she inhaled the scent of fresh-baked treat. He grabbed two, but then very pointedly took a bite out of each.
Petty to the extreme.
She could respect that.
Hedidhave a choice. He could kick her out right now, and she wasn’t fully convinced she’d actually tell Mr. Richardson that Asher was living here. It was one thing to tow someone’s car, it was another to get them kicked out of their house.
But again, desperate times. In the end, she had the upper hand, and they both knew it.
“I’ll move in tomorrow,” she told him. “Thanks, roomie.”
“Don’t call me that.” He pushed off from the counter and went back to the master bedroom with a slam of the door. But she was too relieved to take it personally. It had worked. She’d never intended to become the villain in anyone’s story, but here she was, and it actually didn’t feel so bad.
She peeked at the bedroom door to make sure it was firmly closed before sneaking a cookie from the platter. She took a bite and closed her eyes. Holy cow, these were divine. Had he made them? This kitchen looked too spotless to have ever been baked in.
Good food. Quiet atmosphere. A beach right outside the back patio door. Yes, she could get used to this indeed.
Eliana banged on the door at six in the morning. She had been up all night again, solidifying her decision to follow through with this plan. “This is our only option,” she said to Louisa May Alcott, who continued to sleep despite her habitat being jostled about.
Asher opened the door, looking very much like she woke him up. His hair stuck out in all directions, his shirt had been put on inside out, and his scowl would have been enough to make her take a step back if she didn’t have the hope of a quiet day ahead of her.
“Good morning,” she said quietly. One didn’t want to startle a bear.
He blinked. “I’d hoped it was a nightmare.”
“You’re such a flirt.”
“I am not flirting.” He bit the words out one by one. Okay, time to pull back from the teasing. She didn’t want to aggravate him so badly he changed his mind and decided to call her blackmail bluff.
She shifted, her bag heavy, Louisa May Alcott’s habitat even heavier. He did a double-take as he stepped back. Then without a word or glance in her direction, he shut the front door and went back into the master bedroom. A moment later, the shower turned on.
She set Louisa’s home on the table, dragged her bag into the guest bedroom, and attempted to push the door open. It snagged on something but it was so dark inside, she couldn’t see what. She pushed her shoulder against it and something tumbled and crashed inside.
Oops.
She reached her hand in and moved it up and down the wall until she found the light switch. When she clicked it on, she peeked through the foot of open door to see that the room was filled with boxes.
How much stuff had Asher’s grandpa owned? No wonder he hadn’t finished going through all of this yet.
She’d knocked over a stack of boxes that had been set too close to the door. She pushed the door open slowly this time, shifting the boxes carefully, until it was open enough for her to step inside.
Her heart sank.
She was going to have to buy a baby-sized air mattress.
Better than being squeezed into Julia’s apartment.
Asher left without a word while she moved boxes around in an attempt to open up enough space for an air mattress. It was so dusty and hot, she felt like she was going to pass out. She cracked the bedroom window for fresh air and changed the thermostat from eighty—what in the world? Who kept it that hot?—to seventy-four. She’d cover the cost difference. It was worth it.
She cleaned up a small section of the room for Louisa May Alcott, but she wouldn’t be able to keep her in here all day. Not with how dusty everything was.
After a break for her own shower, she managed to film and edit an entire video before Asher got home. She’d closed the windows and blinds after filming so the house could be his secure little bear cave when he got home.
“It’s cold,” he growled as he passed the kitchen where she made a grilled cheese using some of his many groceries. He had a well-stocked pantry—and she’d replace everything she used tomorrow.
“I’m in here all day, Asher. I’ll pay the difference in your electric bill.”
