“On it,” he said, rushing down his steps, not even bothering to throw on shoes.
I lingered by the door, trying to peek down the hallway to get an idea of the place. He must have really thought my apartment was a shithole if he livedhere. There was more square footage in his front entryway than I had in my entire living room.
“Come in, come in,” he said, dragging my rolling suitcase behind him.
I stepped inside and he closed the door.
“This is the place.” He led me down the long hallway, where there wasn’t so much as a loose shoe on the ground. Damn, this guy was tidy.
The high ceilings in the main living area contained skylights that would drench the place with natural light once the sun rose in the morning. His furniture all looked brand new. Pristine, and very…gray. My head was on a swivel, looking at it all. His kitchen was all harsh lines and granite, with not a spot to be found.
“It’s very nice…neutral,” I said, then wanted to kick myself.
He chuckled. “It’s not quite as homey as your place, but I like it.”
“Homey is generous.” We exchanged smiles, but anxiety radiated off both of us. Last night had felt temporary, plus we had been in my space. My terms. Now, I’d told him I’d stay here until the situation was resolved. That could be anywhere from tomorrow, to two weeks from now.
“It’s a great house, Reid,” I added, feeling rude for not complimenting it yet.
“Thanks. I was kind of in a bind after the divorce. Our house sold in just one weekend on the market, and I needed to find something quick.”
“You got lucky, then. This place is perfect.” I kept my tone casual. Blasé. As if I hadn’t even thought about the fact that last night he’d mentioned he was divorced.
In reality, I wasdyingto ask him more. Mostly, what his ex was like. As far as I could tell, Reid was a goddamn catch. How had she let him go? But I knew how much breakups sucked. I hated rehashing stuff about Paul; I could only imagine that being married just made things even messier. So I forced myself to let it go. Reid would share more if he wanted to.
“Your room is down this way.” He pointed to the hall off the dining room. “And mine is back through the other hallway.” He jerked a finger toward the hallway off the living room on the opposite side of the large room. “Just like I said, plenty of space.”
Heat pricked the back of my neck as I thought about theproximity of his bedroom to mine. It didn’t seem like a whole lot of space to me. Not when I was noticing the little vein bulging every time he flexed his forearm.
“Thanks again, Reid.”Shit. Did my voice sound breathy? “If this gets to be too much, you can totally ask me to leave.”
“It’s fine.” He rolled my suitcase to the guest room, and I followed close behind. “I never even use this room. I probably won’t even realize you’re here.”
He switched on the lights, and the room came into view. It lookedexactlylike a hotel. And not one of those charming boutique ones with funky decorations; nope, this one was straight out of a giant-hotel-chain decorating handbook. White sheets, white duvet, black headboard, matching side tables, and a dresser. Exactly one piece of artwork hung above the bed, one which looked like it had been purchased at one of those big-box home goods stores. The space had zero soul, but I smiled nonetheless.
“This is perfect.”
“I never got around to painting.” He said it like that had been his intent. As if every other room I’d seen on my brief walk around his house wasn’t stark white.
“I think this place suits you,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow. “Because you think I’m boring?”
That made me laugh. “I didn’t say that. Why? Are you calling your own place boring?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I never really thought about it before, but after seeing yours, it probably seems like I just moved in.”
“I think you like simplicity. This place is exactly what I expected.” I took my suitcase from him and set it down on the bench at the end of the bed.
“The drawers are empty if you want to unpack,” he said.
“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t tornado my stuff all over the room.”
He eyed me from behind his glasses. “Hazel, I want you to be comfortable here. If that means a few pieces of clothinglying on the ground, then I’m alright with that. I won’t even come in here. This is your space.”
“Just for a little while,” I added.
“Still. I need you to be comfortable. I hate the idea of you feeling like you need to walk on eggshells around here. Seriously, whatever you need to feel at home, do it.”
