“Funny,” I said to Emerson before whispering to Rudy, “You can’t help a dude out?”
“Here to serve,” Rudy whispered back.
“Come on. Let’s go upstairs and get this over with,” I said as I stole Em’s hand.
“Nice meeting you, Miss Bender,” Rudy called after us.
“Over with?” she asked me when we got into the elevator.
“I’m sure you’ll have some comments regarding where I live. So let’s get it out of the way, and then we can go on with our day.”
She turned to face me, her long legs going on for days below her denim cutoffs. The strap of her sheer white tank fell off her shoulder, and her hair was down and wavy.
“Touchy?” she asked, smiling.
“You smell good.” I pulled her close, breathed in the top of her hair, and conveniently changed the subject. “Like sunscreen and coconut.”
“It’s from home, a beach body spray.”
The door opened, and we stepped off in sync.
“Now I can say that I know what the beach smells like with authority.”
“And I can say I know how the rich live with authority.”
“Here we go ...”
I pushed the door open; I hadn’t bothered to lock it. Who was going to get by Rudy without an inquisition?
“Home sweet home,” I muttered as Emerson made her way into the apartment.
“Wow.” She approached the floor-to-ceiling windows and placed her palms on the glass. “This is so insane. You can see the whole island.”
“I like to look out over the park and map my runs.” I came up behind her, placing my hands lightly over hers.
“Look at all the horses.” She took in the smelly parade of carriages carting tourists around the park.
“Only thing that makes me feel like I’m home.”
“Oh, right.Do you ride?” She turned around, leaning back against the glass.
“Yes. I don’t love it. Not my thing. Back home, I ride an ATV a lot of the time.”
She sneaked under my arm and explored my apartment, picking up trinkets I didn’t buy or had no use for. “So, what’s the deal? You live here rent-free? Do you ever see your dad?”
I settled my back against the window and closed my eyes. “Pretty much. I live here. I own it. My dad put it in my name, which is ... gah, so fucking emasculating.” Which summed up how my life had been going.
“Why? He obviously cares for you. That can’t be such a bad thing.”
“Look, I don’t want to be rude. You can ask me anything. But this just isn’t my favorite subject. My mom worked hard to raise me, and I always thought I’d be some hardworking provider. Now I live like a douche and don’t do a thing.”
She set down whatever knickknack she was studying and approached, leaning into me. “Got it. But think about it. You’re in school, and you will do something, so maybe that will take some of the pressure off. I wish my mom would’ve come back for me.”
Her forehead found my chest, and we stayed liked that, my heart pounding into her ear. It embarrassed the hell out of me, but she didn’t say a word about it.
“My dad doesn’t come around much. Said he had to deal with an emergency, but I would be well taken care of. Must’ve been one hell of an emergency, because I haven’t seen him since he left me here.”
“Well, it’s a cool place, but I think I got one up on you with my toilet-slash-shelf for my coffeemaker.”
