“You’re probably right,” he sighed. “I think he’s smitten with you, but he is a former fuck boy, so you probably need to let him get used to the idea.”
“Davide!” I snapped, smacking his arm. “Don’t call him that.”
“Well, it takes one to know one so…”
I rolled my eyes. “Just for that, I’m keeping the dessert he ordered. Both of them.”
I scooped up the paper bag.
“Hey! No fair. He ordered one of those for me!”
Laughing, I scurried toward the back of the gallery, keeping the bag just out of his reach.
I didn’t have time to be nervous about Elijah coming over that night. I left work fifteen minutes later than usual and I was barely going to make it home in time to meet him.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I pulled into my parking spot. I didn’t see his vehicle in front of my building. I jumped out of my car and leaned in to grab my purse and water bottle from inside.
“Do you need a hand?”
I screamed and threw my water bottle into the air, spinning around so quickly that my big leather tote bag smacked Elijah in the gut. He grunted and stumbled back a step but managed to remain on his feet. He fared better than me because my heel collapsed beneath me, causing my ankle to bend, and I crashed into the side of my car. I grabbed onto the roof and managed to keep from sliding down the back fender of my car like a Jello mold off a plate. I definitely wobbled like a plate full of gelatin though.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” Elijah said, coming to stand next to me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. You just startled me.” I glared at him. “And you’re the one always sneaking up on me, so maybe you need to announce yourself. Or wear a damn bell or something.”
He laughed as he put a hand on my lower back. He steadied me as I regained my balance and straightened, taking my weight off the car.
“Are you okay?” I asked him. I’d hit him pretty hard with my bag, and it wasn’t exactly light. Maybe my self-defense classes hadn’t been completely useless after all.
He chuckled. “I’m okay. It’s good to know you can defend yourself if you need to.”
“I guess it’s better than freezing in the face of danger.”
Elijah leaned down and scooped up my water bottle. The light green coating was scratched from the asphalt on the parking lot. “Sorry about your bottle.”
“It’s okay. I’ve had this thing for years.”
“I’m glad you didn’t hit me with this,” he joked as I took it. “It would have hurt even more than the bag did.”
I gathered my things, locked my car, and turned to face him fully. I was at a loss for words because he was dressed in a black suit, complete with a vest beneath it. The lines of the expensive fabric draped over his muscled frame, calling attention to his broad shoulders and the tapered shape of his back down to his hips. While he still wore a tie, and his clothing was without wrinkles, his hair was mussed as though he’d run his hands through it several times.
He held a plastic bag with Styrofoam containers inside with one hand and had a small duffle bag slung over one shoulder.
“You ready to go inside and eat?” he asked, breaking the spell.
I shook my head, then nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. I zoned out for a second.”
His smirk told me that he knew exactly why I zoned out, but I ignored it. I led the way up the stairs to my apartment and unlocked the door. As soon as we were inside and the door was shut and locked, I kicked off my shoes and dropped my tote next to the console table I kept by my front door.
“I’m going to change into something more comfortable before we eat,” I said, leaning down to scoop up my heels. “I’ll be right back.”
“No problem.” Elijah put the food on the short counter that separated the kitchen from the living area and served as a place to eat.
I was in my bedroom for less than five minutes, but when I came out, Elijah had stripped off his jacket and tie and rolled up his sleeves.
Holy freaking forearms. He looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel.
His eyes wandered over me even as mine moved over him. He grinned at the soft cotton lounge set I wore.
