“The asshole who stole your money. What’s his name?”
“Why?”
“Babe, what’s his name?” he repeated, his voice pitched low.
“Steven.”
“Steven what?”
“No one.”
“Dani, give me his fucking name.”
“No,” I stressed. “It’s none of your business.” I heard him take a deep breath and then there was a knock at my door. I frowned. “I should go, there’s someone at my door.”
“Yeah, you should open it, darlin’.”
“I’m not opening my door at ten o’clock at night, Austin. Despite my persona, I’m not an idiot.”
He chuckled. “Open it, babe.”
I frowned and rose to my feet, making my way to the door, and peeking through the peephole. I hung up with a sigh and opened the door. “What are you doing here?”
Austin’s eyes did a full sweep of my body, and then he smiled and slid his hand to my neck. Pushing me further into the room, he kicked the door shut and leaned down to cover my mouth with his. He stroked my pulse as his other arm wrapped tightly around my waist and pulled me tight against him. His tongue pressed against my lips and I opened for him, my heart racing, my knees weak, and all I could do was grip his jacket and hold on for the ride.
It took a minute for me to come back to reality, and to my utter horror I remembered what I was wearing. Dark blue camisole with a shelf bra that did nothing to support my overly large breasts, a pair of ratty plaid pajama pants, my hair pulled into a messy bun on top of my head and not a stitch of makeup. I hadn’t brushed my teeth, probably had nasty wine breath, and here I was kissing the hottest guy on the planet who I’d just met less than three hours ago.
I pushed at his chest. You know, the one that felt like granite under my fingertips? He didn’t budge, so I pushed again.
“Not done,” he said, smiling against my lips.
“But you need to be,” I whispered, admittedly, somewhat half-heartedly.
His hand slipped to my cheek as he leaned back and frowned. “Didn’t feel like I needed to stop, darlin’.”
I licked my lips and nodded. “But you do all the same.”
Austin stepped back with a smile.
I crossed my arms over my chest in an effort to hide the effect he had on my body. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugged as his eyes swept my apartment. “Nice place.”
“Thank you.”
“You live here when the asshole stole your money?”
I shook my head. “No. I had to move out of my other place. This place iswaycheaper.”
“And you don’t want to live at home?”
“No,” I said. “I’m not running to my parents because I made an error in judgment. They raised me to be independent and being an adult means life sucks sometimes. They do what they can, which I’m very grateful for, but I need to work this out on my own.”
“How did you manage to get this place?”
“I know the owner.”
His eyes came back to me. “Meaning?”
