I sighed. “Meaning, he knows I’m good for the rent, so he waived the credit check.”
Austin scowled. “Tell me his name.”
“The manager?”
He stepped toward me. “No.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to put distance between us. My back hit the wall of my tiny foyer. “I’m not telling you Steven’s last name, Austin.”
He gently grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward him. “I’m not leaving here until you do.”
I smirked. “Hope you like sleeping on a couch, then.”
Austin gave me his panty-dropping grin again. “Your bed’ll do just fine.”
“You arenotsleeping in my bed, Austin.”
He chuckled. “We’ll see.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked again, trying to ignore his thumb stroking the pulse on my wrist.
“No fuckin’ clue.”
“We’re back to rude, I see.”
He laughed. “Shit, you’re funny.”
“I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
“I know, baby.”
I couldn’t stop a shiver. “Don’t call me ‘baby.’”
“You like it.”
“Doesn’t mean you should do it,” I challenged. “You’re gorgeous, you know you’re gorgeous, but the fact remains, I don’t know you and I don’t really know why you’re here.”
His smile grew. “I’m gorgeous, huh?”
“Poor choice of words, apparently.”
“Let’s stop talkin’, then.” He leaned down and kissed me again, and I couldn’t do anything about it. Don’t get me wrong, I could if I’d wanted to, but let’s be honest, I had never been kissed like this, let alone looked at the way he looked at me. He wasn’t anyone I would have thought would find me attractive. I was far more school librarian than biker chick and typically only received interest from nerds.
“What’s his last name?” he asked when he broke the kiss.
“Mills,” I answered, my eyes still closed, my breath still labored. “Crap!” I snapped when I came to my senses and looked up at him. He was once again grinning. “I mean, Millson,” I improvised.
“Nice try.” He stroked my cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”
“You will?”
He nodded. “’Night, baby.”
He kissed me one more time and then walked out the door, leaving me standing next to the door in shock. I closed the door, locked it, and grabbed my wine on my way to the kitchen. After dumping the glass, I dialed Kim.
“Hey, lady.”
“Ohmigod.”
