“Baking supplies?”
“I want to make peanut butter cookies for … some friends.”
“What friends?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Loren … and JD. He mentioned that your sister used to keep peanut butter cookies on her desk, so I thought it would be nice if I made a batch to share with him at school since he’s been so kind to me, and we could bring some to Loren to cheer her up, you know?”
“You want me to bring you grocery shopping so you can bake cookies for JD mother-freaking Bourgeois?” He enunciates the words so carefully that I know he means to show me he’s censoring himself.
“Maybe?”
“Do you even know how to bake peanut butter cookies?” he asks through his teeth.
I lick my lips nervously. “Not exactly. I mean, we never made anything with peanut butter back home because of Rowan’s peanut allergy, but I’ve seen my mom make other cookies before. How hard can it be?”
He growls.
“Oh.” I cringe. “And I almost forgot. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother, so it’s a holy day of obligation. Would you be able to bring me to Mass at six in the morning?”
Another loud rumble resonates from deep within his chest, and he stomps off without giving me an answer. I should have known that would push him over the edge, since he’s apparently more of a night owl and prefers to sleep in, while I’m an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of girl.
I sigh and return to my eggs, wincing when I hear him slam the bathroom door a few seconds later. He marches back into the kitchen, this time wielding a small silicone cup and an expression that makes me warm all over.
“Daisy.” He pauses to inhale deeply. “Do I even want to know what the hell this is?”
“Nuh-uh,” I squeak and shake my head.
“Daisy.”
I shiver at the sound of my name in his deep, authoritative tone. Maybe I should be worried by the way he’s staring at me with his jaw clenched and his eyes blazing. But I know Landry would never physically harm me, no matter how much I annoy him. He might say something hurtful, but he wouldn’t mean it. And the truth is that he’s … well, he’s kind of sexy when he’s angry.
I clear my throat and move forward to carefully pluck the item in question from his hands. “It’s my menstrual cup.”
“Your …what?”
“My menstrual cup. It’s what I use in the place of … you know, tampons.”
He blinks at me. “And you thought it’d be cool if you left your period cup on the sink … next to my toothbrush?”
I bite my lip. “Sorry?”
His nostrils flare, and I know I shouldn’t be thinking it, butgah, he’s hot.
“I can’t …” He pauses, swallows hard, and breathes through his nose before he begins again. “Look, Daisy, I wanted to help you. But I didn’t sign up for PMS and panties and period cups and … baking cookies for your work crush. So you can either grow the hell up or find another damned roommate.”
This time he stomps out of the front door, slamming it behind him.
CHAPTER 6
daisy
“Hey, Daisy, hang on!”
I try to keep my expression somewhat neutral when I turn to face Claire LeBlanc, but the truth is that I’m nearly giddy with excitement at the sound of her calling out for me. I don’t even know what she wants yet, but I’m hoping she’s chasing me down to tell me she thinks we should be work besties. Then again, judging by the book she’s waving in her hand and the uninterested look on her face, I could be reading this all wrong.
“Um, hi, Claire,” I say hopefully, shifting my weight under the heavy bags I’m carrying.
“Hey,” she returns when she reaches me. “I found that study guide for you.”
