“I mean, most of your stuff is already in the house, right?
“Daisy—”
“It would actually be kind of perfect,” she continues, ignoring my protests. “You need a place to crash, and I need a built-in designated driver and a standby shower-spider catcher. You wouldn’t even have to pay rent. I can cover it myself.”
“Daisy,” I begin, more sternly this time. “It’s not about that. I can afford the rent. But we can’t live together. It would be totally inappropriate.”
“Says who?” she replies, lifting her chin haughtily. “You lived with Rowan for years, so I already know you’re not a murderer or a rapist or even a creep. You’re a gentleman … with a few jerk-like tendencies.”
I can’t help it when one side of my mouth turns up. “Did you just call me a jerk? What happened tocynic?”
“I said you had jerkishtendencies. And your pessimistic take on love is exactly why you’d make the perfect roommate, since there won’t be any danger of something improper happening between us.”
My smile widens. “You do realize adults can still do ‘improper things’ if they aren’t in love or married, right? In fact, that’s actually what makes them improper, at least by your family’s standards.”
Her eyelashes flutter, and she crosses her arms as she blushes adorably. “I take that last part back. Maybe you are a jerk.”
“Told you so,” I say, still grinning at her. “Wanna rescind that offer yet?”
Her chin rises again, and she glares at me. “I think I’ll be fine. After all, we’ve already proven you’re not attracted to me.”
“What?” I ask abruptly. When was that test? And how did I manage to pass it?
“You seemed relatively unbothered when you walked in on me in my underwear earlier,” she explains, shrugging. “Especially for someone who seems so easily bothered. I assume you’d have tried to take advantage of the situation or at least attempted to get a better look if you were interested in what you saw.”
Wait, she only sounds so defensive right now because I teased her about being naive, right? And not because I managed to ignore the impulse to check her out this morning? Now I’m the one blinking away my confusion and embarrassment.
“Sure,” I affirm, somewhat awkwardly. Thankfully, she rolls right into her next point.
“And this way you’d be able to keep an eye on me on my brother’s behalf and convince my family that I’m doing well on my own.” Her smile grows wider again as she dangles the bait in front of me, knowing I won’t be able to refuse her now. “Pleeeease?”
“Okay, fine,” I groan, and she lets out a tiny squeal. “But this isn’t going to go the way you think it is, the two of us having slumber parties every night and becoming best friends. I reallyaman asshole. Are you sure you can handle that?”
“I can handle more than you think,” she fires back. “And we’ll see about the slumber parties. I bet I’ll have you braiding hair and painting toenails in no time.”
I growl, secretly biting back another smile. “You might change your tune once you have to interact with me before my morning coffee. If you think I’m moody now …”
“I’ll make your morning coffee, Landry.” Then she stares me down with a smug look on her face. “In fact, I’ll make it so good I’ll turn you into a morning person, just you wait.”
I swallow hard, surprised by the ungentlemanly ideas that materialize as soon as she issues her challenge. Now,that’ssomething I’ll have to get a handle on, though it shouldn’t be difficult. I’m not the kind of guy who objectifies women, even if I don’t want anything more than occasional physical companionship from them. More importantly, Rowan is like family, which makes Daisy as good as a little sister to me. I could never think of her inthat way.
Although she’s certainly developed the body of an adult woman if what I saw this morning was any indication.
Not that I wasreallylooking.
CHAPTER 3
landry
“We’ll needsome house rules if we’re going to make this work,” I tell Daisy once I clear my head again. “Like being fully clothed at all times.”
She’s still glaring at me, though I see her lips twitch this time. “Fine. I’ll try not to get my dress stuck in my hair again, as long as you learn to knock before you enter a room.”
I chuckle under my breath. She’s definitely feistier than I remember. “Let me guess, rule number three has to do with leaving the toilet seat down?”
“That’s rule number four. Three is ‘What happens in Camellia stays in Camellia.’”
There she goes again.
