“You totally do.” I released her and fell into step with her as she hurried to Ida’s General store. It was a four-story building with the store on the ground floor. Ida rented out the upper floors to interns who came to Harrogate for a semester here or there to work at one of the local tech companies.
“I can take it from here,” she said as she unlocked the door to a narrow stairwell.
“There could be a masked murderer in the stairwell. I’m walking you to your door,” I said stubbornly.
“Like you and your washboard abs are going to stop a machete.” She snorted.
“So you did look closely,” I said, grinning broadly.
“No one likes a braggart.”
“You sent sexually suggestive images yourself,” I countered as we walked up the stairs.
“I did not!” She whirled around a few steps above me. We were at the same height. I could lean forward and press my mouth to hers.
“Yes, you did; that picture of you at the table, in the white-and-black polka-dot blouse. You were smiling like you were in love with life. The top two buttons on the blouse were undone, and the way you had your arms crossed under your chest—I mean, talk about drawing attention to your assets.”
She huffed and put her hands on her hips. “All right, Mr. Drawing Attention to Himself—what about that picture of you shirtless and sprawled out on your fancy-schmancy sports car, all greased up like you’re going to be on the cover ofPlaygirlmagazine?”
“I have no knowledge of that photo being taken. I must have been drunk and coerced.”
Sadie raised an eyebrow.
“Okay,” I admitted. “It was perhaps an ill-advised attempt to jump into the dating pool. It was Archer’s idea. He said women would be crawling out of the drains for that picture. I came to my senses the next day, and I thought I destroyed it. Never made a dating profile.”
“Not that you need to,” Sadie said, turning to continue up the stairs.
I admired the way her hips swung.
“You could just stand outside on a street corner with a sign that said ‘Date me,’ and women would fling themselves at you.”
“I don’t want a fling type of woman. I’d like to get married,” I said as I opened the door at the landing for her.
“Wouldn’t we all,” she muttered. Before I could ask her to elaborate, she changed the subject. “I have a package!” she said, pointing to a door.
The box said,Cum play!
“Ugh.”
“Did you make an order from Ida?” I asked, trying not to laugh.
“You better watch it, or I’m going to scatter these in your front yard!”
24
Sadie
“Please don’t.” Parker grimaced. “I live with two dozen underage kids. I do not want to have a conversation about dildos.”
“It may not even be dildos,” I said, shaking the box. It rattled ominously.
You should invite him inside.
Parker was standing awfully close to me. Though I was an inexperienced, late-bloomer virgin, even I could tell that we had been blatantly flirting all evening.
This could be it! You could lose it tonight and become a real adult!
Except that the apartment I was mooching wasn’t exactly where I wanted to have my first time.
