The handle didn’t turn. I jiggled it once, and then again, harder.
Nothing.
A sudden image of my brother bothering me to schedule an appointment with a locksmith to have it fixed flashed through my brain. He must’ve reminded me at least a dozen times.
I rested my forehead against the door and groaned. “Fucking idiot,” I ground out through gritted teeth. Thunder cracked overhead, loud and close, like a cruel joke.
I was seconds away from assessing whether to break a window or scale the drainpipe when the sound of feet pounding on pavement broke through the storm.
I turned and froze when I saw Bennett bounding up the shared driveway, heading in my direction.
He was wet.
That makes two of us.
Not just a little damp either but fully soaked. His shirt clung to his chest and shoulders, darkened with water, fabric plastered to his skin. Droplets slid down his forearms and dripped off his fingertips, pooling on the concrete between us.
His hair was wild, curls escaping in every direction, rain still clinging to lashes that most women paid good money for.
“Oh,” I said stupidly. “Hi.”
For half a second, we just stared at each other.
Then his gaze dropped.
And stayed there.
I saw the exact moment it hit him—the sports bra, the leggings, the toes I’d painted that morning in my new favorite shade of blue:Mi Casa Es Blue Casa.
Heat flickered across his face, quick and unguarded.
And then, just as quickly, his expression shifted. Concern replaced whatever else had been there so fast it almost startled me.
He opened his mouth to say something, then he paused. He tapped just behind his ear and shook his head once. He didn’t have his speech processor connected.
“Oh.” I nodded then lifted my hands automatically.You okay?
His eyebrows shot up.You know ASL?
I took a class in high school,I replied.And then again in college. Fell in love with the language.
His surprise melted into something warmer, more attentive.
Rain drummed down harder, forcing us closer under the overhang of the porch light that wasn’t working.
Why are you outside in a storm?He swallowed before adding,Dressed like that?
I accidentally locked myself out.I bit my lip and gestured weakly behind me.And I was working out when the power went out.
His eyes flicked quickly over my body again.
What kind of workout?
I bit my lip, then signed it anyway.Pole.
His hands froze mid-sign. He looked up at the dark sky like he was asking it for strength.
Pole,he repeated, just to be sure.
