“No, I just got back from dinner with the team.”He stood close enough that the pleasant smell of his aftershave mixed with a hint of smoky liquor wafted over her.“End of season celebration, though I can’t say I felt much like celebrating.The guys have the next few days off, so they’ll be partying hard.”He fidgeted with a button on his jacket.“I noticed your car in the parking lot, so I thought I’d come check on you.See if you were all right.”
“To see if I was …?”
“Yeah, to see if you were all right,” he repeated.“That Trevor guy left the party early, and I thought maybe …” He frowned at her.“Why is that such a surprise to you?”
“That you would check on me?Oh, I don’t know.Maybe because it’s not normally something a patient does.”
His expression, along with his voice, softened.“How about a friend checking on a friend?”
“Is that what we are now?Friends?”
He threw his head back and laughed at the ceiling, zapping her already frayed nerves.
She backed up and crossed her arms over her chest.“W-what’s so funny?”
Twinkling eyes lasered in on hers, and she felt their weight like she might feel the heft of his hard body stretched on top of hers.
Wait.What?
“You’rewhat’s funny, Rossi,” he chuckled.Before her muddled brain could tell her mouth to form a question, he tossed out, “Where do you live?”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t know anything about where you live.Do you live in an apartment?A house?Are you in Denver?Out in the ’burbs?”
“Uh … a little bungalow about ten minutes from here.”He nodded approvingly.As ridiculous a turn as this conversation had taken, she couldn’t resist playing along.“You?”
He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.“I’m renting at the Glass House.”
“Wow.Fancy address.”
“It was what was available close to the arena.You should show it to me sometime.”
Her head spun.“Show you what?”
“Your place.Your little bungalow ten minutes from here.”
“Only if you show me yours,” she blurted out.
“How about right now?”
She stuttered to a stop.“Right—”
“Now.”His grin was still plastered on his handsome face, but his eyes glinted with deadly seriousness.“It’s Tuesday.You don’t have to be at the shelter tonight.Unless you reallydon’tlive anywhere.”
“It’s kind of creepy that you know my schedule.”
“Your life is as boring as mine.There’s not that much to know.Like I said earlier, you’re either here or at the shelter, and I’m seriously doubting you have your own place.But you could always prove me wrong by showing me.”
“Trust me, there’s not much to see.”
“What are you hiding, Rossi?You got a man stashed there?”The smile faded from his face.“Shit.I should have asked a while ago if you have a boyfriend.”
No, you shouldn’t have because it’s none of your business.“Would it have made a difference, or would you still be bullying me into showing you my place?”
“Uh, yeah.Maybe.Do you?”
“Do I what?”
