“It’s not so much that I’d be in trouble with Willa…but I’d be in trouble.” I smile sheepishly.
“I’m afraid I don’t follow.” He rests both hands on the countertop, and I note that he has really nice forearms.
“Willa wants me to live with her. In fact, she was a little offended that I’d found my own place. Her apartment is tiny and even she said we would never fit, but I think deep down she was hoping we would live together. She knows I found a place, but I haven’t had the time to tell herwhereI found that place. So, I’m just hoping she’ll be able to hear it from me. Otherwise, Iwillbe in big trouble.”
Miles laughs. “You mean you don’t want to be at her apartment when Kingston’s over there, hanging out?”
I shudder. “More like I’m scared she’ll get me on some scary, efficient schedule. She’d have me ironing my socks or something horrific like that.”
Miles chuckles, and I rush on to add, “I love my sister—don’t get me wrong—but we get along a lot better now that we don’t live together.” I clear my throat. “And, wow, I’m really babbling. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” There’s a trace of humor in his deep voice as he grabs a couple of mugs out of the cupboard. “It’s good for us to get to know each other since we’ll be living together. And now I know I won’t have to arrange my sock ironing schedule around yours.”
He pours the coffee into the mugs, and I stare at his tense shoulders.
“I sincerely hope you’re joking right now.”
He glances up at me and winks. “I promise I only iron my boxers, not my socks.”
I raise my eyebrows and look at him. “Umm, are you really talking about ironing underwear right now?”
He grins, and a little dimple pops up on his cheek. “It’s okay. Sometimes, I go commando.” His bright smile makes this conversation feel almost normal.Almost.
“Oh, I do too,” I fire back, but it sounds petulant rather than smart.
His eyebrows shoot up at that. “I guess we won’t have to worry about that ironing schedule then.”
He sets a cup filled with coffee in front of me. It’s small, floral, and very cute.
Miles leans back against the counter and studies me for a minute before he asks, “Do you have any questions for me?”
Reaching for the mug, I pull it closer and realize the adorable thing has a fatal flaw—the handle is too small. Rather than pick it up right then, I run a finger around the rim as I debate what I should ask first. “Do you have a predisposition to murder people in their sleep?”
Miles’s eyes widen, and then he runs a hand over his face, as though he’s thinking about the answer. “You know, I’ve never experienced that urge. But there’s still time.”
I chuckle.Okay, so this could work,I think.
It could definitely work. He’s got a great sense of humor. I don’t get a creepy feeling about him. And he’s able to take a joke. Plus, he does not iron his socks or his boxers—at least, I’m ninety-nine percent sure he’s teasing about that.
“Do you have any other questions for me?”
“I don’t know. I guess…Do you have any random house rules I should know about?”
“Curfew’s at nine,” he says with a completely straight face.
I narrow my eyes and give him my best unimpressed look. “I’ve never had a curfew.”
His eyes bulge at that. “Sheesh. Lucky you. My mom was a stickler for it.”
My mom didn’t care where we went, I thought to myself.
But I don’t say that. I just smile. People like that better usually.
He sets his coffee cup down. “Honestly, I think we’ll be just fine. I probably won’t be here that much anyway, and it’s not like I have raging parties on the weekends.”
“What’s your work schedule like?” I ask as I pick up my mug with two hands.
“It’s fluid. I work with Kingston at Kappa Holdings, but I’m also involved in my family’s business. My parents own an outdoor gear supply store in Bend, so I drive over there on the weekends fairly often.”
