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She glanced down from the loft. He set something on the floor and peeled off his coat. He always dressed nice. Name brands, not the stupid generic knock-off crap her mom always made her buy. And he smelled good too. Clean and masculine, like his cologne was expensive.
He picked up his stuff—looked like more groceries—and took it all to the kitchen. Brielle went down to help.
“How was your day?” she asked.
“Busy. Kind of frustrating.” He pulled a six-pack of beer out of a bag. Fancy beer, in bottles. Not the cheap stuff her dad and ex-boyfriend drank. He took one, opened it, and held it out to her.
She accepted it, wondering if this meant he thought she was over twenty-one, or just didn’t care. He’d never asked her age and she certainly wasn’t about to tell him now. Not if he was going to let her drink.
“Thanks,” she said.
He opened one for himself and took a long pull, then gave her a subtle smile. “No problem.”
“It’s probably not a big deal, but the front door seems like it’s stuck or something. I couldn’t get it open.”
“Did you want to leave?”
“No, I was just going to go outside and the door wouldn’t budge.”
“It sticks.” He took a drink. “I’ll see if I can fix it. But I wouldn’t go out there alone. There’s a lot of wildlife. It isn’t safe.”
Brielle hadn’t thought about that. There were probably bears. And moose. Moose could be even more dangerous than bears. She didn’t want to come face to face with a wild animal.
She followed him to the couch with her beer and sat next to him. Tipping the bottle to her lips, she took a swallow. It was smooth with just a bit of a bite to it. She’d never had a beer that actually tasted good before. It was amazing.
From the corner of her eye, she could see John watching her. His expression was hard to read. She licked her lips and took another sip, enjoying the way he observed her mouth as she drank.
“You seem tired,” she said.
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ve just had a lot going on.”
“Sorry if I’m making things hard on you.”
“No, it’s not you. You’re a bright spot. It’s mostly work stuff.”
“Where do you work?”
“I just have a boring office job.” He took another drink. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.” She followed his lead and drank more.
“Do you think anyone’s looking for you?”
She shrugged. “I’m sure my parents wonder where I went, but they won’t look too hard.”
“What about friends?”
“They’ll just assume I took off. I doubt they’ll worry about me. They knew I was planning on leaving at some point.”
“No boyfriend, then?”
“No.” She took another drink, hoping to bring on the buzz faster. “No boyfriend.”
John shifted so he was facing her and draped his arm along the back of the couch. “That surprises me.”
“That I don’t have a boyfriend?”
“Yeah.”
