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He wrote back immediately.
I’m ordering Chinese.
She wasn’t sure she owed him that, but he was reaching out. As much as she worried for her inability to avoid overheating around him, she couldn’t help but love that he actually wanted to spend time with her.
If that includes eggrolls, I’m in.
You’ve got it.
I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.
She sent the text, and her face fell. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She was attracted to him. Keeping her distance would have been a whole lot smarter than going to his apartment, but she’d agreed to hang out with him. Maybe one of his brothers was there. Or maybe not. Maybe she should ask. But instead, she stopped at the bakery down the street to grab a chocolate cake—because no one in their right mind actually considered a fortune cookie dessert—and headed to Ethan’s. He opened the door almost as soon as she knocked.
“Hey.” He offered an uncharacteristically lopsided grin, and she knew something was up. But the second she looked past him and saw his apartment, her suspicions were forgotten. The last time she saw the place, the furniture had been covered and pushed to the middle of the room. Drop cloths had covered most of the surfaces, and what they hadn’t, she and Liam had taped up. Now the apartment was clean and bright, the blond hardwood floors gleaming and completely free of painting debris.
“This looks amazing,” she said.
“For a shoe box. My brother bought a house outside of the city, and I’m pretty sure his closet is bigger.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s gorgeous.” She held up her package. “I brought cake.”
“Tell me it’s chocolate.”
“Of course it is. I saw you scarfing down the one your mother brought over here the other day.”
“I had to wrestle it away from Liam. I think he ate half.” He paused. “You caught that?”
She grinned. “I’m your pretend girlfriend. It’s my job to know those little things about you, and besides, you actually did wrestle Liam for the last piece. So, yes, I noticed.”
He leaned against the kitchen counter and kicked one foot over the other. She tried hard—so hard—not to appreciate the casual way his jeans fit. Or where they bulged. Or to remember how it had felt to lie on the floor next to him while puppies attacked.
“What else do you know about me?” he asked. “I realized when you were here before that there’s a whole lot more to you than meets the eye. I can’t claim the same, unfortunately.”
She realized he’d stopped talking, and she dragged her attention from his jeans to his face to find he wore a coy, playful grin. Blatant lust rippled through her.
Great. Just great.
“I’ve never seen you drink anything but water,” she said.
“Coffee in the morning,” he said easily. “Water during the day, and the occasional beer at night. What else?”
She glanced around. “Clean freak.”
“Work all day. Live alone. Or I did.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You did what?”
“Live alone.” When she didn’t say anything, he tipped his head toward his bedroom. “Want to see?”
Curious, she walked past him and opened the door. The first thing she saw was his bed. In the cool air conditioning and in its rumpled state, it looked deliciously inviting. Her imagination cruelly flashed an image of her falling into that bed with a certain green-eyed hottie…at least until she realized why the bed was rumpled.
“Shaggy!”
The dog jerked awake, and her tail wagged harder and harder until she’d rattled herself to her feet. Without thinking, Rue sank onto the bed and gave the poor ugly mutt a big hug. “You adopted her?”
He grinned, and she melted. “She deserved a home,” he said, “and she can hang out in the office while I’m at work. She’ll get plenty of love.”
“You are seriously amazing.” Rue blinked back a whole army of tears. She had a soft spot for Shaggy, but even she had to admit the poor thing was a bit terrifying to look at. Her chances of ever finding a home were pretty much zero. Or they had been.
Ethan shrugged. “She’s probably the lowest-maintenance dog ever. She has about fifteen hairs on her body. It’s not like she’s going to shed everywhere.”
