He chuckles. "You're a spunky one, I'll give you that, but you're a bit young for me."
I frown at that. "I can't be much younger than you, what are you twenty-eight?"
He shakes his head and signs thirty-six. Before he heads down the ladder. My eyes widen. He doesn't look that old, even with his scruff. There's no way he's fifteen years older than me. I wrap my arms around myself. Well, if he's not into women younger than him, then I guess I have nothing to worry about. He could be saying that, too, as a nice way of saying he's not into me after seeing my body. I wouldn't blame him. People don't want partners like me. He probably has supermodel girlfriends who are perfect and beautiful. I shrug, it'll just make this whole thing easier if there's no lust between us.
A light turns on at the bottom of the ladder. Not even a second later he shouts, "You can come down."
My heart hammers and I edge myself closer to the ladder. I don't want to go down underground, but I don't have much of a choice. It's this or sit out like a wading duck, just waiting for someone to shoot me. And if they have terrible aim like the last person, I'll probably end up in pain.
Turning my body, I crouch and get onto the ladder. My legs shake, I hate going down ladders even though this one isn't that long.
"Don't worry, I got you if you fall."
I peer over my shoulder to find Porter staring up at me at the bottom of the ladder. I want to tell him he better make a good landing pad, but there's no way I'm going to let go of the ladder to sign; nor am I going to put him through the ear-bleeding horror that is my voice. I haven't spoken since Harold used to force me to. He didn't know sign language, nor did he want to wait for me to write everything down for him to read.
As I get closer to the bottom, my foot slips and I nearly fall down the rest of it. Strong hands take a hold of my hips and steady me before pulling me off the ladder and lowering me to the ground. I turn in his arms unsteadily and my hands go to his chest. God, he's muscular. Like two boulders rest under my fingers.
I blink as I look up at his face and my heart flutters. No, I can't catch girly feelings for this man. I don't even know if I can trust him yet, I can't let my hormones take over just because I find him conventionally attractive. I've found a lot of people attractive while working at the market. I didn't jump any of them, and I'm not going to start with pining after this man. He just made it very clear that he has no interest in me. I have to respect that.
I pull back from his hold and say, "Sorry. Didn't mean to grope you."
He chuckles. "I wouldn't call that groping, but you're fine. Let me show you around."
Turning he faces the small hall behind him. I follow him down it. It leads into an expansive room. Set up much like my studio, but it feels like double the size. On the left side of the room, there's a large bed, made with sheets and two fluffy pillows. Above it, several small bookshelves are mounted and filled with movies. In front of the bed hangs a large flat screen, and a Blu-ray player is mounted under it. Next to the bed stands a small loveseat and next to it is a tall bookshelf full of books. To the right of that a kitchen fills the space with a large stove and oven, counter space, sink, and a fridge that looks fairly modern. There are a few cabinets under the sink too. There are two doors finishing off the room on the back right side.
He motions around. "I know it's not much, but everything works. I keep it all up to date. It runs off solar panels that are up in the trees. They reserve energy from the summer in battery banks, so this place shouldn't run out of power unless we get another Dark Age for three months or longer."
His blue eyes turn on me. I shake my head. "This is nicer than my apartment and I was paying over a grand for that shit hole. You said you keep it updated? Do you live here?"
A small smile pulls at his lips. He shakes his head. "I stay here when I get time off. It's a way for me to get away from everything and just be quiet and by myself. It's not so far away that I can't get back to New York fast if my family needs me, but none of them come to this location, so it would be unlikely that they would find me here either if I didn't want to be found. That's why I figured it would be the safest of our locations to bring you."
I peer around. Now that I'm here, this might not be so bad. I won't have to worry about making my rent and by the end of this, if his plan works, I'll be a free woman.
"I'll go get your stuff. Be right back."
He moves past me down the small hall to the ladder.
I take the chance to go investigate the two doors. One leads to a small bathroom with a tiled floor and drain in the center. A shower wand hangs off a hook. I guess I just shower in the middle of it? Like a Japanese style bathroom? I guess it makes it easier. The room doesn't look big enough to house a shower stall or something. I'm sure that would be cramped for someone of Porter's size.
The other door is just a simple stacked washer and dryer, the same size as the one I had in my apartment. I just can't get behind on actually doing laundry. I can't let things go here like I did in my place. I don't want him to think I'm a slob all the time.
It had just gotten hard to care what my place looked like when I was so alone.
Porter comes back with the backpack and bag. "At least you pack light."
I take the bags from him. "Thank you for getting them."
He shakes his head. "No problem. There are drawers under the bed that you can put your clothes in." He goes over to it and pulls them out. "I'll just take my backup clothes out of here, so there's room for yours."
I peer over his shoulder at the drawers. Even with his stuff in there, there should be room for mine, I don't have that much. I tap him on the shoulder and shake my head when he looks at me. "There's enough room. I don't want you to be without clothes if you need to stay here sometimes. You'll be visiting, right? I don't want to starve."
He stops picking up the clothes and stands up straight. "Yeah, I wasn't planning on forcing you to live with me when I come by for food trips to check up on you. I planned to sleep in my car. The sofa in here wouldn't even accommodate half my legs."
I frown. "Then don't sleep there or in your car. It's a four-hour trip here. I'm not going to force you to be uncomfortable. We're both adults. You can share the bed with me. We can do that thing where your head is at the bottom of the bed and mine is at the top."
Porter stares at me for a long moment. "You would do that? You don't know me and you're willing to share a bed with me?"
I shrug. "I've shared beds with worse than you, and you've already said you have no interest in me. I'm not going to kill you because you're keeping me alive, for now. So, what is there to lose? You get to sleep in a bed after driving hours. and I get to not feel like an asshole. It's a win-win in my book."
