I scrawlOreos Are Off Limitsin capital letters just to make her roll her eyes. She does.
“No barging into the bathroom without knocking.”
As if I would do that?Do I look like a fucking idiot?“Are you planning to leave the door unlocked?”
“I live alone. I’m used to doing whatever I want—I might forget!”
“Unacceptable,” I tell her, thumping my hand onto the counter. “If I see something I can’t unsee, that’s on you.”
“Oh please,” she sputters. “Like you’d be traumatized.”
She’s not wrong. The thought of accidentally catching her naked, with her tits out, doesn’t fill me with dread.
“That’s not the point.” I clear my throat. “No surprise boobs.”
She laughs, full and bright, leaning over the counter to jot it down. Smart-ass.
“Fine,” she concedes. “Then you can’t walk around in just a towel. Surprise abs are just as offensive as surprise boobs.”
“Offensive?” I echo, taking offense at that.
“No nudity. No partial nudity. Full pants and full shirts required in common areas.”
I clear my throat. “You know this only works if we’rebothabiding by it.”
She pauses mid-scribble, cheeks pinking. “Obviously.”
“So what I hear you saying is, no skinny-dipping?”
“Obviously,” she repeats.
I lean back on the stool, folding my arms. “Good to know. I’ll keep my cannonballs fully clothed.”
Her eyes flick to mine. “Do not cannonball.”
“That’s not a rule.”
“It is now.” She scribbles it onto the page, underlines it twice, tongue peeking out as she concentrates. “There.”
I squint at her. “What do you have against jumping into water?”
“Nothing,” she scoffs.
“So you’re only making that a rule to be difficult?”
“I . . .” She hesitates. “No.”
I lean forward, resting my forearms on the counter. “So if I told you to go jump in the lake right now, fully clothed ... you’d have no problem with that?”
“Is that a dare? What are we, five?” Her pretty blue eyes roll. “If I wanted to swim, I’d swim. I don’t need amangiving me permission.”
Damn, she’s feisty! “Who said anything about permission? I’m just wondering how far you’ll go to prove a point.”
She stands, chin raised. “You think I won’t do it?”
I gesture toward the sliding door. “Water’s right there, Annabelle. Show me I’m wrong.”
My reluctant house guest doesn’t hesitate. Spins on her heel and stomps toward the door like she’s beenwaitingfor an excuse to throw herself off a long pier and into a lake.
