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Surprised at the bevy of volunteered information, she moved a few steps inside while untying and unbuttoning her coat. The foyer area opened up to a house much larger than its curbside appearance indicated. And she certainly hadn’t expected it to be so nice. She ran her gaze around the open floor plan, impressed with his work on the trim, the warmth of his paint choices, and a really cool pallet wood accent wall adjacent from a fieldstone fireplace.
Yet, as professional as the remodel appeared, there were no furnishings beyond a couch, an end table and lamp, and two pictures on the mantle. The spot where she assumed a dining room table would go was empty, and there were only two barstool chairs at the large island separating the living room from what looked to be a state of the art kitchen.
Other than a large, flat-screen T.V., he had nothing on the walls, no area rugs on the beautiful hardwood floors, no curtains on the windows—though the ones facing the road did have shades.
She’d make a bet he didn’t entertain much.
“You’ve done a great job,” she said as he reached to take her coat and hung it on a row of hooks beside the door. “Though, your interior decorating is a little…minimalist.”
He shrugged. “I don’t need much. All my essentials fit in a go-bag. The rest is just stuff.”
“A go-bag?”
“It’s a military thing.”
“Oh.” She opened her mouth to ask more, but he was already walking toward a short hall she assumed led to the bedrooms.
“You can have my room, and I’ll take the couch,” he said over his shoulder.
She frowned. “You don’t have a guest room?”
“I have three of them. I only have one bed.”
Right. Because a second bed wouldn’t fit in his go-bag. “I’ll be fine on the couch.”
“It’s not up for discussion.” He continued down the hall, his voice reaching back. “I’m just going to grab a T-shirt and shorts, and it’s all yours.”
She followed him past a bedroom that he’d turned into a home gym, and at the end of the hall was the master suite. Nerves halted her feet in the doorway. Looking around, she was reminded of a hotel room when you first check in. Neat. Clean. Impersonal.
Dev had tossed her bag on his bed and was hanging up his suit coat in the closet while toeing off his dress shoes. Those he placed precisely side by side, in between a pair of Army boots and running shoes.
When he started loosening his tie, she swallowed hard at what would come next—shirt or pants?
Heat bloomed in her cheeks. “I really would rather sleep on the couch.”
He shot her an impatient look. “And I would rather have you in here with the door closed. Anyone comes in the front, they have to go through me first.”
The blunt words reminded her of why she was in his bedroom in the first place, and her stomach flipped as her pulse skipped. She hadn’t thought of his offer as anything other than him being polite.
“Don’t worry,” he added. “I just changed the sheets this morning.”
“That’s not it. I…” She gestured helplessly while he hung his tie on a hanger with a couple of others. “I feel bad kicking you out of your bed.”
“It’s fine.” He closed the closet and crossed the room to his dresser. “What isn’t fine is the fact we’re still talking about this when it’s already two o’clock in the morning.”
She grit her teeth in frustration at his attitude, then decided it wasn’t worth arguing about. If he wanted the couch, let him take the stupid couch. “Fine. Whatever.”
As she started for the bed, he gave her a wide berth, T-shirt and shorts in hand. He tossed out a sarcastic, “You’re welcome,” before shutting the door with a sharp thud.
Shelby flipped her middle finger after him with a low growl. She hadn’t even wanted his damn room, so where did he get off acting like she should be grateful he’d made such a huge sacrifice?
After a deep breath and slow count to three, she blew it back out again—along with some of her stress. The man might be hot as hell, but he was also a hell of a jerk when he wanted to be.
Turning back to the bed, she unzipped her bag and took out her things, only to realize she’d forgotten pajamas. And she’d been in such a hurry to get out of there, she’d only packed one shirt and jeans for tomorrow. She didn’t really want to sleep in the clothes she was going to wear in the morning, she definitely wasn’t going to sleep in her bridesmaid’s dress, and underwear or birthday suit was not happening in Dev’s bed.
She eyed his dresser, then crossed over to open the second drawer. It made a slight scratching noise in the quiet, and she cringed while pulling out a large tan T-shirt. Carefully closing that drawer, she opened the top one in search of shorts.
After holding up a pair of gym shorts that would need a belt to stay on her hips, she gingerly pulled out a pair of his black boxer briefs. They’d look ridiculous, but at least the stretchy material would stay on.
