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“Can I have a glass of water?”
I let out a short laugh and nodded. “Smooth stall tactic, but sure.” Pushing off the bed, I headed out the door, but stopped and turned back. “Feel free to grab your computer.”
“Um...what do I owe you?”
I smiled. “I’ll bill ya later.”
She had her laptop cradled against her breasts when she entered the kitchen. “Thanks,” she said, taking the glass from my hand. “And it’s not a stall tactic.”
I rested back against the counter, crossed my ankles and folded my arms over my chest, and waited. She stared at the ice cubes in her glass before taking a drink. Setting both it and the computer down, she looked around my place before settling her eyes back on me.
“This,” she said, stretching her arms out wide.
“This what?” I glanced around the room trying to figure out what the hell she was alluding to.
“This unit. I wanted it but before I could weigh all the pros and cons you swooped in and bought it.”
I blinked once. Twice. No way I’d heard Ma correctly. “Come again?”
She huffed and put her hands on her hips. “I wanted the end unit. That way I’d only have to share one wall. But I needed to make sure this was the best choice, so I had to lay out the pros and cons of this unit compared to the other two I was deciding on.”
I rose to full height and frowned at her. “How in the hell is your indecisiveness my fault? And it’s not like this was the last end unit.”
She stomped toward me wearing her favorite facial expression. “I’m not indecisive, I’m conscientious. A major purchase, like buying a house, takes some thinking to make sure it’s the right choice. Who does things like that all willy-nilly?”
Shit, she was serious. I laughed. Hard and deep, I laughed.
The scowl on her face deepened. “I don’t see what’s so funny.”
I wiped imaginary tears from my eyes. “You, Ma. You’re hysterical. First, ‘willy-nilly’ seriously? More like I’m a man that knows what he likes and goes for it.” I gave her an appreciative glance to prove my point. “Second, you’ve been harboring resentment toward me for something that was totally of your own making.”
She opened her mouth but closed it again without saying anything. With a deep inhale and slow exhale, Lana swiped her laptop from the counter. “Thanks for fixing it.” She turned on her heel and stalked toward the slider.
I thought about stopping her but didn’t see the point.
9
Lana
I sat at my kitchen table eyeing the decorative tin of cookies.
“Why am I doing this, Yoda?” His lack of acknowledgment at his name being called was answer enough to my rhetorical question.
An olive branch, or apology, or both wrapped up in cookie goodness.
“Ugh!” I groaned and dropped my head onto the table. I’d stormed out of his place two days ago and had luckily been able to not see him, even in passing, since then.
He’d been right.
I hated that he’d been right.
Sure, he was annoying in some ways, but my level of hostility toward him wasn’t all because of his actions. And goodness, I’d acted that way after he’d fixed my computer and...my body heated simply thinking about our sexual encounter. Damn, his mouth was good for more than making smart-ass comments. So much more. Emilio had totally wiped me out and we hadn’t made it to the actual sex.
I groaned again. Yet another thing he’d been right about. I was curious, so fucking curious about how good he’d actually be. And my every instinct told me I’d be eating way more crow in that regard than I was about to for the upcoming apology.
Scratching at my leg caused me to look down. Yoda whimpered, then sat, and I leaned to pick him up. He spent a good bit of time channeling a cat level of aloofness, but he did offer up the grace of his presence when I needed it the most. Like now.
“I can do this, buddy. I’m an adult that can own up to being wrong.” He leaned back in my arms, presenting his belly for proper rubs.
