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“You do that, Mason.” She disappeared into her apartment and shut the door before I could say anything else or even say goodbye.
Typical.
I shrugged it off and after checking that my door was locked, headed for the stairs. I was hyper-alert as I walked into the parking lot—I didn’t want to be blindsided by my ex-girlfriend and whatever bullshit story she wanted to spin me again.
Thankfully, there was no sign of her car or of her, so I climbed into my truck and hightailed it out of there.
Just in case.
I had little time to think about her or her reasoning for suddenly appearing at my front door. The drive to Lauren’s apartment was quick and painless, and I shook all thoughts of Claudia away as I entered her building.
I took the elevator up to her floor and stepped out. It was as silent as still as always, and I was starting to wonder if anyone else actually lived in this building. God only knew mine was lively enough.
I was a little jealous of the peace and quiet.
Her door swung open before I had a chance to knock. Lauren looked me up and down with her light-blue eyes, taking every inch of me in. It gave me a chance to do to the same to her.
She’d gone for a black dress today, one that hugged the top half of her body with a neckline that dipped into a deep ‘v.’ The skirt was full and swayed as she stepped back to judge me. “You’re late.”
I dragged my gaze up from her chest. Her dark hair was curled and hung over her shoulders, and a light-pink lipstick coated her soft lips.
Shit, I wanted to kiss her.
“Hey!” She snapped her fingers, pulling my attention from her mouth to her eyes. “I’m up here, moron.”
“Sorry.” I wasn’t. “Are you ready to go?”
“I just told you that you’re late.”
“You’re feisty today.”
“I’m feisty every day. Some days more than others.”
“Is this some days?”
“You’re standing in front of me, late, and ogling my chest. If it isn’t already, it’s about to be.”
I reached forward and tugged up the neckline of her shirt. “Problem solved.”
Lauren leaned forward and covered my eyes with her hand. “No. That is problem solved.”
“Touché.”
She dropped her hand with a roll of her eyes that I only just caught. “Whatever. Let’s go before it all goes to shit.”
“Before what all goes to shit?”
“The rest of my day.” She pushed some hair behind her ear and grabbed her purse. She held the clutch tightly against her side as she all but pushed me out of her apartment and slammed the door shut.
I took a step back from her, keeping my eyes on her as she turned the key with more vigor than I’d ever seen anyone do it before. She shoved the key in her purse and slapped the top of the clutch down, then looked up at me.
There was nothing but pure frustration in her eyes.
I did the thing that came most instinctively to me. I reached for her and pulled her against me. She froze, her entire body turning to a plank of wood until she finally relaxed against me. Slowly, she slid her arms around my waist and held me tightly.
It was hard not to focus on how well she fit against me. How perfectly the top of her head tucked under my chin and my hand cupped the back of her neck as I held her tightly.
It was even harder to ignore the way my heart beat a little harder.
Lauren shuddered, her warm breath dancing across my arm when she turned her head. “Thanks. I needed that.”
“I could tell.” I pulled back, not quite letting go of her, but not quite holding onto her either. “You good now?”
She nodded.
She didn’t move away from me, though.
“It’s one of those days. My water cut out because the building manager forgot to tell us there was work being done on a pipe and I was halfway through a shower, so I had to wash shampoo out of my hair in the kitchen sink with bottled water. Then Henry left me a present on the windowsill, and my boss called to ask if I could work tonight which I had to say no to because we have these plans, then my sister called and she’s having a rough time, so my mom called to tell me I need to support her more because she’s not there to do it, and I had to listen to ten minutes of guilt-tripping even though she’s on vacation in the Cayman Islands with my dad and their friends.”
Wow. She didn’t even take a breath through most of that.
“Feel better?”
She blinked at me. “I do, actually. Apparently, I just needed a bit of a bitch.”
Grinning, I stepped back, releasing her entirely. “How about we stop and get you a cheeseburger on the way there? That’ll cheer you up.”
