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Making a quick decision, I moved toward the door. “I’ll just get out of your way. If you need me, I’ll be right out here.”
“Excellent,” she replied.
When I turned, my eyes locked with Dean’s, and I realized I had made a hasty decision. My wet bedroom would have been a better place to wait this out. Or even Cam’s dry bedroom.
He was watching me closely. I jerked my gaze from his and looked out into the hallway as I walked past him. I hadn’t come out here to talk to him or discuss anything about the damage. Maegan looked capable of handling it herself. She was also a gorgeous blonde in her mid-thirties with lips so plump that they could not be natural and legs for miles. I had no doubt she was Dean’s type, and for now, her job was safe. Until he got bored with her.
“Everything,” he said, and I glanced back at him to see his focus on Maegan.
“Of course,” she replied.
I crossed my arms over my stomach and stared at the green walls that would soon be a light blue. They needed it now more than ever. The smoke had damaged the paint closest to Mrs. Jo’s apartment door. Most of her apartment would need a fresh coat of paint. I frowned, thinking about how long that would take and that she wouldn’t be back in her apartment for her birthday next week. I was going to make her a cake and get some party hats, horns, and sparkler candles to celebrate, like we did every year. Now, she wouldn’t be here.
“It’s going to be fine. Everything will be replaced,” Dean said, now standing beside me.
I glanced over at him and simply nodded. He was right. No one was injured. Mrs. Jo wasn’t hurt. Things could be replaced. I wasn’t upset about that, but I wasn’t going to waste my time, telling him about the little birthday party I had planned for Mrs. Jo’s seventy-eighth birthday.
He and I weren’t friends. We might even be enemies. I wasn’t sure how to categorize us. Not that I had to categorize it. Keeping Dean Finlay firmly out of my life was my main goal. I wasn’t some silly woman who needed or wanted his attention.
“Come with me,” Dean said.
I snapped my head up to stare at him. “Excuse me?”
He smiled. “Please? Come with me?”
I looked back at my open apartment door.
“Maegan has this under control. She’ll make sure everything is taken care of. If there is any issue, she will call me. You’ve had a stressful experience. Mrs. Jo told a firefighter how you came into her apartment and used the fire extinguisher to put out the flames, then got her out of there. That’s a lot. Come upstairs with me. I have beer or soda if you prefer. Just come sit and relax. Decompress. This could take a while.”
I was torn here. I was curious about his penthouse. A soda sounded good too. But then hadn’t I just thought about him as an enemy?
I glanced at my apartment. He was being a very thorough landlord by making sure things were fixed. He was arrogant and self-absorbed, but then again, he was famous. It was just a drink and a place to wait. It wasn’t as if he were asking to be my friend. He wouldn’t be a part of my life. This wouldn’t hurt anything.
Shrugging, I turned my attention back to him. “Okay. Sure,” I replied.
His eyebrows shot up, as if he was shocked by my response, and I couldn’t blame him. I was a little shocked myself. This could possibly be a mistake.
“I want to see what your penthouse looks like. It’s just curiosity,” I admitted.
I didn’t want him to think I was afraid he might be trying to lure me into his apartment to seduce me. I knew that wasn’t on his agenda.
Dean chuckled. “Fair enough,” he replied. “Elevator was down for a few minutes, but it’s working again. We can take it.”
I followed him into the elevator, and the smell of smoke was even inside this small space.
“How long have you lived here?” he asked me.
“You have my lease and all my personal information,” I replied.
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I do. But I’d rather ask you than go snooping. It’s called small talk.”
Fine. There was no point in being rude. I couldn’t always be annoyed by him. He was being nice for the moment.
“Almost four years,” I told him.
I didn’t elaborate on the fact that getting the job at the college was the reason we had been able to move to this side of town. Before then, we had lived in a rough area, where I’d shared a room with Cam. Most nights, you could hear gunfire and police sirens. It gave me comfort to have Cam in the same room as me then. Moving here changed our lives. Gave Cam some independence and privacy. More importantly, it had given him a better education.
“Where did you move from?” he asked me then.
