AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
Lexi
“Hold on!” I growled into the phone. “I told you my eyeballs were floating! As soon as I finish going to the bathroom, I’ll go look for it.”
My best friend, Clare, was not a patient person, and sometimes it rubbed me the wrong way. Like now, as she insisted that I go check for a package that she had sent for my birthday.
That rubbed me the wrong way, too; I was not a fan of celebrating my birthday, especially this year as I was turning thirty-three. With the way I looked at it, my life was practically half over, and what the hell did I have to show for it? Fine, I had a decent career and a lovely apartment within walking distance of everything, but when I was younger, I’d had a fun and exciting life. I also had thought that I would be married and have children by this time in my life.
“You take forever,” she groaned into the phone that I had tucked into the crook of my neck.
“Oh, hold on, man, you are impatient! Let me wash my hands.” I pulled up my pants and set the phone down on the vanity before I washed my hands. I was just finishing when a knock sounded on my front door. I shook my hands, turned to the towel rack and saw it empty, then dried them on my pants as I grabbed the phone and headed toward the door. “Someone is here; let me answer the door.”
“Maybe it’s the delivery man,” she replied with an excited voice.
I yanked the door open and jerked back. A man was bent down, putting something on the ground, but he wasn’t wearing a delivery uniform. “Excuse me? Can I help you?”
He jerked upright like a jack-in-the-box, a cardboard box in his hands, and our eyes locked. My mind instantly began to take it all in. Holy smokes, his gray eyes were incredible—plus one. He was tall, like over six feet with broad shoulders—another plus. His clean-shaven jaw was practically chiseled to perfection—plus one more—and his short dark hair was almost regulation military—eh, minus one.
“What is it?” Clare asked and snapped me back to my senses.
“Hold on,” I told her before lowering the phone and glancing at the brown box in his hands.
Wherever his mind had been, he seemed to return to the present at the same time. “Are you Alex?” he asked in a deeper voice than I had anticipated—add another one to the plus column.
“Yes,” I replied.
He held the box out in front of him. “I believe this is for you.”
I took the package, almost dropping my phone in the process, and then set it on top of the parcel as I stared at the top. “Why is it open? Did you open my package?” Oh boy, if he opened it, that was a minus ten.
“Um, well, yeah,” he stammered, and suddenly Clare’s voice rang out in the hall.
“Oh, my god! He opened the package!” She immediately went into hysterical laughter, and I frowned at the phone as I tried to get her off the speaker. I must have hit the button when I almost dropped my phone. Even off the speaker, you could still hear her chortling.
I lifted my confused gaze back to the man in front of me and found a smirk on his face. “It wasn’t on purpose. I swear.” He held his hand up as if he were pledging something. “I get a lot of packages, and it was outside my door when I got home.”
I glanced at the label. “But it’s not addressed to you, it says Alex Miller right on the label.” Should I make it minus twenty? I bet he didn’t read instructions either.
He laughed slightly. “Would you believe me if I told you my name was Alex Miller, too?”
I frowned at him. “No, I would not.” This dude with the sexy eyes was about to put himself so far in the negative he’d never be able to get out.
“Well, it is.” He reached toward his back pocket. “I can show you my license if you don’t believe me.”
I hiked a brow, thinking how unlikely it was that there was another Alex Miller in the building. He pulled his wallet out and removed his license, along with another card, handing both to me.
I took them, noting the face in the picture of his license was indeed him, only his hair was even shorter. The name on the license read Alexander Miller, and the address was the same as mine, only with a different apartment number. The other card was from Safety Zone Security that also had his name on it.
Fine, strike those negatives. I handed the items back to him. “Okay, so you’re Alex Miller.”
“And you are Alex Miller,” he replied.
“Yes, but my friends call me Lexi,” I stated, not sure why I was telling him that because he was not my friend, and this man would probably never measure up.
“Okay, Lexi,” he said with a nod. “It’s nice to meet you.” He gestured toward the box. “And sorry again for opening it. I’ll make sure to check return address information in the future.” He started to back away. “Enjoy that.” He motioned toward the box again, grinning. “Let me know if you need any help.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped back, closing the door after I muttered thanks and set the box on the counter, picking the phone up again. “You still there?”
