AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Uh, yeah.”
“Is this a habit with you?”
“Breakfast?”
She rolls her eyes. “No, being up at the crack of dawn.”
“It’safter eight in the morning. That’s hardly the crack of dawn.”
I turn around to start to work on my omelet. I need her to go away and put on some clothes. My hands shake, and I close my eyes and count down from ten.
“What the hell is that?”
I barely control the yelp that scratches my throat, fighting to get out. Scowling, I open my eyes and continue to work on my breakfast.
“It’s an omelet.”
“Egg white?”
“Yes.”
“Ick.”
I make a huge mistake by turning to look down at her. Her hair is a mess, and she has creases in her skin that I assume are from her pillowcase. Her eyes are barely opened, and her lips seem fuller than they were yesterday. She’s kind of a hot mess and really cute.
Nope. Not today, Satan.
I will not think those thoughts. She’s my enemy. Besides, I don’t go for cute. Cute, sexy women are a problem. They make me think I might want more, and she is not my type. Not personality-wise, at least.
“You don’t like something healthy? Color me surprised.”
She snorts. Her cat jumps on the counter to watch the exchange.
“How do you know I don’t like to eat healthy?”
“You have no fruits or vegetables in the house, and your cereal choices are questionable.”
She rolls her eyes and walks over to the coffee pot. I focus on the back of her head and not her legs. If I don’t, I will lose all focus and start drooling. What is it about this woman that has my head spinning? She isn’t my usual type at all, especially in behavior. She could care less what I think of her and has no problem letting me know. I hate to admit it, but I think I’ve gotten lazy. Since being named one of the most innovative tech people under thirty, I have gotten a lot of attention. Supermodels like to be seen with tech millionaire/billionaire types. Dating might have been a hassle, but I didn’t even have to try hard to find dates.
Is that why she intrigues me?
She fills up the coffee pot and makes a bunch of noise, humming while she does it. I focus back on her and realize it isn’t the coffee pot my grandmother usually has here, so I assume it’s Avery’s.
“I hope you like your coffee strong.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “You’re going to let me drink your coffee?”
“As long as that’s not a euphemism for sex, then yes.”
After that announcement, she scurries out of the kitchen. I blink and look at Meredith.
“Did that just happen?”
She licks her paw, jumps down from the counter, and stalks off after her mistress.
I have interacted with this impossible woman for less than five minutes, and I’m already discombobulated. This isn’t going to be easy, and I remind myself of that. Avery O’Bryan isn’t stupid. She graduated early from high school and college. Hell, she has an MBA. I learned that much about her. There are a ton of papers she’s written and not just crap posted online. She’s had articles published in some magazines, including academic-leaning magazines and journals. She has a reputation in the business. Sure, I think her business is silly. And no, I will not admit that out loud. As a man who has developed apps, I am not about to admit to the world that I find much of it frivolous. Granted, most of our work now is security for the tech world, but the company still makes a lot of money off apps.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with fun, but for someone who makes a living at it the way she does… it’s weird. Maybe I’m grasping. She does help people build their businesses through their social media platforms. Travis and Nancy have taken lessons from her, and she’s helped many nonprofits. She posts a lot of that stuff on her own page about that but not much about herself. In fact, it’s as if she doesn’t want anyone to know anything personal about her.
