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“A little over thirteen.”
Since her shins still hurt from running three, she had to concede that a full marathon might be more than she could handle. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go for the half instead.”
The nice smile reappeared. “Okay.” He got up and placed some money on the bar. “And since I was the one to suggest the half marathon, I think it’s only fair that I help you achieve it. I’ll be at your apartment at seven tomorrow morning. Be stretched and ready to run.”
It would figure that Nash would arrive at her apartment promptly at seven o’clock when Eden was still getting her running shoes on and Madison was still sawing logs. And the woman could saw logs. Her snoring had kept Eden awake most of the night. Which made her almost as grumpy as Nash. Except Nash didn’t look grumpy when she pulled open the door. He looked happier than she’d ever seen him. He wasn’t smiling, but his brow wasn’t knotted and there was a definite twinkle in his eyes. Almost as if he was happy to see her. But the twinkle fizzled when he heard the snoring. Without a word, he physically moved Eden out of the way and strode into the apartment. He stopped when he saw Madison sprawled out on her stomach with one foot dangling off the bed and the tangled mass of hair over her face fluttering with every snore that came from her open mouth.
Nash turned to Eden, and she quickly explained.
“That’s Madison. She works at the escort service—or used to until the same thug who tried to strangle me roughed her up. And to top it off, she lost her apartment, so I said she could stay here until she finds another job.” When his gaze went back to Madison, she couldn’t help but add, “But not as an escort. So don’t get any ideas.”
His gaze returned to her. “Jealous, Eden?”
“Of course not.” She gestured with her hands, forgetting that she still held a running shoe. “Why would I be jealous? We’re just…” She stopped. What were they? She knew what she was doing with him. She wanted to find out what made him tick for her story. But why was he hanging out with her?
He took her running shoe and pointed to the couch. Once she was sitting, he knelt like Prince Charming with the slipper and put on her shoe, efficiently tying the laces before he pulled her to her feet.
His gaze was steady. “Running partners. And be warned, I don’t put up with slackers.”
It turned out to be an understatement. Nash didn’t jog. He ran. After making her stretch for a good fifteen minutes, he took her on a grueling four-mile run that felt like it was a good twenty. And she couldn’t exactly give up when she’d acted like adding an extra mile a day was no big deal. So even though her shins hurt and her thighs ached and her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, she hung tough. When they were finished, he made her stretch again and drink the water he brought before they walked back to her apartment. He opened the door of the complex and held it for her.
“What time do you go into work tonight?”
“Four.”
“You’re driving, I presume?”
She paused on her way in. “Why would I drive? It’s only a few blocks.”
He cocked his head and sent her an annoyed look. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you still have the bruises on your neck from the asshole who tried to strangle you? Did you pay your escort service their percentage?”
“I gave it to Madison to give to Chloe. And I was driving that night, so walking had nothing to do with it.”
He released an exasperated sigh. “Fine. Walk to work, but I’ll be there to pick you up when you get off.”
She tipped her head and sent him a teasing look. “Now why would you pick me up from work if we’re just running partners?”
His brow furrowed for only a second. “To hell with it.” He lowered his head as if he was going to kiss her. And she was surprised at how much she wanted him to. While he had kissed her everywhere else, he hadn’t touched his lips to hers since the kiss in the street. But before he could, a white van pulled up to the curb and the handyman crew got out, carrying paint cans and rollers. Eden figured they were working on someone else’s apartment until Hank saw her and spoke.
“We’ll try not to take too long today, Miss Huckabee. We wanted to paint over the crack we patched. And I figured while we’re at it, we’d paint the rest of the living area.”
“Wow, that would be great,” she said. “I’ll just let my roommate know so she can plan to stay out of your way. And please thank Mr. Pruitt for making all the improvements.” She looked back at Nash and explained. “He’s my landlord. I’ve been pestering him for months to fix things. I guess he finally felt guilty about the condition of the apartments. I hope he’s going to do as good of a job for the other tenants. This building has needed work for a long time.”
It looked like Nash rolled his eyes, but since it was so uncharacteristic, she figured she was mistaken. “I guess he doesn’t have a choice, now does he?” he said before he jogged down the steps and continued his run as if he hadn’t just done four miles with her.
Since Eden didn’t want the handyman crew surprising Madison, she hurried up the stairs so her friend could at least get a robe on before they arrived. But as it turned out, Madison was already dressed and examining the boxes that were stacked by the door.
“Please tell me you did not go and buy your clothes back from the secondhand store,” Eden said.
Madison glanced up. “No. These were delivered this morning by a really cute special courier. Your grandparents wouldn’t send this much pot, would they?”
“Let’s hope not.” Eden moved over to a box and read the label that was addressed to her before peeling back the packing tape. The box was filled with brand-new, plastic-wrapped lingerie.
“Oh. My. Gosh,” Madison gushed as she pulled a lavender lace bra from a plastic bag. “He did send us free lingerie.” She held the bra to her big boobs. “Or at least he sent you free lingerie.”
Eden took the bra and looked at the tag. It was her size. How had Nash figured it out when he had never even touched her breasts—at least not with his hands? While heat filled Eden at just the thought of Nash’s mouth on her breasts, Madison continued to open bags and examine each tag for her size. But the bras, panties, nighties, robes, and sweatpants all seemed to be in Eden’s size.
“You do realize what this is about, don’t you?” Madison said.
