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“Ready?”
“Tucker—”
“I didn’t have a chance to go to the store.” He slams the door to my car, cutting me off, and places his hand on my lower back, steering me toward the building. “But I had the shit to make lemon chicken in the fridge.”
“You made lemon chicken?” I get distracted, which is stupid, especially when he leads me out of the light from the setting sun and into the dark interior of the building.
“Put this on.” He passes me a plastic hard hat, and I do as asked, now understanding why so many women die in horror movies. Especially when I look around and see plastic sheeting hanging down, and walls are being framed and plastered.
“Tucker—,” I try again, but once more, he cuts me off.
“The elevator is just over here.” He keeps a tight hold on my hand as he leads me across the space, and when we reach the metal doors, he holds up his phone to a pad on the side, and they slide open immediately. The inside of it is the total opposite of the dusty, dirty building, with red carpet and gold-outlined mirrors that surround the interior.
I step on when he urges me in, then watch as he holds up his cell to a screen inside and a 4 appears. When the doors open again, we’re in a long hallway with the same red carpet as the elevator, and a door on each end, one with a kid’s bike, scooter, and shoes outside of it.
He leads us to the opposite door, and as soon as it’s open, the scent of something delicious greets me, along with the sound of quiet music playing. While I stand at the door and look around, he rushes over to the stove, cursing.
I lift off the hat on my head, then slide my bag off my shoulder and take in the windows that are obviously original to the building and fill up most of the far wall, the exposed brick and vents above, and the open floor plan between the kitchen, dining room, and the living room. Stepping down into the room onto the concrete floors, my eyes run over the leather couch, metal coffee table, with a huge black chandelier over it and accessories that look professionally purchased from a very high-end store.
“Sorry about that,” he says, and I turn to face him, then gasp when he wraps his hand around the back of my neck and uses it to pull me forward so he can kiss me. Melting against him, my mouth opens when he nips my bottom lip, and my hands grab hold of his shirt at his sides to stay upright. I love kissing him, but I love more the way he takes control and kisses me. “You’re here. He pulls back, running his eyes over my face.
“And you’re not a serial killer.” I laugh at the confused look on his handsome face. “Sorry but there were definite serial-killer vibes outside of this apartment.”
“And you still came into the building with me.”
“Apparently, I’d be the first to die in a horror movie.”
He laughs, letting his head fall back on his shoulders, and I watch with apt attention, soaking in the sound.
“This place is very cool,” I say when his eyes are back on me.
“This was supposed to be Dalton’s place, but he’s not sure when he’s going to be ready to move here, so when I moved out of the house Naomie and I owned, I moved in here. He’s going to wait for a place on the second floor.”
“So who lives across the hall from you?”
“Miles and Winter.” He smooths his thumb up and down the side of my neck. “Clay owns the building. He and Willow live on the top floor. His plan is to rent out the rest of the apartments when the building is finished.”
“You and Naomie didn’t live here?” I ask as he takes my hand so he can walk with me to the kitchen.
“No, we had a house about ten minutes away.” He stops us at the stove, where the delicious smell from earlier is coming from. I look into the pan and see that it’s not just lemon chicken but lemon chicken with orzo—one of my favorites. “She’s still living there, but if she can’t come up with the cash to buy me out, it’s going on the market in the next few months.”
“It’s cool that you live here with your brothers so close.”
“One day, you’ll have to bring Kingston over. Upstairs in Clay’s place, he has an entire playroom with shit for kids to do. Kingston would love it.”
“Do Clay and Willow have kids?”
“Not yet. I’m sure it will happen, but he built the room for Winter, he normally picks her up from school and hangs with her until her dad is home.”
