AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eli sat…because Iris was asking him to. He’d hardly spoken to her in his life, just…observed her from a distance. And having all her attention focused on him shorted out his brain. Her smile was bright, and her voice came across soft and smooth, like he could listen to her for days, even if he had no clue what she was talking about.
“Go ahead,” he said.
“Which room are you interested in? Since you’re the first person I’m talking to, you have your choice.” She ran down a list for him, summarizing amenities and related costs.
Honestly, the rates she was quoting for a monthly rental sounded low. Instead of clearing up the misunderstanding, he heard himself say, “That’s a bargain.”
She beamed. “The house isn’t fancy, and it needs some work, but it’s really clean, I promise. I guess I should ask, do you have any pets?”
He shook his head. “No, but I—”
“That’s great. I like animals, but I’d rather not bring in any right now.”
Her smile stole his breath, so wide and lovely, even down to the way one of her front teeth overlapped the other.Why is that so cute?He’d been about to crack a joke—I can turn into a bird. Probably just as well he hadn’t been able to finish. Most people didn’t believe in his abilities, and he didn’t care enough to prove them wrong.
After pausing to make a note, Iris went on, “Do you smoke?”
“No, definitely not.”
She brightened. “Excellent! The smoking is a deal breaker. We’re off to a great start.”
He blinked.What’s even happening here? What are you doing? Tell her—
“What’s your name?”
Shit. She doesn’t recognize me.That shouldn’t hurt; it had been ages, and she clearly hadn’t thought about him in all that time. It wasn’t like she’d been looking athissocials, making sure he was okay.
“Eli Reese.” He watched her face, but there wasn’t even a flicker of recognition.
Dammit.
She made a note on her tablet. “And what do you do?”
“Well, I was getting coffee. Before that, I was updating a house that’ll be sold soon.” Once the words were out, he realized that was probably not what she was asking. It had been a “source of income” question, and he’d kind of lied. Not on purpose, but she had his head in a spin.
“A house flipper! That’s so cool.”
“I do some freelance work online too,” he said, desperately trying to get back on top of the situation. “Coding—”
“Like websites? That’s awesome. You’re handy and techy! The total package.”
Wow.Nobody had ever said that about him, and he went silent, feeling heat sting his cheeks. “Uh. Yeah. I pick stuff up quickly when I need to learn, so…”
What am I even doing?
Just tell her who you are. Thank her. And get out of here. This is getting weird.
“You seem like you’d have your stuff together. Why do you need to rent a room at my place?” Iris asked.
“It just kind of…happened,” he heard himself say. “The house I’m staying at, it’ll be sold soon.”
That was all true, but he had other places to go. The condo. The vacation cottage. Yet he paused, staring at her, gauging her expression.
Her face softened, eyes getting a little brighter. “Yeah, I know how it is. Sometimes things don’t work out or your plans don’t come together.”
She asked a few more questions about his habits—clean or sloppy, drugs or alcohol, loud parties, overnight guests—and at the end of the quick interview, she said, “I’d be happy to have you as a roommate if you’re interested.”
She must need financial help if she’s doing this.One thing Eli had was money. He was great at coming up with app ideas, and when he got tired of managing them, he’d sell them for a tidy profit. Inspiration would strike again soon. He still hadn’t decided whether to sell Task Wizard or What’s Cooking?
