AllFreeNovel
Share Us
An hour later,Effie was brushing her hair when a loud knocking on the door made her jump.
“What the heck?”
Who would that be? It was midday on a Sunday. Pinkies was closed on Sundays and Mondays. She’d intended to spend the day cleaning the apartment, grocery shopping, then watching a movie. Brooks was at Baron and Royal’s place and wasn’t coming back until dinnertime.
Putting down the brush, she let out an irritated sigh as the knocking continued.
“All right, I’m coming. I’m coming.” She opened the door with a slam. “What do you want?”
“Good morning,” Grady replied.
“More like afternoon,” Steele added, looking her up and down. His lips quirked.
She glanced down at herself, blanching as she realized she had on her house-cleaning outfit. Which consisted of a slightly ratty T-shirt with a picture of a sloth on it, which said: Not to brag, but I got out of bed today.
It was oversized and faded from being washed so much.
Underneath, she wore a pair of tights that had pictures of dancing pigs on them.
Shit.
“Sorry, I didn’t know it was you guys. I’m not . . . I, uh . . . I was about to clean the apartment,” she said lamely.
Don’t just stand there, blathering on, Effie, or they’re going to think you’re not normal.
She plastered a smile on her face. “Good morning. This is a lovely surprise.”
“Don’t,” Steele warned.
“Um, don’t what?”
“Fake smile. I don’t like it.”
“She does it a lot,” Grady said, walking inside. Well, pushing his way in, since she didn’t invite him. “Especially when she’s embarrassed or thinks she’s been rude.”
Steele followed but paused in the doorway to stare down at her intently. “Fucking adorable.”
What?
Did he . . . he didn’t really think that, right? She was a mess.
Although at least she’d had a shower and brushed her teeth.
“Close the door before you let all the heat out,” Steele ordered. He glanced around. “Fuck.”
“What?”
“Thought it might look better in the daylight. Think it looks worse.”
“Hey! That’s not very nice.” Although this place was kind of a dump, at least it was clean. And she was doing the best she could.
“Fuck,” Steele muttered again. Then he was in front of her, cupping the side of her neck again.
Damn. So warm.
“Sorry, baby. Nothing against you. Just don’t like you living here. All the light and beauty that is you shouldn’t live here in the dark.”
She just stared up at him, mouth open.
