by Alexa Davis
“Yep, I think I got it.”
Why were his eyes so fierce and penetrating? Why did I feel like he could see right into the pit of my soul? Why wasn’t he smiling? Was I that unpleasant to be around?
Ugh, I needed to wrap this thing up now. “So, if there’s anything that I can do for you, let me know. I left a list of numbers on the side of the fridge for you.”
“Thank you, and the same goes. If you need me—”
“You don’t happen to know how to fix pipes, do you?” I knew that it wasn’t professional, but he did just offer, and I was pretty damn desperate.
“No, sorry,” He shook his head and the edges of his mouth crept up a little bit. “Why, what’s going on? Is there a leaky pipe in here?”
“No, in my apartment.” I sighed sadly. “I honestly have the most useless landlord around.”
“How bad is it?” He was looking too interested now, making me feel like telling him was a massive mistake. I should have just kept my mouth shut.
“Well, my kitchen is flooded, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“You know, there are two rooms here, and this is your home,” he replied carelessly. “If you need somewhere to stay, then you can.”
My heart leaped up into my throat. Is he serious? That was nice, making me think that there was so much more going on underneath the surface, but I couldn’t possibly take him up on that offer. The thought was just silly.
“Oh, erm, thanks,” I stammered. “But I’m sure it’ll be fine. I don’t want to impose on your trip.”
“Well, the offer is there if you need it,” he told me gravely. I got the distinct impression that this was the sort of man who never said anything that he didn’t mean. “And you have my number from when I called you the other day if you change your mind. I wouldn’t mind the company.”
“Thank you,” I gasped, everything burning inside of me. “I appreciate it.”
What the hell was that? I thought to myself as I drove back home. That was insane. He actually offered me a room in the cabin that he was now renting from me – and paying me good money for. Who did that? It was nice, but strange, too.
And the way that he’d mentioned having some company... That would stick with me.
Anyway, it didn’t matter. I would call my landlord until he answered and demand that he fixed it. Today. No matter what.
***
“You can’t?” I replied miserably, twisting my hair around my finger in dismay. “So, when will it be?”
“I don’t know,” my landlord replied in a pissed-off tone of voice. “I will let you know, okay?”
This guy was a dick. I wanted to yell at him and tell him as much, but there wasn’t any point. It wouldn’t change anything.
“Right, okay, goodbye.” He couldn’t get the off the phone quick enough; he probably felt exactly the same way about me as I did him. I didn’t care. I just wanted things to happen. The things that I paid my rent for!
As I hung up the phone, I let out a deep breath of sad air. This was a nightmare; it was starting to become clear that I didn’t have any choice. I couldn’t ask Laynee, since she still lived with her parents, which only left me with Milo. I was going to actually have to take him up on his insane offer.
Oh, God, this is happening.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to imagine how this call was going to go, and it wasn’t pretty. Still, it was either that or sleep in an apartment where the water was seeping into the other rooms, making the carpets smell awful. I couldn’t stand it; it was already making me gag – there was no way that I could sleep in this nightmare.
I gripped my cell phone tightly, feeling like I was in another universe entirely, then I hit the call button and waited for him to answer.
Chapter Seven
Milo – Saturday
Those long legs, her hazel eyes, that wonderful black hair...
I snapped my eyes open and sat up on the couch, shaking the sleep from my eyes. I’d just been resting, only for a second, and Eliza had infiltrated my dreams already. What the hell is wrong with me?
If I thought about it, it was because she was so adorable. The way that she stumbled over her words and went bright red when she felt embarrassed. She seemed confident, but not overly self-assured like the gold-digger type I was used to. She was natural, normal, and different, and that had me intrigued. I wanted to know more about her, about her life in Florence – that was all.
But, of course, that was never going to happen. Chances were I wouldn’t see her again until I checked out, unless there was some sort of emergency. Could I create something...
No, I couldn’t.
I patted Veil absentmindedly and considered talking to him myself. But I instantly shook that idea from my brain. I would feel far too silly.
Instead, I made my out onto the balcony and admired the view as Veil ran around like a loon. It was nice, much more scenic than I’d been expecting, and I found myself actually a little impressed. Maybe Florence was going to shape up to be awesome, after all. Maybe this investment deal would turn out to be a pleasant surprise, too.
I felt a little irritated at the sound of my phone ringing. I had come here to get away from my everyday life, not to bring it with me. But then again, I hadn’t exactly told everyone that I wanted an escape, so who were they to know?
“Hello?” I answered gruffly.
“Erm, hi, it’s Eliza...” My heart lifted as I heard her voice. Did I manage to magic her into thin air with all my desperate wishing? Or had something happened? Oh, God, what was going on here? “I feel bad asking you this, but... maybe, would you mind if I came and stayed with you at the cabin? It wouldn’t be too long, just until these pipes get fixed.”
“Landlord didn’t pull through, huh?” I asked, slightly bemused. “Well, of course, you can. There is a perfectly good room that’s going to go unused, and I can’t leave you out on the streets. Not in January; it’s far too cold.” That was my lame attempt at a joke, but I wasn’t sure that it came across in my slightly wooden tone of voice. “So... come whenever you like.”
“You are a star,” she gasped happily. “Thank you so much. I won’t get in your way at all, and like I said, I will be out of your hair before you know it.”
As I hung up the phone, I glanced around to notice my stuff scattered everywhere. I hadn’t yet bothered to unpack because I had laid down on the couch and that was that; exhaustion had gotten the better of me. But now, knowing that I had company coming, I needed it all away. I hurried about, filling the cupboards and hanging up my clothes, all the while with a secret smile on my face.
I had come away to Florence looking forward to some chosen quiet, but now I was looking forward to having that disturbed. I had to admit that this girl had me gripped, and I was excited to see more of her. When I’d considered not seeing her again for two whole months, I’d felt disappointed, but now that wasn’t anything to worry about.
I thought about Justin and the love that he’d found in Florence. Did he feel the same way when he first saw the girl who changed him? Is that what this is?
No, I quickly decided, it can’t be. She was just a cute girl, the first one I’d ever liked since I got sick, since Veronica, too. That was all there was to it; I didn’t need to read any more into it. Especially not if we were going to be spending the next couple of days living together.
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. “Can I come in?”
Oh, my God, she is already here. I wasn’t sure that I was totally ready. “Yep, sure, come in.”
I moved quickly out into the front room, where she was already standing with a bag in her hand and an awkward look on her face. “Erm... Hi, thank you for this.” She shifted from foot to foot. “I’ll just go and put my stuff in the room. And... I will take some money off the rent for you.”
“No, don’t be silly,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “I’m happy to pay the full amount. This isn’t exactly something you planned.”
Is
it? Did she do this to spend more time with me?
I stared at her, trying to figure it out, but her expression didn’t give anything away. I needed to grab the bull by the horns if I wanted things to be different. If I didn’t want to keep meeting random women at bars, this was the sort of thing I needed to do. However scary it was.
“But I will have to insist that you have dinner with me tonight.”
Her face went ashen, then red as a small smile played on her lips. She liked the idea of this, just as much as I did. “Erm, sure, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to get in the way, but if... if you want to, yeah.” She walked into the bedroom, and I heard her drop her bag on the ground with a thump. “I can cook, if you’d like,” she called from the bedroom. “My grandmother taught me how to make these amazing chicken fajitas. I might need to go to the grocery store, though.”
“I’ll come with you,” I replied on impulse. “I don’t know Florence at all; it would be good for me to get to see some of it now, so I can find my way around by myself.”
“Well, it isn’t huge,” she replied, coming back into the room. She’d thrown a massive sweater over her head, and it had swamped her. She was a lot shorter than me, and it made me want to rest her head on my chest, just to see how well she fit. “But that sounds good. Shall we go now?”
***
As I sat at the dining table, waiting to be served the meal that Eliza had been slaving over for the last hour or so, I thought back to our time in the town. Every single person stopped to talk to her, acting like she was their best friend in the world. It showed a stark difference between the two of us. Not only was I much quieter and less outgoing, but I also didn’t have people making a point of speaking to me.
Well, unless they wanted something. When it was at a party or at the casino, maybe, but not for no specific reason.
It made me realize how lonely my life was. Why didn’t I have loads of friends? I was nice enough, wasn’t I? A little sharp sometimes, and I’d been told that I came off as aloof on first meeting, but deep down, I was a good person. Why can’t anyone else seem to see that?
Anyway, it didn’t matter. Tonight was going to be a good night. I wasn’t going to ruin it by getting all up in my head.
“So, let me know what you think.” Eliza beamed at me, setting a plate down in front of me. “I haven’t cooked for a while now. I don’t usually have the time, so I hope it’s okay.”
“Mmm,” I moaned in pleasure. I would have lied and said it was good anyway, but it actually was. “This is the best home-cooked meal that I’ve had in ages.” I didn’t finish that off by telling her that I was much more used to takeout or restaurant food. It didn’t seem necessary.
“Oh, wow, thank you.”
I loved the way her cheeks flushed excitedly when she got good news; it made me want to take her face in my hands. I had the weird urge to kiss her, and I had to literally force myself to resist. What is it about Eliza that I find so irresistible? Why do I feel so magnetized to her?
“So, Milo…” She shot me a look. “Please tell me, because I can’t work it out. What exactly are you doing in Florence?”
I decided against telling her all my messy history, with the illness and everything, because it always left people a little awkward around me. Plus, I was bored to death with it – it was behind me now. I desperately wanted to move past it. I wanted to act like it had never happened because I hoped that soon enough that sensation would start to feel true.
“My friend recommended an investment opportunity to me,” I told her blandly. “I’m here to check it out.”
“Ooh, sounds fascinating.” She grinned. “Please, tell me more.”
I couldn’t quite tell whether or not she was winding me up, so I blew past it just in case. “I don’t know too much about it at the moment, but it’s something fishing related. What is it you do? Or do you make enough from renting out this cabin? It is beautiful.”
“Actually, you are my first customer,” she admitted, which actually made a lot of sense. She did seem a tad bewildered by the whole process. “I run my own hair salon in town.”
“Wow, that must be why you have such nice hair,” I blurted out without even thinking. “I mean, I will have to come and check it out. Maybe get a cut while I’m here.”
Ugh, cringe. What is wrong with me? Why aren’t I being smooth? Why am I acting so crazy, like someone who has no idea how to act around women? That isn’t me at all.
“Sounds great.”
Once we’d finished and put our plates in the kitchen, I washed them quickly while my brain buzzed with all sorts of thoughts – most of them inappropriate. Eliza had me all tied up in knots, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all...
“Well,” she eventually said, a little morosely. “I better go to bed.”
All the easygoing atmosphere was gone; we were both tense and confused, as if we didn’t quite know how to act around one another. “Yep,” I said stiffly, wishing that I could find a way to make all this right. “Goodnight.”
As she stalked off, I watched her hair swishing around her shoulders and her hips shake. She was so sweet, so cute, with such an adorable personality. I liked her. I liked her a lot, and I wasn’t sure what to do about that. I couldn’t act upon it, even if there were slight clues that she might actually like me, too.
But, oh, God, how good would it feel to act upon it? It would feel incredible to kiss those plump lips, to run my hands through her hair, to hold her body close to mine. It turned me on just thinking about it. I actually had a stirring in my underwear.
I quickly shook those thoughts from my mind and made my own way to bed. I needed some sleep; it had been a long couple of days – a long couple of years, to be honest. Once I rested, things would look much better. They had to.
Chapter Eight
Eliza – Sunday
I rolled over onto one side, a big beaming smile already spread across my face. I felt like things had gone pretty well with Milo yesterday. I found myself actually liking him quite a lot. He was much easier to get along with than I’d first assumed he would be. He wasn’t as grumpy as he looked; he was actually quite sweet.
Dinner was fun, although there was a definite atmosphere hanging over us, one that I didn’t fully get at first. Then it hit me: in a light, very breezy way, we were kind of flirting with one another. Not with our words, but with the way that we looked at one another and our body language. It was a subtle sort of flirting that I wasn’t used to at all, but found I actually liked.
Of course, nothing could come of it. He was a client, paying to stay in my grandmother’s cabin. I shouldn’t have even been there, and if it wasn’t for my apartment issues, I wouldn’t have been, but it did feel flattering to have someone want to subtly flirt with me. It made me feel a whole lot better about the whole Josh thing, anyway.
It helped that Milo was also about a million times better than Josh, too, in every way. Josh was good looking in a traditional, preppy sort of way, whereas Milo had a raw sexuality to him that I couldn’t help but be drawn to. He had a life for himself, too: money, a business, goals... Looking back, Josh was a bit of a deadbeat, content with his life because he didn’t care enough to try at anything.
If Josh were to see me out with Milo, he would go nuts. He would be so jealous it would eat him up inside.
Not that I cared.
Well, maybe a little bit, but only for revenge purposes.
A sudden crashing sound came from the kitchen, alerting me to the fact that Milo was already awake and getting himself a drink.
Oh, God. That meant he was probably trying to work my grandmother’s ancient coffee pot, which wasn’t any fun even when you knew what you were doing. I raced out to join him, not even thinking about the baby-blue, bunny-print pajamas that I was wearing. I always wanted to be comfortable when I slept, which usually didn’t matter, but in front of this gorgeous, powerful, older man it made me feel a bit weird.
&
nbsp; “Erm, sorry,” I stammered, trying to discretely cover myself up with my hands. “I just thought that I would show you how to use the coffee pot. I didn’t think about it because I’m so used to it, but it can be a little awkward.” I took it from him and fiddled with the switches. “Maybe it’s a good thing that I’m here, after all.”
“I agree,” he said deeply. “Thank you.”
I glanced over at him to see him actually smiling at me. A real-life grin that he couldn’t seem to help. “I don’t think that there is anything in the fridge for breakfast, but we could go out if you like? There’s a nice place in town,” I asked on impulse.
“Sure, sounds great.”
We were acting a little like a couple, which was weird and made me even more confused about my feelings. I liked Milo, probably a whole lot more than I should, so this was strange. But I’d asked. I couldn’t exactly take that back.
“Great.” I handed him a mug and grasped my own tightly to me, trying to warm myself up. “I’ll just go and get dressed.”
Once I had shut the bedroom door behind me, I let out a breath that I hadn’t even realized that I was holding. This was intense; I could feel myself going gaga over this guy, and that wasn’t what I needed. I was supposed to be moving on and improving my love life, not complicating it with some guy who was only in town for a couple of months. That was just asking for trouble.
Although no one was asking anyone to get married. Maybe we could have a little fun...
Shit. I accidently caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and realized just how terrible I looked. It wasn’t just the bunny pajamas – it was the messy hair and the totally makeup-free face. I couldn’t believe that I’d gone out there and let Milo see me like that!
I grabbed some much nicer clothing and pulled up my hair into a quick style off my face before applying some makeup to highlight my best features. I didn’t want to take ages and seem diva-ish, but there wasn’t any way I could continue looking so fresh-faced.