Page 22 of This Could be Love

“It’s still eavesdropping.”

The corners of his mouth rose. “It’s still lying.”

I exhaled noisily. “Listen, I want to stay out of your spat.”

“Your spat,” he repeated mockingly.

“What would you call it?”

He pretended to think. “Smear campaign, persecution, scheme…”

“Aren’t you laying it on a bit thick?”

“Well, how would you explain not a single neighbor showing up?”

“Maybe… Maybe they’re of the same opinion as Kay?” I said, somewhat lamely.

“And what would that be? That my hostel would attract people who aren’t on aForbeslist?”

“Kay doesn’t care if someone’s rich or not.”

“As long as they don’t live next to her.”

“That’s…” I broke off with a sigh. “She’s just worried that things could get too loud.”

“Well, then she’ll be able to file another complaint.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been renovating at night. I mean, in theevening.”

“I only had the machine for a few days. Did I lose track of time a bit? Yeah! But that’s no reason to immediately file a complaint.”

“Kay said that you didn’t open up when she rang your doorbell.”

“You have any idea how loud a sander is? I simply didn’t hear her.”

He pushed off from the doorway and pulled his T-shirt over his head. Taken aback, I couldn’t help but stare—and couldn’t keep my eyes from drifting a bit southward. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen his naked upper body, but it was the first time we weren’t in public. His hands moved into my field of vision from both sides, went to the waistband of his shorts, and…Oh my god!I whipped my head upward in shock.

“What on earth are you doing?!”

He stopped and looked at me, completely relaxed. “I’m changing. Chip spilled his beer over me.”

“Would it bother you to do that somewhere else?”

“Where else you want me to do it…if not in my own room?”

I gulped. “This…isn’t…Laurie’s room?” I croaked, as my eyes nervously flitted about looking for anything that would suggest “girl of about twenty.” Instead, I registered an unmade bed, a step stool serving as a nightstand, and a clothes rack on wheels draped with T-shirts.

“Nope. Her room is right across the hall.”

I could feel my face turn bright red, and I was glad the light was so low. “But she said to theright, and I…”

“Yeah, she’s got a little problem with the left-right thing.”

“Oh.” Overwhelmed, I looked to the side. To his bed. The messy sheets. For a second I imagined him lying there, with his shaggy hair and…Stop!

“So, can I change now or what?”

For the first time something like a smile appeared on his face.