Page 39 of Mountain Dreams

She swallowed hard, envisioning him in his underwear and out of them…

“Anyway, during the week, you’d have the place mostly to yourself.”

“What about on the weekends?” Her voice wavered, and her hands felt clammy as she waited for his response. You shouldn’t even be considering this!

He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair and grinned. “I’ll be around more then. Will that be a problem?”

Yes! She could hardly be near him right now without turning into a quivering mess. How could she handle being around him every weekend for the near future? Of course, it would only be temporary, just until a habitable apartment became available or she decided to move in with one of her sisters. Why did the idea of moving in with him sound so much more appealing, though?

“I wouldn’t want to put a cramp in your style,” she said in a last-ditch effort to talk herself out of this.

“What style?” he said, his eyes glinting with amusement.

“You know, the life of a single guy.” She was specifically thinking of his love life, or sex life was probably more like it. She couldn’t imagine being here when he brought a woman home with him. What if she heard them having sex, like she’d heard the strangers in the apartment earlier? The mere thought of it made her frown.

He reached out and rubbed the crease between her brows. “What are you really worried about?” he said softly. The way he gazed at her, his eyes brimming with sweetness and concern, made her want to tell him everything.

Instead, she sucked her lower lip between her teeth and sighed. “I don’t want to be a charity case. You’ve already done so much for me, too much, really, and I…” Her voice caught as she was overcome with emotion.

“Hey, hey. Come here.” He held out his arms and invited her into his embrace.

After a brief hesitation, she stepped forward. He circled his arms around her and splayed his hands on her back. Avoiding his eyes, she leaned her forehead against his chest and soaked up his warmth and heady, masculine scent.

She didn’t cry this time, but her throat felt tight, making it impossible to speak.

“You’re not a charity case,” he whispered. “You’re my friend, and I care about you. I hate thinking about you living in some rundown apartment when I have all this space that I’m not even using. If you stay, you won’t be cramping my lifestyle. You’d be making it better.”

She popped her head up at that. “How so?”

“I figure, while you’re here, I can tap into your skills.”

“My skills?”

“Um-hmm. You saw my junk drawer. I could definitely use some better organization around here.”

She laughed and shook her head at him. “I knew there had to be a catch.” Suddenly she realized how close they were, and even though the lights were on, they were standing inside a bedroom, just inches away from the bed.

She started to move back, but he held her in place.

“Feeling better now?”

“I think so.”

“You don’t have to decide tonight. Just think about it, okay?”

Staying with him was all she’d been thinking about for the past two days. She nodded, and then the doorbell rang.

“Food’s here,” he said, releasing her from his grip.

She’d been so entranced by him and their conversation that she’d forgotten her hunger until now.

“First one upstairs gets the extra eggroll,” he said and darted out of the bedroom.

“No fair!” she shouted as she chased after him. She’d never played sports, and she hated running, so there was no way she’d beat him. When she reached the top of the stairs, he was already at the door, greeting the delivery person.

“Let me give you some money,” she said, but by the time she took out her wallet, the delivery guy was gone.

“Dinner’s on me,” Cody said as he went into the kitchen with the bags of food.