Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,56
was smooth and silky on her tongue. “Is there a reason you’re telling me all this other than warning me to be kind?”
Which she was! The nerve.
“Reid would never admit he needed anything, but there might come a point where it’s all a bit too much.”
“What exactly are you saying here?”
His lips twitched around his spoon.
“You think I should seduce him?”
“There’s a thought.”
Maybe Reid was right and Bast had ulterior motives that were game-related. But she considered herself a good judge of character. She actually bought his explanation that he was trying to sneakily coax his brother into adding self-care to his regimen.
Even if that involved giving her a gentle shove into his brother’s bed.
“You know, this is none of your business.” So what if it was pretty much all she could think about since she’d woken up in Reid’s arms in Reid’s bed with Reid’s ...
Hot flash!
He offered the least casual shrug she’d ever witnessed. “I know. I just worry about him. I want him to be happy.”
“And you think sex will make Reid happy. Have you met your brother?”
He laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Whatever was I thinking?”
Reid walked out of the apartment building to find a ranting woman engaged in a heated conversation with a car. He stood at the doorway, taking it in.
“I just need you to last for six freakin’ weeks! All you have to do is take me from Point A to B. Just do your job.”
Predictably, the car didn’t respond. She kicked the tire, and he was glad to say she knew how to do that in a way that didn’t hurt her, with the side of her foot so she didn’t damage her toe.
Reid looked down at Bucky, who watched with great interest.
“Let’s try this again, shall we?” she said cautiously like she was talking to a small child before a spurt of spirit overtook the proceedings. “When I turn that key, you had better cooperate!”
She clambered back into the driver’s seat, shut the door, and put on her seatbelt. After a moment where she seemed to be offering up a prayer, she turned the key in the ignition. There was a sad sputter followed by a muffled scream.
He walked over and knocked on the window. She rolled it down, her mouth in a sexy sulk.
“Trouble?”
“My car won’t start.”
“I gathered. Well, we gathered.” He dropped his gaze to Bucky. “Sorry you had to see that, fella.”
He had hoped to make her smile, but no go. This woman was not in a smiling mood. Today must be Roommate Freaky Friday.
“I’ll give you a ride.”
Her face looked like the morning sun as it snuck up over the horizon. “Oh, would you? That would be so awesome.”
Two minutes later they were in his car, headed to the seniors’ home where her grandmother lived.
“These heated seats are something else.” She ran her fingers over the dash and the hand-stitched leather armrest in a way that had him jealous of the car.
He hauled his gaze back to the road. “You do this yoga class for free?”
“Sure. It’s really for Edie because I’m trying to ensure she gets some exercise after her stroke. But it seemed silly not to offer it to everyone.”
“And she’s not your grandmother?”
“She’s as good as. Married to my grandfather, who passed away several years ago.”
For all Kennedy’s openness on a variety of topics, her past was still a closed book. Normally he wouldn’t pry. He preferred not to delve too deeply into people’s private affairs as it encouraged confidences and an intimacy he wasn’t ready to reciprocate. But Kennedy fascinated him. Had done so from the start.
Where were her parents? Why did she seem so alone? What was the deal with that watercolor on her nightstand? “What about the rest of your family?”
Her face crumpled. “Oh, Edie’s all the family I need.” The book slammed shut.
He sought more neutral territory. “How long have you been traveling?”
“Since I was nineteen. I went to college but I couldn’t settle or connect with it as an experience. The students seemed weirdly sheltered, living in this bubble, and I just wanted to get moving. Get out there. So I did. Picked up my yoga certification along the way so I’d have some sort of trade.” She rolled her eyes. “Edie doesn’t approve of my country-hopping lifestyle, so knowing I could get a job teaching something soothes her some. That’s why I got my teaching English as a second language certification, too. It’s always good to have options.”