Hide and Seek - Lara Adrian Page 0,62

“Don’t think about it any longer. It’ll just drive you crazy. I’m happy that I caught you in time.”

At the odd phrasing of his words, she snapped her eyebrows together. “Were you looking for me?”

“Actually, I was on my way to the coffee shop, hoping that I might see you, when I saw you at the intersection.”

“Oh.” It was odd since they hadn’t seen each other since their first encounter a few days earlier.

“Yeah, when I saw you there, I realized you’d already left the coffee shop, so I called out to you.” Nick grinned, shrugging. Then he motioned to the changed light, and together they crossed the street. “Took me a few days to scrape together all my courage to ask you out for coffee. I didn’t wanna waste that opportunity. So I ran to try to catch up with you.”

Her heart started beating faster, and this time it wasn’t out of panic or shock. “You wanted to ask me out for coffee?” And instead he’d saved her from getting hurt.

Nick cast her a sideways glance. “Figured I’d try my country bumpkin charm on you once more; see if it works better this time.”

In disbelief, she shook her head. Was this man for real? Not only was he a hero, saving her without regard for his own safety, but he was also self-deprecating, sweet, and absolutely charming. Not to mention handsome and sexy as hell. She quickly glanced at his hands. And apparently still single. Jesus, why could she not have met a guy like him earlier, when her life hadn’t started to careen out of its tracks?

“I don’t know what to say.” She reached for his arm.

Wincing, he said, “No need to say anything. But a bag of ice would be great right about now.”

“So sorry,” she apologized when she realized that she’d just squeezed his injured arm. “Let’s get you inside, and then I’ll take care of your arm.”

She pointed to a three-story brownstone. “I’m afraid it’s a walk-up.”

“Nothing wrong with my legs.”

Michelle turned to the door and unlocked it. She entered, Nick on her heels, and walked ahead of him, climbing the old creaking staircase.

“You live alone?”

She looked over her shoulder. “Yes, it’s just a small one-bedroom, cheap enough so I don’t need a roommate.”

“Good.”

For an instant, her heart stopped. Was it wise to bring a man she’d only met for the second time today to her apartment? Was she inviting trouble by letting him into her place, where they would be alone? After all, she knew nothing about him.

Nothing apart from the fact that he was charming—which apparently serial killer Ted Bundy had been, too—and that he’d saved her life. That latter part helped her make up her mind. Nick had risked his own life to save hers and gotten injured as a result. She owed him to at least make sure he was all right. And she couldn’t blame him for not wanting to go to a hospital. Without insurance, they would charge him an arm and a leg just for getting an x-ray and an icepack.

“Here we are,” she announced as she reached the top floor and stepped onto the landing. There were two apartments on this floor. She pulled her key ring from her computer bag and inserted the key in the lock.

When she pushed the door open, she turned and saw Nick hesitating in the hallway. She waved him in. “Come in, I won’t bite.”

He smirked. “Promise?”

Michelle dropped her keys onto the side table in the short hallway from which one door led to the bathroom and the other to the bedroom. Ahead of her, an arch led into the living room with an adjacent tiny kitchen. It wasn’t much, but at least she had privacy here.

“Nice place,” Nick commented and followed her into the living room.

“Take a seat. And take off your shirt,” she demanded and marched into the kitchen.

The door between living room and kitchen had long been removed because of lack of space. She opened the freezer and rummaged through it, finally finding a bag of frozen peas. It would have to do. She snatched a clean dish towel from a drawer and turned back to the living room only to slam to a halt.

Nick stood in the door frame, his chest bare and glistening. He was even better built than she’d suspected the day she’d first met him. In fact, he was positively ripped. Her mouth started watering at the sight of his six-pack-abs and the well-defined