“It’s all me,” he said, stepping into the room with a towel wrapped loosely around his hips, and making me regret very seriously that whole getting-to-work thing.
“Why this one? Why’d you take the time, I mean?”
“I’m particular about my bedroom.” He’d been looking past me into the room, but now he shifted his gaze to me. “Nothing goes in that I didn’t select.”
I swallowed, suddenly unsure if we were still talking about the furniture.
“So what do you think?”
I blinked. “About what?”
His eyes crinkled at the corners and, damn the man, I was certain he knew the direction of my thoughts.
“About the room.”
“I like it. It’s attractive and interesting, what with all the hard edges and angles. But it’s inviting, too. And somehow warm and comfortable.” I hesitated, then took the plunge. “It reminds me of you,” I admitted, because I simply couldn’t deny the truth in the words.
“Comfortable?” he repeated, his brows rising in mock horror. “I’m not sure I like that. Inviting works for me, though. So does chivalrous and desperately sexy.”
“Are we still talking about the room?”
“What else?” His smile was all innocent.
What else indeed.
I tossed him a saucy smile, bent to retrieve his pants and T-shirt that I’d worn in the park. “Thanks for the loan,” I said, “but the shirt has grass stains—and I’d rather have pants that fit. Do you think The Drake’s gift shop has clothes?”
“While I’m tempted to just keep you naked, you have clothes there,” he said, pointing to the dresser. “Top left drawer, I believe.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And how exactly did my clothes get here?”
“You left your address on your application.”
“Yeah. The address to my locked apartment to which you don’t have a key.”
He waved my words away. “It wasn’t any trouble. Cole is exceptionally skilled in two areas. Art and lock-picking. The second he has no occasion to use anymore.”
He said the last so piously I had to laugh. “But he used to?”
“His misspent youth,” Tyler confirmed as he fastened his broken watch to his wrist.
“With you?”
“More or less. I told you. We both did a lot of misspending before we became tight.” He nodded to the clock. “We should get going,” he said.
“Right.” I hurried to finish putting on my shoes. I didn’t bother with makeup. For one thing, I rarely bothered with makeup. For another, I’d seen the setup in the dressing rooms at Destiny. I could get fixed up before my shift.
“How do you feel about donuts?” Tyler asked.
“I’m a cop. Take a guess.”
“Then we’ll eat on the way.”
He’d meant it about the donuts, and before we got on the highway, he pulled into a bakery and got four dozen, but only shrugged when I asked him why so many.
Then we were on the road again, and I was about to drool from the incredible aroma of dough and sugar.
“We’re heading north?”