felt like home. It squeaked slightly as it waved in the breeze, and they walked underneath it to a door between the pub and the business on the corner. Pulling out a key from the pocket of his running shorts, he unlocked the door and ushered her inside. He led the way up the stairs to the second floor. There was only one door, his apartment taking up the entire space over the pub. Another set of stairs continued upward to the third floor where there were two smaller apartments, currently being used for storage. With his other key, he opened his door and stood back, waving his hand for her to proceed.
“Oh, wow, Torin. This is amazing.” Curiosity was on her face, her now-open expression easy to read. Her head swung from side to side.
He was proud of the work he’d done on the apartment, pleased that Erin was impressed. When he’d first returned from the Army and Gramps had given him and Maeve the pub, his grandfather had also signed ownership of the building over to them.
“Originally, there had been two smaller apartments on this floor. I lived in one and Maeve lived in the other. After a while, she wanted her own separate space that wasn’t so close to the pub and moved out a few years ago, buying a remodeled townhouse not too far from the Inner Harbor. I decided instead of renting the other apartment, I’d renovate and make this one large space. I didn’t need the money from the rental, and I preferred having the entire floor to myself.”
“I think it’s brilliant,” she said.
“I’ll show you around.” To the right was a spacious living room that overlooked the street. He’d left the exposed brick walls, had refinished the wooden plank floors, and his furniture was deep-cushioned and comfortable. To the left was an open space where he had a dining table, and farther back was the large kitchen, a window over the sink looking to the street behind. He led her down the hall, showing two bedrooms and a renovated bathroom. He grinned as she gasped at the owner’s suite, large enough for a king-sized bed, dresser, and two comfortable chairs near a bookcase, creating a beautiful reading nook. She stepped inside the owner’s bathroom, took one look at the freestanding soaker tub, and whirled around to hold his gaze.
“Torin, I’m in awe of this place! You’ve done a beautiful job.”
He shrugged, proud and yet a little embarrassed at her praise. “My grandmother always said that a place worth living in deserved to be a home. You know what Army living is like. I’d lived in enough shitholes or shared spaces that when I renovated this place I wanted it to feel like a real home. Something completely different from the pub.”
As they walked back down the hall, he noted her hand lightly trailing along the exposed brick wall, gently rubbing the original wooden door frames. Suddenly, the image of those delicate fingers giving the same loving attention to his body slammed into him. He’d been attracted to her since the first moment he laid eyes on her, but the haunted look in her eye had kept him from acting on that attraction. As they spent more time together, it was harder to look at her as just a friend.
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled, the sight spearing the left side of his chest.
“I love how you renovated in a way that keeps the original flavor. I’ve been looking at apartments to rent, but now that I’ve seen this, I might be spoiled. I’ll have to narrow my search to something as beautiful as what you’ve done here.”
Shrugging, he led the way to the kitchen where he pulled out sports drink bottles. Handing one to her, he confessed, “I wasn’t sure what I was doing other than just knowing I wanted a large space to live.”
“What’s on the third floor?”
“That space still has two apartments but we just use it for storage. I didn’t want anyone living above me, so I don’t rent those out.” He shrugged again. “Maybe that’s not good business sense.”
She placed her hand on his arm again, and he felt the warmth penetrate through his skin and could swear jolts of electricity moved through him.
“I don’t think you’ve made a bad decision. If you ever want to move out of here, you can rent all three apartments. Since this one is so large and nice, you’ll make more money