I came to my senses.
I grabbed both of her wrists with one hand. “No time,” I panted.
“I need you.”
It was a soft plea that shot straight to my heart. How was I supposed to say no to that?
“Easy.”
I was torn between my need to please her and going to work.
She buried her forehead against my chest. “Go to work,” she mumbled.
Her legs fell to my sides, and she wrestled until I released her wrists. She straightened my coveralls while I looked on in irritation.
I clasped her face and kissed her hard. “I gotta go.”
I snatched my lunch and slammed the door harder than necessary on the way out.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” I said as I stepped inside the elevator.
“Must be trying to live with a beautiful woman.”
I snapped my head up to find Daniel Elliott propped against the wall. I held the lunch sack in front of my crotch. He smirked, knowing damn well what I was doing.
“You have no idea,” I muttered.
“I’ve got a pretty good one.”
His wife was stunning, and from what I’d seen, she didn’t put up with any shit. But my landlords seemed happy. More than happy.
I grunted in response and stared at the mirrored wall ahead.
“Apartment okay?”
“Yeah. It’s great. Baker and I both appreciate you letting us lease the place.” Now I was speaking on her behalf? This shit was getting out of hand.
“Have you had a chance to work on the remodel?”
“Not yet. Can’t seem to find the time.”
“I’ll have a plumber come by.”
“No,” I said quickly. One brow lifted. “I want to do it myself. Least I can do for the discounted rent.”
“It’s no problem.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I insisted.
He shrugged. “Suit yourself. But if you change your mind—”
“I won’t.”
“Come for dinner soon. The invitation is standing. We start at six thirty.”
I got the impression I wasn’t meant to turn him down. “Sure thing. But I haven’t been getting home until after seven lately. I’ll tell Baker though.”
“Let your family know too.”
The elevator doors slid open, and he gestured for me to go first.
“Thanks.”
“Would you like a ride?”
I glanced down at my stained coveralls. “No. I’m good. I appreciate it.”
He nodded at the doorman as we exited onto the sidewalk. A black car was waiting at the curb.
“When it comes to your roommate, you might as well stop fighting it now. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble down the road.”
“Fighting what?” I played dumb, and judging by his smirk, he saw right through it.
“Have it your way. But I promise, one way or the other, you’ll end up with her.”
“I can’t imagine why you’d think that.”
“Because I’ve been in your shoes. Doesn’t matter how much you deny that you need her. The truth is the truth. And it always comes to light.”
He slid into the back of the car, and I stared after it as the vehicle moved into traffic.
Denial.
I wasn’t denying anything. I knew exactly what Baker did to me. The problem was I didn’t know how to keep her.
She’d leave just like everyone else did.
“We drifted apart, Holt. You were always working.”
I’d asked myself a million times if that were true. If the problems had been my fault. I didn’t think so, but I wasn’t totally sure.
Regardless of who was to blame, I‘d been hurt, and I couldn’t take it if Baker left me too. I’d planned to keep it casual, but that was shot to hell somewhere between the time I’d met her and when we’d agreed to be roommates.
“Fuck.”
This morning . . . what man wouldn’t want a send-off like that every day of his life? She was doing a lot more than spoiling me. Baker gave me hope for things that weren’t possible. Not for me.
* * *
“There’s somebody here to see you.” Ed jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the office as soon as I stepped inside the bay.
“You recognize them?”
“A woman. That’s all I know.”
Baker? Nah. There was no way she beat me here.
Marlow? Maybe my sister wasn’t as stubborn as I thought. I smiled at the thought of her coming to apologize. If she had, I’d let yesterday go. Give her an apology of my own.
The door squeaked when I moved from the garage to the waiting area. I froze in the doorway when she pivoted.
“Hello, son.”
Chapter Fourteen
Baker
“What’s this about a makeup line?”
I sat up straight at the architectural desk, layouts spread before me. Hayden leaned over my shoulder and pointed to one.
“That’s quite good, don’t you think?”
I turned to her and grinned.