“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?”
He snatched the towel from my hand, and we responded to one another in unison, “I live here.”
9
Dylan
A motion at the top of the stairs drew my attention.
“Elin, what’s going—? Oh, hell-o! Warn a girl next time, huh?” Judging by the voice and blurred silhouette, Arden Richardson was at the end of the hall.
I quickly wrapped the towel around my lower half and blinked, trying to clear the fog clouding my vision. Arden was my mechanic’s mate. I’d sold my cherry red Mustang to Flynn shortly before his accident.
Elin held up her weapons to show Arden. “I thought he was an intruder. Or a raccoon.” She turned stiffly to me. “Um, sorry if I blinded you.”
“You didn’t blind me. I’m a shifter. I’ll heal in a few minutes.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I rescind the apology then.”
I stifled a grin at her sass. I couldn’t be too angry at Elin, not after the pain I’d caused her. Hell, I deserved worse than a whack to the head and stinging eyes.
The moment I opened the bathroom door and saw Elin standing there, I thought I was dreaming, that she was an apparition—and irresistibly beautiful apparition. Now a blurry apparition. I didn’t need to be reminded of how beautiful she was. The blurred vision was probably a blessing.
I rubbed my aching eyes again. “You said you live here. What did you mean when you said that?”
“What did you mean when you said it?”
“I meant I rented the house yesterday. Paid Patton for the month.”
“Impossible. I gave Mariah first, last, and a security deposit yesterday.”
I looked up at the ceiling and huffed a humorless laugh. Fucking Patton.
“What’s so funny?”
I shrugged. “You rented the house from Mariah. I rented the house from Patton… Wait. You paid a security deposit? For this place?”
She palmed her forehead and shook her head. “I hadn’t seen the dump yet.”
Arden was nodding like a bobble head and grinning from ear to ear. “Maybe you two could just share, I mean there’s enough room—"
“No!”
“No way!”
“Dylan’s going to find somewhere else to rent.” Elin slammed her fists on her hips.
I rubbed my jaw. “Why would I move out? I was here first. Why don’t you find another place.”
Arden shook her head. “Well, I hate to burst both your bubbles, but this is peak tourist season in the Florida Keys. There’s waiting lists for the waiting lists for availability on this island.”
Elin groaned and her tone changed from I’ll-kill-you-in-your-sleep to I’ll-only-maim-you-severely. “Look, the cottage I’ve been renting suffered structural damage in the storm we had a few nights ago. This was the only thing I could find on short notice.”
Did she really think I wouldn’t leave in a heartbeat if I had somewhere else to go? In the past I’d stayed on Patton’s boat when I was in the Keys, but that wasn’t an option anymore. Not since he’d found his mate and settled down. He and Mariah split their time between the boat and her house, but they both carried the constant lingering smell of mating, which was too much for me to handle.
I shrugged. “I bought a house on the island and it’s in the middle of renovations. It’s not livable just yet, so I guess Arden’s right. We’re both stuck here until something else becomes available.”
Elin threw up her hands then blew out a sharp breath. “Fine.” She waved the Lysol and the badminton racket in my face. “But you keep your distance. Better yet, stay out of my sight entirely.” Turning on her heel, she marched downstairs taking the weapons with her.
I shut the bedroom door and leaned against it. The two of us under one roof was not going to fly. I’d had a hard enough time the past two months struggling with my addiction to her. And addiction was the perfect word. I was addicted to her—the taste of her skin, the feel of her lips, the scent of her arousal, the memory of her little moaning breaths as she neared orgasm. I hadn’t forgotten a single second. I never would.
The thought alone had me fighting a growing erection.
Even though my eyes and nose still burned from the Lysol, it felt so good to be near her. Way too good. I could not allow anything to develop between us.
Fortunately, she hated me. Good. I needed her to hate me. That would ensure things didn’t get out of hand, because lord knew I couldn’t trust myself so near her.
I threw on clothes and listened to Arden and Elin dragging in suitcases. Arden said something about having to leave for weekly dinner with her family.
I picked up my cell off the bedside table and called Patton. It went to voicemail. Then I called Jake. Again, I got voicemail. I left a message asking them to put a rush on the repairs, that I would pay whatever it took to compensate the crew for overtime if I could get into my house faster. I didn’t even mind living in the house while it was under construction as long as I had running water.
Fucking Patton. Patton James put on a good act as carefree, laid back, and absentminded, but we’d been close friends since grade school. Patton was no fool. He was a hell of a lot sharper than anyone gave him credit for and I wouldn’t be surprised if he planned this entire thing.
I’d managed to keep my distance from Elin for months. I didn’t need her perky tits and bow shaped lips in my face all day.
I spent the next five hours at a corner table at Mimi’s with ear buds and my laptop. I drank. I ate. I worked. When I returned, the house was quiet.
It
