Page 23 of Tempted Hearts
“Hey, roomie,” I said brightly, knowing it would annoy him.
“You better not snore.”
“You better not strut around the room naked.”
“Don’t you wish,” he muttered, again so quietly only I heard him.
“Ouch, that’s quite a face,” Parker said, holding the door open for me.
It was like two siblings with the second one always getting caught.
“He’s taunting me,” I defended myself.
“Cole’s like a teenage boy,” he said. “He only does that with people he likes.”
“Bet that’s a short list,” I quipped as we climbed the stairs to our rooms.
“Getting shorter every day,” the man in question shot back from above us.
By the time everyone had shuffled their things, Delaney packing up and moving to the new bedroom which was just down the hall and deciding to head to dinner in an hour, I’d taken a change of clothes into the small bathroom.
Turning on the shower, I undressed and pretended Cole wasn’t in my bedroom.
It really was a shame he was such a stick in the mud. The guy was hotter than hell, obviously smart with a great job—though one he only pretended to like, according to Delaney—but… he was the exact kind of guy I’d never date. Ones who knew they were the bat’s meow. The bee’s knees. All that and a bag of chips.
I spent most of the rest of the time getting ready trying to think of other idioms and wondering which one I’d use if I ever turned this fiasco into a book. If I ever had time to write for pleasure, that was. Most of my spare time writing was to string paying writing gigs together to supplement my writing instructor income.
I would, however, very much enjoy creating Cole in a book and then promptly killing him off.
“Dare I ask about that smile?”
He sat on the corner of my bed, shoes off, watching me.
“You wouldn’t want to know.”
“Try me.”
“Not this time,” I said. “That’s my bed. See.” I pointed to the phone cord already plugged in by the bed he’d claimed.
“I did see that. But seeing as you have no phone…”
“Uh, you are maddening. Shower’s yours.”
“I may skip dinner.”
Why did my shoulders sag at that? I should be happy. Cole was annoying as fuck.
“Whatever you do,” I said, trying not to let him notice I cared, “don’t go to sleep until at least ten. It will make the jet lag worse.”
“Or would, if I were staying.”
Oh. “You’re not staying?”
This time, I was pretty sure my voice wasn’t completely neutral.
He sighed. “This is your trip. I want you to enjoy it.”
Surprising. “You do?”
