Page 69 of Love In Hiding

“Then let me see where you live. Unless you’re a slob. Nah,” she said, shaking her head, her ponytail swaying about. It was easier to put it up today and throw some minimal makeup on. She didn’t like to be fussy about those things on the weekend. “If anything, you’re a neat freak.”

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“That you’re neat or that you’re a slob?”

“I’m not a slob. But not so neat that my eyes twitch if you move the toothpaste away from my toothbrush.”

They’d see about that.

When they got to his building, he nodded to the doorman, she sent the young man a smile and moved in.

“Our doorman is much older and likes to chat daily if we don’t walk by fast. I know it’s rude, but I don’t have the time.”

“Because you’re late half the time,” he said.

“Guilty. Is that going to be a problem?”

“Not for me. Not unless it causes us to miss things. If it’s just you rushing to be on time, that’s on you.”

“That’s normally the case.”

They got to the ninth floor, got off the elevator—he was about halfway up in the building—then made their way to his door. Number three, his phone went up to the door and it unlocked.

“Come in. It’s smaller than your place.”

“But works for you. And we rent, you own, right? We don’t have a fancy lock that our phone takes care of.”

“I do own it. I have for five years.” They moved past a door. “Utility room and storage in there. It’s a nice feature to have, not that I have a lot of things.”

“You come across as an efficient person.”

“That sounds more like an insult than a compliment.”

“Could go both ways,” she said, laughing.

They walked right into a small foyer that the utility room was off of, then moved to the kitchen. L-shape with a bar and what looked to be a few stools on the other side.

More modern than their apartment and she wondered if he’d had work done in here or not.

It was light, bright, modern, and full of whites and grays. Spotless too. It wasn’t as if he was expecting company, but there wasn’t clutter on the counters. Nothing but a fancy coffeemaker in the corner.

There was a four-person round table past the stools, then the living room with one big window bringing in the only light to the space.

A couch, two chairs, a TV on the wall and a coffee table in the center.

“My room and the bathroom are through there.”

She popped her head into the doorway, saw a small hall. One door in front of her with accordion doors. She’d bet anything it was his washer and dryer. A door to the left was his bedroom with a king-sized bed, another large window and a small desk close by. The door on the right had to be his closet, but it was shut.

“It’s a good space.”

“Not as big as yours.”

“But we rent, so much different, and we needed itsharing a space. Two bedrooms weren’t enough; it had to have two baths.”

“I could have gotten a second bath, but there was no reason. It’s not like I have guests often.”

And probably would have added another five hundred thousand easily to the price ticket for that.