Page 23 of Singled Out

“Pretty,” he said quietly, as if to himself.

No way was Harper staying here tonight.

“Mind your manners,” I snapped.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“I live here,” Harper said. “I’m Naomi’s roommate. Was.” She frowned.

“My sister never mentioned any roommates.” He missed pronouncing the t in roommates.

“When was the last time you talked to your sister?” I asked.

He stood, swaying a little. “You got a lease?” His tone was cold, angry, as he ignored my question and addressed Harper.

She flicked a glance up at me, and I instantly guessed she and Naomi didn’t have a written agreement. “I pay rent every month. You can trace the money that way.”

“This’s my house now.”

“I’ve been running the studio since Naomi…” Harper said. “A lot of people depend on the art studio to be open.”

“Don’t give a fuck about any studio.” With shaky hands, he emptied the bottle into his glass.

“It was important to your sister,” Harper said, but there was no point in reasoning with this asshole.

“You’re not staying here,” I said to her in a low voice.

“I live here. He doesn’t,” she said.

“If he owns it…”

Her shoulders fell.

“Naomi’s not here,” Ian said after downing half his glass. “You need to leave.”

“We’ll be getting some of her belongings from her room,” I told him.

He grunted, then said, “Then get the fuck out. My sister is fucking dead.”

“Go pack a bag,” I said quietly to Harper. “I’ll wait down here.” I didn’t trust this guy for a minute. He looked likely to pass back out, but I wasn’t taking any chances. There was no way in hell I’d let Harper deal with him alone.

Harper stared at him as if she wanted to say more.

“You can stay in my guest room,” I told her. “You’ll have the whole lower level to yourself.”

She met my eyes, looking like she wanted to argue, but then she nodded. “I’ll be back in five.”

I watched Naomi’s brother, but it turned out to be unnecessary as he seemed to forget I was there. He pulled a knitted blanket over himself and passed out again. He was snoring within two minutes.

I heard Harper descending the stairs and met her at the foot of them. She’d changed out of her dress and wore denim cutoffs and a ladies-cut tee. Her kill-a-man heels had been replaced by running shoes. She carried a mini backpack.

Her eyes were wide as she glanced back at her friend’s brother, then up at me, looking for a second a lot younger than she was.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said.

Without a word, she preceded me out the door. I still had her keys, so I locked it behind me. With my arm at her waist again, I had the fleeting thought that I missed the revealing dress and the feel of her bare skin, but I needed to shove that right the hell out of my mind. It was going to be dicey enough having her one floor down in my house when I was sure my brain would hold on to the way she’d looked all night. The way she’d felt.

“Are you okay?” I asked once we were in the SUV with the engine running.