Page 25 of Iron Heart
“A little after eight.”
Shit.I must have slept through my alarm. It’s actually sort of a good thing Dante woke me, or I would have been late for work. Not that I’m going to thank him, of course.
I peer at the quote, scanning the short description of the work he’s proposing to do and making sure the amount at the bottom is close to what we agreed on. “Okay, fine,” I finally say, stepping away from the threshold to let him in. “Go ahead into the kitchen, and do whatever you need to do. I’m going upstairs to take a shower.”
Something flashes on his face— a little spark in his eye, a little twitch of his lips.
“Don’t put that image in my head, Lois Lane,” he growls, lip curling into a sensual smirk. “I’m likely to electrocute myself.”
His words are so unexpected that they make my brain momentarily short-circuit. I can’t think of a single thing to say in response. Instead, I turn away, face flaming.
The low rumble of a chuckle follows me as I head walk away from him. God, there’s something so destabilizing about this man! I never know if he’s teasing me, or feeding me a line, or just trying to get a rise out of me. I have no idea how to react around him -- it pisses me off to think I’d just be playing into whatever messed-up game he might be playing with me.
As I climb the stairs, I hear him stomp across the room and into the kitchen. On the way up, the soft tinkle of my cell phone from my bedroom tells me I have a text. Back in my room, I see it’s from Savannah:
Wakey wakey! Good morning, sunshine!
I smile and type back:
Yes, I’m alive ;)
A few seconds later, she sends her response:
Hey, Jeremy is going out of town tomorrow for a couple days, so I’ll be back at the house full-time. Wanna have a girl date with movies and ice cream?
How can I resist? Except we might have to nix the ice cream part unless the electrician fixes the outlet to the fridge.
Ooh, u found someone?
Yes. In fact, he’s here right now.
Are u good being alone there with him? u need me to come hang out? I might be able to get Dr. Andrews to give me the morning off.
No, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it. My hair stylist recommended him, so he’s probably not too dangerous, right? Besides, I’m leaving for work in a few. :)
Okay, love u babe. Text me if u need anything
Will do <3
I smile to myself as I toss my phone back on the nightstand. Savannah is like the sister I never had. A familiar pang pokes me in the chest at the thought of the brother I never really had either, but I push the thought of Vaughn aside.
I start to strip off my shirt, but then remember I’m not alone in the house and don’t want to be walking around naked. As I cross the hall to the bathroom, the heavy steps of Dante’s boots echo up the stairs.
“Don’t put that image in my head, Lois Lane. I’m likely to electrocute myself.”
In spite of myself, a little thrill runs up my spine. I don’t know why the idea of him being attracted to me excites me. It probably shouldn’t. But the thought that he might be imagining me up here naked starts an ache between my legs. An ache I haven’t felt in a long time, to be honest.
I’ve been living like a nun since I arrived in Ironwood. I’m not sure why, exactly, but I’ve been avoiding men like the plague. Part of it is probably denial — that if I got serious about someone, I’d have to admit that that I actually live here now.
The other reason, though, is something I definitely know.
In every relationship I’ve ever been in — and there haven’t been many, believe me — I eventually had to tell the guy about my heart thing. And in every case, once I did, the relationship changed. Before I knew it, they were treating me like a china doll. Including in the bedroom.
It’s pretty hard to feel sexy when you have the ticker of an octogenarian. Especially when every time you get naked, your boyfriend looks at you like you could keel over at any second.
I mean, technically, I guess I could keel over. But I could get run over by a bus tomorrow too, right?
If there were buses in Ironwood, that is.