Page 23 of Somewhere You Belong

“Jesus Christ! Get away!” She rushes the geese as their honking rings out and they scurry away from the house. She smiles triumphantly, but in a flash, she rushes toward her door again and struggles with the knob. “Stupid doorknob.”

“Fuck,” I mutter for a multitude of reasons before my feet carry me toward her, slapping her hand out of the way and then pushing the door open with brute force.

“Oh my God.” She runs inside the house and moves to slam the door in my face, but I stop it with my hand before she can.

“No, thank you.”

She glares at me through the crack in the door. “Again with the manners?”

“Well, I did just help you escape the geese and get your door open.”

“I didn’t ask for your help,” she fires back, glaring at me through the crack in the door.

“Then perhaps I’ll just keep the secret to getting rid of them to myself.” I cross my arms over my chest, knowing I actually have no clue how to deter the geese. But hell, it can’t be that hard.

“You know how to get rid of them?”

“When you live around them for most of your life, you pick up a few tricks.” I shrug, feigning confidence.

She hesitates, considering my offer as our eyes lock through the gap in the door. Just then, the honking grows closer. I twist around to see the geese have gathered and are hellbent on trying to make their way up the steps again.

“Are you going to leave me out here to fend for myself?” I ask as I turn back to her.

“Why are you even here?” She narrows the gap in the door even further.

Panic builds in my chest as I see the opportunity I came here for slipping away. This might be my only shot at asking her directly about the house. Despite this woman being rude and clearly out of her element, I can’t miss this chance to discuss my proposition.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Me?”

“HONK!” The geese call grows louder as I spin my head back and forth between her and the birds.

“Can we talk inside, please?” The pleading in my voice is not something I’m proud of, but truth be told, I’m getting a little concerned about the determination of these fucking geese.

She huffs loudly, but then quickly pulls open the door. “Hurry up!”

I scurry inside just as she slams the door behind me, locking it for good measure. “I swear, those birds are predatory.”

“Nah. They’re probably just hungry, or not used to seeing someone here,” I say just as my eyes take in the entirety of the woman standing before me, and I allow myself to do so blatantly.

She’s not as dressed up as she was the other night, but even though she traded the heels for flats, she still looks all business. Black polyester capris cover her long legs that I still remember vividly from Friday night, and a lavender blouse covers her torso. Her hair is back in the same bun as before, pulling her face tight and adding to her cold demeanor even more as her brown eyes stare at me.

But her lips—they’re bare this time, the softest pink that makes me lock onto them for an unknown length of time. I see them move, but don’t register the words coming out of them.

“Hello?” she says, fanning one of her hands in front of my face.

Shaking my head, I pull myself together. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“I said what are you doing here?”

“Oh. Well, I guess I could ask the same of you…”

What the hell are you doing, Dallas?

You should be buttering this woman up instead of acting like an ass.

She crosses her arms over her chest and pops her hip out to the side. “That’s none of your concern.”

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