Page 21 of Rinkmates

He leans in a little closer. “You mean because you checked me out?”

“Hardly. I was just wondering how someone so infuriating can also be so…”

“Charming?”

“I was going to say insufferable.”

“Well, lucky for you, I’m both.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay. Fine. Just let’s get this over with.” I nod behind him.

He smiles, a flicker of something more serious passing through his eyes. “Perfect.”

Six

RILEY

My hand rests lightly on the worn wooden door frame as I watch Liora closing the door behind her.

She’s so fucking tiny, standing there and frowning up at me. And all I can think about is how easy I could lift her up and throw her around in my bedroom to make her shut up and—

The door closes with a loud thud. “How in the world did you manage to track down my address?”

Damn. She looks at me like she’s the one towering over me. Her piercing blue eyes are full of defiance, making it clear she’s not someone you can justthrow around. She’s a wild one, and it drives me nuts.

I clear my throat, feeling the cool hallway air mix with the leftover warmth from her friend’s small place. “Um, well.” Shit. So how do you politely tell a girl that your assistant stalked her? “Nina found you. She’s crazy good at stuff like this.”

“Doesn’t sound legal.”

“I don’t think it was.”

She narrows her eyes at me and I steady myself for what I have to do. Fuck. I’ve never begged before. I feel like a complete idiot asking her to move in with me. The irony isn’t lost onme—considering how much I love my single life. My single apartment. My single nights. Just thinking my man cave is going to be full of things smelling like strawberries soon gives me the ick.

“Listen, I know I screwed up and I’m sorry. You got the wrong impression of me last time.” I clear my throat again. Damn it. What’s up with me? “I didn’t mean to come off as rude. My team never mentioned their PR strategy to me either.”

“That’s what really turned me off, to be honest. Your own team doesn’t even inform you when you have to move in with someone.”

I don’t tell her I want to turn her on, not off. Instead, I just say, “I suppose they were concerned that I might reject it and we’d all lose out on this chance.”

And now I even cough awkwardly. Shit, I wish I’d brought some water. I probably sound like a castrated cat. This should be easy. Apologize, ask her to move in, take her home, done. Okay, good, she can’t hear my thoughts because I sound like a total creep. It’s not like I can’t just snag her and—

“What?” she snaps, and I realize I must have looked at her like I just stepped out of reality and into the Twilight Zone.

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “This isn’t easy for me.”

“To apologize? You must be very comfortable up on your high horse, huh?”

I bite my lip. What a little brat. “I am sorry.”

“For what?”

Is she serious? I bite back a snarl. “For mocking your current…job.”

“And?”

“And being an ass,” I grunt out.

She grins, and that beauty of a smile might have knocked me out if I didn’t lean against her crappy door. I quickly add, “I thinkEthan and Nina had a good idea and that we should take it into consideration and go along with their plan. Let’s keep it casual. You move in with me, we ignore each other but pretend to have a relationship when needed, and profit from it?”

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