“Thank you,” he whispers, giving me that same gentle smile that he gave me last night when he asked about my day.
“Earth to Alex!”
“Alright, Laura, I was just saying thanks to Zack’s mum for the keys.”
“Oh, let me say hi.” I glance at the laptop and see her peering to the side of her screen in my direction.
“Sorry,” Alex mutters. “She’s nosy.”
I step closer to him so I appear on the screen and try to school my features into a nice old lady who hasn’t been having inappropriate thoughts about this woman’s brother.
She waves at me. “Hi, Zack’s Mum.”
“Hi, Laura. Call me Mel.”
“Thank you so much for letting my baby brother stay with you while we sort out his living arrangements.”
“It’s no bother. He’s not any trouble.”
“He must be making the effort to behave himself then.” Laura snickers and I watch Alex’s face through the screen as he rolls his eyes. Our eyes meet and it’s strange, looking at him on the laptop while standing right next to him.
I’m flustered and switch my focus back to Laura instead. I can make out the family resemblance. It’s impossible to tell if they share the same hair colour because Laura’s is dyed an electric blue. It looks amazing. She has similar brown eyes to Alex, and their facial features share some similarities. She’s wearing a strappy top and her shoulders and arms are covered in tattoos, her nose is pierced, and she has heavy eyeliner on.
She’s watching me, no doubt, looking me over in a similar way as I’m doing to her.
“Hopefully this new place will work out and he’ll be settled soon,” I say. It’s easier to speak to her and ignore the waves of heat that seem to be bouncing between Alex and I.
“Well, as a thank you, if you ever want a tattoo on the house, you know who to come and see.” Laura gestures to the space behind her and I realise she’s in a tattoo studio. The wall behind her is covered in hand drawn designs.
“That’s really kind of you. Thank you.”
Alex chuckles. “Not a likely customer, Laura.” He glances at me, a grin on his face.
“You don’t like tattoos?” Laura asks me, a curious expression on her face.
“I love them. I just haven’t been brave enough to get one yet.”
“You should come to me. I promise I’m gentle. Alex can vouch for me. I did most of my practising on him.”
Ah, that explains all his ink when he’s saving to move out.
“Lovely to meet you, Laura. I better go back to work.” As I step away, I’m finally able to take a deep breath, free from the musky scent of Alex. He smells like leather and earth and it’s divine, but I really shouldn’t be fixating on the scent of my temporary lodger.
I’m reviewing a contract from one of my earlier meetings when there’s a gentle tap on the door.
“Come in,” I call out. The door opens wide, and Alex stands there, filling the frame.
“Sorry to disturb you. Just wanted to let you know I’m heading into work soon and I’ll be back late.”
“No worries, I’ll leave the porch light on for you. The gold-coloured key is for the back door. The silver one does the front lock.”
“That’s great, thanks. There’s not an alarm to deactivate or anything?”
“No, I’ve been meaning to get one installed, but nothing at the moment. Are you at The Arts Centre tonight?” I ask, racking my brain, trying to remember if there’s an event going on there that I’ve forgotten about.
“No, I’m at The Thirst Trap tonight. It’s a bar down in the town. I just started this month. Casual shifts but hopefully turning more permanent.”
“Oh.” I try to hide my surprise that he’s working at Tom’s bar and then my mind races as I realise that Alex might be the new blood that Abby was talking about.