Page 44 of Rafael

Gisele carriedher boxed salad to the front door of her shop and looked to see if Rafael had installed one of the little alarms on this one. It faced the street and had a streetlight directly in front of the door. Anyone who attempted to enter would risk being seen. She really didn’t need a screeching alarm on this door.

She unlocked the deadbolt, held her breath and pushed open the door, waiting for the alarm to shriek like a flight of banshees.

When it didn’t, she let go of the breath and walked inside. Good, he hadn’t installed an alarm on the front, just the back and the windows.

The shop was as neat, if not neater than when she’d left it. The mango she’d flung when she’d tripped was at the bottom of Johnny’s cage, almost completely consumed. The lettuce leaf had been shredded, and much of it had beeneaten.

Johnny whistled and moved from side to side on his upper perch, repeatingCheeky bastardseveral times before whistling again.

“Did he feed you the mango and lettuce?” she asked.

Johnny’s head bobbed up and down.He’s a keeper,he squawked.Cheeky bastard.

Gisele laughed. “Yes, to both, my good man.” Although Shelby wouldn’t agree. She leaned closer to the cage and whispered, “She’s worried he’ll break my heart.”

Johnny squawked loudly.

“I know, right?” Gisele lifted her chin. “She should be more worried about me breaking Rafael’s heart. I suspect someone has done it once for him to swear off women.”

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn’t had much to eat since the éclair Rafael had given her that morning.

The man had done more for her in the past twenty-four hours than any date had in the past.

So, he wasn’t into commitment. They could be friends, couldn’t they?

Friends with benefits?

Heat burned through her and coiled at her core at the thought of those benefits.

She looked down at the box of salad in her hand, an idea forming. Shelby’s warning about Rafael flew out the window.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she walked back through the front door, locked it and marched across the alley and up the stairs to Rafael’s apartment.

After she knocked on the door, regrets bubbled up to the surface.

She turned to run.

The door behind her opened. Rafael stood there wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts and a towel draped over his shoulder. Droplets of water fell from his hair onto his bare chest, making Gisele’s mouth go dry.

“Gisele, I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

She held up her box of salad. “Is the offer of taco soup still open?”

He grinned. “Of course. Come in.”

“I brought a salad if you’re into rabbit food.”

His chuckle did crazy things to Gisele’s insides. “I eat an occasional salad. A body needs roughage, or so my doctor says.”

Gisele entered Rafael’s apartment, looking around at empty boxes, flattened and leaning against the wall. The small living room contained a black leather couch and a white marble coffee table with a stack of books on it.

Off the kitchenette was a dinette table with a bright red lacquered top and metal rim that could have been straight out of the nineteen fifties. Itsported two metal chairs, the seats covered in equally bright red vinyl.

Rafael closed the door behind her and hurried past her. “My sofa and coffee table came today. The dining table was here. Between what you see and my bed, that’s all the furniture. Not that there’s room for much more.”

“What? No television?” She cocked an eyebrow.

He grinned. “It’s on order. I like to watch football.” He ducked into the only bedroom. “Are you a fan?”

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