Page 30 of S.O.S. Perk

Another silence ensued, but this time Perk wasn’t worried. He knew Sloane was digesting his words, and he gave her time.

“Why me, Perk?” she finally asked.

That was easy.

“Why not?” he quickly responded, but knew he needed to go into detail. “I remember the first time I set eyes on you at the Jakes’ house. You came in all professional-like, dressed in your regulation black and white, barking orders at your team as your gorgeous brown eyes were taking everything in.”

There was a huff over the line, but she didn’t interrupt.

“When your gaze landed on me, I felt like I’d been gut-punched. You were just so dammed…compelling, but also closedup. Kind of like a package saying, ‘unwrap me, and see what’s inside’.”

Sloane snorted. “That’s very poetic of you Perk, but seriously? You got all that from me walking in and looking around?” she scoffed.

“Uh, huh. I’m dead serious,” he returned. “It was late in the day, and although you probably didn’t know it, your hair wasn’t behaving, leaving small whisps curling around your face in a stunning halo. You were flushed, like you’d just run up the walkway, and that made your adorable freckles stand out across your nose.”

“I don’t have freckles,” she grunted.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Perk chuckled, then his voice deepened. “One day I’ll prove it to you, tracing them all and kissing each one.”

Perk heard a stream of air leave Sloane’s lungs.

“You’re, uh, getting ahead of yourself, aren’t you,friend?” she posited, but there was something in her voice that told him to keep pushing.

“Maybe, but I need you to know that you are extremely appealing to me, Sloane; both in mind and in body. And if you think I’m going to settle for friendship with you without a fight for more, you haven’t figured me out yet.”

Perk waited to see if he’d crossed a line; if Sloane was going to shoot him down for his outspokenness.

“Uh, where do you live, Perk?”

Huh? There was a total non sequitur; a question out of the blue he certainly wasn’t expecting. Then he remembered she’d saidshehadn’t run him through any background checks. Well, if Sloane needed that info, then okay. And if she was changing the subject just to ease the tension he could feel rolling off her, he’d give her whatever would help. Maybe it was even time he added some humor to lighten things up.

“My place? Why? Are you going to come visit me?” he teased, but he couldn’t keep the excitement over that prospect—even if it was all in his head—out of his voice.

“No. At least not any time soon. I’m just getting back to my original premise of finding out more about you.”

Or getting away from some truths she wasn’t ready to hear.

He’d play along. For now.

“Ahh. I see.” Perk calmed his inappropriately rampant libido. He’d had a quick flash of Sloane coming to his condo. Jumping him at the door. Maneuvering their joined bodies to his king-sized bed, and—

That’s where he cut his fantasy off and refocused on her original inquiry.

“I actually just purchased a condo in Dorchester. Well, it’s the top two floors of a triple decker that was divided into two units, but they call it a condo, and it’s my new home.”

He’d been apartment hopping for far too long, giving truth to his family’s beliefs that he was anything but settled. But with the amount Del was paying him, he’d finally been able to afford a place of his own. He just hadn’t told his folks yet. There’d be some arguments involved over that, so it could wait.

“Wow. I’m not too far from you,” Sloane responded. “My place is in Brookline,” she revealed. “It’s also a condo, but a two-story unit in an old, municipal building. I love it. It’s got high ceilings and great light, especially in the late afternoons.”

Perk immediately wondered about the great light comment. Was Sloane some kind of artist on the side, or simply a sun-lover? Regardless of that puzzle, he was pumped that she was giving over bits and pieces of herself.

“I feel like I’m getting somewhere with you now, Perk. Do you mind if I keep probing?” Sloane asked, obviously feeling the same way he was.

“Sure. I’m an open book,” he responded, but wondered how honest he would actually be when faced with some tougher questions. He had a few things going on with his personal life that always left him feeling…less than he really was.

“You said that things in your family weren’t exactly what I was imagining. Do you care to elaborate on that?”

Damn.She’d leaped on the one thing he was most reluctant to talk about.

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