Page 5 of Midnight Wedding

“What’s your name?” he asks as he sweeps and I gather.

“Lena. What about you?”

“Arsen.”

“Nice to meet you, I guess.”

“It’s strange the way you can live around people but never really know them at all.”

No kidding. Tonight I learned I have a psycho terrifying monster living down the hall.,

“That’s pretty normal, right?” I laugh awkwardly. “:We’ve all got our own little bubbles.”

“My bubble feels too big right about now,” he murmurs and catches my eyes.

My heart goes wild.

One look and the man makes me want to melt into him.

Put that gun against my head and take me, scary neighbor man.

I’m particularly deranged this evening it seems.

I can’t make myself leave. We move into the living room. I want to ask him why he’s not calling the cops or acting like this is even a big deal, but he seems intent on not talking about the reason we’re cleaning his place. The big old messy elephant in the room. I help him trash the couch stuffing and toss the shards of some pottery.

“Didn’t take care of this very well,” he says, holding up the dried husk of what I think was once a snake plant.

“No judgment here. I could kill sand if given the opportunity.”

“That’s a real skill.”

“Tell me about it. My mom got me sea monkeys one time when I was little, and I drank them after like a day.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “You drank sea monkeys?”

“Yep, I couldn’t help myself. I really wanted to know what they tasted like.”

“And?”

“Salty.” I shrug at the memory. Mom went ballistic, terrified that I was going to get sick. But I was fine. They’re just like tiny shrimp. “Nothing special.”

He laughs to himself. “Do you get in trouble a lot?”

“Depends what you mean by that.”

“Well, you drank sea monkeys and broke into my apartment.” His eyes move to my jacket, now hanging open, and rake along my exposed skin before meeting my gaze again. A thrill shivers between my legs. No mistaking that look. I’ve seen it before, but never from a man like him. “And you look like that.”

My mouth opens, not sure what he’s implying. Coming from anyone else, and I might feel pissed off right now. But from him? From that mouth and with that tone?

He could tell me I look like a hooker straight up, and I’d still wrap my legs around his face.

“I’m just the kind of girl that helps out her neighbors, that’s all.”

“Right, you’ve got a big heart.”

“I’m a gentle spirit, really.”

“Then why were you fondling my undergarments?”

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