Page 176 of If Our Hearts Collide

“Penny!” Collins’s loud voice calls out in the hallway. He’s going to wake up my poor neighbors or get security called on him.

“Go away. I’m sleeping!”

I hear his laughter. Then, I see the lock move and the door opening.

“What the hell, Collins,” I yell, covering a hand over my chest. “How did you get in?”

“I have a key,” he says, holding it up for me to see.

My eyes catch the keychain attached, and then I feel my pulse pick up. “For starters, that’s my key. Second, have you ever heard of boundaries?”

“I’ve heard of them. I just don’t respect them.”

“That much is obvious!”

“Keep your voice down. You’ll wake the neighbors.”

“No, you’ll wake them!”

His eyes have a brightness to them that I haven’t seen before. Is he enjoying this showdown? Oh, he better not be. I snatch the keys from his finger, and then notice my handbag in his otherhand. When I go to reach for it, he pulls his hand back, keeping me from my belongings.

“Why did you leave?”

“What?”

“You snuck out, set off my security alarm, and didn’t say a word.”

“Oh. I just really wanted to sleep in my own bed. I figured my roommate was home to let me in, which he was. See?” I motion up and down my body with a hand, making Collins follow with his eyes. “I’m safe and sound.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Don’t like what? My body? My independence? Not getting your way? There’s probably a plethora of things that piss you off at the moment, so please enlighten me.”

“You walking alone in the hallways at night.”

“I live here, Collins. Better get used to it.”

“I don’t like it, Penny.”

Propping my hands on my waist, I pop out a hip.

It takes me glancing down one time to quickly cross my arms over my chest.

You can see the outlines of my nipples through this fabric. Eek!

His eyes darken, and my sudden modesty is now fueling his compulsion to stare.

“Quit treating me like a client, one you don’t even act like you like. It’s so cold.”

Collins’s eye twitches. “You are a client,” he points out matter-of-factly.

How could I forget?

“Well, how do I get out of an agreement that I never signed up for in the first place? Huh?”

“Penny…”

“Aren’t you tossing me to the brute in the parking lot anyway? Carl?”

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