Page 9 of Coveted By The Bear

“Uh, you okay, Hope?” Miles asked, and I turned to see he was frozen in place. Just staring at me, clearly concerned.

Whether about my emotions or the state of my mental health, I couldn’t be sure.

Crap.

“Yep! Yeppers, um, yes. I mean yes, I am fine,” I said, but my voice had reached a squeaky high I’d never intoned before.

FML.

“Okay. Wait there,” he murmured then got out of the Blazer.

My hand froze on the door handle.

Wait here? For what?

I did not have to wonder for long. Miles had rounded the front of the car and opened my door for me, holding his hand out.

I blinked up at him, noting the strange way he canted his head and seemed determined to help me exit the vehicle.

Biting my lip, I reached for him, not ready for the sizzling spark I felt shooting up my arm.

“Wow! You must be full of static electricity, or something,” I murmured as he tugged on my hand till I was standing right in front of him.

“Something,” he said, his gaze riveted to my lips.

Oh my God. Is he going to kiss me?

I admit it had been a while since a man looked at me with anything akin to passion. Miles was a stranger, but he was gorgeous, and I was single.

But he was my tenant, so really, I shouldn’t tempt fate.

“This way?” he asked, stepping back, and I had to wonder if I’d imagined the whole thing.

Did that moment of mutual attraction actually happen? Or was it a figment of my overworked and undersexed imagination?

The way he was standing there now, all nonchalant, had me leaning towards the latter.

“Yeah, right this way,” I said.

After showing him the side entrance and giving him a guest code on the keyless entry system, I showed him the garage and where he could do his laundry.

“Help yourself to the detergent.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it, and I’ll send a little extra in the rent to cover it,” he mumbled.

“No need. I, uh, your rent includes meals,” I lied on the spot. “But my hours are strange,” I said, realizing my blunder.

“Meals, huh?” The corner of his mouth tipped up a little as he talked.

I waited with bated breath to see if I could maybe conjure a smile there. Miles didn’t look like the kind of man who’d had many smiles in his life, and suddenly I wanted to give him one.

“Yeah, so if you want to eat with me, I’ll be making breakfast for lunch at around one,” I told him.

“Oh, I want to eat with you.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded, That teasing quirk of his lips still refusing to give in to a full blown grin.

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