Page 42 of Time Out

I rolled my lips together. It was almost adorable how uncomfortable Davis was being called mister as it was Roger’s discomfort calling him Davis.

Davis’s hand at my back added pressure to his touch, and when I glanced at him, he was still grinning at me. “I want you to be able to enter whenever you’d like, even if I’m not here yet. It’ll be easier for you to just walk in than wait for me.”

Oh… well, that made sense, I guess? I wasn’t entirely comfortable with his complete trust in me, but the thought was nice.

“I’ll need some information from you then, Miss Maggie,” Roger said, and his thick, age-spotted hands were clicking on the computer keyboard in front of him.

By the time we were done, Davis had received an alert that our pizzas were set to arrive, so we waited in the lobby for them before returning to his condo.

He’d thrown me for a loop with the full access to his home, and the gold key was currently a heavy weight in my purse.

“You want to do the honors?” Davis asked as we reached his door. He had three boxes in his hands, and while I knew he could handle his door just fine on his own, I sensed he was trying to make me more comfortable with the idea of what he’d just done.

My hand trembled as I slipped it out of the front pocket of my purse. Silly. This was absolutely ridiculous. I was just a friend, having a key to my friend’s home in case I ever needed to help them out. The key to Belle’s home never made me this nervous.

A green light lit up as I twisted the key and the door unlocked. As soon as I opened the door, I was met with the dark view of the city beyond his private patio and hot tub… possibly the cause for bringing me back to this place. I pushed the door open and gave Davis enough room to come in behind me and as he did, he slipped out of a pair of Under Armour slides. I kicked off my own shoes and followed him to the kitchen.

“I’m glad you were able to come tonight,” Davis said. “Did you not work today?”

“I got off at four. I was just getting home when you called.”

“Perfect timing then, wasn’t it?”

Standing in his kitchen again, watching Davis move to get plates and waters for both of us with those lithe, confident movements?

It really was.

If only I could stop thinking about the other two times I’d been here and how they both ended—with me running out.

Chapter 13

Davis

Maggie seemed more nervous than usual, and it had started before I’d shocked her into stone cold silence by giving her an extra key and full access to my place. Mostly I just wanted her to know she was welcome whenever she wanted to be here. I had nothing to hide from her. Also, I wanted her to have a safe place to go in case she ever didn’t feel safe at her home.

The building in the light of day was worse than I originally thought, and I was pretty certain the men standing on the corner weren’t exchanging flour for the cupcakes they’d be baking later. At least I’d gotten confirmation the elevator was being fixed.

I didn’t have enough currency with her yet to suggest she consider moving in with me where she wouldn’t only be closer to work but closer to the hospital—thanks GPS for that helpful selling point if it ever came up—but for now, I was content with her knowing if she needed to, she always had a safe place here.

She was definitely quieter than she’d been before, though, and while I was trying to give her time to settle into my gesture, I was also trying to figure out how to bring up I’d discovered who she was. She’d said she didn’t talk to her family, wasn’t close to them, but I suspected the truth wasn’t something she enjoyed sharing. I only felt mildly crappy about prying into her life given the work Belle had done into mine.

Also, I couldn’t wait to tease her about her choice in pizza toppings.

Jalapeños? It was almost as bizarre as the sociopaths who chose pineapple.

In the end, we spoke at the same time—

“I’m uncomfortable with the key.”

“Wanna explain the peppers?”

She chuckled, the discomfort on her features easing into a smile.

“You go first, the key. Why does that make you uncomfortable?” If this was some big deal to her, she’d lose her mind with everything else I needed to tell her.

“I don’t know exactly.” With two fingers, short fingernails painted a sky-blue color, she pushed the gold key in a circle on the kitchen counter. “I guess it seems… like a lot? We barely know each other.”

“Which we’re trying to fix with pizza tonight, right?”

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