Page 5 of Playing With His Heart

“Wait, I bet that’s some kind of fire hazard or safety law or something.”

If she complained and had it fixed, she wouldn’t get to do her favorite thing. On clear nights, she loved to sit out on the platform and imagine she could see the stars shining above. It wasn’t an ideal place because there was so much light pollution that the stars couldn’t shine through, so most of the time she just imagined she saw them. One day she would have her own place out of the city where she could lie on the soft grass and watch the stars move across the sky.

“Ugh, what is taking them so long?”

She was tired of waiting for someone to come back and help her. As far as expensive complexes went, that one wasn’t run very well. She knew his address, so she just snuck over to the elevator—no one was paying a lick of attention, anyway. She clicked the up button and waited while the elevator said it was coming from the parking garage. When the doors opened, there was a man standing inside already, so she stood on the opposite side.

“What floor?”

“Oh, the top please.”

At least he asked her where she was going. Most rich people were only worried about themselves. Maybe he was the elevator attendant, but he wasn’t really dressed for that job. Clad in shorts and a T-shirt, he carried a duffle bag. The building was a little classier than that. The front desk guy had a suit on. Looked like this guy might have just come from the gym. Didn’t really matter. Once she had words with her property owner, she’d be out of there, anyway. He’d just better be there. She’d gone to his office and everyone had gone, so that was a wasted trip. Wasn’t like she had anywhere to be. Her apartment was a sauna.

In the compact space, with horrible but typical elevator music playing, Jenna caught a whiff of a delicious scent. Without conscious thought, she drifted toward the stranger she shared the space with and corrected herself to stand closer to the shiny wall again.

Good lord, I must look like a hard-up teenager or something.

She chanced a glance toward the man, and he caught her.Shit.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to stare, but you just smell really good. And now I’m super embarrassed.”

“No reason to be embarrassed, and thanks for that. I guess it’s my cologne, must still linger on these clothes. My name is Zayn.”

He reached out his hand to shake hers. Did guys really still do that? Well, at least this one did.

“Hi there, nice to meet you. Oh, gosh, that was fast. We’re at the top already?”

“Yeah, doesn’t take long.”

They both moved closer to the door and waited for it to open.

“Sorry, I guess I never introduced myself. I’m Jenna.”

“Jenna?”

“Yeah, Jenna Perkins, but I don’t live here—just looking for someone. Are you okay?”

He had a weird look on his face but didn’t say anything. The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. He let her go out ahead of him, but when she stopped to look at the shiny numbered plate on the wall for the direction of the townhouse, he moved to walk around her.

“All good. Nice to meet you, Jenna.”

All of a sudden, he seemed to be in a hurry and his demeanor was different. She watched him walk away, then realized she needed to go in the same direction.Wait. He’s going to the same apartment.

According to the plate on the wall, there was only one apartment on the top floor. Which meant he must live there. Which also meant he was her landlord. She walked up behind the man who called himself Zayn, while he fidgeted with his keyring. Was that even his name?

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Holden?”

* * *

Son of a…Could that really be the same Jenna from my answering machine last night?

He’d already tried to find her at her place of work earlier that day, and both times he’d called, she was out of her office—but he’d not once thought she would hunt him down where he lived. She must be really pissed.

When she asked who he was, he couldn’t ignore her because she was standing right behind him. He hesitated a few seconds, not sure what to say as she basically forced him to talk to her. It was stupid, really. He talked every day to strangers; it was part of his job. The problem, however, lay in the fact that he didn’t find himself physically attracted to all those other nameless people. He didn’t even know Jenna; he’d only been going off his infatuation from hearing her voice. He couldn’t lie, though. He might have thought once or twice about how she would look. His imagination didn’t do her justice.

He turned and took a step back, not realizing she was standing so close.

“Yep, Mr. Holden at your service.”

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