Page 18 of Save Me the Trouble
“Mr. Crown.”Good job, Grace.
“Please come in.” He stepped back and held the door with a look that dared me to enter.
Into the lion’s den.
Not a den. Not even an apartment.
Killian’s penthouse was exactly that: a house on top of a twenty-story apartment building with an unobstructed view of the city. Or it would be without the clouds. But with them…the modern, open design made it feel like we were floating. A house in the heavens.
I quickly scanned the room as I turned to face him. There was a gas fireplace built into the wall next to the windows lining the living room area. Fancy leather couches that looked like they were ready to swallow you up and spit you out—just like their owner. Massive kitchen. Dining room table with chairs to seat an entire village.
And at that point I stopped looking because there were only bedrooms left to see, and I wasn’t interested in those.
I didn’t want to be interested in those.
“Am I too early?” I asked, trying to keep any hint of admiration from my face. “You don’t look like you’re ready.”
There was that laugh again. The one that always meant he knew something that I didn’t.
“You’re right on time, and you’re the one who’s not quite ready,” he said, wincing as his stare raked over my dress.
Ass.
“I’m perfectly ready?—”
“We’re going for a run, Grace,” he interrupted, striding into the kitchen to pick up a stack of clothes from the counter. Hopefully, there was a shirt in the pile because my eyes kept getting tripped up over his rocky abs.
“I’m sorry. What?” I blinked.
“A run.” He handed the pile of clothes to me—for me, I realized.
“And if I don’t run?”
He stepped toward me and lowered his voice. “I’ll go slow so you’re comfortable.”
Oh, mercy.
The husk of his voice. The amber scent of his musk. The promise in his voice made it so easy to think…to believe he was talking about something else entirely.
And that was what Aleta probably thought, too.
I stiffened and stepped back. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.” I grabbed the clothes from his hand and strode into the bathroom to change.
A few minutes later, I walked out in the neon yellow top and forest green yoga pants and told myself I wasn’t going to think any more about how it all fit perfectly. I was going to wear it, wash it, and return it. Period.
“Now, you’re ready.” His eyes drifted over me, heat unmistakably flaring in their depths. At least he had on his shirt and sneakers now, too.
“Lead the way.” I was ready to tackle a run. The conversation I’d come here to have? I wasn’t so sure about that.
When we stepped back out onto the sidewalk, the first thing I noticed was the sky looked a little more ominous.
“What happens if it rains?”
He looked at me and gave me a lopsided grin. It was easy. Lighthearted. Dare I sayrelaxed.Which was why his answer caught me off guard.
“Then you get wet.”
I choked on my inhale and tried to cough to cover it up. “Let’s go,” I wheezed, walking ahead of him so I wouldn’t have to meet his gaze.
