Page 3 of Steamy Diamond
Ella pushed away the thoughts of that man for later after a long day in the office trying to understand something else new to her. She needed a beer and her leftover Chinese food. The pictures could wait until later.
She was just cracking open the bottle when there was a knock on her door. Ella stared at it, wondering if she should even answer it. She wasn't expecting anyone, but maybe it was her landlord or a new neighbor or something. It would be easy to just peek through the peephole to see who it was. Plus, she had the beer in her hand already so it could be the perfect weapon if she needed it.
But as she peered through the peephole, she almost dropped the bottle. It couldn't be. There was no way. Except it would make sense, right? He obviously had a connection to this apartment somehow. He had been here before and laid on her bed along with probably doing other stuff there.
Ella took a step back to catch her breath. There's a man on the other side of her door and it's no big deal that you recognize him. He's just a man. Act casual.
Ella grabbed the handle and opened the door.
"Jaclyn."
His serious face froze as he realized Ella wasn't Jaclyn, whoever that was. Then his features softened a bit, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly, his hands finding their way into the pockets of his dark blue jeans. His piercing blue eyes began to sparkle with amusement, looking at Ella just the way she predicted they would.
"Well, you are definitely not Jaclyn." He gave her a warm smile and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to bother you, but my exused to live here. She said she was going to leave a box for me to pick up. Perhaps you've seen it."
"Um." Yeah, Ella had seen it. She saw all of him. Of it! She saw all of the box. In the closet. "Was it a shoebox or something?"
"Yep."
He added a bit of a sarcastic pop to the P on that, making her think he really just wanted the box so he could leave the apartment behind.
"I think I maybe saw it here."Think? Maybe?She was such a liar. "Do you want to come in and I can find it for you?"
He gave her a nod and mega-watt grin as he stepped inside. "I'm Quinn Thatcher, by the way."
He stuck out his hand and Ella fumbled a bit with her beer bottle before extending her own.
"Ella. Ella Parker."
Dammit, his hands were as amazing to touch as she imagined them to be. And now that he was in her apartment and she got a good look at him, the rest of him was amazing too. Just as lanky as she expected him to be. He had a white t-shirt on that accentuated his muscles underneath and some casual but cool dress shoes that matched his outfit perfectly. His hair had been swept back with a little bit of product.
Even without the baseball pants, he was as delicious in person as he was in his pictures.
"So what kind of beer are you drinking, Ella?"
She shrugged. "It's the Oberon Ale from Bell's Brewery. The guy at the grocery store told me it was a good Michigan beer."
"That guy would be right," he said with a smile. "You wouldn't happen to have another one, would you?"
She gave him a teasing smile back and wordlessly headed for her kitchen, grabbing another one from the fridge. "Rough day?" she said as she popped off the top.
"Rough year."
She walked back out to find Quinn staring at the living room of the apartment with a pensive look on his face.
"Did you get a different sofa?"
"No, just got a slipcover for the one that was here."
Ella handed him the beer and he took it even though he seemed a bit distracted by the apartment.
"Jaclyn thought a plaid sofa was more sophisticated, but I hated it. It looks much better now."
Ella couldn't help but smile. She actually got an approval for her slipcover choice from a gorgeous man. But she needed to get some composure. She couldn't let him see her gloating like this.
"So who is Jaclyn?" she asked.
"My ex-girlfriend." Quinn turned and gave her a bitter smile. "She and I broke up when she told me she wanted to go back to her husband and work on her marriage. I guess it worked out."
