Page 15 of Take Me Now

She glanced my way with a sheepish smile. “Actually, I do. I overestimated how much I could carry and didn’t realize I would need at least one free hand to open the door.”

I set my water bottle down and crossed over, quickly divesting her of everything she was carrying.

“You don’t have to get everything,” she protested.

“One of us needs to open the door,” I returned with a shrug.

A moment later, I set the boxes of paper down behind Maisie’s desk, where she directed me to put them. I straightened and walked back around to the front of her desk.

“How’s Humpty, by the way?” She sat at her desk, tapping a key on her keyboard and looking up at me expectantly.

“He’s doing great. By the way, thank you again for making sure he had someone to take care of him while I was gone.”

“Now, you have Farrah whenever you need her. You’re right across the hallway from her, right?”

I nodded, wondering where she’d heard that.

As if she could read my thoughts, Maisie added, “Farrah mentioned you moved in across from her. Those are cute apartments.”

Clearly, Maisie and Farrah were friendly. I had so many questions about Farrah, and this level of curiosity was unsettling for me. I wanted to know if Maisie knew Farrah’s stepfather had thrown a cupcake against the wall on her birthday. I wanted to know if she knew all the details about Farrah I didn’t know.

Fuck. This was exactly the kind of thing I didn’t need to be wondering about any woman.

“She’s single,” Maisie said, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Huh?”

Maisie gave off an innocent vibe. With her curly brown hair, her big brown eyes, and her freckled cheeks, she seemed friendly and kind. And she was. But she also knew freaking everything about everyone in town, as far as I could tell.

She grinned, waggling her eyebrows. “Farrah’s totally gorgeous. Plus, you’re not seeing anyone.”

“And how would you know that?” I countered.

She shrugged, all innocent-like. “I know lots of things.”

“Relationships aren’t my thing,” I said, wishing I could ignore the way my heart twisted at that. I’d never been that kind of guy before. I had wanted to settle down and start a family. Until I learned betrayal came when you least expected it.

Maisie held my gaze for a moment, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. “Oh,” she said. She opened her mouth to say something further when a call came in. She whipped her headset on to answer the call. I walked into the back again, my mind replaying Farrah’s comment to her mother.

I dwelled on that detail, wondering what else had happened to her. I’d hated the look in Farrah’s eyes when she’d glanced over and noticed us beside her.

ChapterTen

COOPER

I kept hoping I’d see Farrah in the hallway, but several days passed before I finally did. I crested the top of the stairs to hear her say, “Oh, shit!”

Her exclamation was followed by something falling to the floor in a clatter. Turning into the hallway, I found her kneeling with groceries spilled around her.

“Need some help?” I asked as I approached in quick strides, stopping beside her and bending down to gather up two cans that had rolled away.

She looked up at me and let out a huff. “I suppose I do.” Her lips kicked up at one corner. “Thank you.”

A few minutes later, we had the groceries back in the bags. I held the door open for her as she walked into her apartment.

“I overestimated how much I could carry,” she said over her shoulder as I followed her inside, carrying two bags.

“It happens,” I replied lightly. I set the bags where she directed on the kitchen island.

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