Chapter 7 Candrin
CANDRIN
A hard day’s night
I wriggled against something warm and soft. But my hips were rubbing on something hard. Whatever it was, it was nice and I wanted to stay right where I was.
“Mmmm.” There was a comforting scent tickling my nostrils and I took a deep breath and inhaled.
My lips and nose pressed on another something.
I felt so well-rested. Best sleep since the reading of the will.
While I didn’t know what time it was, there were birds outside making a noise and I figured my alarm would ring soon.
Funny though, I didn’t recall returning to bed after watching the movie with Tanner.
Tanner! I pried open one eye. Fuck me, the soft warm something I was snuggled against wasn’t my duvet. It was my landlord. Yikes. I froze, not daring to move. My face was pressed on his throat. If I stuck out my tongue, I’d taste him. Instead, I inhaled him. Gods, he smelled so good.
Opening both eyes, I took note of the gray dawn creeping under the curtain. I’d have to get up soon in time to shower and catch the bus to work. Not only did I not want to move, but how would I extricate myself from my landlord’s embrace.
Oh shit, my brain was functioning enough to register that I had a hard on and it was pressed on Tanner’s erection.
Gods no, I had to sneak out before he woke and hoped he had no memory of falling asleep on the couch with me.
If he was embarrassed or awkward about what happened, that would make sharing a house difficult.
Perhaps impossible and he’d ask me to leave.
Hardly daring to breathe, I removed the blanket from my body and put one foot on the floor. Tanner snuffled and rubbed his head on the cushion we’d both slept on. But he didn’t wake, his eyes didn’t even flicker. Swiveling my ass, I sat up, glancing over my shoulder at the alpha. So far, so good.
I tiptoed out of the room and up the stairs. A quick shower later, and I grabbed my stuff and with one eye on sleeping Tanner, I closed the front door, hoping the loud click didn’t wake him.
Taking a huge gulp of air, I congratulated myself on getting out of the house and not having to confront my wide awake landlord.
But as I strolled to the bus stop, I pondered the situation.
I was attracted to the alpha and us both sleeping on the sofa and having morning wood should have been a dream come true.
But with my life in turmoil, having no money, and the homeless shelter facing a cut in funding—most of its funding—when dear brother, Charles worked out the details of Father’s finances, having a roof over my head at Tanner’s was a lifeline.
I was sinking in shit, and him giving me a home, however temporary, saved me.
I couldn’t mess it up by thinking that us having hard-ons meant anything.
He was probably dreaming of Blake. Ewww. I couldn’t be jealous of Tanner having a life but not with that guy!
As I sat on the bus and watched the city coming to life out the window, I contemplated finding another place to live. That would be the sensible decision. And who knew, perhaps Tanner and I could be friends if I did, though that was doubtful if I moved out of his house after less than a week.
Of course there was a huge hurdle to me finding a room elsewhere. Money. As in I didn’t have much. I’d used a chunk of the cash I found at my house… my former home—for rent. And I for sure wouldn’t get it back.
Father’s remodeled motorbike! Since the day I arrived, it’d been sitting in the shed at the back of Tanner’s house. Much as I was grateful it was under cover, the bike was worth a lot of money and shouldn’t be sitting in a shed that probably leaked when it rained.
But I couldn’t sell the bike and definitely couldn’t ride it though Saul had suggested that the W Day. Will Day. Father had taken years to restore the bike. The only way I’d sell it was in an auction and give the proceeds to the charity to help it stay afloat.
That was a great idea. If I sold the car, I’d have enough to tide me over for months, while auctioning the bike would benefit the charity. I sent a quick text to Anders saying I definitely wanted to sell the car.
I got off the bus and almost ran into a guy reading a newspaper. “Watch it!” he snarled.
“Sorry.”
My work day was about to begin and with it, another set of worries.
Not just for me personally but the charity as a whole.
Even if I auctioned the bike, it would only give us a short reprieve.
Time for me to put Tanner and his erection out of my head.
The one resting on my shoulders not… the other one.
Turned out I didn’t have time to think about my landlord or his cock until I closed my laptop and walked from my office to the elevator.
Waiting for the doors to open, I thought of nothing else except his dick.
It was big, that much I knew. Stop, Candrin.
He’s your landlord. Nothing can happen. But I couldn’t take my own advice and the entire way home, images of Tanner filled my head.
When I got to the gate, I hesitated, unsure of the reaction I’d receive when I got inside. I’d also forgotten about dinner—the food Molly had given me was diminishing. Instant noodles it would be.
Would Tanner be home? He’d had some days off but he might have been flying today, and who knew how long he’d be gone. A day? A week?
But as I cracked the door and made sure my landlord wasn’t lounging on the sofa, I stepped in. But I froze as I was met with the most delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen.
“Candrin?”
There was no chance of creeping up the stairs and hiding away in my room. “Yeah. Had a long day. Just heading up to bed.” That was a stretch at 6:30 p.m. but I was avoiding Tanner for the moment. Or trying to.
“Hungry?”
“Ummm.” My mouth was watering and I couldn’t lie because my belly rumbled. Damn! It gave me away.
Tanner grinned. “Someone’s hungry.” He beckoned me into the kitchen. “It’s nothing fancy. Just roast chicken and vegetables and a simple salad.”
Him saying that brought back memories of Molly’s cooking. She was a whizz in the kitchen and she created the most amazing dishes, but her roast chicken was one of my favorites.
“You can’t keep feeding me,” I protested.
He shrugged. “I can’t eat an entire chicken dinner by myself.”
“That’s kind of you. What can I do to help?”
“Nothing except wash your hands.”
When I returned to the kitchen, the salad and a plate of roast vegetables were on the table and Tanner was carving the chicken. “This looks so good. Thank you.”
“It’s good I had the week off or you might have gone hungry.”
“I’ve been eating.” I shoved a forkful of chicken and gravy in my mouth and savored the taste.
“Mmmm.” He put down his fork. “Tell me if this is none of my business but you said you’re short of cash.”
I had. “Yeah, it sucks.” I pushed the food around on the plate.
While I didn’t owe Tanner an explanation, it would be weird if I stayed here long-term and never revealed anything about myself.
“I work at a charity. Technically I’m the head of a homeless shelter.
” The office was another thing in jeopardy.
Father had paid for an office in a building he owned because my day to day work wasn’t in the trenches at the shelter itself.
And also any rooms at the shelter were used for the homeless, not office staff.
But that office space was probably on the chopping board.
And it might be a good thing. Perhaps I needed to get my hands dirty more often and me and my staff should spend part of our day in the shelter.
As for office space, I’d think about that when we got kicked out. It wasn’t an if but a when.
And the plans for expanding and buying more buildings to use as shelters? That was probably not happening.
“I was disinherited,” I explained.
Tanner quirked a brow.
“My Father died so technically I’m an orphan.”
The alpha’s hand holding a fork froze in midair. “I’m so sorry.”
The silence that followed was punctuated by our cutlery hitting the plates.
“When you say disinherited—”
I explained how during the reading of the will, a brother I didn’t know I had turned up. “Everything was left to him.”
“And when you say everything?”
I detailed what Father had owned and which I assumed had been coming to me.
“And you have nothing?”
“A car that I’m trying to sell. That will keep me going for a while if I can find a buyer. And there’s the motorbike that’s sitting in your shed.”
“Ahhh I was wondering if you had your own car.”
“I do but I can’t afford to keep running it.” And honestly, taking the bus wasn’t that bad. Sort of. “And while I know how to ride a motorbike, I’d never ride that one of Father’s in case I damaged it. He loved that bike.”
“Tell me about this brother.”
“He’s no brother of mine. I’m sure he’s a con artist.” I put my dishes in the sink and we cleared the table.
Tanner made tea and brought out a tub of ice cream. He waved it in front of me. “In the movies, people always eat ice cream when the shit hits the fan.”
I took the tub from him and my hand brushed against his. I stared at it, not daring to raise my gaze and catch his expression. But he lifted my chin. “I missed you when I woke up.”
My head snapped up. His eyes were studying mine as if looking for an answer. And I gave him one, but not in words. I got on tiptoes and offered him my lips.