Kanton.
I SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN eavesdropping, and I hadn’t meant to do so, but once I heard Noel’s end of the call, I froze outside her room. Why was she still here if she’d rented her apartment for the week because she needed the money? Things weren’t adding up, but apparently, she was in a bind.
And she was adorably cute and sexy , even with her sleep-mussed hair and satin Christmas pajama set with little snowmen printed all over the top and bottoms. Bottoms that didn’t leave much to the imagination. I also couldn’t leave out her honed determination to prove me wrong when she was, in fact, the wrong one.
Her slipup wouldn’t be so terrible if it meant seeing her in more of those satin pajama sets. Either way, I listened to a conversation that I shouldn’t have and now better understood the problem. I also had a tough decision to make. Being here in this apartment gave me access to Brighton.
Being here also granted me access to those sexy little pajamas along with the woman who owned them. I managed to make it back to the kitchen before she returned, and I admired how she managed to somewhat pull it together after screaming her head off, likely into a pillow. Or maybe she used the elf to muffle her agitated vocals. The stress of the situation was still evident in her deflated shoulders and the enticing way she worried her bottom lip. This was hard for her.
God, she’s so incredibly adorable.
“So . . .” she began slowly while I leaned against the counter, hands gripping the edge. I stared at her, expression blank and unreadable.
“I’m listening.”
She huffed a sigh. “Maybe I didn’t actually cancel the booking.”
“ Maybe ?” I taunted.
“Okay, I didn’t, but I meant to. I tried to, actually, but my computer got hung up. The little hourglass thing popped up, and then there was an email from Shared Space—”
“ My confirmation?”
She huffed again. “Yes, your confirmation. And I assumed it was my cancellation because, well, what are the odds of you confirming when I was canceling?”
“Slim, but not impossible.”
She narrowed her eyes, and I smiled.
So incredibly adorable.
“It seems we have a bit of a dilemma. You can either refund my money, and I can leave . . .” Which I knew she couldn’t do based on my eavesdropping.
“ Or you can stay, and I promise to give you free rein of the apartment while I stay out of your way, with one stipulation,” she quickly, yet reluctantly countered.
The determination in her eyes and the struggle in her expression had me willing to bite.
So I did.
“And what might that be?”
“You can have the entire apartment except for my bedroom.”
I raised a brow in question. “And where do you propose I sleep?”
She looked past me into the living room. My eyes followed and then rounded back to her. “The sofa? You can’t be serious? For the amount of money I paid, you expect me to sleep on the sofa ?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, it’s a fair negotiation. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. I’m allowing you to stay—”
“You’re not allowing me anything. I paid for this place for the week. I’d be willing to bet if I called the cops and provided them with our very legal and binding contract, I wouldn’t be the one they’d escort out of here.”
It was a stretch. I wasn’t sure how that worked, but she obviously believed me.
“Oh, good Lord, come on, It’s a fair deal, and I’ll even discount the week for you.”
Shit, I shouldn’t like the way my name sounded on her tongue, but I did. A little too much.
“By how much?”
I wouldn’t let her discount the rate, but she didn’t have to know that just yet.
She frowned hard.
Again, so adorable.
“Twenty-five percent.” She placed her hands on her hips to assert that she meant business and wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t help but counter her offer.
“Fifty percent.”
“ Fifty ? Be reasonable.”
I pushed away from the counter and stepped into her personal space. “I’m being more than reasonable, Noel. If I accept your offer, I’m resigned to sleeping on the sofa and sharing the apartment with a stranger, who, by the way, will have access to me while she gets the added comfort of locking herself behind closed doors to sleep at night. More than fair.”
Her eyes went wide. “Are you insinuating that I might be some crazy person who’ll like watch you sleep or, heck, I don’t know— do something to you?”
“I don’t know what you may or may not do. Need I remind you about the elf thing.” I smiled, and her eyes narrowed.
“You can’t be serious? It was a stuffed elf . And you’re all six-foot-something with the I spend every free minute I have in the gym body and you’re worried about me ?” She flicked her wrist in my direction while her eyes roamed freely. “I think it’s safe to say I’m in more danger than you are.”
Yes, beautiful, you are, but not the kind that will make the evening news. More like the kind you’ll invite your girlfriends over to discuss and giggle about over wine.
“I don’t know, and if I’ve learned anything at all in life, it’s never to underestimate people.”
“Oh, dear Lord, why me?” she groaned shaking her head in frustration, so I decided to put her out of her misery.
“ But you asked me to be reasonable, so I’ll be reasonable. You have a deal.”
“I do?” She seemed utterly surprised.
“Yes, and you can keep the money as long as you promise to stay out of my way. You can also have the bedroom if that will make this easier for you. I’ll make good use of the sofa and the rest of the apartment. Agreed?”
I extended a hand, and she chewed the corner of her lip before reluctantly offering hers. “Deal.”
I smirked, and when she tried to retract her hand, I gripped it firmly, unwilling to let go. Not sure why, but I really didn’t want to, so I asked, “But before I fully accept the offer, tell me why you’re still here. Why book the place and not leave?”
There had to be a perfectly logical explanation. Not that I cared . . . or maybe I did.
“I was supposed to spend Christmas with my family. I got sick and couldn’t. So, here I am.”
I stared into those big brown eyes, loving how much I enjoyed the view. I also noticed there was more to the story, but I didn’t ask. “Here you are.”
She quickly snatched her hand back, and there was something in her expression, but it disappeared before I could decipher it. “I’m going to . . . I should go back to my room so that you can do whatever it is you’re here to do.”
I chuckled as she backed away from me. “Yeah, that might be best for both of us.”
After Noel left me to my own devices in her apartment, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work, tidying up the space. Washing a few dishes and collecting trash wasn’t a huge deal, and it allowed me time to process what I was doing.
Sure, staying here was convenient, but sharing the space with Noel wasn’t the wisest option. The woman would be a huge distraction, and I couldn’t afford distractions. I needed to prepare for my one shot at convincing Brighton that Global was the best decision for him. Technically, for both of us, but I wouldn’t push my agenda. Having Prestige Luxury as a client made a statement.
Glancing around the tiny kitchen that was now void of any reminders that I had a housemate relaxed me just a bit. My next move was to figure out what I was having for dinner.
I settled on the sofa, which would be doubling as my bed for the next week, and retrieved my phone from my pocket. I swiped through several apps and decided on one I knew to be trustworthy, changed the address from my apartment in New York to my current location, and began browsing nearby food choices.
Every so often, my eyes would drift to another corner of the apartment, wondering about the woman who had barricaded herself in her room. I had to fight against the smile that surfaced and my impending urge to see if she had figured out dinner plans for the evening.
She’s not your concern,
Shaking the thought, I managed to focus on the idea of feeding myself for the evening, and, hopefully, after dinner, I could focus on why I was here.