I stand there completely tongue-tied, checking her out from head to toe. It’s not until I take in the expression on her face that I start to worry. Her full pink lips gape open in an O shape as she stares at my face. I pause, suddenly afraid that this place might not be as far out in the sticks as I hoped if she does recognize me.
Instantly, I’m attracted to this woman and I become angry with myself for feeling this way. Now is not the time to be thinking about a woman. I don’t plan on sticking in one place too long, and I’ll be damned if I allow some beauty to get into my head and make me change my plans. If she gets too close and I get too comfortable, I’ll reveal all my secrets to her, and I can’t let that happen.
The best thing I can do is be a complete dick to her and keep things between us strictly business.
She shakes her head as if pulling herself out of a daze before she licks her lips. “Can I help you?”
I pull the sunglasses from my eyes in order to make eye contact with her. “I’m here to see Iris about the trailer for rent? I e-mailed earlier with my number, but I figured I’d take a chance and stop by to see if it was still available?”
“You?” she questions. “You want to move into one of my rentals? Here?”
“Yeah? What of it?” I fire back.
She does a double take of my clothing and then glances out to my bike parked outside of her place. “You just don’t seem like the type.”
I shake my head. “Don’t pretend like you know me or my type. Look, I don’t have all day. Do you have the place or not?”
She flinches at my tone. “I do, but you don’t have to be a complete asshole to me.”
Her eyes narrow, and for a moment I think she’s about to tell me to hit the road for my rudeness, but she doesn’t. Instead, she sighs and shakes her head before reaching to the left of the door, grabbing a set of keys that must’ve been hanging on the wall. “Come on. I’ll show you to the trailer.”
I follow behind her to the blue-and-white trailer next to the office, the very first on the lot. Even though I shouldn’t, I allow my eyes to fixate on the sway of her little round ass in those jeans as she walks in front of me. It’s like the devil put a temptation in the form of this sexy little vixen before me to force me to give up and go running back to the label and beg their forgiveness.
When she turns around, I jerk my gaze away from her and focus anywhere but on her. I want to appear absolutely put off by her, so she’ll hate me and stay as far away from me as possible.
Iris makes her way up the two little wooden steps and unlocks the rickety front door with its tiny triangle window. She shoves open the door and steps inside, and I go in after.
The first thing that hits me is the musty odor, like it hasn’t been lived in for years and the last tenant was a seventy-year-old crazy cat lady. The next thing is the stained burgundy carpet and clashing flamingo-pink furniture and decor. Like the outside, it’s clean in here, just very old and outdated.
“Sorry about the smell,” Iris says as she stands back, allowing me to take a look around. “It’s been closed up in here for quite a while, but everything is clean. The hot water works fine and there’s no issues with the electrical that I’m aware of. It comes fully furnished.”
I walk around the room. The kitchen and living room are practically the same space, and in the ad the place was listed as a two bedroom, which is more than enough space for me. “How much is it again?”
“It’s a four-hundred-dollar deposit plus another four hundred for the first month’s rent, so eight hundred in total to move in.”
Before she has a chance to say another word, I say, “I’ll take it.”
She lifts her eyebrows in surprise. “You will? Okay . . . well . . . let’s see . . . I need you to come back to the office and fill out a renter’s agreement. Rent will be due on the first of every month, and there’s a twenty-five-dollar late charge if you’re more than a week late.”
“Fair enough.”
Her green eyes focus on my face as if she’s attempting to figure me out, and she holds out the keys to me. “Welcome to the neighborhood, Mister . . .”
“Johnson, Ace Johnson.” I tell her my real name, not the one I’m known to the world by, but don’t offer a smile.
I have to resist her allure no matter how nice she is to me.
When I don’t go into any more details about myself, she says, “Come on. Let’s get that paperwork done.”
As soon as I fill out the form, I give Iris eight hundred dollars in cash and walk out of the office. I can tell she believes I’m an asshole, and I hate that things have to be that way, because she seems nice, but it’s best for both of us if we don’t get involved. The crazy life I lead would chew up and spit out a nice little country bumpkin like Iris.
Once I leave, I grab my bike and push it over to the designated parking area next to my trailer, go inside, and shut myself off from the world.
IRIS
I pull back the curtain just enough so that I can stare outside at my astonishingly sexy new neighbor as he washes his motorcycle. His bronze hair reflects a lot of the subtle undertones that snake through it as he stands in the sunlight with his red flannel shirt rolled up to his elbows. His dark-washed jeans hug his tight backside while he inspects every inch of the machine in front of him, and it causes me to bite my lip. It’s been a week since he moved in, and I still don’t know a single thing about him other than the fact he’s absurdly handsome and kind of an asshole. I can’t figure him out—why a guy like him is not only single but such a recluse.