The idea of actually having some of her old possessions again pleased her, and got her a little excited. Everything she had on the coast, besides the cats, could just stay there, to maybe be used later. It could be her coast retreat when she needed to get away. She wanted to start fresh here, with new things combined with old stuff from her past.
“I can help you with finding a place,” Matt said, smiling at her. “I have an idea on where you might want to live.”
“Where?” she asked, glancing at him. He had this impish look in his eyes she hadn’t seen before.
Was he going to suggest that they live together? Or that she take one of his spare bedrooms? It would temp her, she knew that. But it also might be too close, too soon, even with the way she felt about him.
But if he asked, right at this moment, she didn’t honestly know what she would say. That’s how much she had come to like, maybe even love, this man.
“Let me show it to you first,” he said. “I think you might like it. And it has some advantages.”
His smile told her that no amount of coaxing was going to get his idea out of him, so she didn’t even try.
They made it the last few blocks back to the Baxter building in silence, and when they got on the elevator, her stomach was fluttering. She didn’t know what she would say if he asked her to live with him. The idea felt right, and really wrong at the same time.
“Matt,” she said, her voice shaking a little, “I don’t know if—.”
Instead of punching the button for his apartment on the twenty-second floor, he punched the button for the twentieth floor.
“Yes?” he asked, smiling, more than likely knowing exactly what she was going to try to stammer out.
“Nothing,” she said, now even more confused.
The elevator opened on a foyer area with two large, double doors on each end. Matt moved toward the doors labeled “A”, pushed them open, and walked inside.
“Someone was living in “B” when I moved in,” Matt said, walking ahead of her. “I took care of their bodies when I cleared the building. But this place was empty. I could never figure out what to do with it, since I’m using all the space on the two floors above. I think this is almost better than my apartment.”
Carey stood in the door and just stared. She had found her home, she knew it without even stepping inside. The apartment had a big kitchen area, floating in the center of a large tiled space like Matt’s kitchen. The windows were floor-to-ceiling and over ten feet tall, giving the large living and dining area almost a cavern feel, since it was empty.
The carpet was a light brown, and everything was trimmed in beautiful oak. An oak desk surrounded by massive bookcases covered one interior wall.
Matt walked to the kitchen counter and ran his finger through the layer of dust. “It will take us some time to clean it and wash the carpets, but otherwise it’s in good shape.”
She moved over and stood beside him, staring at the fantastic space, the view of Mt. Hood in the sunlight, the river spread out below the apartment, the city basking in the first day of its new future.
“I can get the power hooked up here easily,” he said. “The plumbing might take a little more, but I think that if I can’t make it work, then that guy fighting the wiring back in the communications room might help.”
He turned and took her hand, looking her squarely in the eyes. “I’m being selfish here,” he said. “I’m hoping you’ll stay close, so we can really get a chance to know each other.”
“I want the same thing,” she said, squeezing his hand gently, but not letting go. She liked the feel of his skin against hers, and the powerful feel of his hand in hers. “And I’ll make you a deal.”
He smiled, taking her other hand in his so that they now faced each other. “Always interested in deals.”
The closeness of him made her want to get even closer, to pull him against her fully and kiss him. But somehow she managed not to. Instead she kept talking.
“If I move in here, you’ll have to let me help you with both of your gardens and the chickens, in exchange for vegetables and meat, of course.”
“Another thing I was hoping you would say. We both are going to be working. Keeping up gardens the size I have is going to get to be more work than I want to do alone.”
“And I’ll do some extra cleaning around the building in exchange for you keeping the water and power flowing. That fair?”
“I think I’m getting the better part of that deal,” he said, smiling at her.
“So we have a deal?”
“We have a deal,” he said. “I’m just glad you like this place. I have, from the moment I first walked in here. I’ve been in every room in the building and my place and this place are the two best by a long ways.”
She laughed. “It seems from the moment we met you’ve been helping me find a place to stay.”
“It’s been my pleasure,” he said, staring into her eyes as he squeezed both of her hands lightly.
“Thank you,” she said. “Without your help I might have missed this chance at a new future.”
With that, she pulled him toward her, keeping his hands in hers.
She kissed him, letting her body press against his.
She held the kiss longer than she had intended. Actually a lot longer. She just didn’t want to let go of the wonderful sensations that were surging through her, the feeling of his lips against hers, the way his body fit against her.
He didn’t push, he didn’t object, he didn’t pull away. Instead, they seemed to become one in that kiss.
After a moment, or maybe hours for all she knew, she ended the kiss and eased back from him, feeling the loss of his lips on hers.
She felt hot, and she had no doubt that her face was flushed. The empty apartment around them suddenly felt very, very warm.
That had been some kiss. Best she had ever had.
Ever.
Matt’s face was also flushed, and the surprise in his eyes was wonderful.
They stood there, close, hands grasped, staring into each other’s eyes for a long moment, then she decided that she either needed to break this up or she would end up kissing him again.
And again.
She stepped completely back and let go of his hands.
“You know,” she said, proud that her voice only broke once as she tired to speak, “we’re going to have to do something about the air-conditioning in here as well.”
All Matt could do was stand there and nod as she turned to explore the bedrooms and bathrooms of her new home.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
MATT WATCHED CAREY as she worked on building them two salads for lunch. He had added in a couple pieces of cold chicken from last night’s dinner and poured them both diet Coke to drink. He was now sitting at the table, waiting and watching her. He couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of watching her.
That kiss, thanking him for his help, had left him stunned and almost gasping, just like his first kiss back in junior high had done. Everything about Carey stunned him. Never in his life, not with any past love or infatuation, had he ever felt so strongly for a person. Not only did he want to take her in his arms and make love to her, but he wanted to talk to her over meals, walk with her through the city, work beside her.
He just wanted to be with her.
And that scared him a lot. This wasn’t like him, falling so hard after only knowing a woman for a couple of days. He needed to take a deep breath and try to separate out how many of his feelings were from being alone for three years, and how much was truly feelings for Carey, the person, the woman. That separation was going to take a lot longer than two days.
And now, by asking her to move into the apartment on the twentieth floor, he had just risked his entire world here in this building. If she turned out to be some nut case, he was going to have to move out. But he just couldn’t imagine, no matter how hard he tried, Carey being anything but what he was seeing.
But that got him right back t
o not trusting his own emotions, mostly because the emotions that he had used to deal with other people had been shut off for so long.
One thing that encouraged him, more than he wanted to admit, actually, was her worry about getting too close to him too fast. It seemed odd, but he considered her worry a very good sign that she was sane.
She slid his salad in front of him. It looked wonderful. Fresh tomatoes, lettuce, sprouts, and some sliced cucumbers, all topped with an oil dressing, and garnished with sliced hardboiled eggs.
And it had been prepared by someone else. The salad was better looking than anything he would have gotten in most restaurants, back when there were restaurants.
Maybe someday there would be restaurants again. He just hoped when that day came, he would be sitting across the booth from Carey.
“This looks fantastic,” he said, grabbing his fork and digging in.
“Thanks,” she said. There was a moment of silence and then she went on. “I’ve got a confession to make.”
Her voice was full of worry.
He glanced up. She was playing with her salad, sort of moving lettuce around but not seeming to care if she ate anything.
“Oh, oh,” he said, trying to make light of the sinking feeling he had in his stomach. Every time a woman had said that “she had a confession to make” to him in the past, it had meant trouble, and things changing. He was liking the way things were heading at the moment between them. He didn’t need any confessions, but it looked as if he was going to get one.
“Go ahead.”
She looked up at him, a forkful of salad in her hand. Then as if blurting out the worst crime imaginable, she said, “I don’t know how to ride a motorcycle. In fact, I’m afraid of them.”
He stared at her for a moment, shocked that that was all she was worried about. Then, even though he knew he shouldn’t, he laughed.
“It’s not funny,” she said, still not putting the forkful of salad in her mouth. “Motorcycles are the only way we’re going to get to the coast and back with any speed. The roads are a mess all the way. And I’ve been thinking about it. We need to take two bikes so that we can get both of my cats back here.”
He could see how upset this had her. It was no wonder she had picked coming with him yesterday over being on her own with people on motorcycles coming into town. Beyond her friend getting hurt from the bikers, she had a real phobia about motorcycles that she had clearly never dealt with.
So, what could he do to help her?
“Maybe I should just walk back,” Carey said, still clearly upset. “You go to work to help Dan and I’ll figure out a way to get the two cats back here to Portland. I could rig up some sort of child’s wagon and just pull it with them in it.”
“Does that mean you would rather I not help you?” he asked, afraid of the answer.
“Oh, no,” she said. “I want you to help me. I just have this problem with motorcycles, and that’s the only logical way we both can go, besides both of us walking. I just don’t see how I can learn to drive one of them. At least not quick enough to do us any good on these roads.”
“Actually,” he said, “we only need one bike. All you have to do is ride behind me.”
He reached across the table and put his hand on her arm. He wanted to stroke that soft, light skin, but instead he used his touch to try to calm her.
She shook her head. “We can’t get two cat carriers on one motorcycle with both of us on it as well.” Then she looked at him with a questioning look. “Can we?”
“Sure we can,” he said. “Do you have much else at your place on the coast that you want to bring back, besides the cats?”
“Nothing really,” she said, shaking her head. She paused for a long moment, then said, “Maybe a few small things that would fit in my backpack. The rest can be left for some future use. I’ll furnish the apartment here with new stuff, and things from my old apartment and parent’s home.”
“Then it’s not a worry,” he said. “Problem solved. One of those big bikes is enough. Keeping the cats from totally freaking out on a motorcycle is another matter altogether.”
“They will just have to deal with it,” Carey said. “If I have to, they have to.” She tried to smile at him, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes as it normally did.
He took his hand away from her arm and made a show of going back to eating, trying to make her believe that it wasn’t a problem. Actually, it wasn’t. And he had no doubt that once they had been headed to the coast for a few hours, she would be comfortable on the bike as well, and past her fear. But he now knew he was going to have to take it very easy at the start, and work with her fear to get them going. He could do that.
“Okay,” she said, her voice hesitant. “You’ve ridden motorcycles before?”
“A bunch of times,” he said, taking a bite of a chicken leg. “That’s why I just assumed you had as well.”
“Okay,” she said again.
He could tell she didn’t like the idea of getting on a motorcycle. And right now he needed to give her an out. “Look, if the motorcycle doesn’t work for you, we’ll find other ways of getting there and back. You walked here, didn’t you? I want to go with you, if you want me along, and walking is no problem as far as I’m concerned. Dan will just have to wait for us. We really aren’t in any great rush.”
She thought for a moment, then nodded. “I suppose you’re right. We’re not in that much of a hurry, are we? Dan will put us to work no matter when we show up.”
“Of that I have no doubt,” Matt said. “Let’s just play it by ear and see how the trip goes. If the motorcycle works, fine. If it doesn’t, that’s fine as well. The focus is getting your cats, and getting all of us back here safely. Right?”
“Right,” she said, smiling at him.
“But I would suggest,” Matt said, “that we get your new place set up, and at least partially furnished before we leave. That way you and your cats have a place that is comfortable to come back to.”
“Good idea,” she said. “And the first thing is cleaning.”
Matt laughed. “That, and power, and water, and air-conditioning.”
“Oh, yeah, those too,” she said, shaking her head and smiling. This time the smile reached her eyes.
“There may not be a housing shortage for all the new people coming in, but I bet there’s a cleaning and maintenance shortage.”
“Now we know why Dan wants us as soon as we’re ready,” he said. “Cleaning help.”
“More than likely,” Carey said, taking the last piece of cold chicken off the plate. “And you know, I won’t mind in the slightest.”
Matt realized he wouldn’t either. Cleaning homes and getting a city ready to be reborn seemed a lot more valuable a job than putting in security cameras in bank vaults. Of course, doing that had given him the chance to survive.
And to meet Carey.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CAREY HAD JUST FINISHED wiping down the three bedrooms and the walk-in closet, and was just about to start on the hallway when the lights came on.
The cleaning had been doing great. She had had to carry three buckets of water from Matt’s apartment so far, and she had no doubt she was going to be carrying more before she was finished.
Actually, the fact that the apartment had been completely empty helped a lot. No furniture or old drapes or bedding to have to take care of. Just walls, counters, and windows. She would vacuum last.
She and Matt had replaced light bulbs in all the ceiling fixtures, then he had gone off to see if he could hook this apartment into his electrical system. She had worried that it would overload it, but he had brushed the comment away.
“Trust me,” he had said, “those three generators on the roof could handle this entire building if they were forced to.”
She would have to trust him, as if she hadn’t trusted him enough already.
She wiped the sweat off her face and stood looking at the room that would be her bedroom. She loved her
new place, more now that she was working in it. It just felt good, even empty. And the light from the tall windows in the main room was amazing, almost as if she was outside. She loved places that were filled with light, and now she had found one. Even the master bedroom had huge windows.
She would have never been able to afford an apartment like this one when everyone was alive, let alone furnish this much space. It was only because she had survived, and everything was free that she could do this.
But she had survived, and since there was no one left to protest, she felt she deserved this beautiful place. It would just sit here and go to waste if she didn’t use it.
“It seems we have light,” Matt said, coming through the double front door. “And come over here and feel this.”
He motioned her to follow him. He led her to a vent in the wall beside the pantry door. He showed her where to put her hand.
The cool air coming from the vent sent chills through her hot, sweating body. “Oh, a miracle worker.”
“Don’t say that until I get the water running,” he said, laughing. “Electrical is easy for me. Plumbing, on the other hand, is a nightmare. Luckily I did most of the heavy lifting getting water to the two floors above you. With luck, this floor will be easy to open up as well.”
“Just don’t flood my new apartment,” she said, smiling at him as she sat down on the floor in front of the cool air, letting it blow over her. She hadn’t realized just how hot she had gotten washing down the walls and windows.
“No worry there,” he said. “But I take no bets on the basement. Thermostat for temperature is room-by-room. You might want to check them.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I will. Would you toss me that water bottle? I think I just want to sit here and get chilled.”
“You have a thing about heat, don’t you?” he said, laughing as he grabbed the water bottle from the kitchen counter and handed it to her.
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