Work For It

by Ashley Bostock

  She sort of admired how much he prided himself on his good looks. His profile strong and rigid. His facial hair well taken care of. The ridge of cheekbones were prominent but not enough to be the focus of his face. That job went to his eyes. Emerald green.

  She cleared her head. What in the world was this guy doing here? How long was this storm going to last? Seriously, how long could she deal with his conceited attitude before glimmers of old Lina came back? Or worse, before she had to admit how attractive he actually was and possibly what it might be like if she let her guard down.

  One thing was certain. She didn’t want to be the old Lina anymore. The one that second-guessed everything and never trusted anyone at face value. The one who’d lived to work. That Lina had too many stressors in life, too many days on the job that turned into nights, too many moments that she’d let life pass her by because she was busy trying to save the world one woman at a time.

  Lina Armstrong, Crusader of Women’s Rights.

  Lina Armstrong, Ball Buster of Men Everywhere.

  Lina Armstrong, Champion of Women’s Justice.

  She no longer had the drive to be those things anymore. She lacked the conviction to be any of those things now. All she wanted was her peace and quiet. All she wanted was time alone to figure out who she was and what she should do next. No. Not should, what she wanted to do next. She definitely wanted to live life in the moment and not let it pass her by like she had been doing.

  Grab the bull by the horns.

  “I hope you have enough food in here to feed us both for a little while.” Dylan’s rugged voice cut through her thoughts. She blinked, realizing that he’d fully turned from the window and was now staring directly at her.

  Food? “I have some. Who knows if it’s anything you’ll eat, but I’m willing to share. Since I don’t have a choice.”

  His eyes dropped to half-mast. “You’re so sweet one minute and then the next…”

  She laughed. “I know. Are you hungry now?”

  His eyes brightened. “Not right now. I appreciate this, you know? I know you could have called the police and I’m thankful that you didn’t. I need to be here. I see the same thing in your eyes. You need to be here as much as I do. I know sharing a space with someone you don’t know isn’t ideal. But you have my word that I’ll do whatever it takes to not be a huge pain in the ass.”

  Lina softened. She could feel the truth of his words against her heart. She’d worked with abused women and children for so long that it was in her nature to second-guess most men. But something about Dylan and the kindness in his eyes, had her accepting the sincerity of his words. Maybe she was letting go of her past. Easy come, easy go. Her stomach wasn’t tightening into its normal ball of wire, keeping her on edge at the thought. That was a plus. That had been her life—always on edge, never quite letting her guard down.

  Even as arrogant as he was, she would give him credit for this.

  He must have seen her resolve. Because damn. There was that cocky grin again.

  “Ok. Fine. I can understand that. I need to be here, too. We’re going to have to set some ground rules though.”

  Dylan sat on the edge of the bed and leaned back on his elbows. His body gave off the vibe that said he was a man who didn’t like rules. Or at least, didn’t follow rules that weren’t his own. His large frame and long legs made it hard for her to focus. “Like what?”

  “Um, I don’t know. Let me think a second. I’m winging this,” she admitted.

  “How about rule number one: there are no rules.” Dylan grinned.

  Lina’s heart picked up a quick beat. “No. We have to have rules. We can’t stay here together for the next few nights or however long it takes for the blizzard to pass—complete strangers mind you—and not have any sort of rules.”

  “Fine.” He shrugged. “Out with them.”

  Lina started to pace at the foot of his bed, trying not to be taken by the way his large body looked half-sprawled against the pink and gray comforter. Never mind the fact that his intense eyes followed her as she paced. Rules. Out with them. What had she been doing every night alone that she couldn’t possibly give up?

  “Just because we have agreed to be roommates, doesn’t mean we have to hang out all the time. I need my space and you need your space.”

  “That’s fine. I came up here to relax. I came to spend time alone.”

  “Good. Moving on then. I get first dibs on the bathroom. You are officially in charge of the fireplace. You can have the remote cause I mostly don’t watch T.V., but unless there’s something great on, you have to let me change the channel.”

  “What if I’m watching a movie?” Dylan asked incredulously.

  “Fine. If it’s a movie, I won’t interrupt. If it’s some random reality television show or like Fox News, I can interrupt and watch what I want. No stepping into my bedroom, and I won’t go into yours.”

  “Ah, really? Where’s the fun in that?” His voice, deep and sensual, sent ripples of awareness through her.

  “There’s no reason for us to go into each other’s rooms.”

  “There could be,” he said huskily. “Two weeks together—alone—is a long time.”

  Oh shit. Nerve endings sizzled inside of her, creating a sensation that was almost unfamiliar to her. Definitely forgotten. Was she actually agreeing to two whole weeks? “Ahh, no. So far, we’re playing this by ear. Let’s not jump into the whole two-week thing.”

  He gave her a conspiratorial wink, like he was sure he could change her mind. “What else?”

  She stopped pacing and stood near his door. “No bringing outside people in here.”

  “What’s that mean?” Dylan asked.

  “Like, no dates. No other guy friends.”

  “Oh, trust me, I came up here to be alone. You’re going to be an exception. But the same goes for you. No company.” Dylan sat up and stood from the bed, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

  “I came up here to be alone too. You’re the only one cramping my style.” Lina stepped back, putting a good amount of space between the two of them hoping that the heated tension between them would flow through the larger opening.

  “Hold up. You’re not going to change your mind about me staying here? Pull any funny business like locking me out when I have to bring in wood. Nothing like that?” He squinted. “Have you ever had a stranger for a roommate for two whole weeks, Lina?”

  Lina. Why did that small word send unwanted tingles across certain parts of her body? Because she’d never heard it roll off anyone’s tongue the way it did on Dylan’s. Like he wanted to taste it, practice it. See how it felt along his tongue.

  “Um,” Two weeks? Honestly, she was still a little pissed that Nancy had managed to double-book her condo. Dylan was right. She’d never had a roommate, or shared anything with a stranger for two days—let alone two weeks! Lina the fighter warred with Lina the underdog in a battle of wits. So many things could go wrong with this plan. How trustworthy was he? Was he a felon? Worse, a prison escape artist? Or was he what he appeared to be? What her gut told her he was? An attractive man that seemed to have no problem with his self-esteem. A trustworthy man, who just like her, had something going on in his life that he needed a hiding place.

  The question was could she handle his overly-confident attitude for two whole weeks? Her conscience taunted her, don’t let life pass you by anymore. Live a little. Take a risk. Take a chance. Her mother, oh, her mother would freak if she knew that a stranger showed up at Lina’s doorstep and that Lina had let him inside. Not to mention that she was seriously considering letting him stay longer than a night or two.

  That thought solidified her agreement. “Well, sure. Why not?”

  Dylan’s head fell back in laughter. “Yes, woman! I knew you’d see reason.”

  Before Lina could open her mouth again, Dylan had wrapped her up in a tight hug. Her arms lay limp against her sides as he crushed her into his torso. Her heart rate sped to exponential proportion
s as his body enveloped hers. Uh, crap. Not what she was expecting. His hard body felt strange against her small frame and she knew without looking up that he was a good foot taller than her. Before she had any more time to dissect the strange hug feeling thing that was tightening her lower half, he let her go.

  “What should we do?” he asked, excitement etched into the corners of his eyes as he smiled.

  “Stoke the fire?” Lina suggested, still trying to compose herself from his freak display of emotion.

  His lips turned up into that smirk she was beginning to hate to love. “I can definitely do that for you.”

  Was he flirting? His eyes flickered with amusement.

  “Let’s go.”

  This time Dylan didn’t wait for her to go downstairs first. He headed down like it was his right to be there as much as it was hers. She heard the recliner click as the foot rest came up—Dylan settling in.

  “Why do I get the feeling this is a bad idea?” Lina asked herself as she squared her shoulders and headed downstairs. Maybe it was his right to be there just as much as it was hers. She didn’t like it, but if their positions were reversed, she’d be feeling the same way as he was. She relaxed her shoulders, even though she wasn’t convinced this was going to work longer than a night or two. She made the split decision that Dylan was going to have to learn the hard way about how difficult of a roommate she could be.

  Chapter Three

  This wasn’t an ideal situation but what could he do? With the condo owner off the grid and the fact that the two of them were already in the condo—not to mention the blizzard outside—it seemed safe to say that this was going to have to work. Which meant Dylan was all too happy to stoke the fire. At the moment, he was happy to do anything so long as Lina let him stay in the condo. When he saw the glimmer in her eyes that told him she needed to stay as badly as he did, he knew it was inevitable.

  He could recognize desperation.

  Whatever she was running from, he couldn’t blame her. Without knowing what it was, he couldn’t quite force himself to get too angry about not having the condo all to himself.

  He needed a break and if that meant sharing a space with the little sweetheart and her perky tits and sassy mouth, then so be it. He could deal. Surely dealing with her was much better than being in Denver and dealing with his regular life.

  “There. Fire stoked.” Dylan rolled his shoulders back, trying to loosen up the tension from the drive up. She was quiet, but he knew she was standing near the stairwell watching him. He was used to that. He looked around and found the remote and claimed the suede recliner that he planned to chill in for the remainder of the day.

  Leaning back, he closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. His heart was healthy here. No phones. Mostly. No apps. No work out videos that he had to perform. And the best of all, no screaming chicks or constant communication that he had to answer to.

  “Seriously? That’s my seat.” Lina’s sassy voice invaded his quiet space.

  Oh, damn woman.

  He opened his left eye. She stood at his feet. One hand planted on her hip. “You didn’t mention any rules on the seating arrangement, only the sleeping arrangement, so I think I’m following your rules just fine.”

  “Our rules.”

  “No. My rule was not to have any.”

  He nestled his head back into the cushion, ignoring her as he began to settle into a slow, sweet slumber. Moments later, he jolted up from his chair and onto his feet. What the hell? Some horrendous music boomed through the condo while Lina—completely unbothered by the music— sat at the dining room table amidst her pile of papers and her computer.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Dylan yelled over the noise.

  Lina glanced up from her computer giving him a dazzling smile. She pointed to her ear and shook her head at him.

  How did he turn this crap down? His eyes roamed over the room, settling on the components below the entertainment center where the television was located. Quickly identifying the receiver and volume, he turned the blazing noise down.

  “What are you doing? I was trying to take a nap.” Dylan ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm his annoyance at his roommate.

  “Oh, I didn’t notice. I like listening to my playlist when I write.”

  “You didn’t notice? Bullshit.”

  Lina shrugged.

  Write? Fuck. And to think he was starting to accept her at face value. He stalked toward her and peered at her computer screen. “What are you writing?” She was probably some gossip columnist ready to write a full article on living with Dylan Truex. Dish the Dirty would love to have him be a feature in one of their columns. No wonder she pretended not to recognize him. She didn’t want to give away her identity by recognizing his. He clenched his teeth as he tried to read her computer screen.

  “It’s nothing really,” she said in that petite voice of hers.

  “Tell me.” He reached down and placed his hand on hers, rolling the screen up so he could see what she’d written.

  “Stop. It’s just a story.”

  Dylan focused on what he could before she could pull away….spread her thighs wide open as he leaned down. Her back was against the wall…

  “Alright.” Lina stood, pushing her chair back far enough to get out from under his arm.

  “Wait, wait. Hold up.” He grabbed onto her shoulder blade with his hand. “What are you writing?”

  “Nothing. It’s just a story.”

  “Like the porn kind?”

  “Well, not exactly porn.” She bit down on her lower lip, her cheeks took on a light shade of pink. She scanned his face, his eyes. Whatever she was looking for, she must have found. “It’s a romance novel.”

  “You’re a writer?” he repeated. More to himself than anything else. Because he knew her name. He wasn’t sure where from. But it couldn’t be romance novels – he read books and all, but never that genre. Was she a huge bestseller and he’d possibly seen her on a shelf at the bookstore?

  She turned her head toward him. His hand was still on her shoulder, cocooning her in the small space between him and her work station. The air changed around them, and her eyes blazed, and Dylan recognized the heat between them from miles away. Yeah, she wanted it. So did he. What would she do if he leaned in and kissed those pert lips? Would she let him?

  “I’m trying. Gosh, you’re the first person I’ve admitted that to. Well, to be fair, I haven’t spoken to anyone from my former life. But I would never tell them I’m trying to write a book. They’d all laugh at me. Especially my—” She bit her lip again, and he was beginning to think she did it only when she was waiting to see if he was going to approve or reject her opinions.

  Whoever it was that she was talking about had clearly done a number on her.

  “It must be hard to write a book. That’s what this is going to be, right? A full-length book?” Dylan asked. Their nearness made his voice lower than normal. One lick of his lips and lowered head and his mouth could be on hers. He was more than intrigued. With her and her book. Especially with that sexy line he’d read, he wanted to know more.

  She nodded, a small smile crossing her lips. It might have been the first real smile he’d gotten the privilege of enjoying from her since he showed up, and he really liked it. “I hope. I’ve never written anything before. But it’s a start. I’m on chapter four.”

  “Chapter four? Why’d he wait so long to go down on her?” Dylan smirked. Because seriously, if he thought Lina would let him, he’d show her a good time with his tongue, and it’d been what? Thirty minutes? An hour?

  Tongue tricks.

  Hell, yeah.

  His bet hadn’t mentioned anything except sex.

  He’d show her a good time.

  If their arrangement were different.

  “You think that’s too long?” Lina’s eyebrows wrinkled into a V.

  “I do. I’m a guy though. I know you women get all weird about that—like waiting will make you more upstanding or s
omething. But maybe you should tell me what you’ve written so far, and then I can give you a better answer. Like is this really the first time he’s touching her? Maybe they’ve already had a bunch of foreplay.”

  He watched her as she bit back a smile. “I’m not ready to share my work yet.” Lina stepped out from his grasp and faced him. Her eyes were a mix of wonder and confusion. “Who are you?”

  Dylan cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean? I’m Dylan. I told you. I work and live in Denver, and I need to be here as bad as you. What more is there to tell?”

  “No. I mean it rhetorically. For example, why are you being so nice to me about my writing? I just blared music in your ear while you were trying to rest after an agonizing drive up the mountain. I deserve attitude.”

  Dylan shrugged. “I’m impressed. That’s all. Curiosity got the better of me. I’ve never met a writer.”

  Lina moved to the living room and sat on the floor in front of the fireplace. She looked tiny amongst the large hearth and equally massive windows that covered the majority of the wall. Outside was pure white. As she sat with her back to him, he gave her a moment of privacy while he admired the curve of her bare shoulder and the small black strap of her bra. She had freckles peppered over her shoulder, and they piqued his curiosity. He wanted to reach out and smooth his finger over each one. Why had God given her so many of them? He thought of his own body and how scarce freckles were. Practically none. Maybe a handful. But her freckles and her fair skin, he was ready to feast on her body.