“Nate?”
“Yeah?”
He looks at me over his shoulder. In his face—the one I work so hard to get to react to me—is an inherent kindness, a sturdiness, that I appreciate more than I could ever tell him.
“I’ve given you a lot of shit today, and maybe it wasn’t quite fair of me to just show up like I did. And then … manipulate you into letting me stay.” I half-smile, half-frown at him. “That was probably a dick move, actually.”
“Paige—”
“But I didn’t know where else to go, and that doesn’t absolve my jerkiness. But I do want you to know that I realize it, and I appreciate you for overlooking all of that and letting me crash. If you want me to go tomorrow, I will.”
Nate turns around so his shoulders are squared to mine. He watches me for a few long seconds. Each second that passes by makes me inch closer to jumping out of my skin.
Just say something, dammit.
Finally, he sighs.
“I would’ve been pissed if you didn’t have anywhere to go and didn’t ask me,” he says, his voice low.
My heart swells in my chest. “Really?”
“Really.”
We exchange a smile—one that calms me from the inside out.
“But the rules still exist,” he says, broadening his smile. “No guys. Don’t be late. And keep your clothes on.”
I laugh as I follow him into the hallway. “Don’t lie. You liked it. I know you did.”
He dips his head, shaking it as he turns toward the foyer.
I could tell him a hundred things, share a thousand things with him that I think he might appreciate. Everything from the fact that I’d like to see him naked too all the way to the reason I asked him to let me stay.
Because I know it’s safe with him.
But I don’t say any of it. It’s late, and none of it matters, anyway.
I hear the lock click into place. Then I turn and head to my room.
FIVE
NATE
“Heard you took my kid to the gym,” I say to my brother as I enter the Landry Security conference room. “Imagine my shock when that little nugget just toppled out of my son’s mouth last night.”
Dominic leans back in his chair. “I never had Ryder pegged to be a snitch.”
Ford Landry, the CEO of Landry Security, laughs from the head of the table. Troy Castelli, Ford’s right-hand man, laughs along with him.
Troy and I met through Landry Security. It was a little tense at first because we’re both used to getting our way and won’t back down from a fight. But once we got to know each other, the exact reasons things were tense between us actually brought us closer. He’s probably my closest friend, aside from Dominic.
I pull a chair out next to Dominic and sit. I yawn, arching my back as I fight off the sleepiness that I’ve battled all day.
That’s what you get for staying up all night thinking about your housemate.
As hard as I thought it might be to have Paige under the same roof, I was wrong. It was harder.
Just knowing she was there, possibly naked and totally willing, was temptation on a level that I didn’t know existed. Staying away from her was a feat in and of itself.
But I did it. I survived one night.
“I promised Percy that I’d come by and help him with a camera he had some quack install,” Dominic says. “I don’t know why the hell he just didn’t call me to start with.”
“If I were venturing to guess, I’d say it’s because of your stellar personality,” Troy says with a grin. “You always make me feel all warm and fuzzy.”
Everyone laughs. Everyone but Dominic.
He levels his gaze with Troy. “What are you saying? That I’m an asshole?”
“Yes,” the three of us say in unison.
Dominic tries to act like he’s pissed but ends up chuckling too.
“How’s the bar?” Ford asks me, always the epitome of class. “Business good?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s going good. We’ve started opening for lunch and increased our dinner menu. It just keeps growing.”
I beam. I know I do, and I probably look like a schmuck. But the fact is that I’m proud of what I’ve built. I took a seedy joint in a risky part of town and made it into something that even the Landrys come to for a drink now and then.
“That’s great,” Ford says. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“Me too.”
He takes an envelope out of a black folder and slides it to me. “That’s for the Burgundy event last week. We charged the host a fee for the crowd control mess, and I gave you a cut of that since you were the point man.” He rubs his temples. “That was a nightmare.”
“You’re telling me.”
I instantly touch my right shoulder. The pain has gone from getting my arm nearly jerked out of the socket by a crazed protestor.