For once he sits on the couch and not in the recliner, and when I look at him, he motions to the spot next to him. I follow, placing my wine on the coffee table next to his.

He turns off the TV and looks at me. “Here’s the thing. If we’re going to be roommates, we probably should get to know each other a little bit, don’t you think?” he asks.

I nod, agreeing.

“Adult twenty questions? We can both ask each other any question, and we can either answer or take a drink to plead the Fifth? Sound good?” he proposes.

I nod. “Sure, that works fine for me. You go first,” I tell him, taking a big gulp of wine, trying to flood my veins with liquid courage.

“We’ll start out easy. How old are you, Charlie?” he asks, and I let out the breath that I was holding, not having expected such an easy question.

“I’m twenty-seven. I’ll be twenty-eight in December. How about you?”

“Twenty-nine. Closing in on thirty,” he says, his brows furrowing as if turning thirty would be some horrible disaster. Do guys actually care about things like that?

I giggle as I take another sip of wine before setting it down on the coffee table. “Oh, yes, Knox, you’re getting soooo old,” I tease him, poking him in the arm.

He grabs my finger and grips it, holding it tight. Bringing it to his lips, he gives it a soft kiss. I’m momentarily dazed at his tenderness, but then he winks at me and opens his mouth. “Now you’ll always be able to say you’ve been kissed by an old man.”

I snatch my wine back up and take my finger back from him, but not before I let my fingernail scratch his lip, causing him to swear.

“Okay, let’s talk about personal stuff later. Let’s get this rent business out of the way, okay? I feel guilty already staying here without having an agreement.”

“Here’s the thing, Charlie. I really don’t need your money. You’re already helping me out, so I wouldn’t feel right charging you rent. Now, if you want to do other favors, I can think of a few forms of payment that are deemed acceptable,” he tells me, winking.

Grabbing the pillow next to me, I throw it at his face. I have no idea if he’s teasing or if he’s serious, but when he knocks the pillow away, his gorgeous smile greets me playfully and I can’t help but smile back at him, not able to hold the fake glare I was trying to muster.

“Jesus, woman, I was kidding! But seriously, just chip in for groceries and we’re even.”

I shake my head. “No freaking way, Knox. This started out as a volunteer assignment. If I move in here and you don’t let me pay because I’m helping you, then that would mean you’re basically paying for my services and I’m not just volunteering them. Even though you’re not exactly paying me in cash, you’re still providing something in exchange for my help, and that just doesn’t sit well with me. I can’t and I won’t do that. I’m probably already crossing the line by even agreeing to do this. So if I’m going to stay here, you need to figure out what you want to charge me or else I can just leave now.” I’m wishing I’d used a different choice of words, but he surprises me when he lets my services comment go.

He stares at me for a moment before he takes a drink of his wine, exhaling slowly. “Okay, fine. I can’t argue with that, I guess. I’ll look at my statements tomorrow and come up with a fair rental price and then we can negotiate. Is that cool?”

I nod, happy that he isn’t fighting me on this. To be honest, I have no idea how the volunteer organization would feel knowing that I’m moving in with him, but as long as I’m paying him and not volunteering in exchange for free housing, I don’t see the problem. I’m sure it’s probably a really tight rope that I’m walking here, but for some reason, I’m throwing caution to the wind and for once just going with my gut and doing what I want. Screw everything else. I just hope those words don’t come back to haunt me or bite me in the ass.

“So we’ll make a deal tomorrow?” I ask him, just making sure that we’re both clear on this before moving on.

He nods and reaches out to refill both of our wine glasses. Once he’s done, he holds his up to me in a toast fashion. I bring mine up to meet his and they chime as we clink them together.

“To new roommates,” he says, smiling at me.

Something about that smile causes my insides to melt, and it takes everything in me to return it without jumping him right here on the couch. “New roomies,” I whisper, and we both take a sip of our wine, staring at each other but saying nothing, quickly turning back to the television to distract us.


Knox


SITTING IN my living room, drinking wine, and getting to know Charlie feels normal, and I can’t remember the last time I actually took the time to really get to know a girl. Most of the chicks I meet could care less about talking, and I’m not ashamed to say that I always felt the same. Hell, half the time I didn’t even remember their names the next day, a fact that is pretty shitty, but at the time, that’s all I wanted, and they always knew it was never going to be anything more than a hook-up. Right now, though, I want to know everything about Charlotte Davenport.

I have to admit that I was pretty annoyed when she interrupted our twenty questions session to talk about rent and shit. It’s true that I don’t need her money, but I can understand why she wants to pay her way. I wanted to drop the subject so I just agreed, poured us each another glass, and raised mine in a celebratory toast.

Neither of us says anything for a couple of minutes, and I’m about to break the silence when she rises from the couch.

“I’m going to go figure out what’s for dinner. I haven’t eaten since brunch and that was hours ago. I’m starving, and if I keep drinking this on an empty stomach, I’ll end up passed out right here on the couch.”

The thought of her getting drunk and needing me to take care of her is actually an appealing one. “Good thing you just moved in with a badass soldier. I can throw you over my shoulder and drop you off in the guest room—well, your room now—if that ever happens. The couch is comfortable, but not enough to sleep on all night,” I say, rising from my spot on the couch and moving towards her.

“Yeah, well once you’re fully healed, you can show off your big, badass muscles, but for now, you aren’t lifting anything, especially not me,” she says, backing away from me and hurrying into the kitchen.

Shaking my head, I try not to get irritated that she just brought up my weakened state—again. I know she’s not doing it on purpose, but I still can’t help being annoyed by the constant reminder, even if she’s just trying to look out for me.

When I follow her, I find her bent over in front of the refrigerator, holding the door open and staring at the contents inside. The way her ass is sticking out unleashes something inside me, and I go semi-hard just from watching her. I instantly feel the need to show her that I’m not some weak, damaged man. I walk up behind her and grab her by the waist, turning her around. Kicking the door shut behind me, I push her to the island. If I thought I could get away with it, I’d be pressing myself up against her so she could feel what she’s doing to me. She’s staring up at me with confusion in her big, brown eyes, and I wonder what the hell I’m doing.

“Hop up,” I tell her, and she complies immediately, surprising me by not fighting it.

I place my hands on her knees, spreading them and stepping closer to her so my hips are between her legs. As best as I can, I take hold of each one and wrap them around my waist. She involuntarily tightens them around my middle, although her ass is still firmly planted on the counter. This isn’t how I imagined her legs wrapped around me for the first time, but I can’t deny that I love the feel of her gripping my waist tightly.

“Arms around my neck, sweetheart.” The confused expression on her face deepens, but she does as she’s told.

“What are you doing, Knox?” she asks, looking up at me, her face only inches from mine.

Swallowing hard, I ignore her question and bring my forehead to hers. “Just do this for me, okay? Don’t fight me on it. Just this once. I need to do this.”

She nods, and I’m not sure she knows what to expect, confirming it when I pull her off the counter. Gasping, she starts to struggle, and I have to brace myself against the counter to keep from falling. Jesus, this woman is so damn difficult, and it can be both sexy as hell and annoyingly irritating.

“Knox, what the hell?! Put me down!”

Fuck. I know I should probably listen to her, but I’ve gotten to this point and I’m not stopping until I can prove to myself, and to her, that I haven’t completely lost all of my strength. She’s not exactly heavy, but her struggling is making it difficult to keep my one good arm around her as I make my way down the hallway, heading into the guest bedroom. Somewhere along the way she stops struggling, apparently having given up and figuring that it’s just easier to let me do this.

I’m slightly out of breath by the time I get to her bed, and I’m more than happy to release her from my arms. Relief washes over me when she plops on the bed, bouncing once. I’m not sure whether the relief is from having been able to do it or from having freed myself of her weight. Either way, I’m fucking ecstatic, and even though I’m breathing heavily, it was a small victory for me and my bruised ego.

I begin backing away from her because I know the verbal assault is coming. I don’t blame her, but I don’t regret it.

“Don’t worry about dinner tonight. I’m gonna order pizza if that’s cool with you. That way we can just hang out,” I say, trying to act like what just happened was no big deal, hoping she’ll do the same. But I’m mentally rejoicing, feeling a little better knowing that I can still carry a hot girl to bed. For a brief moment, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to make it, and I’m not sure my ego could’ve taken a failure like that, especially with Charlie as a witness. I’m struggling to keep from grinning like an idiot and flexing my muscles like a body builder on a testosterone high.