By the time she found the meds, the ice pack, and got back to the living room, Arsen had already passed out and was asleep on the couch. The thousand dollars lay right where he had left it, along with his wallet. Rory walked up to him and nudged him gently, but the man was in a deep slumber.
His face was calm, devoid of the heat that she had seen in his eyes before. Her hands instinctively reached out to brush his long hair off of his face, but she quickly stopped herself. At close quarters, this man didn’t seem as intimidating as before but endearingly human and vulnerable. Even while asleep, his presence was enormous.
The idea of a strange man sleeping in her house annoyed her, but how could she throw an injured man out on the road? Especially one as handsome as this. What’s the worst he can do? Steal something? Besides what is there to steal? And he just threw down more cash than I’ve ever seen.
After running the situation in her mind for a few minutes, Rory decided that this Ferrari-driving playboy wasn’t in a state to do her any harm. She decided to leave the ice pack and the medicine on the side table next to him.
Safety first, she thought as she locked the door from the inside of the house so that the only area accessible to him would be the outer living room and the porch. Then she decided to head to bed herself. All this activity had been stressful, and she felt mentally exhausted.
As much as she tried, she couldn’t get much sleep that night. A couple of times she even got up to see if he was still there and he was, still sleeping on the couch in his expensive clothes. As she looked at him through the living room window, she pondered about his troubles. Yes, he had ruined her night and her wall—which annoyed her to no end—but strangely enough she found herself feeling rather curious about this man.
And her body was curious as well. As she thought about him laying on top of her in the road, the sheer nearness of him, there was a burst of tingling heat through her core. It was unsettling since she hadn’t felt that way about a man in ages. She tried her best to thrust the intrusive thoughts out of her mind, but couldn’t. When her fingers started to wander, she knew she had to let them, or she wouldn’t get any sleep that night at all.
Rory found herself imagining all kinds of scenarios with the strange man, and half hated herself for it, but at the same time, he was the most attractive man she’d seen in ages—even hotter than the guys on the beach at spring break.
5
Rory overslept by at least an hour. As the first light of the morning hit her, shining through the drapes she’d forgotten to close the night before, Rory forced her eyes open and stretched her legs.
Another day at the shop. Another day with Lizzy. Another day with…
Rory shot up from the bed as the events of last night came rushing back to her. The red Ferrari, the hole in the wall, and the hot stranger with a sprained ankle.
She threw on a robe. Voices coming from below reached her ears as she climbed down the stairs. Rory was secretly hoping to discover that the man had left on his own so she could resume life as usual.
But then, who would fix the wall?
As she reached out to unlock the door to the living room, she realized that it was Lizzy whose voice now echoed through the house. Arsen was sitting at the same place as the night before, and was patiently listening to Lizzy, whose eyes gleamed with excitement as she spotted the owner of the house.
“Oh my God! Can you believe it, Rory?” Lizzy exclaimed. Arsen turned his head slowly and what Rory thought was a hint of a smirk came upon his face. So damn arrogant.
“Lizzy… when did you get in?” Rory inquired calmly, trying not to catch the dark eyes that sat below Arsen’s angular eyebrows. She cursed to herself. Should’ve put on something more than a robe.
“Like, an hour ago. Oh my God, Rory why didn’t you tell me that Arsen Ford was here?” Lizzy was wide-eyed with disbelief.
“Arsen who? What the hell are you talking about, Lizzy?” Without her morning cup of coffee, Rory’s brain was still half asleep and her mood cranky.
“When I walked in this morning the shop was shut, so I came in from the back entrance and oh my God! Arsen Ford was sitting right here. Oh my God, I still can’t believe it!” Lizzy was way too excited to listen to anything but the sound of her own voice.
Arsen? So this person is someone called Arsen Ford. If Lizzy is so excited then he must be someone famous. Maybe one of those stupid reality-TV stars, Rory thought. The smell of cigarette smoke filled the room and Arsen was flicking ash into a teacup. Her teacup. Rory’s temper rose.
“What the hell are you doing?!” she shouted at him. What kind of person starts smoking indoors without asking permission from the owner of the house first?
“Me? Nothing,” he replied with a dismissive glance.
“You can’t smoke in here!” Rory’s face tightened.
“Yeah, but couldn’t you make an exception for him, Rory? This is Arsen Ford!” Lizzy pleaded his case.
“No! Please put that out and thanks heaps for ruining my teacup, by the way.” Rory frowned.
He took a long pause befo
re replying nonchalantly. “Oh. I didn’t realize…”
Of course, you didn’t, thought Rory. The rich celebrity thinks he can do whatever he wants. The world is his oyster. Who the hell is he, anyway?
Arsen stubbed out his cigarette in the cup and with a smirk on his face, held it out for her to take. Rory straightened, drew to her full height and crossed her arms. She hoped that he wouldn’t miss the anger on her face.