Different women are sexy in different ways. What’s alluring in one doesn’t always work for another. But the right match of attitude to face, and a guy can’t help but be hopelessly led around by the balls.
Resolute defiance most definitely worked in Lizzie’s favor.
“I don’t see anyone else here?” she points out, drawing back my focus.
That’s true. I’d only placed the ad in Maggie O’Connell’s window two days ago. And the tourist season is already coming to an end. No one wants a tiny room in an isolated house in the middle of the woods at this time of year. But I’d had to try.
If I’m ever going to afford Ma’s move to Kenwood Homes, I need to bring in some fast cash. And renting out a room I use for nothing more than storage had seemed an easy option.
Then a stunning blonde had stumbled into the woods.
“No-one else is here,” I finally admit.
“So the room isn’t unavailable,” Lizzie accuses. “Just unavailable to me?”
There’s no hurt in her tone. Nor does she play up her emotions for sympathy. She’s simply direct, waiting for an explanation.
When I don’t have one to hand, she prompts again.
“You have something against blondes?”
“I have something against city folk,” I admit.
“City folk?”
I fall back onto my butt, my feet still on the ground and elbows resting on my knees.
“Urban explorers wanting to see mountain life, like we’re some kind of exhibit.”
“We?” She raises an eyebrow. For a moment, I think I see her eyes darting to my left hand, looking for a ring. But I blink and she’s still holding my stare.
“The Forge,” I say.
The town, known to the locals as the Forge, is my home. The people here are my family and my friends. And there is no way in all of God’s green earth that I’m about to put any of them at risk for the sake of a rich sorority girl looking for a bit of adventure. I know only too well the risks of out-of-towners wandering the forest. And I’m never going through all of that again.
The fact that this particular out-of-towner could easily grace the cover of a Victoria’s Secret catalog only makes the problem worse.
Money or no money, having an attractive city girl living in my house just isn’t worth the hassle. There are other ways I can make the money for Ma.
“I’m not here to sight-see,” Lizzie says. As she braces her elbows on her own knees and leans closer, I resist the urge to lean back. An escaped lock of hair falls over her shoulder. Silent and soft as silk. It’s at odds with the hardened edge of her words.
“What are you here for, then?” Somehow, I doubt it’s for the shopping.
“A new start.”
Curious.Yet, a little unbelievable.
“A new start away from what?”
What could a girl who clearly had everything going for her possibly want to run away from?
“That’s my business, don’t you think?” she says, her expression shutting down. She seems to shake the cloudy mood away and return to safe pragmatism. “Look, all I need is a bed and the possibility of a coffee machine. I’ll change the sheets and the coffee filter myself. Just let me stay here tonight and as soon as I find an alternative, I promise I’ll be gone.”
As if right on cue, thunder booms overhead. Lightning flashes and turns the room uncomfortably bright. As it passes, the lamps by comparison seem dull, the house now eerie. The outside world is pitch black.
“You wouldn’t turn a girl out into the cold now, would you?” Lizzie asks, her face forming the mask of a temptress. One of her white teeth holds back her full lower lip and her lashes lower to half-mast. “Not with all those axe murderers out there?”
I snort, shake my head, and give in.