“Twenty-eight.”
“Never been married?” he asked.
“Never even came close.”
“I find that hard to believe. You’re so pretty and sweet and kind.”
Cindy fanned her face, which suddenly felt warm. “That’s a lot of compliments in one sentence.”
“I’ve got more where those came from.”
“Is that so?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Like what?”
“Smart. Funny. Sexy. Good at checkers but possibly cheats.”
She didn’t hear anything after sexy. “Are you, um, flirting with your new roommate by any chance?”
“What if I was? Would that be all right?”
“As long as it doesn’t make things weird between us.”
“Does it feel weird to you?”
“Not at all.”
“Me either. Haven’t we been kinda flirting at the bar for weeks now?”
“I wasn’t sure if that was flirting or your usual routine with customers.”
“That was just for you.”
His blunt honesty flustered her. She felt her face heat as he kept his gaze on her, seemingly without blinking. “Oh,” she said, her brain wiped clean of thoughts that weren’t focused on his sexy lips.
“That’s all you’ve got?” he asked, smiling. “Oh?”
“I, uh, well… I’m glad it wasn’t just me.”
“What wasn’t just you?”
“The flirting.”
“Definitely not just you. I find myself watching the door, waiting for you to arrive to brighten my night. And when I found out you were the one looking for a roommate, I wasn’t sure I should move in here because of the crush I already had on you.”
“I wasn’t sure I should let you move in for the same reason.”
Flashing a lethally sexy grin, he said, “And yet, here we are.”
“And yet.”
For a long, charged moment, neither of them said anything. And then he turned their hands, linked their fingers and gave her hand a squeeze.
“Do you promise that if we do… this, it won’t be weird here?” she asked hesitantly.
“I promise, although,” he said, his expression darkening in an instant, “your family probably wouldn’t approve of you going out with me or even living with an ex-con.”