“I suppose the door is locked at least,” he muttered.
“Yeah, it gets locked from seven on,” she told him.
“Fuck’s sake,” he muttered. “Should be locked all the time.”
Where was that darn key? Uh-huh! Here it was.
Her hand shook slightly as she attempted to unlock the door. Gray put his hand gently over hers to help her.
“Um, thanks. I’m not always like this.”
“Adrenaline crash,” he told her. “You’ll be all right.”
She sure hoped so. “I’m on the third floor.”
“There’s no elevator?” he asked.
“Uh, no, I prefer not to travel in death boxes anyway.” She directed him toward the stairs. It felt weird to bring someone back here.
Well, she’d only lived here about a month now. It might not look like much or be in a good neighborhood, but she could pay by the week, it was clean and didn’t smell horrid. Plus, there was a deadbolt on her door. Not that she wasn’t capable of putting on her own deadbolt, but it was always more convenient when there was one there already.
And as an added bonus, there were no hidden cameras. She’d learned her lesson about checking for cameras the hard way. The last place she’d been staying, she’d found two. She’d left there in a hurry.
“This is me.” She waved at her door. No way was she offering to let him come in. “Well, thanks for the ride. And, you know, the rescue. Saving me from those assholes and cleaning me up.”
“You’re welcome.”
He pointed at the door. “Not leaving until you’re safely inside. With the door locked.”
“Right. And you don’t think you’re chivalrous.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. “I leave before you’re safely inside and you’re likely to get into more trouble.”
“I never get into trouble.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Tonight was the exception.”
She managed to unlock the door, then she opened it just wide enough that she could slip inside.
“Thanks. Bye. Nighty-night. Sleep tight!”
Closing the door, she leaned back against it. Whoa.
Why did she say that? What was she thinking?
The door rattled as he knocked on it, startling her. She let out a cry.
“Girl? You okay?”
Great. She was back to being called girl. Did he call all the women he met girl? Because they weren’t important enough to remember their name?
That was a depressing thought.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.”