LITMIR.BIZ

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looked as if the person who owned the apartment hadn’t yet moved in.

      Maybe he couldn’t be bothered to buy furnishings, but what had he been eating?

      She pulled open the cabinets and found a few jars, a few tins and some pasta. And six unopened bottles of whiskey.

      On the far side of the kitchen one entire wall had been given over to wine storage, row upon row of bottles with only the tops visible. The only time she’d ever seen so many bottles of wine in one place had been in a restaurant. It was eye-catching and decorative, but she had a feeling its purpose wasn’t to provide aesthetic appeal. Lucas Blade was either a collector or he was a big drinker.

      No wonder his grandmother was concerned.

      She was starting to have her own concerns, but mingled in with those concerns were other feelings. She paused and pressed her palm against her stomach, trying to subdue the butterflies. He was troubled and complicated. Not a man she should be looking twice at. Not that she was saving herself for Mr. Right, but at the very least she had to like someone and had to believe they liked her back.

      She wasn’t sure what she thought about Lucas Blade. She felt sympathy for his situation, and she was certainly attracted to him, but as for whether she liked him—she needed more time before she could answer that. And he certainly didn’t seem to like her.

      Reaching for more bags, she carried on unloading the food.

      Why didn’t he just tell his family he was at home and didn’t want to be disturbed? Why concoct an elaborate story that he was in Vermont?

      She stowed a box of eggs and glanced up the stairs where Lucas had vanished. In the brief moment before he’d turned his back on her, his face had been like thunder. She’d been sure he was about to forcibly eject her from the building, or at least find some legitimate way to get rid of her and reclaim his territory but something, and she had no idea what, had caused him to reverse his decision.

      She’d expected to be on her own here for a couple of nights. A few hours ago she would have rejoiced in the prospect of company, but now she wasn’t so sure. There was something inexplicably lonely about being trapped in an apartment with someone who didn’t want you there.

      Maybe she should have done as he’d ordered and left, but how could she possibly leave a person who was suffering as he was? She couldn’t, especially knowing that no one else was going to check on him. There was no way she could ever abandon another human being who was feeling that bad.

      If something had happened to him she wouldn’t have been able to live with herself.

      And then there was the matter of the job itself.

      Paige was the one who had so far won most of the new business for their fledgling company. She was a dynamo who had worked tirelessly to get Urban Genie off the ground.

      This was the first significant piece of business Eva had brought in and she didn’t want to lose it. Nor did she want to let her client down. And Mitzy had become more than a client. She was a friend.

      Eva unpacked the rest of the bags, leaving only the ones that contained decorations for the tree.

      Those could wait until the tree was delivered.

      Trying to forget about Lucas, she pulled on her headphones and selected her favorite festive soundtrack from her playlist, reminding herself not to sing. She didn’t want to disturb him while he was writing.

      Two minutes into the song, Paige called.

      “How are you doing? Is it weird being in an empty apartment?”

      Eva glanced upward to the silent space above her. “It’s not empty. He’s here.”

      “Who is ‘he’? And I’m putting you on speaker. Frankie is gesturing to me.”

      “Lucas Blade.” She explained the situation, leaving out mention of the police.

      There was no point in worrying her friends.

      “Why would he pretend to be away?”

      Eva remembered the look in his eyes. She glanced at the knife on the table. “I don’t think he wants company.” She suspected he didn’t want his own company either, but that wasn’t something he could easily escape.

      “So you’ve seen him then? Hey, is he smoking hot or did they use a body double in that photo on the book jacket?” It was Frankie who spoke and Eva thought about those strikingly masculine features and those eyes. Those eyes…

      “He’s smoking hot.”

      “There you go.” Frankie sounded triumphant. “You wanted to use up that condom before Christmas—this is your opportunity.”

      Eva thought about how his body had felt crushing hers and her stomach did a succession of flips. “He’s not my type.”

      “Sexy as hell? He’s every woman’s type.”

      “I’m not denying he’s sexy, but he’s not friendly.”

      “So? You don’t have to have a conversation. Just use him for great sex.”

      Her words must have set off alarm bells because Paige came back on the phone.

      “What do you mean he’s not friendly?”

      “Nothing. Forget it. He doesn’t want me here, that’s all.”

      “But you’re staying anyway? You are one of a kind.” Frankie muttered something indistinct. “If a man didn’t want me around, I’d be out of there so fast you wouldn’t see me for dust.”

      “But you’re an introvert. And you’re weird around men.”

      “Do I need to remind you I’m in love and engaged?”

      “You’re weird around all men except Matt.”

      “In this case I agree with Frankie. If he makes you feel uncomfortable, you should leave.” Paige was emphatic. “We have a rule, remember? If a situation feels wrong then we get the hell out, especially when we’re working alone.”

      “I don’t feel threatened. And I can’t leave him.” She lowered her voice. “There was almost no food in the place until I showed up. And it’s not only food that’s missing. There’s hardly any furniture. No mess. It’s as if he just moved in.”

      “Having you there will soon change that,” Frankie said, but Paige didn’t laugh.

      “The more I hear, the less I like. How did he persuade you to stay?”

      “He didn’t. He wanted me to leave, until—” Until he’d noticed the weather. She turned and glanced toward the windows. That was it. He’d been pushing her to leave right up until the moment he’d looked out of the window and seen that New York was virtually shut down. “He didn’t want me to travel in a blizzard. Don’t worry, if he was planning to do away with me, he would have booted me out into the street and let the weather do the job for him.” She strolled toward the windows and peered through the swirling wall of white. The streets and the park had vanished behind the ferocious fury of the storm. “I couldn’t leave now even if I wanted to.” The knowledge made her nerve endings tingle. It was just the two of them. Alone. Only this time the word alone conjured up different feelings. Her stomach felt jittery.

      “Do you have everything you need?”

      “Yes. I came equipped to turn his house into a winter wonderland with gourmet extras.” But she hadn’t expected the place to be quite so stark. She could decorate, but she wasn’t a magician.

      “Stay in touch,” Paige said. “If we don’t hear from you, we’re coming down there, blizzard or no blizzard. Jake’s here and he’s staying over. And Matt’s here with Frankie. We miss you!”

      Eva felt a pang. Both her friends were in committed relationships. They’d found love and she was happy for them.

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