House Rules(60)

Had it been a figment of my imagination?

My blood ran cold and a shiver ran up my back. I wrapped my jacket tighter around me, pulling my purse closer, and waited. But the only sound was faint laughter and the sound of my heartbeat in my ears.

I shook my head to clear it. The little shit was probably hiding between the cars, waiting to follow me back to the new apartment. It didn’t surprise me that he wasn’t man enough to confront me in public.

Not wanting to take any chances, I slipped my keys between my fingers and kept walking. If Ray thought he was going to put a single finger on me, he was in for a very rude awakening.

Finally, I reached my car. I pressed the unlock button and climbed in quickly, locking it as soon as the door shut behind me. I let out a long breath as I stared at the steering wheel. Coming to the bar was one thing. Sneaking around the school campus took things to a whole different level.

I backed out of the space, wanting to be far away from it all. A little way down the road, I pulled my phone out and dialed Miller’s number, with every intention of telling him what had happened.

“Gorgeous, what can I do for you?”

He sounded so upbeat. I knew he’d been having a hard time keeping up with all of the different businesses, so to hear him happy at work was a change of pace and, not wanting to ruin his mood or his day, I decided to drop the whole thing. I’d tell him later.

“Nothing. I wanted to tell you I passed my test.”

“That’s wonderful. What are you doing now?”

I yawned and my eyes watered. It briefly crossed my mind that maybe exhaustion had caused me to see things. Keeping up with school and work and seeing Miller; it was a lot. A good night’s rest would do me the world of good. “Thinking about going home to take a nap. Someone kept me up all night.”

“Mmm . . . I like the sound of that. I’ll keep you up all night tonight, too.” There was a hint of promise and passion in his tone and thoughts of the weird afternoon fled, all from the sound of his raspy tenor. I had to get it together if I was going to make it home in one piece.

“What are you doing?”

He chuckled. “Quick change of subject. Are my words getting to you?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Good. Remember that later.”

“I will, now help me clear my head before I crash the car.”

His rich laughter was soothing.

“Paperwork.”

“Paperwork?” I had no idea what he was talking about. My brain was in a sexual fog as the events of the night before came rushing back to me and suddenly, a nap didn’t seem like the best use of my time.

“Yes, paperwork. The only thing I ever seem to do.”

That was an understatement. I’d seen Miller clear his desk of papers, only to see the same amount there only a few hours later.

It was my turn to laugh. “Good luck with that.”

“Oh, want to be a smartass, do we? How about you meet me at my house at seven and I’ll show you who that ass belongs to.”

I groaned. “This ass will always belong to me, but I’d be happy to meet you there and prove that to you. You can have it for limited times.”

“Fuck, Tess. You’re going to be the death of me.” There was a shuffling of papers and a quick call out that he’d be right there. “I’ve got to go handle something. My house? Seven?”

“I’ll be there.”

Once I got home, I locked the dead bolt for good measure and lay down for a nap, knowing full well that Miller would keep his word about keeping me up all night.

I woke in time to take a shower and get ready to head over to Miller’s. I could finally get there without the GPS on my phone and Miller had given me the codes to the door.

I didn’t bother getting too dressed up. Every time we went to Miller’s, even with plans, we never managed to make it out of the house. That didn’t stop me from grabbing the cute jeans that hugged my ass and a red top that had a nice deep V at the front. A small bit of makeup later and I was ready to go.

My phone buzzed on the dresser. Expecting to see a text from Miller, I pulled up the message only to find one from a number I didn’t recognize, but with a text like, “Hey baby. I miss you. When are you going to stop ignoring me and realize you belong to me,” it was pretty obvious who the sender was.

When was the asshole going to give up? How many more numbers was I going to have to block. Frustrated, I grabbed my stuff and left for Miller’s, hoping he could take my mind off it all.

It was a little after seven when I pulled up in front of the garage. The house was dark. Odd, considering that Miller usually beat me there. Not that it mattered too much because he’d given me the codes in case of an emergency.