Hold Me Now

2. Russell

Chapter Two

Russell

Paisley Banks stood in front of me. Her auburn hair was damp and drying in wisps around her freckled cheeks when her hazel eyes met mine. Her cheeks flushed pink as we stared at each other. I finally shifted my brain into gear.

“Is this yours?” I asked, lifting the pizza box resting on my palm.

She nodded. “You deliver pizza?” She turned to bend over and pick up the cash that had fallen to the floor.

Of course, that action gave me a way too up close and personal view of her. She was wearing these fitted sweatpants, and the cotton stretched over her heart-shaped bottom. I had to yank my eyes away. It was bad enough that I could hardly keep my s**t together around her at work, and now, she apparently lived upstairs.

My mother had just told me last week that she’d found a tenant for this place. I should’ve thought to ask her who it was when she said Janet recommended the person. f**k my life. This was not good.

Paisley straightened. “I don't deliver pizza,” I finally answered. “I paid for it because I thought it was mine. I should’ve realized it got here sooner than expected.”

“How do you know it's mine?” She lifted her hand, brushing one of those wispy curls away from her eyes.

“Because I definitely didn't order a half pepperoni, half Greek pizza.”

She smiled a little at that. “Oh. Well, I'll pay you, and then you can pay for your pizza.”

I shook my head. “Nope. It's on me.”

She pressed her lips in a tight line. “Russell, you don't need to pay for my pizza. Do you live here?” she asked, looking a little flustered.

She was rarely shaken. That shouldn't have given me a jolt of satisfaction, but it did.

“Yeah.” I thumbed over my shoulder toward the stairs. “I’m downstairs.”

“Oh.” I still had the pizza in my hand, and we were still staring at each other. “Wow. This oughta be fun. I'll talk to the owner. I'm sure I can find somewhere else to move,” she said quickly.

Now, I felt like an a*s. “No, the owner is my mother, by the way. She'll kill me if she thinks you're moving out because of me, so that's out of the question.”