My heart hammered in my chest as I slowly raised my gaze from his quirked lips to his sparkling green eyes.
“What?” I gasped.
He stood close enough now to reach out his hand and tap at my shirt, just below the collar, in the same fashion he’d tapped at Drixie’s carrier. I followed his finger to where it was still touching me. All air flooded out of my lungs, leaving me breathless.
“Artistic,” he murmured as I incredulously took in the brown splotch marring the otherwise gray fabric.
It hadn’t been there this morning so it must’ve happened during my coffee break with Glen. I had no recollection of spilling anything, but I must have since there it was, in all its glory, proving once again that I could not look decent in the presence of Mr Umbrella. Not even once. Not at all.
I closed my eyes, hoping the offending stain would disappear, and groaned. “No. Not an artist. Just clumsy, apparently.”
I did not expect that Mr Umbrella would take this opportunity to raise his offending finger and boop my nose. What the actual fuck? My eyes sprung open as my mouth fell to the ground. Heat was a living, breathing thing within my body while air was nonexistent. I was growing lightheaded just standing there and wished for the ground to swallow me whole.
Mr Umbrella laughed good-naturedly, backing away from me now that he’d made his case. It did make it easier to breathe, but my nerves remained on edge, and my heart refused to settle.
“Aren’t you going to tell me it’s in fashion, Red Cheeks?”
“Coffee stains? In fashion? Even I’m not going to pull that lie off,” I muttered.
“I bet you could,” Mr Umbrella insisted. “Come on, give it a try. I promise not to argue.”
I took a deep breath and stomped past him to the mansion block. He followed me to the front door. “Oh,” I said theatrically, “didn’t you know stainless shirts were out of fashion? You’ve got to have at least one strategically placed splotch to stay trendy.”
His throaty chuckles carried all the way to the lift where we stopped side by side, and I braved a glance at him. His half-lidded eyes lazily roamed over my face before meeting mine. “I believe you. You’ve sold it, really. Makes me want to get all dirty. Since you’re the expert here, I might need some assistance on that account. Think you can help me stay trendy, too?”
Holy camoly, he did not! He...did.
Speechless and unable to calm my racing heart that was now beating in my ears and muffled out the ding of the lift, I stared at him for way too long. He was smug about his suggestion, too. Or quite possibly about my reaction to his suggestion. Or both.
“Well,” he waved his hand to the open doors. “Fashionistas first.”
I broke our staring contest and stumbled into the lift. If standing in the corridor had been suffocating, the tight lift was worse. So much worse. My only salvation was Drixie’s carrier bag that established a barrier of sorts between me and the boundaryless Mr Umbrella.
He pushed both tenth and twelfth floor buttons and let the doors close at their leisure. The silence was only breached by the constant hum of the lift slowly raising upwards. Did I already mention how slowly it rode? Probably slowly enough to take Mr Smug up on his offer to get dirty right there and then in our cramped enclosure. He was thinking about it, for sure. I wasnotthinking about it in the slightest.
The silence was so loud between us it left my ears ringing. And yet, I had no clue how to breach it after clearly rejecting his advance. He was perfectly content to stay silent, wiggling his fingers in front of the netting to Drixie’s carrier, getting the cat inside to follow the movements predatorily and paw at the confinement when his hand reached out playfully.
“I think she likes me,” Mr Umbrella said eventually, his eyes finding mine. Still sparkling, still green, still full of mischievous intent.
“She only dislikes my brother,” I murmured.
“I remember,” he replied. “And your roommate.”
“That was a misunderstanding.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
“I am right.”
Mr Umbrella nodded solemnly. “Good to know, Red Cheeks.” Then the lift dinged to a stop, and he left me standing there alone, flustered and confused.
