Finally nodding, like it’d gotten his seal of approval, Reece glanced over at me. “Can I see the bedroom?”
“Sure.” I started heading for the back of the condo while he followed. “You have the first bedroom and the hall bath. It’s a decent size, but if you need another space for an office or something, let me know, and we might be able to work something out.”
He glanced in the bathroom, nodding quietly again, then crossed the hall to go in the bedroom. The master and guest bedrooms were both fairly large. There was one small room, but I used that for an office. So I wasn’t surprised when he made a pleased sound and smiled.
“I’ve seen a few lately that were like large closets and that’s it.” He started wandering around the empty room and seemed to be mentally mapping it out, pacing steps and walking in odd patterns. “I’ve never lived in a place where people were so proud of tiny apartments.”
“Have you lived here long?”
“No. I just took a new job. I’m living in temporary corporate housing now, but I want my own space.” He kept wandering around the room, looking in the closet and pacing more steps off. “I think this will work.”
He gave me a long look, those big brown eyes staring me. He was going to have to stop doing that to me. “Any other rules or facts I should be aware of? I’m not a big partier, but I’d like to be able to bring someone home eventually without it causing problems.”
I shrugged. I didn’t care who he fucked as long as they didn’t drive me nuts. “Just keep the noise level down and don’t get naked in the communal spaces, then we’ll be good.”
His face scrunched up, and his head tilted like he didn’t understand what I meant, so I felt the need to explain. “I’ve had some interesting roommates in the last year.”
Reece nodded slowly. “I can promise I’ll keep my clothes on, things fairly clean, and no loud parties.”
“Works for me. I have a contract in the kitchen and a few basic questions about your income. I’ll let you read through it and make sure you don’t have any issues with it.” As we headed back to the other side of the condo, Reece started to talk more.
“The ad I read said moving in right away is fine?” His voice was calm as he studied the space while we walked through. He seemed nothing like the last applicants and nothing like my previous roommates; I could only hope that would be a good thing.
“Sure.” I was saving up for another trip to Europe, so sooner was better than later.
“Good. I talked to the people who are storing my moving POD, and they said getting me worked in wouldn’t be a problem if I found something quickly.” As he wandered into the kitchen, he looked around again. “You have a great kitchen. You’re sure my using it or putting stuff in the cabinets isn’t going to be a problem? My last roommate said he’d clear out space for me, but it wasn’t enough to unpack even one box, so I had to eat out almost constantly.”
I gestured around the room as I walked over to pull out the paperwork from the folder. “No, if it’s empty, go for it. I eat out a lot, so it’s not going to bother me unless you end up leaving it a mess.”
He glanced up at me, and it had to be the short hair making his eyes so noticeable. “Well, I usually end up making too much, so if there are leftovers, feel free to help yourself.”
“Thanks.” I’d learned the hard way not to believe that. I wasn’t going to argue with him, though. “Here you go.”
Taking the papers, he started reading through them. It was a standard rental contract, so I didn’t think he’d find anything odd. After going through a few points, discussing his finances, and writing in the starting and ending date of the lease, we signed, and it was done.
I was relieved to have it over, because finding someone had taken a ridiculous amount of time. But the tension wasn’t going to leave until I figured out his form of crazy. The calm, teddy bear expression was only going to last so long.
He’d said he wasn’t a big partier, but that probably meant he liked to get stoned on his own. Having someone over probably meant he had a revolving door of women in his bedroom. More than likely, I was going to have to listen to some girl scream out how incredible he was every night.
God, that had been a long three months.
I wasn’t sure I could go back to getting that little sleep again. The sleepy pot smoker was starting to sound better and better. “So, you said you’re in IT?”
That had to mean drug screenings, right?
Reece leaned back in the chair, and his shirt stretched across his chest, clearly outlining the muscles under his clothes. I tried not to stare, but unlike the paranoid skinny straight guy who had to have been a closet case, Reece was actually my type.
Shit.
I loved short, stocky guys. Sexy men that could be manhandled without the risk of actually hurting them got me going. I was going to have to be careful. No matter how hot he was, making the guy uncomfortable wasn’t something that I wanted to do.
Reece nodded. “Yes, I generally work with smaller companies that are in the process of growing and are starting to need their own IT department. My new job is with an internet startup that’s finally expanded past what their current staff can handle and needs actual IT help. After their site crashed a few times last month because of the amount of traffic, they realized what they had wasn’t working.”
“Sounds interesting.” Not really, but it was better than the tax guy. And I was in finance, so that was saying something.
Reece’s smile went from pleasant to filled with real pleasure. It was distracting as hell. Maybe I could convince him to wear a mask around the condo. But that image was too distracting, so I pushed it away and tried to listen. “It’s a great opportunity. I’m getting in on the ground floor with them, and I’m going to be in charge of the whole department.”
Then he gave a laugh and shrugged carelessly. “Which only consists of me right now, and a few tech-savvy people in their marketing department, at least some of the time, but they’ve talked about expanding it over the next couple of years. I think it’s going to be a good fit.”
