Center Stage (4 page)

Her furniture should arrive tomorrow. She’d need all the strength she could muster to get everything back in place just like she liked it.

John turned down the volume on his television when he heard the footsteps upstairs. She was home.

It was stupid that he’d even worried about her, but he considered her a friend. Friends worried.

He clicked off the old M*A*S*H episode and pushed himself up from his chair. He threw his beer bottle in the recycle bin and headed to bed. Saturdays were as busy in construction as any other day. He should have been in bed hours ago. The thought didn’t settle well with him. If it hadn’t been for worrying about Arianna so much, he’d have been in bed at a reasonable time. Instead he was having ribs and beer and taking drives out to Zach’s. Just because he was single and willing to help didn’t mean he’d intended to be her knight in shining armor.

He pulled off his T-shirt and threw it in the hamper, then pulled back the sheets on his bed and climbed in. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and he doubted he’d get much more knowing she was just upstairs.

The thought of Alexander Hamilton’s face had kept Arianna awake most of the night. She didn’t want it to seem as though she were running, but inside she couldn’t help but feel that way. Sure, she was certainly strong enough when it had been Regan who had been haunted by the man, but now he’d entered her world. It was hard to feel as strong when she felt so vulnerable.

She looked at the little clock on the chair at the edge of the bed. It was only five-thirty in the morning and still dark outside. It had been a very long time since she’d seen this side of early morning, but if she went back to sleep, she just might have another nightmare.

Arianna rolled out of the bed and shuffled her way downstairs. It wasn’t until she was standing, blurry eyed, in front of the empty kitchen counter that she remembered there wasn’t a coffeemaker yet. She let out a long groan. The movers weren’t supposed to arrive until two. There’d better be a Starbucks at the end of the street.

She turned from the counter and looked out the window over the sink. Not even a hint of orange graced the sky line yet. What the hell was she doing up?

Just as she started to turn away, she turned back. Something else caught her eye. The old, red, beat up Ford pickup truck she’d grown to loathe and love was parked out back by the garage.

She leaned up on the counter to look out into the yard. She didn’t see John.

Arianna hurried to the front door, pulled it open and looked out front. He wasn’t there either.

Now why would he park his truck at her house?

She heard the door that went from the small basement apartment to the outside open and shut. She’d get her first glimpse of her tenant. It was a little bit of a surprise when she saw John walking up the steps with a mug of coffee in his hands.

She hurried to the back door and stepped out to the porch. “What are you doing here this early?”

His head snapped up, obviously surprised to have someone talking to him in the early morning from the porch.

“You’re up early,” he said, his voice rough.

“Couldn’t sleep. Are you working on something already?”

“Off to the build.”

She shook her head and started for the stairs. “No. I meant here. Is something wrong with the apartment downstairs?”

“Nope. It’s a nice, little place.”

She could feel herself tense the closer she got to him. “No. Is there a leak or wiring problem or something?”

He only shook his head.

She dropped her shoulders. “Did you sleep here last night?”

His eyebrows drew together. “Yes,” he said slow and drawn out.

She didn’t expect that short, little word to rattle her. She swallowed hard. “Oh. You did.” She stepped back. “So you’re seeing someone?”

He looked her over as though he thought she’d lost her mind. “I think you need some coffee. Want some?”

“Coffee?”

“Yep.” He started back down the steps to the door of the apartment.

Was he seriously going to take her into the apartment of the tenant he was sleeping with? It was six in the morning. She wasn’t dressed. This wasn’t how she wanted to meet the person who would be sending her rent checks. Nor did she like the fact that thinking about John with someone else was eating her up. This man was just an acquaintance, not the man fated to be hers. They’d gone to two weddings together. He took her to dinner and gave her a few rides. That does not signify that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her—or expected to.

But before she could protest, he had the door open and had walked inside.

Arianna stood at the threshold and looked inside. This wasn’t an apartment of any woman. It was dark not only because it was so darn early, but because it was decorated in dark hues. She hadn’t remembered the space ever looking so nice.

The walls had been painted in browns and greens, and did it have hard wood flooring before? It must have. Who would just put that kind of thing into a rented apartment? 

There was a small, leather couch under the two windows and a big Lazy Boy recliner with a small end table next to it. Both sat facing an enormous, out-of-place-in-such-a-small-space TV.

She could hear John in the tiny kitchen filling a mug with coffee, and she’d forever be grateful for that. When he came back into the room, he handed it to her.

“Thank you.”

“You look like you can use it.”

She nodded and enjoyed the warmth of the mug against the palms of her hand. “I take it that it’s not some woman who lives here.”

“Nope.”

“But you didn’t mention that you lived here.”

“Sure didn’t.”

His short answers were frustrating. “But you do?”

“Yep.”

“You’re my nice guy tenant you told me about?”

“Yep.”

What was she supposed to say to that? “Okay. Well, it’s nice to know I’m in good hands then.”

He nodded again, but this time with a glance at his watch. “You’re welcome to more coffee if you’d like. I have to get to work.”

“Oh, sure.” She turned toward the door and then turned back to him, again standing very near to him. “You wouldn’t object to me taking the coffee pot upstairs with me, would you? Mine won’t arrive for a few more hours.”

Arianna hurried up the cold, back stairs with his coffee pot in her arms and waved to him as he pulled out of the back drive. She disappeared into the house, and he sat there watching her figure move in the kitchen window.

It had been a long time since he’d see a woman, her hair mussed from sleep, in flannel pajama bottoms and an old T-shirt. The sight had stirred him immensely.

A pang in his chest let him know he’d missed having someone tell him goodbye in the mornings.

Common sense quickly jolted him back into place. There had been a reason he hadn’t had a woman in his life regularly to tell him goodbye in the mornings. He needed to remember that.

But the image of Arianna, fresh from sleep, continued to play in his head as he drove to the site. Perhaps he’d try to wrap things up early today and head back to help her move furniture around. That would be the neighborly thing to do.

Chapter Five

What good were movers who literally dropped your furniture and boxes off and then ran as fast as they could? Arianna thought they’d help a little more.

She gathered her hair with her hands and then let it drop down around her shoulders as she looked at the mess in the once empty house. How did she have all of this stuff in one apartment?

The coffeemaker. She was going to dig through the boxes and find that stupid coffeemaker first, even if the thought of sharing one with John was appealing.

She moved boxes around the kitchen until she came to the one she knew must have the coffeemaker buried in it. Bent over at the waist, she reached into the box when she heard the knocking on the back door.

Her head snapped up out of the box and she spun around, nearly falling into the box. There stood John at the back door with the most adorable grin on his face.

Arianna wasn’t sure if it was endearing or one of those quirks that was going to piss her off.

She pushed through boxes to get to the door and flung it open.

She fisted her hands on her hips. “What are you grinning at?”

“You’re supposed to bend at the knees, not at the waist.”

“Oh, you didn’t like my ass up in the air?”

The comment was meant to be a bit snotty, but when she saw the flush in his cheeks and his eyes opened wide, she knew she’d caught him on exactly what he’d been grinning about.

John cleared his throat. “I cut out of work a little early to help you. If you need it.”

Arianna grabbed his arm and twisted it just enough so she could look at his watch. “It is five o’clock. You call this getting out of work early?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Stopped and looked at a building on my way home.”

“Something new?”

“Maybe.” He scratched his head. “You want a beer?”

Arianna let out a sigh. “I’d love one.”

John took the steps down to his place slowly. He needed to clear his head.

What was it about Arianna Keller that made him do ridiculous things? He had been looking at her ass in the air, just as she’d hinted. That wasn’t his way. He didn’t find it amusing when the guys on site did it either.

And then there was that building he’d been looking at. The Rockwell Theater on the edge of town was slated to be torn down if it wasn’t renovated. All he could think about was helping Arianna fix it up.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked into the kitchen. It was already getting complicated. He should drop the whole thing, sit down in his chair, and watch some sports on ESPN. After all, that was why he had that enormous TV. Sports and MythBusters—explosions were always better in high-definition.

He could hear boxes slide across the floor. A glance at his TV made him feel guilty. He pulled four beers out of the refrigerator and stood there with the door open.

Alone in his little space wasn’t where he wanted to be. He wanted to be upstairs with her. Damn it!

The sound of feet on the stairs which led to the inside door of his apartment had his attention. Then there was a knock on the door. He walked across the room.

“Yes?”

“Can I open this?” Her voice was muffled from the other side.

“The door?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” How silly was it they were yelling through it? He unlocked his side. “My side is unlocked. Unlock your side.”

He heard the bold click, and Arianna pushed it open. “Cool.” She looked around the kitchen where he stood with four beers in his arms.

“You shouldn’t keep that door unlocked.”

The corner of her mouth lifted into a grin. “Are you afraid I might sneak down and attack you?”

There she went again, stirring him up. “No.” He shook his head. “What did you need?”

“Stupid question, but do you have a hammer, a screwdriver, and a wrench?”

“No.”

Her nose crinkled in the most amusing and cute way, but he kept his lips pursed and forced himself not to smile.

“Oh. I just thought…” She was flustered.

“I was kidding. Of course I have those. They are in my truck. Here.” He handed her the beers. “I’ll go out and get them. You take these upstairs.”

Arianna nodded, took the beers, and started up the steps which led to her own kitchen.

“Stop looking at my ass, Forrester.”

Guilt dropped like a lead balloon into the pit of his stomach. Again, that was exactly what he’d been doing.

When he walked through her back door, Arianna was on the floor going through a box. The contents were spread all over the floor.

“Shouldn’t you get your furniture in its place first, and then sort through the boxes?”

“I packed in a hurry. The boxes are mixed.”

“What needs to be fixed?”

Arianna looked at him with a look of confusion clouding her eyes, but when he shook his hammer in his hand, she bolted up to her feet.

“Oh, yeah. The bed needs to be assembled.”

Arianna started up the stairs to her bedroom, but John took a slower pace. He’d felt guilty enough putting the air mattress in there. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be in her bedroom.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he heard her moving boxes around. As he walked through the door, a pillow flew his way and he was merely quick enough to catch it before it hit him in the face.

“You seem out of sorts tonight,” Arianna said as she kicked a box into the corner.

“Do I?”

“Long day at the office, dear?”

Oh, she was playing with fire, and he was afraid he was the one getting burned in the process.

“It was a good day. Are these all the pieces?” He nodded toward the wall where the bed was stacked up.

“Yep. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight. I love that you set up the air mattress, but two nights is long enough. If we don’t get this together soon, I might have to sleep in your bed.”

She’d turned to gather another box in her arms and throw it in the corner, but he stood there with his mouth hung open, trying to make his heart beat normal.

He’d better get to work on that bed. There was no need to have Zach’s sister-in-law making comments like that and getting him all worked up.

One thing John would say, after nearly forty-five minutes of piecing together the bed, they were a good team. Arianna was a strong woman, physically. She never minded lifting something or doing the hard work, where most women would have grunted or complained.

“Looks like one sturdy bed,” John complimented, giving it a shake.

“Yes, well, those stupid movers put all the mattresses in the other room. So now I have to lug them over.”

“I’m here to help.”

“Good. And this time I promise to repay you, and you’ll let me buy you dinner.”

John tucked his thumbs into his front pockets. “You’re determined to do that, huh?”

“I am.”

“You know what sounds good? A steak on your grill.”

Her eyes opened wide. “I am not a good cook. Your steak is going to end up a burnt brick.”