“What are you doing here?”

He reads my nama-stay-in-bed t-shirt and smirks. “Like I said, I’m here to drop off your rental agreement and key.”

He’s wearing a gray-blue faded Henley with his sleeves pushed up, exposing his toned forearms. It’s way too cold outside to be going not only without a jacket but with his sleeves pushed up. My excuse is I only opened the front door. I don’t need a jacket because I’m not technically outside. His lack of one is overdoing it, like those women who model bikinis in the snow.

We all know they’re freezing, they’re not fooling anyone. “Where’s your jacket?”

He stares at me. “What?”

My blood pressure ticks up a notch. “Your jacket. It’s cold out.”

His expression morphs from confusion into a lazy grin. No, not lazy, dangerous.

That grin alone could cause a zip code wide earthquake from mass ovary quivering.

“You worried about me?”

“Absolutely not. Freeze for all I care.”

“Lucy girl.”

My gaze shifts to the front room where my grandpa is reading the paper. “You’re letting the heat out. Don’t stand there, invite the boy in.”

I close my eyes and take a step back, holding open the door. “Please come in.”

“Offer him something to drink.”

Gideon does a crap job at hiding his amusement as he comes through the door.

He peeks his head into the front room and waves. “Hi Mr. Olson. How are you?”

“I can’t complain, not that anyone would listen.”

I scrunch my nose. “Grandpa.”

He grimaces. “Fine, not that anyone other than Lucy would listen.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

My grandpa only has eyes for the man in front of me. “How’s the landscaping business Gideon?”

He moves further into the room and folds his arms across his broad chest. “Work is steady. We’re wrapping up fall stuff now.”

“It’s good to hear you’re keeping busy.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

My grandpa looks past him to me. “Are you going to offer him a drink?”

I throw my hands up. “I was waiting for you to finish.” With a grunt in Gideon’s direction I wave for him to follow me. “Want a drink?”

“No thanks. I’m only here to drop off your key and agreement for Abby.”

That stops me in my tracks. “Is she okay?”

We only talked last night and she had said she would drop the stuff off.

“Something last minute came up.”

My brows come together. “Well, if you don’t want a drink—”

“Why didn’t your boyfriend sign the agreement?”

My jaw drops. “You looked at my paperwork?”

He nods and I want to smack the unconcerned look off of his face. “That’s a complete invasion of privacy.”

“Does your neck get red every time you get pissed?”

I reach for the manila folder he holds but he’s too fast and lifts it above his head.

Glaring at him, I snap, “Give it to me.”

I reach for it in vain.

“Why didn’t he sign it?”

“That’s none of your business.”

With a frustrated growl, I stomp on his foot only to find my barefoot is no match for his work boot. “Ouch.”

I walk away, favoring my other foot and lower myself onto one of the kitchen chairs.

He follows me, setting the folder on the table before leaning over to inspect my foot. “Are you okay?”

I frown up at him. “Are you mental. Don’t act concerned. It’s your fault I hurt it.”

He smirks, clearly because he likes to live dangerously considering how many knives are within reach.

“You hurt yourself trying to hurt me. Sounds like divine justice to me.” He doesn’t stop me when I reach for the folder. “Why didn’t he sign?”

I open it and slide the agreement out and set it on my lap.

Then with a tilt of my hand, the key tumbles out into my palm. “Why do you care if he signed or not?”

My fingers close around it. As much as the last forty-eight hours have sucked, this feels right.

“I care because it’s my house.”

Say what?

The happy soundtrack to me getting my key moment screeches to a halt.

The room goes so quiet I can hear the tic of the second hand on one of grandpa’s old clocks. All I can do is stare up at him. I had to have misheard him.

He holds my gaze and I mentally replay a conversation I had with Finley the week I moved here. She had said, “Noah, Eli, and Gideon sometimes flip houses or rent them out.”

Gideon owns the house I rented. With a shaky hand, I turn the agreement over and confirm it when I see his signature.

“You’re my landlord.”

His expression is not smug like I expected but wary. It’s possible my stunned reaction surprised him. Well, I guess the two of us both got a surprise today, granted mine was bigger.

Then I remember something Abby had said last night. “Why’d you lower the rent?”

“Why didn’t your boyfriend sign the agreement?”

I set the agreement on the table. “We broke up.”

He steps back. “I’m sorry.”

My eyes start stinging.

I blink, absolutely refusing to cry in front of him. “Yeah well, what can you do?”

He starts opening cabinets.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for your mugs.”

Lifting my hand, I point to the ones above the coffee maker.

He pulls down two, and fills them. “Do you take cream or sugar?”

Accepting my mug, I swallow hard. “I was supposed to be the one offering you a drink.”

Coffee sways but doesn’t splash over as he sets his mug down and moves to the fridge. Seconds tick by and he’s back, this time flavored creamer in hand before claiming the chair beside mine. “I’ve never tried this one.”

“The Irish Cream one is better. I got that one on a whim.”

My critique doesn’t stop him from pouring some into his mug. He tips the bottle toward my coffee in a silent question.

“Yes, please.”

He gives my mug a healthy pour before returning the creamer to the fridge. It’s surreal, watching how comfortable he is in my grandpa’s house. He looks far more natural here than Derek ever did.

“Sugar?”

I shake my head and watch as he pulls one drawer out and then another in search of a spoon. He only brings one, and stirs my mug before his own. I lift my mug to my lips and inhale.

“Need more creamer?”

I shake my head and he puts the spoon into the sink.

Then, he’s sitting beside me, mug in hand as if this was an everyday occurrence.

Like me, he pauses to inhale before his first sip, his lids sliding over his piercing blue eyes.

While I might not be showing any outward signs of distress, I’m reeling internally at the news of him being my landlord. My pulse is thrumming, my ears hyper-attentive, and my palms are sweating.

Does he have an ulterior motive for not only agreeing to rent to me but to drop the price the way that he did.

I can’t figure him out. Normally, a vouch from my grandpa should be all I need. For some reason my intuition is warning me to be on guard. Even now my nerves are firing like crazy, making my belly flip and somersault.

Given everything that went down with Derek, can I even trust my gut? Here I was thinking things were hunky dory all while he was planning his escape.

“You okay?”

My gaze flies to meet his. Crap. Did he say something? Why am I acting like a space cadet?

“Mm hmm.”

He sets his mug down. “Does it bug you that much?”

“Huh?”

His brows furrow as his gaze plots a course over my face. “You’re thinking so hard I’m surprised steam isn’t coming out of your ears.”

Too late to school my features. “I’m fine, all things considered.”

The way his eyes narrow make me wonder if he believes me.

“You owning the house threw me. It’s been a crazy couple of days. I guess I’m not rolling with the punches as gracefully as I normally do.”

He looks like I kicked him. “It’s a punch, me owning that house?”

My lips part.

I hadn’t meant to offend him. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s a saying, not an accusation.”

“Why’d you two break up?”

“That is none of your business.”

He lifts his hands, showing me his palms. It’s a gesture of peace but all it does is annoy me even more.

Is this how he does it, worms his way in through supposedly harmless conversation? I’m sure if I call him out on it he’ll say he was only trying to help out, to be a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to lean on.

No, thank you.

“Seeing as how you’re my new landlord, I’d like to keep our relationship as professional as possible.”

He looks me dead in the eyes. “We can’t be friends?”

“I’m sure you already have plenty of friends.”

My eyes widen. It wasn’t what I said, it was how I said it. There was judgment and snark coating each word. It was rude.

Other than being nosy about Derek, he has been nothing but polite to me, and nice on top of that. He hasn’t done anything to earn being the scapegoat of my annoyance.

What’s he guilty of, being too attractive while also being friendly?

“I’m sorry. I have no excuse for being rude to you. To be honest, while your offer of friendship is kind, I’m dealing with a lot at the moment so if it’s cool with you, can we revisit the subject later?”

Dumbfounded is the only way to describe his expression.

Once he recovers, he stands, coffee unfinished. “I’m going to go.”

Oh hell. I really put my foot in it this time.

Jumping to my feet, I grab his forearm. It’s just as muscular as it looks.

Crap.

Dropping his arm like a hot potato, I stare up at him. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

He cocks his head to the side, that lazy grin making a reappearance. “You didn’t offend me, but it’s when your burden gets heavy that your friends can help lighten it.”

It’s unfortunate, but he has a point.

I argue anyway. “Yes, but with everything I have going on I’ll be too busy to be much of a friend.”

Turning, he restarts his trek to the front door, making me follow him. “I’ll need to be in the house while I finish up the work to it. A bit of friendly conversation instead of outright annoyance at my being there is all I ask.”

He stops short, surprising me, and I walk right into his back. Twisting to look back at me, he bites back a laugh when he sees me rubbing my nose. His back is all hard muscle.

Embarrassment outweighs any sort of pain. I can’t believe I walked into him. What is it about this man that makes me turn into a complete idiot.

“Sorry,” I take a step back.

“You okay?”

Deciding a nonverbal response would be safest, I bob my head in assent.

“Everything okay out here?” My grandpa asks from the entrance to the front room.

I drop my hand from my nose. “Gideon is my new landlord.”

His focus shifts to Gideon. “I thought you only planned on selling that house.”

Gideon scratches the back of his neck. “Abby talked me into renting it to Lucy.”

To me?

“Why would she do that?” I ask.

His gaze shifts between us. “After finding out what you were looking for, she thought it’d be perfect for you.”

“I love it,” I blurt.

His attention stays on me. “Good.”

“When do I get to see it?” My grandpa asks.

I motion to the kitchen. “I’ve got the key. Gideon brought it. We can go now if you’d like.”

He looks at my new landlord. “We aren’t rushing you off, are we?”

Gideon shakes his head. “You aren’t.” His attention shifts to me. “I’ll be in touch to let you know when I plan to come by.”

My grandpa’s face lights up. “Are you two going out on a date?”

“Absolutely not.” Gideon chuckles while my grandpa has the nerve to look crestfallen. “Gideon needs to finish up a bit of remodeling. You’ll see what I mean when we get there.”

His expression brightens. “Make sure you feed him.”

I blink. “What?”

“Work like that will make a person hungry and tired. It’d be nice of you to save him the trouble of cooking.”

Gideon lifts a hand. “That won’t be necessary. I can fend for myself.”

While grandpa looks annoyed he doesn’t argue. “You get the key and I’ll go get a sweater.”

It has to be freezing before my grandpa will wear a coat. “Okay.”

“I’ll let myself out,” Gideon says.

My grandpa chooses this moment to argue. “No, you will not. Give us a minute and we can all walk out together.”

The look he gives my grandpa is downright tender.

Why it bugs me they have a good relationship, I don’t know.

“I’ll wait here.”

The kitchen is closer than my grandpa’s bedroom so I beat him to the front foyer.

“Aren’t you going to get a jacket?” Gideon asks.

“Don’t boss me around. It’s in the closet.”

His gaze warms my back as I pull out my jacket and slip it on.

My grandpa joins us and we step outside.

Gideon looks me over once again. “Do you have a purse?”

I shake my head. I own purses but I don’t carry one every time I go out.

“What about your wallet?

Nosy much?

I cringe and look at my grandpa. “It’s in my console.”

He makes an exasperated face. “This neighborhood may be safe but that’s no reason to invite trouble. You shouldn’t leave your wallet in your car.”

Since he didn’t know I’d get lectured, I decide against glaring at Gideon.

“You leave your wallet in your car?”

My grandpa nods with a sullen, I’ve tried to teach her right from wrong air about him.

“Geez, it’s not like I keep cash in it or anything.”

It’s the best defense I’ve got so I go with it. I know I shouldn’t leave it in my car, I just forget to bring it in from time to time.

I change the subject. “Well, thanks again for dropping off the key. Have a great day.”

My grandpa heads toward my car. “Bye Gideon. It was good seeing you.”

Gideon doesn’t prolong his farewell and with a wave, is in his truck and halfway down the street by the time I’m backing out of the drive.

Whatever annoyances I had at his coming by, and the surprise at him also being my landlord are gone, replaced by my excitement at seeing the house again.

“He’d be good for you.”

At least Grandpa waited ‘til I finished parking to drop that bomb on me. “You trying to play matchmaker?”

He makes a hmpf sound and gets out of the car. I grin at his back as he walks to the door. Silly as it might be, moments like this are what I moved here for. My grandma is gone, there’s no getting the time I missed with her back. I’ll let him fuss over me and love every minute of it.

“It’s a cute place,” he says when I join him at the front door.

“Wait ‘til you see inside.”

I hold the door open for him as he moves into the small foyer.

He’s silent as we move through each room. Me, I fall in love with the place all over again.

I still want him to also like it.

It’s not until we’re in the bonus room that I finally lose my patience. “Well, what do you think?”

He frowns, making my heart clutch. “I’ll miss having you at the house, but I understand why you like this house as much as you do. It’s perfect for you.”

Three steps are all it takes before I’m hugging him. Something not unlike relief pumps through my veins.

There are only a few people whose opinions I care about, my grandpa is one of them. “I’m so happy you like it.”

I take a step back and grin at him while he inspects the skylights. “The glass of these skylights must be high quality.”

My eyes follow his gaze. “Why do you say that?”

He walks to a window at one end of the room and motions for me to join him. “Your new neighbor is using a leaf blower and you can’t hear it.”

Does that mean?

“Do you think this space might be insulated enough for me to use it as my studio?”

He shrugs. “Could be.”

My mouth hurts with how wide I grin.

He chuckles at my expression and pats my arm. “It makes me happy to see you smile.”

For some reason, him saying that makes my nose start stinging. “Grandpa.”

Not missing my expression change he claps his hands together. “How about I treat you to dinner to celebrate?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

He nods. “I want to, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Deciding to let him win this one, I give him another hug. “Thank you.”

After one more pass through the house for fun, we drive back to his house to freshen up for dinner. Once I’ve changed into grown-up clothes, I go in search of him and am surprised to find him on the phone in the front room. My surprise wasn’t where he was but what he was doing.

Talking on the phone isn’t something he does for fun. Since I didn’t hear it ring, it means he’s willingly made this call.

He looks up when I walk into the room.

Covering the receiver, he asks, “Do you have your calendar planner on you?”

Since I’m actually carrying a purse, I do. “Yes.”

“What day would you like Gideon to help you move furniture?”

I beg your pardon.

My eyes bug. “What?”

He holds out his hand obviously wanting my planner. I have an out of body experience as I watch myself hand it to him. It’s like my brain stopped functioning on its own.

“She can do the third. Does that work for you?”

Gideon must say yes because my grandpa reaches for a pen and scribbles a note on that day. “Thanks Gideon. Alright, see you soon.”

He hangs up the phone and returns my planner to me. “Here you go. Oh, and I invited Gideon to dinner with us.”

I stare at him as he cheerfully walks out of the room.

What just happened?

Flipping open my planner, I go to the third and see his Gideon move note. I’m pretty faithful about tracking everything in this planner, a habit my grandpa obviously didn’t miss.

Before I close it, a reminder catches my eye.

Refill birth control prescription.

I freeze.

Then I flip to the month at a glance for October.

No red dot to show I started my period.

I flip to September and see a red dot on the fourth.

My heart starts pounding as I realize how late I am.