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I froze. “You did?” Of course he did. Why was I so surprised that Calder had spoken to his best friend?
“Rafe sent me a photo with a message that said, ‘Just so you know, I saved your girlfriend from an intruder today.’”
“Ah…” I laughed nervously. “I guess I’m showing how green I am when it comes to living in New York, huh?”
“You’re cute is what you are. I’m sorry you got scared. But yeah, unfortunately, you might need to prepare for the possibility of seeing an intruder again.”
I paced. “Well, I’m glad you think I’m cute.”
“What are you up to today?” he asked.
“I’m doing that tour of the publishing house this afternoon, remember?”
“Oh. Right. I forgot about that.”
“I was originally going to sneak in a museum visit first, but I changed my mind. I don’t want to have to rush.”
“Are you nervous?”
“No, since it’s not my first day. Just an informal tour.”
“But you’ll still see some of the people you’ll be working with, right?”
“I think so? Although, I’m really not sure what to expect.” I paused. “Everything going okay with you?”
“Yeah. So far so good. I gotta run, though. About to head into a meeting.”
“Of course.” I shook my head. “Go. Talk soon.”
“Definitely. Love you, babe.”
“Love you, too,” I said.
Talking to Calder made me feel a bit better. After we hung up, I looked around the apartment. With time to kill before my afternoon tour, I decided to wash our sheets, which hadn’t been laundered since I moved in. That seemed like a good way to cleanse whatever guilt I’d been harboring over inappropriate thoughts.
With the rolled-up bedding tucked under my arm, I walked by Rafe’s door without even looking in, giving myself a virtual pat on the back as I headed down to the basement.
When I got to the laundry room, though, I jumped.
“Oh…” I dropped some of the bedding as I found Rafe casually leaning against the washing machine.
“Hey…” He smiled, his gorgeous teeth gleaming.
“What are you doing?” I asked, picking the sheets up off the floor. What kind of a question is that? He’s obviously doing laundry.
“I thought my load was finished, but it’s not dry yet, so I’m hanging out until it’s done.”
“Hate when that happens…” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
He shrugged. “I actually don’t mind waiting. It forces you to stop and just be, you know? Watching the clothes spin relaxes me.”
“It’s like the antithesis of violently smashing glass.”
“Very true.” He chuckled.
“I used to think it was relaxing down here, until I realized we had mice. I used to linger and watch it spin sometimes, too. I thought I was the only one who liked to do that.”
“Listen to that.” Rafe closed his eyes. “There’s something beautiful about the quiet down here mixed with the sound of the machine turning. It activates something in my brain, and I can see things clearly, imagine art I want to make. I think the only other thing that compares is that moment the caffeine hits in the morning.”
