Chapter Five

August stepped into the apartment and wiped a hand over his sweaty brow. His current roommate situation might be a nightmare, but at least the building’s amenities were top notch. The small gym on the first floor had everything he needed to work out his frustration with his new living arrangement. Too bad the high from exercise only lasted so long. Once he’d showered and changed, he headed into the kitchen to make a protein shake—he really needed to hit up a store today for groceries.

He scooped out the powder into the special cup and filled it with water, vigorously shaking the container to mix the contents. As he flipped the top and lifted it to his lips, the sound of singing hit his ears. Cup poised halfway in the air, he strained to hear over the pounding water. Mo must be in the shower. An image of her soaping up her naked body filled his mind, water plastering the ridiculously colored hair to her back, suds running over her breasts. His body tightened.

“Dammit!”

Shaking his head, he slammed back half his shake, willing the unwanted mental picture to go away. He did not need to be lusting after Mo. There were so many reasons that was a bad idea. Besides, he didn’t do relationships. What was the point when everyone eventually moved on? He wasn’t the type of person people stayed with forever; his parents had proven that. Whatever. Fine with him. He didn’t need anyone. All he needed was space and solitude.

The singing got louder until he managed to make out the tune.

“Is that…‘Jingle Bells’?”

It was September. Who sang Christmas carols in September? And here he’d been thinking this situation couldn’t get any worse. He should have known. Things could always get worse.

August finished off his shake, washing and drying his cup before putting it back in the cabinet.

“Hey, you’re up.”

He turned at the unbelievably chipper voice and sucked in a sharp breath. Mo bounced—yes, bounced—into the room. She wore a long blue skirt that swished around her legs with her energetic movement. Her bright yellow halter top hurt his eyes to look at but left a lot of soft-looking skin on display. Her damp hair twisted up in some sort of intricate knot on top of her head. Her cheeks had honest to god sparkles on them, and her lips and eyelids were highlighted with a warm rose color.

He was going to blame the rise in his body temperature on his recent workout and not the vision his new roommate presented.

“I’ve been up for the past hour and a half. Went down to the gym.”

Mo’s eyes widened with shock. “We have a gym? Huh. Learn something new every day.”

He rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but grin a little. There was something uniquely charming about Mo. Even if they were as different as night and day, he had to admit she charmed him. A little.

Didn’t matter, he had things to do today before checking on Gran at the shop.

“Where’s the nearest grocery store? I need to stock up.”

“Ooooh, me, too. We can go together.”

Great. Just what he wanted. Maybe they could also find a pothole big enough to break the suspension on his car. Fun day all around.

Ten minutes later, they were in Mo’s car—because according to her, she knew her way around town better—and August was praying to every deity in the known universe to survive the trip.

“You know there’s a brake pedal to your left? Some people use it before they’re five inches away from the car in front of them.”

She laughed, ignoring his advice and slamming on the brakes just in time to avoid crashing into the truck stopped in front of them at the red light.

“Lighten up, August.”

Hard to lighten up when you were staring death in the face. How had the woman gotten her license driving like this? Though, judging by the cars around them, everyone in Denver was a terrible driver. Yet another reason to get out of the city. Life expectancy went up when everyone wasn’t driving like they were in Mad Max.

They parked at the grocery store and headed inside. August grabbed a cart and pulled out his phone to bring up his grocery list app. Mo grabbed a basket and started to toss things in at random.

“Don’t you have a list?”

She shrugged, grabbed a box of granola bars, and dropped it in her basket. They were so covered in chocolate they should have been in the candy aisle.

“Not really. I kinda just grab what I’m in the mood for.”

Under “chaos” in the dictionary was a picture of Mo. He was sure of it.

Half an hour later, they had made it through the entire store. Mo’s basket was overflowing, and his cart was sorely lacking. Unfortunately, the selection of fresh fruits and vegetables in this store left something to be desired. Meanwhile, Mo had all manner of processed crap that companies tried to pass off as food.

He’d read a lot about whole food eating because he liked the idea of living off the land. Not saying he wanted to go 100 percent off-grid, but the notion of relying on no one but himself held some appeal. Hell, he did it enough as a kid, being shuffled back and forth between his parents’ homes, keeping all his belongings in a backpack and duffle so he wouldn’t miss a homework assignment or gym class clothes.

He’d learned early on not to rely on anyone but himself. That way when people let him down, it didn’t matter as much.

“Here,” he said after hearing Mo grunt for the fifth time trying to heave the basket around. He grabbed the handles from her and placed it in his cart.

“My hero.”

She gave a dramatic sigh, batting her eyelashes at him. August rolled his eyes at her antics, but he was smiling as he wheeled the cart to a check-out line.

“You don’t have much in there.”

Now it was his turn to sigh. “The whole food selection is lacking here. I need to find another store. Preferably one with organic options.”

She snapped her fingers. Face bright with excitement. Uh oh. That couldn’t be good for him.

“I got it! The farmers market is still going on. We can head there next.”

“Denver has a farmers market?” Kind of an odd thing in the middle of the city.

“Oh, August.” She laughed, patting him on the chest. “Poor country boy. Yes, we have a farmers market. In fact, we have about half a dozen. I told you the city has everything anyone could possibly need. Now let’s pay for these things and I’ll prove it to you. I’ll make a city man out of you yet.”

He highly doubted it, but if there was fresh produce, he was game to give it a try.

…

Mo smiled as she watched August move around the tables and stands picking up various fruits and vegetables to inspect them, squeeze them, sometimes even sniff them. Weird. She didn’t think people outside of movies did stuff like that. Still, she had to pat herself on the back for this genius idea. The farmers market had been the perfect place to take August. All the healthy, organic, tasteless food his bland taste buds could ever want.

Most people wouldn’t care this much about making a roommate feel at home, but to Mo, it was important. First off because she needed August to stay and help her out with the rent. That was the most important. But also because she hated seeing people unhappy. Life was too short to spend it in misery. Mo took it upon herself to make sure everyone was having a good time, at all times. And if anyone needed a good cheering up, it was August Porter.

“So, what do you think?” she asked as he handed some cash to the man behind the table who gave him a bag of—gag—zucchini. Why did the man need four zucchinis? No one needed that much green food.

“Good selection. Prices are a little high.”

She barely held back a groan. Could nothing satisfy this man?

They started to walk again when Mo almost tripped over a large golden retriever. Her arms went spinning, trying to find her balance again, but it was no use. She was going down. Except she didn’t. Two big, strong arms caught her, saving her from cracking her head on the hard pavement. She glanced up, staring into a pair of beautiful hazel eyes and a firm, turned-down mouth.

“Are you okay?” August asked with concern.

Heck yeah, she was! She was currently being held by a very sexy redhead. Who wouldn’t be okay with that?

“You just keep coming to my rescue today. You’re like my very own knight in…” She glanced down at his tight black t-shirt and dark, worn blue jeans. “Rough denim.”

Feeling exceptionally playful, she moved up on her toes to place a grateful kiss on his cheek.

Mistake!

The brief contact of her skin pressed against his sent a bolt of sexual awareness through her. The hands on her hips tightened, pulling her slightly closer, his thumbs stroking the small strip of skin left bare between her shirt and skirt. Heat blazed in August’s eyes for just a moment before he blinked it away, releasing her and stepping back.

Hmm, that was interesting.

A friendly bark drew Mo’s attention down to a happy-faced pup with a pink tongue hanging out the side of its mouth. She reached down to pet the animal.

“Oh, aren’t you just the sweetest little puppers there ever was? Yes, you are, yes, you are. Who’s a sweet doggo? You are.”

The dog whined, tilting its head and staring past her to August.

“Just go with it, man,” August replied. “She’s weird, but it kind of grows on you.”

Whipping her head around so fast she nearly cracked her neck, she glared. “Hey!”

The corner of his mouth ticked up in an almost grin. He reached down to pet the dog on the top of its head. Silly mutt preened like the sun itself was touching it. Having felt those big, warm hands on her body very recently, she knew the dog wasn’t that far off.

“You gotta watch where you’re running, boy.”

“How do you know it’s a boy?”

August nodded with his chin. “Collar says Rudy.”

Well, would you look at that? The collar was indeed stitched with large letters spelling out “Rudy.” How had she missed that? Must have been the adorable, distracting doggy face.

August knelt down beside her to give Rudy more loves. The shameless pup abandoned her lovin’ to practically crawl into August’s lap, licking his face in encouragement.

“I think someone has a fan.”

“He’s a good dog. Aren’t you, boy? All dogs are good.”

“You like dogs?”

He nodded. “Dogs are great. Better than people. They’re always up for a walk, easy to get along with, and they don’t leave their dishes in the sink long enough to gather mold.”

She ignored the last barb. “Did you have a dog growing up?”

The contentment on his face died. Relaxed expression disappearing as his jaw tightened.

“No.”

One word. The end. No explanation. She’d obviously hit some kind of sore spot. She wanted to ask more, but right at that moment, an older woman hurried over to them.

“I’m so sorry.” She huffed out the words, reaching down to latch a leash onto the dog’s collar. “Rudy jumped out of the car before I could get his leash on. He just loves the market.”

“Not a problem; he’s a sweetheart.” She smiled at the woman.

“Have a good one, Rudy,” August said to the dog, standing and tipping his head to the woman.

The woman walked away with Rudy, who kept looking back longingly at August, probably missing those big hands giving him love rubs.

Me, too, Rudy. Me, too.

They started to make their way out of the market when something caught Mo’s eye. She rushed over to the table, grabbing the large dragon-egg-looking thing.

“Look at this!” She held it up for August to see. “We have to get one.”

“As surprisingly shocking as it is to hear you say that about something that doesn’t have a cartoon character advertised on its packaging, I have to disagree.” He frowned. “You don’t even know what it is.”

“Duh, that’s the point. Adventure, trying something new.” Hadn’t the guy ever heard of living a little?

“But how are you going to cook it?” He tilted his head, glancing over the item in her hands. “For that matter, how do you open it?”

“Oh, come on, August.” She wiggled the big orb. “I saw you grimacing at every item of food I put in my basket at the store.”

He snorted. “I wouldn’t call anything you bought today food.”

“Ha! See? I need a little healthy eating in my life. Let’s start with this. Could be fun.”

“Could be poisonous.”

“I highly doubt they sell anything that could kill you at the farmers market. It would be terrible for the revenue.”

The corner of his mouth ticked up again, but he doused the smile before it fully formed. Dammit! She would get him to smile. So help her, it was gonna happen.

“Okay, fine,” he agreed, “but we have to find out what it is first and how to prepare it.”

“Yay!” She put the food back on the table, jumping up and down and throwing her arms around him.

Oops.

The heat roared back to life the moment her body pressed up against his. She quickly pulled away, as much as she really, really didn’t want to. She was coming to find she liked touching August. A little too much, perhaps. He affected her much more than was wise. Judging by the red blush creeping up his face, could it be she was doing the same to him?

They paid for the dragon egg, which turned out not to be a dragon egg at all but a vegetable called a Sikkim cucumber. After the man at the stand told them how to slice and prepare it, they made their way back to her car and headed home.

The grocery store might have been a bust, but the farmers market seemed to go pretty well. August found the food he needed and learned there were places in the city to get all that healthy junk he loved. She was marking that as a win. The guy would be so enamored with the city by the time she was done with him. He’d never want to leave, and she wouldn’t have to worry about going through five dozen more skeevy roommate applications to find a good one.

Now all she had to do was make sure not to mess anything up by giving in to these weird urges that kept popping up every time they touched. Too bad denying herself wasn’t Mo’s strong suit.

Hmm…better play it safe and try not to touch the man at all. But just because she couldn’t touch didn’t mean she couldn’t look, and dream, and fantasize.