The Roommate Pact(34)
She opened the lid and settled back. “I’m finally signing up for a dating website/app thing.”
His other brow lifted to join the first.
“Don’t look at me like that. My friend Steph swears this one’s actually pretty good at matching compatibility. As you so astutely noticed, the last guy I went out with wasn’t right for me and the only attractive guy at the club the other night—present company excluded—was a smoker. I might as well give this a try.” She clicked to the site and logged in to pick up where she’d left off.
She felt Graham’s gaze on her as she skimmed the questions she was supposed to answer. “I have no idea how to answer some of these.”
Graham pointed to her computer and gestured for her to hand it over.
Claire laughed. “You want to help?”
He nodded, expression serious.
“Just don’t hit Submit on anything,” she warned, handing him the laptop. She scooted closer to see what he was doing.
He smelled good, which was unfair since he’d just been sitting in bed all day, and she regretted the move immediately.
Note to hormones: snap out of it.
Graham focused his attention on the screen for several seconds. He’d probably come to the same conclusion she had, and wouldn’t know how to answer them, either.
But then, he started typing.
Describe your perfect day. Sleeping until the sun wakes me up. Strong black coffee and a carb-filled breakfast on the patio at a local café. Maybe a little shopping, especially if there’s a good sale. Would have to include a trip to Nordstrom Rack. A lazy afternoon on the couch binge-watching my recent Netflix obsession, then take-out dinner at home and wine on the porch until the stars come out.
He stopped and shot her what was probably meant to be an arrogant smirk, but his smile wasn’t quite there yet. She just stared at him, shocked as hell.
He sighed and mouthed, Right?
“That’s pretty on point,” she admitted. “Better than I could have come up with, and startlingly accurate. What else have you got?”
Provide one random fact about yourself. I leave half-eaten bags of chips all over the house.
He gave her the side-eye and she burst out laughing. “Yeah, sorry. But we’re not putting that.”
Graham rolled his eyes and hit the backspace key, then typed, I take card games very seriously.
She allowed that one. It was the truth, and it was probably best for anyone she dated to be aware up front.
What’s your biggest pet peeve? Small dogs.
What physical feature are you most attracted to? Forearms.
Heat filled her cheeks. Had he noticed how often she checked out that particular body part on him? Hell, she’d just been watching the veins and flexing muscles as he typed.
Thankfully, he didn’t look at her and kept typing.
If you could choose a superpower, what would it be? Time travel.
Her mouth dropped open and she shifted her gaze from the screen to his face. He was still typing, frowning in concentration as he went, as if that answer wasn’t significant.
It was, though. Could have been, at least, if he’d chosen that power knowing she’d give anything to go back in time to see her dad again. Was it possible he’d just randomly picked it without thinking, or was he more intuitive than he let on?
By the time she looked back to the screen, he’d moved on to a Yes/No section and had answered several questions.
Do you have any tattoos? No
“Wait, how do you know?”
He gave her a look like she should know, and texted her. I’ve seen you naked.
“What? When?”
Come on. It was a couple of years ago, we got really drunk...
What the hell was he talking about? Her eyes must have been the size of grapefruits, because he bit his lip and shook his head.
I’m just messing with you. We all talked about it after Mia got hers, remember? You said you didn’t.
She’d never been so relieved in her life. Not that she was opposed to Graham seeing her naked...but she wanted to be fully present for it. “I hate you,” she muttered, and glanced back at the computer screen.
Do you like to dance? Yes
Are you romantic? Yes
Are you adventurous? Yes
Do you believe in love at first sight? No
Do you believe in yourself? Sometimes
Claire put a hand on his arm. Forearm, to be exact, and damn it was firm. And warm. And just...yeah. Focus. “Whoa. Some of these aren’t right. I’m not romantic, and I’m damn sure not adventurous. Didn’t I just explain one of my nonnegotiables in a future husband is one who doesn’t live dangerously? I don’t do anything that falls in that category. And how do you know I don’t believe in love at first sight?”
He picked up his phone.
You pretend you’re not a romantic, but the episode of New Girl where Nick and Jess finally get together is always on the Continue Watching row of Netflix and anytime a guy has bought you flowers you keep them until all the petals fall off. Why do you think you’re not adventurous?
“Did you already forget what you wrote about my perfect day? I’m boring. The opposite of adventurous. I hate roller coasters. I don’t climb, mountain bike, or ski. I’ve never done anything like skydiving or bungee jumping. The idea of scuba diving makes me want to curl into a ball.”