Stronger Read Free Page B

along the shelves, pulling lingerie from my drawers, but there are still no rings. 
    There is another knock.  Another. 
    I finally whip open the door to find my new neighbor, All-Man-Aidan-Neighbor from 2A, standing in the hall.  His mouth drops open just a bit when he sees me.  I take in his body as he takes in mine, but, unfortunately, I don't have time for him.
    "The laundry room is in the basement and it's free, but it's dark and loaded with spiders," I say as I turn back to check the candy dishes on my shelf that have never held candy.  I hope they will magically hold my rings.  None of them do.  He follows me into my room, silently surveying the pile of lace and heels on my bed, as I comb the top of my dresser for the rings again.  "There's also the Suds Station around the corner, on Beech, down by Jack's Liquor store.  If you want the grocery store, it's in the opposite direction.  Take Elm to Main, turn left.  It's right there.  There's a Chinese place further down on Main, but there have been rumors of cat shortages, so that's up to you."
    I wait for him to say thank you and leave, but he's still standing in my bedroom door, with a smirk that is so sexy, I want to put my tongue in the corner of it.
    "I was wondering if you had a wrench?" he asks.  "Can't seem to put my hands on mine."
    "A wrench?  Yeah, right.  What kind of girl do you think I am?" I laugh, but I brush past him, continuing my search in the bathroom.  I stopper the sink and shovel my make-up into it as I glean for the rings.  A wine glass at the edge of the sink tumbles over but doesn't shatter, the little blister of dried red still secure in the bottom.  "If there was ever a wrench in my apartment, it would be under the kitchen sink.  I know tools have been under there before."
    "This is your apartment, isn't it?" He grins as he heads into the kitchen.  I expect to hear him comment on how the living room walls are all painted different colors, or how the fridge door is decoupaged with artsy magazine photos, but he doesn't.  He must see it, but he breaks a record by not asking about it, and I don't have the time for a conversation to spring up.  I've got things to do. 
    I return to my room and overturn what's left in my underwear drawer on my bed, rifling through the mound of thongs and lace panties.  Still nothing.  I pull out one of the rest of my drawers and do the same. 
    "You have a wrench in here," he calls. 
    "Yeah, well, people leave things here," I say.  "I don't keep inventory."
    His footsteps hesitate and then tromp back toward my bedroom.  I peel off the lid from the coffee can in my closet, open up the cardboard pudding box huddled in with my nighties, and I feel all the way down inside the toes of my thigh-high boots beneath the bed.  Still no rings.  I'm under the bed, reaching for a purse strap, when I spot Aidan's shoes at the doorway of my room.  From where he's standing, he's got a perfect view of my ass, stuck in the air like an offering, while the rest of me is crammed beneath the bed springs. 
    The thoughts that race through my head aren't polite.  They involve a million things that I'd like my neighbor to do, considering his vantage point, but it's also the last thing I need right now.  I've got somewhere else I have to be and being late will only make things worse for me.   
    I sigh and pull my head out from under the bed, along with the purse I was after.  Kneeling beside the bed,  I meet Aidan's gaze as I dump the contents out on the mattress.  He's holding a wrench I've never seen before, and I catch him moving his eyes away from my rear.  The smirk is back.  I answer with one of my own, as I rifle the purse.  The jackpot is at the bottom.  I grab all my rings and stand up, sliding them onto my fingers one at a time.  Except the last ring.  I just hold that one in my palm.
    "It's kind of early for a date, isn't it?" he asks.  I pause, resting a hand on my hip.
    "Why would you