Chapter Seven

“What thing?” she asked.

He gestured behind Reena. “That one.”

She turned and her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders, warm and lovely. He wanted to run his fingers through it, wind it around his fist, pull her to his mouth for a deep, hot kiss.

Goddammit, man. You’ve been here alone with her for exactly two minutes and you’re already thinking about jumping her? Cool it. Right. Now.

“You mean this thing?” Reena put her hand on the nightmare metal contraption next to the sofa.

“Yeah. What is it – some kind of medieval torture device?”

She blinked, then laughed. “A candle holder.”

“A – what?” He leaned forward a bit, to get a better look and also to be closer to her. “How the fuck can it be? Where does the candle even go?”

She stood up and he admired her shapely ass in her long dress. “Here.”

“Oh.”

She looked at him. “You hate it, right?”

“Uh. Well…”

“You do.” Her beautiful eyes were dancing. “You hate my favorite candle holder.”

“How bad would it be if I did?”

“Tragic. A total deal-breaker in terms of our living together.”

“Oh. Well then, I love the medieval torture candle holder.”

She laughed. “Why don’t you go unpack? I’ll make us something to eat, and we can talk about our Big Three Compromises.”

“Our what?”

She shook her head. “Later. You settle in, we’ll talk after. OK?”

“Sure.” He watched her go into the kitchen and start taking stuff out of the fridge. He got back to his feet and went to his bedroom, liking it even more than when he’d first seen it. It was just such good space: lots of light and solid furniture, perfect views of the mountains and a deep carpet under his feet. He knew he’d be happy here.

Reena heard Mitch moving around in his room and she smiled. She still couldn’t believe that it had all worked out with this apartment; she’d spent the day painting in her new studio and she felt energized and positive there. She’d been feeling a bit blocked creatively, but in the sunny, airy studio, everything had just started to flow again. It had felt good.

An hour later, they were sitting at the kitchen table together, digging into huge plates of Fettuccini Alfredo. Mitch glanced down at his dinner.

“You made this, Reena? Even the sauce?”

“Yep.” She took a sip of red wine. “It’s not complicated.”

“It’s amazing.”

“Thanks.”

“So.” Mitch picked up his wine glass. “Our Big Three Compromises?”

She brushed her hair back. “Yep. The most invaluable part of any roommate relationship, I swear.”

“OK. Shoot.”

“When two people live together, there are always things about the other person that drive them crazy.”

Yeah. Like long blonde hair, perfect pink lips and sky-blue eyes. Just a few things that drive me crazy about you, Reena.

He swallowed. “Yeah, OK.”

“So, my friend told me about the Big Three. We each get three free passes for annoying stuff that we do. The other person announces that it drives them batty, and then can’t say one more word about those three things, no matter what.”

“I don’t get it.”

“OK. So let’s say you hate the way that I… I don’t know… hang up the dish towels in the kitchen. Like, it makes you insane. That’s one of my Big Three passes: you tell me it makes you crazy, then let me hang them how I want, and you stay cool about it. Just pretend it’s not happening.”

“And this works?”

“Totally. Just tell me what about me makes you nuts, then move on. I do the same.”

“What happens if there are more than three things about you that make me want to jump out the window?”

“Then we have to try really, really hard to not do those things that upset the other person. Once we use up out three passes, then we have to adapt. Deal?”

“Deal.” He glanced at the candle holder. “I hate that fucking ugly piece of twisted cast-iron, but you love it. So it stays in the living room, and I swear not to roll my eyes at it, or ‘accidentally’ knock it over late one night. That’s my first Big Three.”

“Give it time, Mitch. The candle holder may grow on you… you may come to love it one day.”

“Highly doubtful.”

She grinned. “OK.”

“Anything from you yet?”

“You’ve only been here an hour.” She winked at him and it was equal parts cute and sexy. “Give yourself at least two hours to do something that makes me crazy.”

Oh, sugar. You have no idea what I want to do to make you crazy.

He drank some more wine. “Take your time, Reena. I’m sure something will come to you.”

“Oh, undoubtedly,” she said. “And if not, I’ll make something up. Me and my candle holder can’t be the only annoying things in this house.”

They smiled at each other again.