Her Gentle Giant: No Regrets by Heather Rainier Page B

there’s no hurry about you moving, Rachel. I’d let you stay here as long as you wanted.” He leveled his gray gaze at her. “Even let you stay permanently.” She crawled to him, bringing the sheet with her, and put her arms around his shoulders.
    “That’s very sweet of you, Eli, but I won’t live with a man I’m not married to. I don’t want a live-in arrangement. What you and I have is so new. I wouldn’t want to rush into something like that, although under the circumstances, it is very tempting. My parents would take a dim view of it, and I don’t want to damage the good impression you’ve made on my dad.”
    His eyebrows arched in surprise. “I made a good impression on your dad?”
    “You sure did, but he thinks you need a haircut,” she said and chuckled.
    He turned a mischievous grin on her. “What do you think?”
    “I think your hair is perfect the way it is. I love it.” She nuzzled her nose in the damp strands.
    He pulled her into his lap with the sheet all twisted around her. “You knew I would offer to let you move in, right?”
    “Yeah, I figured you would. You knew I would have to turn you down, right?”
    “Yeah, I did. So we’re okay?”
    “Yes, and later we’ll have the afternoon to spend doing whatever you’d like.”
    “I think we both know what that would be.” He smirked as he caressed her fingers on his chest.
    “I think we’d both agree what that would be.”

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Chapter Five
    After breakfast, the first item on Rachel’s agenda was calling her boss.
    Mr. Grogan was surprised and very sympathetic, offering her whatever time off she needed. She told him she would see him bright and early Monday morning. At the store, she found what she’d need to tide her over for a while as far as clothing and toiletries were concerned.
    Eli called his landlord and arranged to meet with him at the duplex right after lunch and talked to the fire chief while she ran into the pharmacy and picked up her birth control pills and the lubricant. The fire chief told him the structure remained intact in the rear portion of the building. Only the front of the structure around the porch had collapsed, so they could probably get in through the rear door to check for any salvageable belongings once the investigation was over with.
    The fire chief said the preliminary investigation indicated that faulty wiring was the cause of the fire, and asked Eli to wait until they were completely finished before attempting to get into her apartment. The chief also recommended that Eli not go alone or allow her to go in alone. Eli called Mike and Rogelio, who were more than willing to come help the next day.
    They stopped for a quick early lunch and got back to his place shortly before his landlord arrived. Charlie greeted her and gave her an application to fill out, which she did after she did a walk-through of the duplex. She could envision the space, a mirror image of Eli’s, with a minimum of clutter, potted plants and a new aquarium. She needed to find a bed and a couch and other smaller pieces. The closet had a large built-in dresser so she’d need a mirror for her bedroom, but that was it. The price was right, and they shook hands on it. He told her he needed to run a background check on her, which was a formality, and he’d be in touch with her that evening to get the keys to her. After he left, she turned to Eli, and his eyes twinkled playfully as she ,
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    wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to lift her off her feet and hug her.
    “Hello, neighbor,” he said huskily before he kissed her deeply. She melted in his arms, and her lips fell open under his onslaught. His warm tongue stroked hers as they stood on her soon-to-be front porch. They were interrupted by the sound of a truck door slamming and a wolf whistle.
    “Hey, you two, get a room!” Jack Warner called out as he came around the front of his SUV to open his wife’s door for her. Eli released Rachel with a sigh and a