Escaping Reality

wrong?”
    I blink up at Jared and my hands are all over his t-shirt that covers his
    rock-hard chest when they should not be, but he is the closest thing to safe
    I have right now. I turn in his arms and glare at the man in the front of my
    door, who has on some sort of overalls and sports a beer belly and some
    tools, and isn’t quite as scary as he was a moment ago. “Why are you in my
    apartment?”
    “Ms. Bensen?” he asks.
    “Yes. Who are you?”
    He chuckles. “You know people don’t normally get excited to see me,
    but I don’t usually send them running into another man’s arms either. But
    hey, maybe that explains why I’m not dating. I’m scarier than I thought.” He
    holds up a key. “I changed the locks like you ordered.”
    I let out a breath, and silently vow to make Liam pay for not warning
    me. “Yes. Sorry. I didn’t know you were coming today.” And how did Liam
    do this without a key but I quickly forget the question when I become
    aware of Jared’s hand on my hip, his leg aligned with the back of mine. I
    step forward, out of his reach, and accept the key from the locksmith, who
    goes on to share some sort of mumbo-jumbo I do not hear.
    Finally, he hands me the keys. “A maintenance guy came by and said
    they had to have a copy of the key as the management company. I didn’t
    give it to him. Didn’t know him from Adam. He wasn’t pleased.” He hands
    me papers and I sign.
    “Thank you,” I say and I mean it. “I’ll get keys to them.” Hopefully
    never, I mentally add. I don’t care if I ever go back inside that apartment,
    but if Liam leaves, I’ll have to.
    Finally, the locksmith is gone and I turn to Jared, who looks way too
    amused. “Stop laughing at me,” I order. “A single woman does not take a
    strange man coming out of her apartment lightly. That is foolish.”
    “I’m not complaining. It gave me a chance to get to know you better.
    Of course, you almost ran me over in the process. Didn’t you know he was
    coming?”
    “No. Yes. I did, but it slipped my mind. I’ve been busy.”
    “With the big, arrogant guy from the other day. Is he gone now?”
    I grimace. “He’s not arrogant. And no, he’s not gone.”
    “But he’s not here now.”
    “No. He’s not here now.”
    He motions to his briefcase. “I’m headed to a place around the
    corner to drink a beer and get some work done. Want to join me?”
    “Oh, ah, no. Thanks. I have some work of my own to do. I just came
    by to grab a file.”
    He stares at me, his brown eyes probing a bit too deeply, and I think
    maybe Liam is right.
    Maybe Jared is interested. I am so not equipped to handle two men
    of their caliber in the same day. “You want me to walk you down?”
    “Down?”
    “To the street.”
    “Yes. Sorry. The key guy rattled me. No. Go on without me. Thanks
    for, well, keeping me from doing who knows what.”
    His eyes dance with mischief, and a definite glint of warm brown
    heat. “At your service anytime.”
    He turns and saunters toward the elevator, all loose-legged
    confidence in jeans, that bad-boy sexiness oozing off of him. I’m not sure
    why I think the “bad boy” label fits him. It’s a feeling, like the familiar one I
    normally have with him but I don’t today, and that bothers me almost as
    much as when I do. I’m also not sure why I’m still staring after him when he
    stops at elevator and turns to catch me watching him. He grins at me and
    disappears inside the car.

    ***
    I walk to the properties on my list I’m to visually inspect and report
    on, and they all seem occupied and well maintained. Everything seems as it
    should be, but my gut says it is not. At the final house on the list I find an
    elderly lady sitting in a rocking chair on her porch, and I approach her.
    “Hi,” I say. “I’m the property owner’s assistant and he just wanted
    me to make sure everything is fine with the property.”
    “Howard!” the woman calls.
    An elderly man appears at the door. “What, Bella?” He smiles at me.
    “Well hello, young lady.”
    “Did you hire a management company or something?” Bella asks.
    He frowns. “No. Why would I do that? Been owning this place for ten
    years and done just fine by myself.”
    My heart sinks. “I’m sorry. I must have the wrong address. I’ll correct
    my records.”
    It’s official in my book. Everything is not as it should be. I walk away
    and make a beeline to the realtor’s office, or rather, the law office,