He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his unshaven jaw. “Fine.”

Oh dear lord in heaven, was I going to do this?

“You all right?” He squinted at me. “You look a little pale.”

“That occurs with hypotension caused by a drop in blood pressure and that happens when you go into shock, which is what I’m sure is happening to me right now.” I flicked a weary hand at him. “Deal with the devil and all that.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re cracked in the head?”

“Yes,” I huffed. “You. This evening. Before you hijacked my life.”

“Saved your ass, you mean.” He winked at me.

“Morgan, I’m putting no winking in the contract. No winking, no calling me Tinker Bell, and no cursing.” I drew to a halt, not far from my building, and narrowed my gaze. “Do you recycle?”

Rhys looked at me like I really was cracked. “Who doesn’t?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. So that’s a yes?”

He shrugged impatiently. “Yeah, of course I recycle.”

“Do you have a ‘honk if you like’ sticker on your car?”

His brow furrowed. “No…”

I sighed in relief. Okay, maybe we could do this. “Where’s your gym? I’ll bring the contract around this weekend.”

“It’s called Lights Out, just off Fourth in Chelsea. I’m usually free during lunchtime.”

I nodded, wondering at the name. It sounded more like a nightclub than a gym. “All right. I’ll drop by Saturday afternoon.” I moved to walk around him.

“I’m still walking you home.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“And yet here I am doing it.” He gave me another boyish grin that caused those butterflies to flutter again. I felt outmaneuvered, and I couldn’t remember the last time someone had made me feel vulnerable, like I had little control over the situation.

Oh man. This guy was such a bad idea.

We walked the rest of the way to my building in silence, shooting each other wary looks (okay, mine were wary; his were deliberately provoking) as we strolled.

Finally, we turned onto Harrison Avenue, where Zoe, my college roommate and bestie, owned a modern, two-bedroom apartment bought for her by her wealthy absentee father. She let me stay there for less than half the actual rent the room would normally cost. It was great. I got to stay in a nice place, in pricey Back Bay, and the bonus? It had nothing to do with my parents.