The Bucket List (A REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE)

54. KIERAN

Albany switched on lights as she moved through the house. The place was littered with boxes—it was a mess—but underneath it all I could see the potential the place had. A little repaint here and there, some new furniture and it could be turned into a great home.

My steps slowed as I followed her down a hall. The walls were filled with photos. I couldn't help but smile as my eyes landed on a photo of Albany and Crystal covered in mud. They looked younger but happy.

"Would you like some coffee?" her soft voice called from somewhere.

I spared the photos one last glance before I walked down the hall and joined her in the kitchen. It was a mess just like the rest of the house which made me wonder whether she'd even be able to make coffee or not.

Instead of answering her, I walked around the island and went tumbling to the floor. A grunt fell from my lips when my body came in contact with the cold tiles.

"Are you okay?"

I turned onto my back and blinked up at her. "My ego took a knock but other than that I'm good. Might have a few bruises tomorrow though."

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

Shaking off her apologies I got to my feet and kicked the box I had fallen over out of the way. Albany moved around the island but she seemed to have forgotten what she was going to do in the first place.

"Al?"

She sniffed and slowly turned to face me. "He stood me up."

"Who?" My brows dipped into a frown.

"Steven."

I pursed my lips to stop myself from cursing him as anger coursed through me. I knew it was a fucking bad idea from the start. They weren't right for her.

"We were supposed to have dinner at Willow's and then go for a movie. I thought that something happened to him, that maybe he'd been in an accident or something. I waited for three fucking hours and then called him only to find out that he'd forgotten about our date. How could he do that?"

"He's a fucking idiot," I told her. "A stupid fucking idiot who I'm going to beat for leaving such a beautiful woman waiting for three hours." I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "So you haven't eaten yet?"

"No and I'm honestly not very hungry." She moved away before I could pull her into my arms. "I went to see Sev."

"And?"

"And his ex-wife stormed into his office when we were about to have sex. He fucking told me to leave!" Albany pressed a finger to her chest. "I don't know what to do any more, Kieran."

"Well for starters, you could have dinner with me." I gave her a smile when she turned to face me. "I just got off work and I was planning on ordering some Chinese."

Albany's eyes darted over my body and then locked with mine. Her face was blotchy from all her crying, but I swear to god I'd never seen anyone more beautiful than her.

"You dressed up for him." I nodded down to her dress. "Will you dress up for me?"

She swallowed. "Now?"

"No." Walking over to her, I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her lips to mine. "Grab a change of clothes and make sure everything's locked."

She blinked up at me. "I thought you said that we're not going out."

"We aren't. We're going to my place. You're staying with me tonight. Don't forget the toys, my little spitfire."

***

Albany was silent all the way up the stairs to my apartment. I unlocked the door and pushed it open so she could enter first. Stepping inside, I flicked on the light and then kicked the door closed.

My eyes stayed glued to her face as she glanced around. I tried to figure out what she was thinking but her face gave nothing away. When she was done studying everything, she faced me.

"The food should be here in a few minutes. Do you want to eat first before you shower?"

My eyes dropped to her lips when she licked them.

"We can eat first," she said softly, making my eyes snap back up to hers.

"Right." I glanced down at her bag. "Let me put your bag in the bedroom."

She nodded. Hesitating for a few more seconds, I passed her and entered my bedroom. I winced when my eyes landed on the unmade bed and the dirty clothes from yesterday on the floor next to the overflowing laundry basket.

Dropping the bag on top of my dresser, I pulled the sheets from the bed and sniffed at them. They still smelled clean, so I quickly made the bed. Stumbling over to the dirty clothes, I picked them up and stuffed then into the basket. With the basket in my hands, I glanced around, searching for a place to hide it.

"What are you doing?"

My body jerked in fright as her voice filled the silence. I glanced towards the doorway and found her standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. There was a smile playing around her lips.

"I. . . uhm." Colour flooded my cheeks. "Nothing, nothing."

"What's the use of changing something about yourself just to impress somebody else?" Albany asked softly. "Leave your clothes where you'd usually leave it, Kieran. Don't change everything because of me."

I nodded and turned to place the basket down where it had been. Albany shifted from foot to foot as I approached her. My lips tilted up into a small smile.

"I don't want you to think of me as a slob," I told her honestly.

She smiled. "Are you a slob?"

I bit my lip as I thought her question over. I liked having things clean but when I got home from work, the last thing I feel like doing was cleaning so I just tend to leave everything the way it was.

"A little bit," I admitted. "But only because I'm usually too tired to clean up after myself."

"As long as it doesn't smell"—she nodded toward the laundry basket—"I'm okay with it staying exactly where it is."

Before I could answer, someone knocked on the door. I pulled my wallet from my pocket and handed it to her. "That should be the food."

She took the wallet but made no move to get the food. Her eyes darted from the wallet in her hands and then up to my face. Something flashed through her eyes but she lowered her lids, preventing me from making sense of it.

"Okay," she whispered as she spun around and hurried towards the door.

Shaking my head, I turned and entered the bathroom. I knew that there were some candles somewhere. Maybe I'd seen them in the kitchen? Shaking my head, I pulled out fresh towels and made sure that the bar of soap was by the bathtub.

It looked like my little spitfire had a hell of a day and I was going to make it my mission to make sure that it ended a lot better than how it started.