The Rebel

“JUST PULL UP in front and drop me off,” Amanda said as David turned the corner leading to her building.

He double-parked and turned off the engine. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

“David—”

But he’d already hopped out to get the door for her, which, the girlie-girl buried deep inside admitted, gave her a little thrill.

The door flew open and he waved her out, adding a little bow that made her laugh. How she loved a man who could make her laugh.

“Do you need help getting upstairs?”

“No.” She retrieved her briefcase and tote from the backseat. “I’m all set. Thank you, though.”

“I’ll walk you to the door.”

Early-evening darkness had fallen and the streetlamps gave her building a creepy glow. Having been gone all day, she’d neglected to leave any interior lights on. As she approached, she spotted something white stuck to the front door of the building. Vendors were constantly leaving bagged flyers hanging on the door handle, but no one had ever fixed anything to the door. The nerve.

Using the flashlight on her phone, she read the notice—what the heck?—marked City of Chicago, Building Department. Below the letterhead in thick, bold letters the sign left no doubt of the city’s request. OFF-LIMITS. DO NOT ENTER.

She tilted her head, pondering this not-so-minor development. It had to be a joke. She glanced back at David a few steps behind her, thinking maybe he’d have... Nah. He hardly knew her well enough to pull this kind of prank. One she wouldn’t think funny.

At all.

“What’s up?” David asked. “Did you forget something?”

“I...” Stumped, she held her hand to the door. “I don’t know. There’s a sign from the city telling me not to enter.”

Has to be a joke. Right? Because if it wasn’t, she had big problems. But why would her building be sealed? Something odd squeezed her stomach, shooting tension right into her chest. Without access to the building, she’d be locked out of her studio and home. Out of her life.

Frowning, David looked up at the door. “Why?”

As if she knew. She shone the flashlight on the paragraph below the big block letters and scanned it while the pressure in her head skyrocketed and a sharp throb settled behind her eyes. “It says the building must remain vacant until further notice. Are they kidding me? My entire life is in this building.”

“They must have the wrong location. Plus, they haven’t barricaded or padlocked the door.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the building isn’t going to collapse. If it was they’d block the entrances. The city can’t afford to barricade every door and window on every building. If the problem is due to contaminants and the building won’t collapse, they do signage. Which they’ve done, so don’t panic. Call your landlord and find out what’s happening.”

Yes. The landlord. The city had to have contacted him. Quickly, she scrolled through her contacts and found the number. “I’ve been trying to convince him to apply for landmark status on this building. And they want to condemn it?”

The phone rang a third time and Amanda grunted. “He never answers when I call.” She left a voice mail explaining the situation, then disconnected. “I’m calling the building department.”

“You can try, but it’s after five. They’re probably gone for the day.”

She’d try anyway. Couldn’t hurt. Not wanting to deal with searching for the number on her phone, she dialed information and was connected to the city’s building department, where—yes—she received a recorded message telling her the office was indeed closed.

Terrific. She tapped the screen and scrunched her eyes closed. Stay calm. Just a mix-up.

Opening her eyes, she once again read the sign as her thoughts raced. Work. Clothes. Checkbook. Her damned allergy medicine. Everything was inside.

Forget calm.

Forget not panicking.

All at once, her body buzzed and throbbed and itched and all this emotional garbage was so not good for her, the woman who kept her life in a constant state of neither ups nor downs. Well, this was one heck of a down. “I don’t know what to do. My clothes are all in there!” She flapped her arms. “My work is in there.”

“Hang tight.” David retreated a few steps and stared up at the darkened building, obviously formulating some kind of plan. “There’s a back door, right?”

“Yes.”

“We’re going in the back.”

“The sign says...”

“Yeah, but you just said you don’t have any clothes. We’ll sneak in the back door, hope we don’t get caught and you pack up whatever you need for a few days until this gets hashed out.”

Without the studio, she couldn’t work. Without work, she couldn’t earn. Her draining checkbook—the one inside the no-access building—filled her mind. “I lease a storage unit, but there’s not enough room for me to work in there. I have a sculpture to finish!”

David slid the tote and her briefcase off her shoulders, walked back to his SUV and stowed them. “I’ve got this. My condo is still being renovated. You can use one of the bedrooms that’s not being worked on. I’ll put you in the guest room.”

Amanda’s head dipped forward. “You’re letting me turn your condo into a studio?”

“Why not? The place is empty. You might as well use it until I can move in.” He waved his hand at the building. “This’ll get straightened out in a few days and you can move back here. No problem.” He inched closer and grabbed both her hands. “We’ve got this. We’ll load as much as we can and take it over to the condo.”

The idea might not be a bad one. It might, in fact, be a short-term solution. “We can use my car also.”

“Good. Then we’ll get you set up in a hotel for the night. Is that a plan?”

“David Hennings, I could love you.”

He threw his hands up, grinning at her. “Let’s not get crazy now or you might be stuck with me.”

At the moment, as she thought about every minute she’d spent with this man since he’d walked into her studio earlier that day, being stuck with him might not be a bad thing. She grabbed hold of his jacket, the leather Belstaff she loved so much, and dragged him closer. Going up on tiptoes, she kissed him. And it wasn’t one those tentative let’s-test-this kisses where they sort of eased into it. This one left nothing on the table. Tongues were involved.

And she’d started it. Total insanity.

But he certainly wasn’t rejecting her. He made it worth her while by wrapping his arm around her and pulling her right up against him. A few seconds later a bulge at his crotch area announced itself in a truly obvious way, and her heart slammed. What he wanted couldn’t have been clearer. No doubt. At all.

“Dude,” a guy passing by said. “Lucky dog.”

David pulled back and his amazing lips tilted into a wicked grin. “Dude,” he said, “don’t I know it?”

* * *

DAVID SET THE last box of supplies they’d taken from Amanda’s in his extra bedroom and did a quick survey of the place. The walls were still unpainted and the drywall dust left a weird coating on the floors. For what she needed, it would do. If the dust didn’t give her an asthma attack. “We’ll run out tonight and get you a couple of tables to set up. It won’t be perfect, but this is triage.”