Falling Down(81)

She shrugs, hanging up a dress. "I can't go out wearing the same thing all the time. I find myself in magazines more often than I'd like so I have to be fashionable."
He shakes his head. "Chicks."
"You men have it made. You suck."
"Only when you ask nicely," I tell her with a grin and a wink. She leaves herself open for those all the time. I can't help myself.
I can't help myself with a lot of things when it comes to Lucy, it seems. I've never entertained the idea of having a woman live with me. Ever. I'm not sure what's going on with me. I'm all kinds of f*cked up. I mean, I'd even thought it through before I made the suggestion that they stay here and when I did I knew I wanted her in my bed.
It's not just that I haven't gotten enough of her yet (because I haven't, not even close), but I really like her being around. Watching her walk around my space, putting her clothes in my closet and in the dresser drawers I cleaned out for her, I feel good. I like it. Something's f*cking wrong with me.
"Thank God. Clothes are put away. Shoes are put away. Now…" she trails off and walks toward the bed with what looks like a black electronic tablet.
"What's that?"
"This?" she holds it up.
I nod.
"It's my Kindle."
I just give her a stare. I have no f*cking clue what a Kindle is.
She grins. "It's where I read and download books."
"Huh."
She brings it over and turns it on, showing me how she can hook straight to Amazon and one-click. She tells me about her one-click addiction. I just bet. If she's anywhere near as addicted to books as she is to clothes and shoes, I've no doubt she's got hundreds of books.
"How many books you got on there?"
She gives me a sidelong glance. She almost looks… guilty. She taps a button and shows me.
I let out a long whistle when I see she's got over fourteen-hundred books. "Yeah, I'd say you have a one-click addiction. How many of those have you read?"
"Um, let me see." She taps a few buttons and some reader page opens. "Five hundred-eighty-six."
"You'll never run out, that's for sure."
"Especially when Amazon is just a button away."
"Shopaholic. That's the only way to describe you."
"Not true. I think I only bought maybe one-fourth of the clothes and shoes I have. I'm content in shorts and a tank top or a sun dress and flip flops. My mom--"
I hold up a hand cutting her off. I've heard from Jace how her mom steamrolls her life.
"Enough said."
She nods, picking up a bag and heading to the bathroom.
"What's the plan for tonight?"
"Ben texted. We're going to order pizza and just hang out."
"That sounds good actually. Do you guys always do your own cooking or do you have someone to do that for you when you don't feel like it?"
"We cook a lot but not all the time. Mrs. Martinez is our main housekeeper and cook. She manages two other girls who basically run the household. Mr. Martinez is our gardener and fix-it guy if we can't do it ourselves."
"That's pretty cool."
I lean a shoulder against the doorjamb and tuck my hands in my pockets as she starts unpacking her toiletries.
"Yeah, they've been with us since the beginning. When we were able to, we hired them and got them out of the projects."
"How did you know them?"
"Xander's ex-girlfriend lived in that neighborhood and they took care of her. Her parents were crackheads."
"I see." With one hand in her bag she meets my gaze in the mirror. "Um, are you going to have problems with me putting my feminine products in your cabinet?" she asks holding up a box of tampons.