“I’m sorry, I know it’s not much—” she started.

“This is perfect. I’m doing my rotation, so I practically live at United Methodist. All I really need at home is a bed.” I’d barely even eaten in my last apartment—I scarfed down most of my meals at the hospital cafeteria. I turned my gaze from the room back to Paige. “You probably won’t see much of me.”

She nodded. “I’m generally home from work by five thirty, and sometimes I walk home for lunch.”

Enchilada, who had followed us, sneezed and shook himself with a jingle of silver dog tags. She reached down to lift the pile of light brown and gray fur into her arms again.

I stopped beside the front door, looking down at a pair of pink women’s running shoes with orange laces.

“I have a spare key I can leave you. When were you thinking of . . .” Paige shifted beside me, looking uncomfortable again.

“Moving in?”

She nodded.

“Tonight, if you don’t mind. I’ve been couch surfing for the last few nights, staying with buddies around campus.”

A quiet, strangled noise escaped her, but she nodded. “Sure.”

“I lost pretty much everything, so I really need to run to the store tonight and get some essentials. Might take me a few hours. Are you okay leaving the door unlocked if I promise to be back by ten?”

She nodded. “Of course. I’ll see you later.”

Something told me this new arrangement was going to test all of my boundaries and then some.

Chapter Four

Paige

After I showed him out the door, I placed my hand against my hammering heart, wondering what in the hell just happened. How I went from spending a quiet evening alone to preparing for a new roommate was beyond me. And not just any roommate, but my best friend’s sexy, off-limits brother . . . Cannon freaking Roth.

Pulling a deep breath into my lungs, I shook the thoughts away. I might be attracted to him, but there was no way I’d ever allow myself to act on it. So it didn’t matter how handsome he was, how dominating and sexy. I would just have to keep a calm, cool, reasonable head and make the best of these next two months. Well, that, and buy some extra batteries for my trusty BOB.

I found myself walking down the hall to the guest room I’d shown Cannon just minutes before. All that separated this room from mine was a thin wall. I wondered if I’d be able to hear him when he jerked off. Would he bring girls home and fuck them while I was forced to listen, alone in my bed? I could institute a “no sex allowed” rule to ensure that there’d be no awkward hookups to endure. Only if I did that, he’d find some way to spin it around on me—say it was because I was jealous.

Maybe I hadn’t thought this roommate thing through well enough.

Heading toward the kitchen, I grabbed the half-full bottle of chardonnay from the door of my fridge and poured myself a glass. Bringing it to my lips with trembling fingers, I took a tiny sip. Then another. I’d been starving when I got home, but now my appetite had vanished.

Taking my wine into the living room, I flipped on my TV and settled in on the couch.

Cannon hadn’t even asked me about rent. If he thought he was staying here for free, simply because he was my best friend’s brother, he was dead wrong. I should at least be compensated for the inconvenience of having to share my space.

Several more sips of wine and my muscles began to relax. Enchilada hopped up beside me and nuzzled against my arm. I picked him up and set all six pounds of him on my lap.

“Sorry, buddy. Looks like you’re not going to be the man of the house anymore,” I murmured, petting his feather-soft fur. While that statement was true, I had no idea how complicated my life was about to become.

Chapter Five

Cannon

At the mall, I’d stocked up on socks, underwear, jeans, and some long-sleeved pullovers. I grabbed a second pair of shoes too. When my place was ransacked I’d been at class, which meant my only surviving possessions had been the clothes on my back, plus my backpack and laptop. Friends had loaned me things, and although the insurance check hadn’t come in yet, it was time to restock with essentials.

I went to a mega-center, one of those places open twenty-four hours, and I’d gotten pillows, sheets, towels, shampoo, bodywash, a couple of disposable razors, and a new electric toothbrush. As I walked by a display of fresh flowers, an idea struck me. I picked up a big bouquet of wildflowers, then headed off to find the pet aisle. Tossing a package of dog treats in my cart, I grinned wryly. Maybe this was all part of being a good roommate. Then again, maybe I wanted to fuck her more than I wanted to admit to myself. Shaking the thoughts away, I headed off to the check-out.

I wasn’t used to women turning down my advances, but even I knew that Paige’s reluctance to fall into bed with me was actually a good thing. I’d gotten myself into a fuck-ton of trouble over women in the past, and if there was one thing my life needed, it was less complications. Paige was tempting and gorgeous, but I was a strong enough man to abide by the “look, but don’t touch” rule. Between clinical rotations and preparing for my board exams, the last thing I needed was things becoming weird between me and my new roommate. And while a vow of total celibacy had been a stupid idea, the least I could do was stick by my new rules—one night only, no names or numbers. And that definitely included not fucking my new roomie.

It was just before ten when I arrived back at Paige’s place. True to her word, the door was left unlocked, and once I got all my shopping bags inside, I locked us in for the night. After carrying everything down the hall, I stood at the entrance to the guest room that would be my temporary home for the next two months. The door to Paige’s bedroom was closed, and while I didn’t know for sure if she was sleeping or not, I knew she was tucked in for the night.