Chapter 2

The grocery trip was uneventful, which was good, I was already exhausted from a full day of work. I didn't need any new and probably unnecessary stress to further ruin my day.

Pulling into the parking lot of the apartment building, I started to puzzle out how I was going to navigate the packages up to the apartment. Which ones I should take right away and which could wait for a second trip. I grabbed up two bags of frozen items from the backseat and reached to lock the door.

"Hi. Need some help?"

Surprised, I turned to see my early morning visitor from Saturday morning.

"Oh. Hello. Sure. Could you grab the bags in the backseat?"

Normally I would have turned down the offer. My husband and I had made it a point to keep to ourselves in the building. I was never one for the pass in the hallway hello or the early morning greeting.

He leaned into the backseat and snagged the remaining three plastic bags and smiled at me as he stood back up. Making an effort to look like there was no strain to carry them, but the way the muscles in his arms rippled told a different story.

"You sure you can handle those?" I asked, feeling more than a bit doubtful about this. All I need was for this kid to hurt himself carrying my groceries. Then I'd have to explain it to his mother, whoever that might be.

"No, I'm okay." He shot me a confident smile.

"Have it your way then." I shrugged, returning his smile then locking and closing the car doors.

I followed him into the lobby of the apartment building, surprised at the way he held the door for me. He seemed to be trying to make every possible effort to impress me. He even managed to press the elevator call button despite his hands being full.

"So what are you doing home today?" I asked as we waited, trying to make benign small talk. "Don't you have anything better to do today?"

He shrugged, "Not really."

Any further reply from him was cut off by the ding of the arriving elevator and the whoosh of the opening doors. He put a foot into the open door, making sure the doors wouldn't close. Like the perfect gentleman he obviously wanting me to enter before him.

"Thank you." I smiled as I stepped into the small, humming room.

He pressed the 8th floor button and then took a step back from the console.

"So did you have enough milk?" I asked, absently trying to make small talk from the few shared experiences we had had.

"What?" He looked confused for a moment and then realization dawn on his face. "Oh, yeah. Thanks. It was plenty."

I nodded with a smile, slowly putting two and two together. I'd never had someone have a crush on me before. And while I wasn't positive, it was still an enjoyable notion all the same.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Bradley." He replied with a smile, as if telling me his name brought some happy joy to his mind. The moment passed and he added as a second thought, "Conners."

"Iris." I replied. "Nice to meet you Mr. Conners. And thank you for your help. You saved me from having to go back down and get the rest of the bags."

He smiled happily at that, his cheeks glowing with a slightly blushing pride.

"Are you new to the building?" I asked, eyes glancing up to see how much longer it was going to take to reach our floor. I was trying to measure out my conversation to avoid any uncomfortable silences.

"Sort of. We moved in about three months ago."

"Oh." The elevator had started to ease to a stop now. "We?"

"The rest of my family." He said with a shrug as the doors started to open again. "My mother and my older sister."

He frowned as if the living arrangements weren't exactly desirable.

"The man of the house, huh?" I asked, in an amused tone as I stepped out of the elevator, trying to ease the annoyance that flicker on his face.

"I guess so." He said with another shrug, following me as I lead the way down the hall to my door.

I put the bags down on the floor and started to fish the keys out of my pocket again. "Would you like to come in for a drink? You must be thirsty after carrying those up in this heat."

"Sure." He replied with a smile.

"Great." I unlocked the door and pushed the door open. Reaching to grab the bags from the floor, but he was quick to step in my way.

"I can take them from here." He hefted the full load up now, the veins on his arms bulging from the weight.

I thought about protesting, but figured he'd only argue with me. All the while he was still carrying the bags, defeating the purpose of trying to get him to put them down.

I pushed the door, swinging it open into the darkness of the apartment, holding it open for him to enter. "You can just put them down on the floor, near the refrigerator."

"Okay." He navigated into the darkness easily, stepping through the small foyer and right into the kitchen with out any confusion. I figured that his own apartment must be laid out similar to my own.

I followed him, turning on the lights as I went. With the drapes all drawn, it could get dark, even in the middle of the day. But that also meant that it was still cool inside, despite the heat outside, even with the air-conditioner off for the day.

I stepped around him in the narrow kitchen, intentionally brushing my ass against his for a moment. Stepping in front of the refrigerator, I looked back to see the slight blush of embarrassment on his face, just before he turned away from me to hide it.