Every Breath You Take (Oasis Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

sigh. “I have something more comfortable than that.”
    () () ()
    I indulged him by riding up to one of the nicest suites in Housing, but once we walked in the door, I stopped and shook my head. “No.”
    Finn swiveled, his silhouette shadowed by the light coming from a large bank of windows. “No? It’s one of our nicest–”
    “No.”
    Finn returned to my side, propping his shoulder on the door frame. His lips curved, and any trace of the hurt I’d inflicted had vanished. “Is this because I live up another floor. Almost like…neighbors?”
    Because I felt bad about what I’d said earlier, I gave an exaggerated shudder. “Don’t remind me.”
    He laughed. “Please don’t tell me that’s the only reason. You’re saying ‘no’ to 2,500 square feet. Four bedrooms. Five–”
    “Don’t say anything else,” I said, holding up my hand. “First of all, that’s ridiculous. And who would want to clean all that–”
    “A maid.”
    “Finn,” I said, exasperated.
    He grinned when I said his name. “Does this mean we’re friends?”
    Shit. I hadn’t meant to do that. Calmly, I continued, “We’re not at work now. Things don’t have to be so formal.”
    “Then let me take you to dinner.”
    “More formal than that,” I argued, stepping out the door. “I’ll stay at the hotel tonight and figure out an apartment tomorrow.”
    “Charlotte.”
    He followed me to the elevator. I turned and lifted my eyebrows.
    “Tell me the problem,” he said.
    So he could fix it. That was how it worked, right? Even in college, his family had money, and it was always, “Tell me the problem and I’ll fix it.”
    “I’m the eyes and ears of this place now,” I said. “I need to be experiencing Oasis like everyone else. I’d like an apartment that allows me to do that. Something…right in the middle, I think. An average apartment is plenty for me.”
    Finn scratched his chin. He had a short spray of dark stubble developing, and it took off the edge. He looked more approachable this way. Reachable. Like those lazy Saturday mornings in his apartment when nothing else had mattered.
    “It makes sense,” I continued, shaking the thought.
    “All right, give me a minute.”
    Before I could answer, he paced away, entering the suite again and talking into his cell phone. He spoke in a rush of words, most of which I couldn’t make out. I checked my own phone and was relieved to find no messages or texts. I’d wrapped up my life fairly securely back home in Portland. Less and less texts came in and less and less phone calls. I liked living low-key, even keeping to myself. The last several months had taught me the less I had going on in my life, the easier it was to manage.
    The easier it was to wind down at the end of the day and believe I’d moved past everything that had gone on with Mark. For once in my life I felt almost…safe.
    “Tenth floor,” Finn announced when he stepped out of the apartment again.
    We rode the elevator in silence, but when we got out, it already looked less high-scale. There were doors to a few other apartments. Finn led us to the second one on the right as the elevator dinged behind us.
    A young man dressed in a suit and tie walked over with a plastic card and passed it to Finn. “Sir,” he said.
    “Thank you.” Finn nodded at him. “I’ll let you know about that other thing.”
    The man smiled at me, his eyes lighting. “No problem.”
    What other thing? I didn’t get the chance to ask before the man returned to the elevator, leaving me alone in the hallway with Finn again.
    Finn blew out a breath of laughter. “Some things never change.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “You still turn heads.”
    I chuckled, turning away so he didn’t see the flush in my cheeks. “You sound like you’re eighty. He was just being polite. I’m sure it’s his job.”
    “To be polite? Yes. To check you out? No.”
    I gestured to the door. “Come on, my feet are killing