Landlady: A New Adult Romance (Northbridge Nights Book 1) (2 page)

Callista shot me a look of panic. “What the hell?” she mouthed.

I shrugged my shoulders, just as confused as she was. I couldn't have
gotten the wrong house: I'd just opened the front door with my own
key.

“Who's there?” I asked, backing up. “You—You're trespassing
on my property. If you don't show yourself, I'm going to call the
cops.”

“I should be the one calling the cops,” the voice came again.
“You still haven't answered my question. What are you doing in my
house?”

Callista puffed out her chest and shot back, “This isn't your
house, asshole. This house belongs to Sierra. And before that, it was
her grandmother's.”

“What do you mean?” the voice asked, sounding a bit confused.

I spoke up. “I just inherited this house from my grandma, who
passed away last month,” I explained. “Now please tell me who the
hell you are.”

Shuffling footsteps.

Finally, a face to the voice.

I looked up, and my gaze fell on a set of smooth, wide lips, curled
into a smile. Then a strong, chiseled jaw covered in the perfect
amount of stubble. A pair of hazel eyes greeted me with dark
intensity.

I tried to speak but choked on my words.

Callista nudged me in the ribs. “Hottie alert.”

I swallowed hard. The man was wearing a ribbed tank and plaid boxers.
Items that showcased his toned physique. I couldn't help but also
notice the slight bulge between his legs. He didn't seem the least
bit bothered by my poorly disguised gawking. “I rent this house. My
name's Asher Morgan,” the man said, coming closer. “I'm sorry
about your grandmother. I had no idea she'd passed.” He was close
now. Close enough that I could smell his spicy scent and study his
taut biceps.

You've got to be kidding me. A tenant?

“Grandma rented out her house...to
you?
” I asked.

This was
not happening
.

“Is there something wrong with me?” Asher asked. “I always pay
the rent on time, and I keep this place spotless.”

“Sorry, I just meant—well—you see...I just inherited this
house. I was planning on moving in today. I have nowhere else to go.
My other lease expired.”

“You didn't think to check out the house before you packed up your
worldly belongings?” Asher laughed. “Are you always so careless?”

I furrowed my brows. Me? Careless? “I was too busy with final exams
and, you know, burying my grandma,” I snapped. “Not that you'd
understand. Apparently you don't have a single sensitive bone in your
body.”

Asher stiffened. “I didn't mean to be rude. Would you two like
something to drink?”

Yeah, right.

“No thanks, we were just leaving,” I shot out, body feeling red
hot. I didn't have the energy to deal with this right now. Who the
hell did he think he was, criticizing me when he didn't even know me?

I was exhausted from packing all day. The last thing I expected was
to find someone already living in my new home. How messed up was
that? I couldn't believe Grandma never mentioned this to me. Now I
looked like an impulsive idiot. A clueless, impulsive idiot.

“Well, don't you want to collect this month's rent first,
Ms...Landlady?”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Fine, you can live here for one
more month, then I'm moving in, got it?”

Pressing an envelope into my hand, Asher smirked. “That's not
exactly how it works, sweetheart. I have a twelve-month lease on this
place. And I happen to love it here.”

“Well as your new
landlady
, I want you out by the end of
this month,” I demanded. “This is my home now. I need a place to
stay ASAP.”

“If you're evicting me, you'll need to give me formal written
notice and one month's rent.”

Damn this guy knew his tenancy rights!

I stared up at him (he was at least a foot taller than me) and asked,
“Fine, how much is one month's rent?”

“Two-thousand dollars.”

“Are you fricking kidding me?”

Asher shook his head. “Nope. Look in the envelope.”

I peeked inside, and sure enough, I found a cheque for $2000. I
swallowed hard. I wasn't going to pay this jerk two grand just to
leave. I was already up to my eyeballs in debt, and everything in my
bank account was used to pay bills and keep me afloat while I earned
my degree.

I bit the inside of my cheek and did some quick math. Two thousand
bucks times twelve months...that was twenty-four thousand dollars!
Holy shit! I was rich! This rental income alone would cover my full
tuition for the next year, plus I'd be able to pay off some of my
student loans to boot. And since the house was mortgage-free, I
wouldn't need to worry about paying the bank.

Maybe this Asher Morgan wasn't such bad news after all.

I tried to keep my cool, but my insides were churning.

Maybe having a tenant was a blessing in disguise. I didn't need to
live in this big house. I could always move back to the dorms and
come here once a month to collect some pretty sweet cash.

I felt Callista tug on my sleeve. “What are we doing, Sisi? Are we
going or staying?” Then in a lower voice, she added, “My
bladder's about to explode.”

I suddenly realized I'd been quiet for a while. “Going,” I
announced. “We're definitely going.” I turned to Asher. “Thanks,
err...for the rent.”

Asher shot me a winning smile. “You're welcome,
Landlady
.”

“My name is Sierra. Sierra Maywood,” I said. “Don't ever call
me 'Landlady' again.”

“Got it...Sienna—”

“—Sierra!”

“Sierra,” Asher corrected himself. “By the way, I'll need your
number. In case something goes wrong at the house,” Asher said,
reaching for his phone.

I gave him my number, and he punched it into his phone. He looked up
at me expectantly. “Don't you want mine?”

“Just text me your number,” I said. “Cally and I need to get
going.” Callista and I strode towards the front door.

“Okay.” Asher shrugged. The moment we crossed the threshold, he
shut the sunshine yellow front door right in my face.

Without even a proper goodbye.

Jerk.

Callista smirked. “Well, that was...interesting.”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead. “God he was repulsive. The less
I have to deal with him, the better,” I groaned.

“Repulsive?” Callista cried, “Did we meet the same person? That
man was sex on a stick. He was smooth as fuck. Got your number
without even trying.”

“Ew, Callista. Please don't,” I scowled. “He's my tenant.
That's why he needed my number. And you have a boyfriend,” I
reminded her.

“So? Your new tenant happens to be delicious eye candy,” Callista
pointed out, sliding into the driver's seat.

“He might look like eye candy but he probably tastes like Toxic
Waste,” I said, buckling my seatbelt.

Callista arched her brows. “Toxic Waste?”

“You know, it's like one of the sourest candies in the world,” I
explained. “He's probably got mommy issues and everything. Come on,
let's get out of here. I need an iced capp.”

Over two iced cappuccinos, we discussed my next move.

“So where are you going to live now?” Callista asked. “You can
stay at my place for a while, but it's kind of small. You'd have to
sleep on the couch, since, you know, Brandon has been sleeping over
more these days.”

“Thanks, Cally. I was thinking of calling up RL office to ask for
my dorm back.”

“You're going to move back into that crappy room? Why not upgrade
to a nicer suite off-campus? You have all that extra cash now.”

“I need to be frugal with that rental income. I'll need it for
tuition fees next year and to pay off my student loans.”

Callista sipped her drink. “God, Sierra, you're always so practical
about everything.”

“I have to be. Not everyone's born with a big fat trust fund, you
know.” I winked.

“Hey! That's not fair,” Callista cried, her baby blue eyes wide.
“Just because—”

“—Calm down, princess. I don't mean any harm. I just need to be
smart about this, that's all.” I finished my drink and stood up.
“I'm going to make the call now. You know how hard it is to reach
them sometimes.”

The line at the Residential Life office rang three times before a
raspy voice answered. I explained my predicament and asked if there
were any vacancies left.

The woman on the other end clicked away at her keyboard. Five minutes
later, she informed me in a tired drone, “Sorry, Sienna, there
aren't any dorms left for the summer.”

It's Sierra,
I wanted to say. And of course. Just my luck. No
vacancies.

“Can you double check please?”

“I just told you, we're all booked up.”

I thanked her and hung up.

Callista arched her brow. “Well?”

“Nothing. All the rooms are booked up for the summer. How is that
even possible?”

“There are a lot of international students who take summer school.
Maybe that's why.”

I frowned. “I guess I'll have to rent a place off-campus then.”

“I can help you look,” Callista offered. “I'm sure there's
someone looking for a roommate—”

“—No,” I interrupted her. “No roommates. I hate living with
other people. Their annoying little habits drive me insane. I need my
own suite.”

“Okay. A suite then,” Callista said. “But just so you know, a
suite in these parts can get quite pricey.”

“How pricey?”

Callista scrunched up her nose. “Up to $1500 a month, if you
include wifi, cable, and utilities.”

My jaw dropped. “No way. But it's only $700 a month on campus.”

“Yeah, but your dorm room is like a hundred square feet, and you
share the kitchen, common area, and bathrooms. A suite with no
roomies goes for around that price point.”

I felt queasy. Maybe it wasn't such a steal to rent out Granny's
entire house for a measly $2000 if a single suite cost $1500 a month.

“Maybe I should raise the rent on that guy? It's not fair he gets
the whole house for so little rent.”

Callista shrugged. “Talk to him. You have his number, don't you?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly. I asked him to text it to me, but he
hasn't—”

Just then, a new text message popped up from an unknown number.

It read:
Hey, Landlady, it's Asher the Trespasser. My number is
206-252-2801.

I scoffed.
Asher the Trespasser
? What a lame joke.

I added his number to my contact list. Under 'First Name' I put
'Asher' and 'Last Name', 'The Trespasser', even though I knew it was
actually Morgan.

“Is that him?” Callista asked. “What did he write? You have the
dumbest grin on your face.”

I showed her the text, and she giggled a little. “Is he trying to
be funny?”

“I think so. But he's awful at it.”

“What are you going to reply?” Callista asked.

“I don't know, I wasn't planning on saying anything,” I said,
putting my phone away.

Callista stopped me by grabbing my wrist. “Say something funny
back.”

“Like what?”

“You're clever. I'm sure you can come up with something.”

I thought for a moment and decided to text him:
Sierra, (not Ms.
Landlady) has received your message.

It was the best I could do at the time, and it was decidedly unfunny.

Seconds later, he texted:
Landlady, you forgot two boxes of
'Bedroom Stuff' here.

Shit, shit, shit!

How did I forget half of my worldly belongings when I made my speedy
exit earlier?

My cheeks flamed, and I prayed to God he didn't have the nerve to
look through my things. Because nestled among one of those 'Bedroom
Stuff' boxes was something I didn't want anyone else to see.
Something private. My embarrassing little secret.

ME:
I'll be right over to grab them. DO NOT LOOK INSIDE.

As soon as I sent it, I realized my mistake. If Asher didn't want to
look inside before, no doubt my all-caps warning would definitely
make him curious enough to do so now.

CHAPTER 2

ASHER

I LOOKED AT THE text message and smirked.

LANDLADY:
I'll be right over to grab them. DO NOT LOOK INSIDE.

Now
I was curious. A little peek wouldn't hurt, right?

What was I going to find in there? A big black dildo? Ribbed
vibrator? Porn?

I pulled back the already peeling packing tape, my finger brushing
against the edges of the cardboard box.

This was wrong. So wrong.

My new landlady specifically told me
not
to look inside.
Disobeying her wishes would be disrespectful. Rude even. I grinned.

Ah, fuck it.

I tore off the remaining tape and opened the treasure chest.

No doubt this box would reveal what made this prissy, uptight girl
tick. Maybe she had a dark, edgy side. Something taboo and secret
that no one else knew about. Fuck, maybe she was a lesbian, and I'd
find a strap-on. She looked innocent enough, but the dirtiest ones
always looked the purest.

Pushing aside a sweater and a few books, I struggled to find what
Sierra was so keen on hiding. I was expecting to see some lube or at
least a copy of the Kama Sutra...but...

Then my eyes landed on it: a bright pink teddy bear.

Is that it?

I picked it up and studied its threadbare seams. It looked like it'd
been patched up several times over the years. One of its eyes had
been resewn off-centre so the whole bear looked a bit...imperfect. It
looked like a war veteran. The initials 'S.M.' were scribbled on the
bottom of the left paw.

How old was she? Five? Who still slept with teddy bears these days?
Sheesh.

That's probably what she—

Just then, the front door flew open.

I dropped the teddy back in the box, bolting upright. “Ever heard
of knocking? This
is
still my home, you know?”