Not Pretending Anymore by Ward, Penelope (big ebook reader .TXT) 📕

He flashed a killer smile, one that I immediately suspected had made countless women remove their panties.

“Hi. I have a four-thirty appointment with Molly Corrigan.”

“You do?” I had the last application in my hand and looked down at the name on the top. “I don’t think so. My appointment is with a D. Tate?”

He extended a hand. “That’s me. Declan Tate.”

“But…you’re…not a woman.”

He smiled again. “You’re correct. Very observant. I am most definitely not a woman. But my last roommate told me I should’ve been because I use moisturizer at night and cried at the end of Marley and Me. And if I’m being honest, I also got a little watery at the end of Toy Story, so maybe I’m a bit of a wuss. Either way, I think you should consider those my positive feminine qualities.”

I was thoroughly confused. “Umm… I’m sorry. You must’ve missed that my ad said female only.”

“Actually, I didn’t. But if you’ll give me just five minutes, I think I can convince you I would be a better roommate than a woman.”

I chuckled. “Let me get this straight… You hid your first name—what did you say it was again?”

“Declan.”

“Right. Declan. Anyway, you applied to an ad for a female roommate, intentionally deceiving the person who is going to decide if you get the room by leaving your first name off. And your strategy is to convince me I don’t really know what I want in less than five minutes? Do I have that right?”

He flashed that boyish charm again. “You sure do.”

I debated how to handle the situation. On one hand, he was going to waste my time, and I had done enough of that today. But on the other, my curiosity was definitely piqued. Something about his grin told me this could be amusing. Screw it. I had nothing better to do anyway.

I opened the door wider and stepped aside, holding my hand out for him to enter. “I’m setting the timer on my phone, and I’m getting a glass of wine before you start. I like a drink while I’m being entertained.”

Declan smirked and strolled into my apartment.

I motioned to the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll just be a minute.”

When I got to the kitchen, he called after me, “Hey, Mollz?”

I turned back. “Yes?”

“How about you make that two glasses of wine?”

I chuckled. “Sure. Why not, Decs.”

I poured a couple of glasses of pinot grigio and returned to the living room.

“Here you go. Hope you like white.”

“You see? We’re perfect together already. I prefer white over red.”

I brought my wine to my lips. “Yes, perfect. A match made in heaven. I think we might even be soul mates.”

Declan showed me his pearly whites once again. He really did have a great smile, nice teeth, too. Too bad he also had a penis. I knocked back half the contents of my glass and placed it on the coffee table. Picking up my cell, I swiped to the timer app and set it for five minutes.

I showed him the screen. “You ready?”

“I’m always ready.”

I pressed start, placed the phone face up on the coffee table between us, and folded my hands. “Go.”

“Okay. Well…what’s your favorite color?”

“My favorite color?”

Declan pointed to the timer. “Time’s a ticking, Molly. I’m going to need you to not repeat questions.”

I laughed. “Fine. My favorite color is pink.”

Declan reached into one of his pant pockets and pulled out a set of keys. The keychain had a bunch of pink beads with white letters between each one. The letters spelled out his name. “Mine too.”

I arched a brow. “Did you make that yourself?”

“No. My niece, Arianna, made it for me.”

“So how do I know that isn’t just Arianna’s favorite color?”

“Good point. Let’s move on. Your ad said you work nights.”

“That’s right. I’m a nurse. I work the night shift on the maternity ward.”

“So you sleep during the day, then?”

“I get off at seven, and I try to get to sleep as soon as I get home.”

He held his hand to his chest. “I work days. I leave for the gym by six and usually don’t get home until after seven at night. So the apartment will be quiet when you need it to be.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll give you that that would make you a good roommate. But most people work days, so it’s not really something that makes you too special.”

“Do you cook?” he said.

“Does macaroni and cheese count?”

“I grew up in a multigenerational Italian home. My nonna taught me how to make sauce from scratch.”

“So you’re going to cook for me?”

“If that’s what it takes to get this apartment, yes.”

“As tempting as that might be, there’s an Italian restaurant around the corner that makes great food. Funny enough, it’s called Nonna’s Place, and an actual nonna makes most of my meals. Not a knockoff.”

Declan took an exaggerated breath and blew it out. He glanced at the cell on the table. “Three minutes and thirty-eight seconds. I can see you’re not going to make this easy. How about you tell me why you can’t have a male roommate so I can address that head-on. Is it because of the toilet-seat thing? Because I have four older sisters, so I’m appropriately trained. When I was eight, I made the mistake of leaving it up once, and my sister sat down where I’d accidentally left a little pee. She dunked my head in the toilet bowl before she flushed. That was the last time I left the seat up.” He held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor. It won’t be an issue.”

I smiled. “It’s not because of the toilet thing.”

“Alright. So why don’t you want a male roommate, then?”

I’d actually never given much thought to why my roommate had to be female. It just seemed natural to have another woman sharing the apartment. “Well…I don’t really have a specific reason. I would just be more comfortable living with another woman. For example, I sleep in a T-shirt and underwear. When I