by J. S. Cooper
“Okay?” I laughed. “Why are you telling me this?”
“You’re a pretty girl, Lila,” she said with a smile. “My brother loves pretty girls. And he loves the chase, so he’s going to want you badly. I’m sure of it. Don’t give him the time of day. He’s a heartbreaker, pure and simple.”
“I’ll remember that.” I grinned at her. “I’m not looking for a relationship or anything right now, so I think we’re good.”
“I know you’ve said that before but I figured I’d give you my advanced warning, just in case.”
“Thanks, but no need to worry about me. Between work and sleep I have no time for anything else. I’m a regular boring Betty.”
“I don’t think you’re a boring Betty, but just remember what I said. He can be a real charmer when he wants to be and well, I’ve seen too many friends fall under his spell and then . . .” Her voice trailed off and she made a face. “But let’s have one more glass of wine before I have to go. It’s going to be a long flight tonight.”
“You’ll have a great time,” I said as I poured her some more wine. “And don’t worry about Frosty. I’ll make sure to remind Carter to walk him if I see him around the building.”
“Thanks, Lila. You’re amazing,” she said as we clinked glasses one more time and we both took another long sip of the expensive wine she’d brought me.
“Also, you don’t have to worry about me, I’m not into college guys.” I laughed. “I’m way too old to hang.”
“College?” She looked at me with a confused expression. “Oh, he’s not in college.” She laughed. “Though you’d think he only recently graduated. He’s actually slightly older than me. He’s thirty-five.”
“Oh,” I said. “I thought he was a lot younger than that from the way you were talking about him. I’m surprised I’ve never met him before. He’s not come over before?”
“No.” She shook her head. “He’s a busy guy. He works on Wall Street during the day and he’s in some stupid band that plays a lot of local gigs.” She rolled her eyes. “He thinks he’s some sort of rock god.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked curiosity getting the better of me. I loved musicians for some reason. They were just so talented and sexy. Though I wasn’t going to tell Danielle that; I’d always imagined having some sort of secret fling with a rock star. I didn’t want her to start worrying about me.
“Yeah.” She finished up her wine. “We usually get together for lunches during the week because his nights and weekends are packed. I should feel honored he made time to look after Frosty.”
“If he’s a Wall Street banker, why are you paying him?” I asked as I just remembered what she’d said earlier.
“Because he’s the devil.” She laughed and stood up. “Okay, I should get going. Thanks once again, Lila. I’ll see you in a month.” And with that she hurried out of my apartment so she could hurry to the airport and hopefully not miss her flight.
“Bye, Danielle,” I called after her as I sat back and continued to sip on my wine. I tried to imagine what her brother looked like, but then laughed at myself. I was horribly busy with work right now and it seemed as if he was really busy as well, so I’m sure it’s unlikely that we would see each other at all asides from when he picked up the keys. I grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on to try to find a cooking show before I got up to take Frosty on his evening walk.
“Oh come on,” I said tapping my foot against the wooden floor as I waited for my doorbell to ring. “Where are you, Carter?” I muttered under my breath as I stared at my watch. Five more minutes had passed, and he still wasn’t here. I was going to miss the next train which meant I was going to miss my connecting train, which meant I was going to be late for work. I walked back to the living room from the hallway and sat on the couch, trying not to look at my watch again. I grabbed my phone and scrolled to my text messages. He’d said he would be here at 8:30 a.m. to get the keys. Had I somehow read it wrong? Did he mean 8:30 p.m.? It was now 9:00 a.m. How could he say 8:30 a.m. and be this late? He had to know I had to work. I typed into the phone and sent him another text message.
“Hey, Carter, it’s me, Lila, just checking you’re still coming this morning? :)” I added a smiley face, so he wouldn’t know how annoyed I was, just in case my text message read as passive aggressive.
“Yup.” He text back. I waited to see if he was going to say more than that. Like a sorry, I’m late, or the trains are delayed or something. But nope, all he said was “yup” like he wasn’t already thirty minutes behind.
“Do you have an ETA?” I typed finally as I realized another five minutes had passed and still nothing. I watched the screen intensely as I saw the three dots appear to show me that he was typing a response, but then they stopped. They stopped and no message came. “Are you frigging joking me?” I hissed at the screen. How could he start typing a response and then just not respond, knowing he was already late. Why wouldn’t he just tell me he was running late? He had absolutely no respect for my time. No respect at all. I knew he was busy as well, but come on now. He was the one that had texted me to say that this morning would be best for him to get the keys as had some gig tonight and didn’t know when he’d be around. I wondered to myself if he was really going to be able to take care of Frosty properly, but he knew what he was doing. It was his sister’s dog after all, he would have to make the time. I gnawed on my lower lip as I realized another ten minutes had passed and still not a word from Carter. He was starting to really piss me off now. Did he have no respect for my time at all?
“Hey are you going to be here soon?” I sent another text message. And I didn’t add a smiley face this time. I didn’t care that he hadn’t responded as yet. No one could call me psycho for constantly texting in a situation like this.
“Yup,” he responded immediately, and I screamed. Yup? What the hell did yup mean? I was normally an even-keeled person, but this morning was already off to a rough start. Frosty had gone potty on Danielle’s rug so I’d had to clean that up before I took him on his walk and then he had been so busy trying to chase every squirrel that he saw that he didn’t want to go potty for ages. I’d had to take a five-minute shower, had nicked myself while shaving and then to make matters worse, my favorite black blazer had felt too tight when I’d put it on, so I’d had to wear my gray suit instead. And I hated my gray suit.
“How long will you be? I have to get to work and now I’m already running late.” I typed out again. Let him feel bad for being tardy. I didn’t care if he was some hot shot banker and musician, he needed to respect other people’s time.
Ding Dong. The doorbell rang as soon as I pressed send, but I didn’t feel guilty. “Finally,” I mumbled as I jumped up off of the couch and hurried to the front door and pulled it open hastily. “You made it,” I muttered before even making eye contact with him.
“Hi there, Lila, right? I’m Carter. Sorry for the delay. The line in the coffee shop was way too long, and I wanted to get you a latte and bagel with lox and cream cheese. Danielle told me they were your favorites.” The man in front of me gave me an easy, lazy smile, his blue eyes were open and friendly and his perfect white teeth gleamed at me.
“Hi.” That was all I managed to squeak out as I stared at Carter. Danielle had understated just how good-looking her brother was. He wasn’t just good-looking. He was gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. He stood at about six-four with a solid muscular build. He had dark golden blond hair that surrounded his face perfectly. His blue eyes were azure in color and reminded me of the ocean colors I’d seen in the Caribbean.
“Here you go,” he said, and he handed me a small cup from my favorite coffee shop and a brown bag with a still warm bagel inside. “I hope that they are as good as you remember them being.”
“Thanks,” I said as I took the cup and bag from him. I gave him a huge smile, all my anger having faded away as soon as I’d seen his smile. “Would you like to come inside?”
“Willing to share some of that bagel?
” He grinned and gave me a small wink as he walked into my apartment. He made my hallway feel like it was a part of a doll’s house and my heart raced as I stood next to him and stared at his muscles up close and personal. “I forgot to get one for myself.”
“Oh, of course.” I grinned at him. “Come on in,” I said and waved him to follow me down the hallway to the kitchen.
“Should I take my shoes off?” he asked as he paused next to the door. He was wearing a white T-shirt that said, No Sleep Till Brooklyn, and blue faded jeans that clung to his hips.
“No, that’s okay.” I swallowed hard to stop myself from telling him that he could take his T-shirt off if he wanted. I didn’t know what had come over me. I couldn’t stop looking at his biceps and imagine his big hands all over me. I reddened as I realized that I was totally fantasizing over him and I’d just met him.
“Okay, are you sure you have time for the bagel?” He gave me a boyish grin as I took two plates out of the cupboard. “You said you were running late in your text, right?”
“I’m already late.” I wrinkled my nose at him as I grabbed a knife to cut the bagel in half. “What’s thirty more minutes going to do?”
“You’ll have to let me get you an Uber into your job,” he said as he took the plate from me and grabbed the bagel. “Mmm,” He made a noise as he took a bite and chewed. “This is delicious.”
“Glad you approve,” I said and took a bite myself. The bagel was toasted perfectly and had just the right amount of cream cheese and lox. “Yummy,” I said as I swallowed. I placed the plate on the table and then opened the fridge door. “Would you like some orange juice?”
“Yes, please,” he said, and he walked over to the fridge and stood next to me. “Thanks for your hospitality by the way.” He ran his hand through his hair and smiled at me. “Danielle told me you were nice and I guess she was right.”
“She’s great.” I smiled back at him, ignoring the urge to pat my hair to make sure that it was in place. “I’m so glad that she’s my neighbor.”
“You just moved in recently, right?” he said as he took the glass of orange juice. His blue eyes gazed into mine as if he were genuinely interested in the answer.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I just moved to New York about two years ago. I started working at this firm about six months ago and moved in here three months ago.”
“You’re a lawyer, right?”
“Yes. I went to law school at the University of Iowa.”
“Go Hawkeyes,” he said, and I looked at him in surprise. “I might not look like it, but I’m a huge fan of college football.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, my family is from Ohio so we’re Ohio State fans, but I can respect the Iowa team, though they’re not as good as the Buckeyes.”
“You wish.” I laughed. Carter Stevens was the last person I would have assumed to have been into college football. He just looked too cool and sexy to be into something so every day.
“So you came here after law school? And started working for the firm?”
“I moved here and worked for a non-profit, but then upgraded to a firm.” I made a face. “More money and all that jazz.”
“I see.” He nodded. “And you’re single?”
“Maybe,” I said coyly, surprised by his question. “Why do you ask?” I bit down on my lower lip and gazed at him as he finished eating his bagel.
“Because I’d be devastated to find out you had a boyfriend.”
“Danielle was right.” I laughed. “You really are a huge flirt, aren’t you?”
“I’m not a flirt.” He shook his head. “Well, not with everyone.”
“I’m one of the lucky ones, am I?”
“Of course, you’re a very lucky one.” He winked at me and then before I could blink he was reaching over and lightly removing a random piece of bagel from the side of my mouth. I watched as he popped it inside of his. “Didn’t want to waste any of it now.”
“You.” I was speechless. Had he really just eaten a crumb from the side of my mouth?
“Yes, what about me?”
“I, I just don’t know what to say.” I shook my head at him. It was weird to know that we’d just met. A part of me felt so comfortable with him; as if I’d known him for years.
“You have beautiful brown eyes,” he stated then and within seconds he was singing “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison; one of my absolute favorite songs. “Do you remember when we used to sing . . .” His voice was deep and smooth and I joined him in the chorus, even though my voice sounded like something from the reject episodes of American Idol. My voice trailed off as he continued singing as I didn’t know all the words and I just stood there sipping my coffee watching this absolutely gorgeous man sing to me. It was surreal, it was ridiculous, and I absolutely loved it. Things like this just didn’t happen to me. And while a part of me was extremely ill-at-ease and slightly embarrassed, there was just something about Carter that made his being so over-the-top seem quite normal.
“So, brown-eyed girl, what are you doing tonight?”
“Tonight?” I stared at him wondering where he was going with this conversation. Could he also be into me?
“Yeah tonight.” He grinned. “I have a gig at Rockwood Music Hall, maybe you’d like to come?”
“Um, well, I work,” I stammered.
“You’re telling me you have to work all night?”
“No, I’m just saying that I’m already late for work and I have a lot of files to go through today. We’re going to trial next week, and well, I just don’t know when I’ll be free.”
“Make yourself free.” He gave me an impish grin. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, loving the way he was so easy and teasing with me. “You don’t even know me.”
“Well, I know where you live.” His phone beeped then, and he grabbed it from his pocket. I watched as he made a face. “But that’s my cue to go and check on Frosty. I need to change and head off to work myself.”
“Aw, okay,” I said, feeling disappointed, but knowing it was for the best. I could talk to Carter Stevens all day and night. “I was wondering what investment firm you worked for that you could wear jeans and a T-shirt.”
“Hey, that’s how we do it on Wall Street these days.” He laughed and then his face grew slightly serious. “But I really should be going now. Thanks for the keys. And for looking after Frosty for a couple of days. I hope you can make it tonight, the show is at eight. If not, I guess I’ll see you around this place.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said, suddenly feeling sad. What if I never really saw him? I mean, I didn’t see Danielle all that often. He was hot and sexy and he was flirting with me and I liked it. Granted he most probably wasn’t going to be the love of my life, but he could be the fun of my life. I needed some fun. He seemed like the perfect guy to have some fun with. I was going to go to that show tonight even if it meant I had to go back to the office afterward. I knew it would be worth it.
Carter
“Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
“I’ll make it worth your while. I’ll make it worth your while?” I groaned as I shook my head at Frosty. “What the hell was I thinking?” Frosty just sat there staring at me with his big brown dopey eyes. “She most probably thinks I’m an idiot.” I pulled my jeans off and threw them onto the ground. I knew Danielle would not be happy that I was already leaving my clothes all over the place, but what she didn’t know wouldn’t kill her. “Where the hell is my suit?” I rifled through the suitcase I’d brought with me and pulled out a blue shirt and some clean boxers. I couldn’t seem to find any of my suits though. “Fuck it,” I growled under my breath. I must have left my suits on the bed in my rush. I’d woken up late and had to rush up here to grab the keys from Lila. I had been very pleasantly surprised when she’d opened the door. Danielle hadn’t told me how hot her new neighbor was with her doe-like brown eyes, blond hair and very shapely body. It didn’t hurt that she se
emed to have a fun personality that matched her looks. I’d been pleasantly surprised when she’d sang along to “Brown Eyed Girl” with me. Granted, she couldn’t sing for shit, but at least she’d tried. I wasn’t used to women that weren’t afraid to make a fool of themselves.
“Do you think she’s going to come tonight?” I continued to talk to Frosty as if he actually understood what I was talking about. This was why I didn’t have my own dog. People with dogs became crazy. “She’s not going to come. I bet she’s still annoyed I was late. Do you think she was annoyed?” I rolled my eyes as Frosty started sniffing his butt. “She’s a lawyer,” I said as I debated what to do. I couldn’t go into work like this. And I didn’t want to go all the way back to the Upper West Side now. I’d just call in and get ready for the show tonight. Plus I needed to go through my finances to make sure that I had calculated everything correctly before I gave in my resignation at the end of the month.
I was finally ready to pursue my dreams of becoming a full-time musician and getting out of the rat race. Not that I’d told anyone in my family though. I wasn’t sure they’d approve; especially Danielle. Even though I was the older brother she always acted like she was the boss of me. I loved her, but everything I did she seemed to disapprove of. Well, maybe that was due to the fact that I’d dated several of her friends and broken their hearts. Not that that had been my fault though. I’d barely gone out with any of them before they started acting all attached and clingy. I paused as I thought about Lila. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for her to come tonight. I didn’t want her to fall for me or anything like that. No matter how hot I thought she was. I didn’t need to complicate this living situation. Danielle was going to be gone for a month at the minimum she’d said and I couldn’t have dogs in my apartment, so if something went bad with Lila, I’d have to stay here still. And I didn’t want things to be awkward. Though if the sex was good enough I could deal with awkward for a few weeks. I could deal with a lot for good sex.
