Richard balanced himself on the arm of the sofa, keeping the pee-covered foot raised in the air. “Can I get a towel or something?”
“On it!” Devon shouted as she scurried out of the room.
“You named your dog Slim Shady?” Richard asked.
I struggled to keep my eyes from trailing down past his neck. The man shouldn’t be allowed to leave his apartment without a shirt. It was seriously hazardous to women’s health.
“Uh… y-yeah,” I stuttered, suddenly very aware of the fact that we were alone in a room together — save for Shady who currently seemed to be staring Richard down and finding him lacking. I shifted from foot to foot and studied the rug on the floor, unable to shake the feeling of awkwardness. How were you supposed to act around someone you’d had sex with who didn’t remember he’d seen every inch of you naked? “I went through a… phase.”
His deep, raspy laugh was like melted chocolate, making my mouth water. Stupid hormones! “You’re not the type of woman I’d have expected to be an Eminem fan. But I guess that explains the early morning wakeup call I’ve been forced to live through this past week.”
“It’s a good song!” I declared with a frown, a bitter taste in my mouth at the fact he was making fun of me. “And exactly what type of woman do you think I am, huh?” I asked, my hands squeezing into tight fists as I propped them on my hips. “A nerd? A dork? A weirdo? So dorks aren’t allowed to like Eminem? Is that what you’re saying? Huh?”
“Whoa.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Easy, tiger. That’s not what I meant at all.”
I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest. “Oh yeah? Then what do you mean?”
“Uh…” Devon’s voice sound from the mouth of the hallway. “So, here’s a towel.” She tossed it in Richard’s general direction and began backing away. “I’ll just leave you two to… fight it out.” Then she was gone. The traitor.
“I meant,” Richard spoke, pulling my gaze back to him where he sat on the couch, wiping the dog pee from his foot, “I was just surprised that a woman who appreciated the Struts would also like Eminem. No offense, I swear.”
“Oh.” My hands lowered and my stiff posture sagged a bit as the fight drained out of me, leaving me feeling even more ridiculous than before. “Well… great. Okay then.”
Once he finished cleaning his foot, he dropped the towel onto the small puddle Shady had left on the floor and took a couple steps in my direction. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
I couldn’t help it, I really couldn’t. I snorted again. It was just a reflex I had whenever I was in awkward situations. “I’d say that’s a bit of an understatement.” He chuckled again and that warm, melty feeling hit me in the chest again.
“What do you say we start over, huh?” He closed the distance between us and extended his hand. “Hi. I’m Richard Locklaine. Not to be confused with my brother, Rowan. It’s nice to meet you.”
I stared at his outstretched palm and fought the smile that was tugging at my lips. His hand was warm against mine as his long fingers wrapped around my smaller ones. “Hi, Richard. I’m Delilah Northcutt.” One side of my mouth tilted up in a little smirk as I looked into those glacier blue eyes of his. “I believe I’m doing the flowers for your brother’s wedding.”
He grinned in return, and I felt that smile all the way too my bones. “What a coincidence!” he continued with a teasing tone. God, why did he have to be so good looking? And, for the love of baby kittens, why couldn’t he have remembered our night together?!
Silence stretched between us for several seconds before the heat of his hand and the intensity in his eyes became too much. I eventually pulled my hand from his, wrapping my fingers tightly together in front of me as I struggled to look anywhere but directly at him.
“Are you sure I don’t know you?” he asked, startling me. “I could’ve sworn I’ve met you before.”
My eyes went wide as I wrung my hands together. “Oh… uh… nope, never met before. I’m sure I would have remembered.” I let out a nervous laugh, followed by… you guessed it, another snort. Buddha kill me, please.
A loud choking cough sounded from the hallway, alerting us both to the fact that Devon had been eavesdropping on the whole conversation. I was going to murder her in her sleep. Or better yet, shave off her eyebrows.
“She okay?” Richard asked, humor laced through his words.
“Yep. She just never learned to chew her food properly. Been a choking hazard her whole life. It’s embarrassing to go to restaurants with her, really.”
Devon faked sneezed from the hallway, and I could have sworn I heard the word bitch in there.
“Well.” I clapped. Why, sweet mother of sugar, did I just clap? “Sorry for the… disruption.” I pointed in the direction of my bedroom. “I should… um… let you get back to your… screaming lady friend.”
Lord, if you’re listening, please open the ground beneath me and let it swallow me whole. Sincerely, Delilah Northcutt. Amen.
He cleared his throat as his cheeks tinged a deep pink color. “Oh, uh, that…” He rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort. “We weren’t… I mean, we hadn’t… she’s gone.”
“Oh. Oh! Was it because of the music? I’m really sorry about that.” I really wasn’t.
“No, actually…” He turned the full charm of his grin on me and my blood heated in my veins at the beauty of it. Stupid blood. Stupid veins. “I should probably thank you for that. The impromptu concert actually did me a favor.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… we hadn’t really been doing more than kissing when she…”
“Started shrieking like a howler monkey?” I politely offered when he trailed off.
“That’s what she sounded like!” Devon shouted from the hall. “I’ve been trying to put my finger on it this whole time! Thanks, Del.”
Richard burst into laughter, and I had to tell my lady parts to calm the hell down at the sound of it. Stupid lady parts.
“Anyway,” he said with a smirk. “I should get going. It was nice meeting you, Delilah. You too, Devon,” he shouted down the hall.
“Back atcha, bud!” she replied. Worst. Eavesdropper. Ever.
“Have a good night,” I offered as I followed him to the door.
Just as I pulled it open and moved to let him step through, he stopped and turned back to face me. “Oh, uh, just a word to the wise. I don’t think your dog’s as housebroken as you think he is.”
My head cocked to the side in confusion. “What makes you say that?”
“Being pissed on twice in one day. Good night, Delilah.” With that, he walked to his own apartment. I stood there gaping as I listened to his door open and close before finally shutting my own… then banging my forehead against it over and over.
“Well,” Devon said from somewhere behind me. “That went better than I’d expected.”
IT HAD BEEN A week since my run-in with my new neighbors and, with the exception of the occasional chin lift or brief hello whenever we passed in the hallway or lobby of the building, I’d hardly spoken more than a handful of words to either of them. They still played their atrocious music every morning, but to their credit, they kept the volume much lower than they had been. Instead of hearing every damn word through the walls, I’d only been able to make out the faint beat of the song.
Unfortunately, it was still enough to get the son of a bitch stuck in my head.
I’d hoped that things would start looking up once I got over being sleep deprived, but the fact that I woke up every morning with a raging hard on, thanks to my explicit dreams, and no way to alleviate the mounting tension was enough to keep me in the bad mood I’d been walking around in for months.
At first the dreams were just about the woman in the red dress. In them, I relived the night we’d had together over and over again, playing out every move, every touch, every position until I woke up in sweating and panting for breath, my cock aching for release.
But after the night at Delilah’s the dreams had turned into something else. They always started off the same, but as soon as I got the woman in red naked and under me, music would begin blaring through the wall. I’d bang on it, yelling for the person on the other end to turn it down, only to have someone knock on my door a few seconds later. When I got up to answer, Delilah was standing there in nothing but a pale pink, see-through baby doll nightie. Her hair in a bun, those thick bangs covering the top of her glasses. In a blink, the dream would change and I’d end up with both women in my bed, rubbing and kissing me. Begging for me to touch them.
It never failed, as soon as I got to the best part of the dream, that goddamned rat/dog would suddenly appear out of nowhere and piss on my leg, effectively waking me up every damn time.
It was disturbing as shit, let me tell you. Not the dream, but that fucking dog showing up just as things were getting good. The whole thing had me so twisted up that I had trouble making eye contact with Delilah any time our paths crossed.
To make matters worse, I was dangerously close to chafing in a place where no man should ever chafe. A guy could only jack off so many times before his dick was at risk of falling off.
“Elaine!” I shouted as I scanned my desk for the printouts I’d asked for yesterday. “Elaine! Where’s the case law on the Brown v. Carson case I asked for?”
“Well, if you bellowed at me like that, I wouldn’t have printed it out for you either.”
My head shot up and my eyes narrowed on Rowan leaning against the door frame with his hands tucked into the pockets of his slacks. The smirk on his face did nothing to improve my mood.
“What are you doing here? And why didn’t the receptionist call me before letting you back?”
He pushed off the frame and strolled into my office, taking a seat in one of the chairs across from me and propping a foot on his knee, the picture of relaxation. I was actually jealous of the bastard. I hadn’t felt that relaxed in… months. For Christ’s sake. The fact that I couldn’t get that woman out of my head was getting ridiculous. She was only a one-night stand! I hadn’t even had this much trouble while going through a divorce.
“I pretended to be you and just walked right back,” Rowan answered with a sly grin.
A groan worked its way up my chest and dropped my head to my desk. “This isn’t high school, Row. You can’t pull that shit here. This is my job.”
“I see you’re still a little ray of sunshine.”
“And I see you’re still a jackass. Elaine!”
Rowan’s laughter pulled my attention from the open office door. “There’s no one out there, man. Are you so lazy you can’t get off your ass to go check?”
“What?” I snapped, standing from my chair. “What the hell do you mean no one’s out there?” Sure enough, the desk Elaine usually sat at was empty. All her personal effects were gone. I stomped back to my desk and hit the speaker button on my phone.
“What happened to Elaine?” I asked as soon as the receptionist answered.
“She put in her two-weeks’ notice.”
What? “When?” And how the hell had I not known this?
“Uh…” I heard the clicking for her keyboard before she answered. “Yesterday.”
“Then why the hell isn’t she here today?” I shouted. Usually I was a pretty easy-going guy, but no sex, a divorce, and sex dreams that were driving me crazy had me laying in to anyone and everyone.
“Because she put in for the rest of her vacation time right before handing in her resignation. You signed off on it, Mr. Locklaine.”
Son of a bitch! Of course I’d have signed off on it if she put it in front of me. I’d been so busy lately I hadn’t questioned anything Elaine placed in front of me to sign. “Well… how long is she on vacation?”
My question was met with silence before the receptionist reluctantly answered, “Two weeks.”
I disconnected the call and collapsed back in the chair, rubbing my throbbing temples.
“Maybe she couldn’t handle you being such a ray of sunshine,” Rowan offered with a chuckle.
I glared at him, hoping I could burn a hole through the center of his forehead with just my eyes. “I’m so glad my misery gives you pleasure.”
He shrugged. “Have to find joy in life somehow, right?”
I felt a growl rumble in my chest before asking, “And why the hell are you here again? Other than the obvious reason of being a massive pain in my ass.”
“I’m hurt, Richard.” He placed a palm to his chest and faked a pout. “Can’t a guy stop in to see his brother every once in a while?”
“Not when he just so happens to be a sadistic prick who doesn’t do anything out of the kindness of his heart,” I answered in a conversational tone as I clicked my mouse to bring my computer screen to life.
“Well, I’ll have you know, I came by with good intentions of reminding you that you have your tux fitting this afternoon.”
“Shit!” I smacked my palm on the top of my desk.
“See? I knew you’d forget. You’re welcome.”
Normally I would have contemplated how to kill Rowan without getting caught, but seeing as I was already buried, and leaving the office early for a tux fitting was going to mean another late night of work, I didn’t have time to bask in thoughts of fratricide. “I’ll make the appointment. But if I have any hopes of clearing some of this shit before then,” I waved my arm to indicate the desk I couldn’t even see the top of through all the paper, “then I need you to get your ass out of here. It’s been a pleasure visiting with you, as always, but I need to get back to work.”
Rowan stood from the chair and took a step toward to door. “You know, if you don’t pull that stick out of your ass and start acting more pleasant, Navie’s determination to set you up with someone is only going to get worse. Damn woman’s convinced all a man needs to be happy is a good woman.”
“And if you want to live to see your wedding day, you’ll keep her off my back about it,” I warned.
He gave me a salute which I followed up with an offensive gesture. The last thing I heard before diving back into my work was my brother’s carefree laughter as he left my office.
“YOU LOOK LIKE HELL.”
I lifted my head from where I had it drooped, one hand resting above the keypad of the elevator just to hold myself up.
“Thanks,” I told Delilah in a flat voice, taking in her casual appearance. Hair in that bun, glasses on. The baggy sweats would have been a turn off had she not paired them with a tight purple tank top that hugged her curves.
Jesus, I must have been near delirious if sweats and a tank were enough to make my dick stir behind my pants. I pushed the thought away and let out a sigh.
“Sorry,” she cringed as she stepped onto the elevator. It was then I noticed that her little mutt was attached to the leash in her hand, trailing behind without a care in the world. “I have a tendency to be a little too blunt sometimes. What I meant was you look really tired. You okay?”
I gave her a small, pathetic smile as the doors closed, leaving us in solitude as we traveled up to our floor. “I’m fine, thanks for asking. Just a lot of work and not nearly enough time.”
Her eyes went wide as she looked from me, to the watch on her wrist, and back to me again. “You’re just getting home from work? But it’s after 10:00!”
All I could do was shrug. “Throw in a tux fitting and my assistant up and quitting on me, and you’ve got the makings of a shitty day.” I looked down and caught Shady eyeballing my foot with a little too much interest. “I’m exhausted and just want to get to bed. What I don’t want to do is have to clean another pair of shoes that has dog piss on them. Think you can rein your little terror in?” I tipped my head in the asshole dog’s direction. “I can see it in his beady little eyes, he’s considering it.”
“He is not!” she said with offense, defending the little rat. Sure enough, he moved closer, sniffed my shoe, then hiked his leg. Luckily I’d se
en it coming so I was able to move out of the way quick enough.
“Shady, no!” Delilah scolded, her cheeks turning bright pink with embarrassment as her dog pissed on the elevator floor. “No! Bad! Damn it! Why can’t you learn stuff? It’s not hard. I know you understand what I’m say. Just do it already!”
I burst into full-bodied laughter as the doors opened on our floor.
“Glad you find this amusing,” she grumbled.
I reached in and grabbed her arm, gently pulling her out of the lift as I continued to chuckle. “Come on. The next person to get in that thing is in for a surprise.”
“But…” She looked over her shoulder at the elevator doors as I led her toward our apartments. “I need to clean it. Aren’t there cameras or something? I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Stop worrying. There aren’t any cameras.”
“How do you know?” she asked, eyeing me skeptically as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She really was cute. As I studied her face I found myself wondering if she was someone I’d be interested in if I was able to get my fucked-up head straight.
“I have my ways.” I grinned. “Believe me. You’re not going to get busted, I promise. And I needed a laugh, so thanks for that.”
We paused in front of her door and she looked down at her dog. “He really is a menace, isn’t he?”
“Maybe some obedience classes?” I suggested, trying not to think of how cute her face looked when her nose was all scrunched up like that.
“I tried that already. He flunked out.” My head fell back on another bark of laughter. “All right, jackass,” she spoke over my hysterics. Despite the words, I could hear the smile in her voice as I got my breathing back under control. “I’m glad we were able to provide some comic relief, but it’s time for bed. I’ll see you around.”
She turned to unlock the door and I was hit with a sudden pang of displeasure at the thought of our time together being cut short.
Opposites Attract (The Locklaine Boys Book 2) Page 5
