by Lily Kate
“You know what I mean!” I stomp my foot, well aware I look like a child. “Plus, you already polished off the burger. So, you can take your offer of a date to someone who cares. Someone who’s not me.”
“What if I told you I had another burger, and that I’d throw in a ride to the impound lot with it?”
“Another burger?” There’s a reverence in my voice. “You have had another burger this whole time, and you’ve been holding out on me?”
He peeks in his bag. “Look at that. They didn’t even forget pickles.”
I ease to the floor, scoot across the elevator until I’m seated next to him. I peek in the bag. “That smells good.”
“It can be all yours with the promise of one date. One evening together.”
“You promise there are no tricks, there’s no catch, I’m not going to be appearing at some wedding or whatever like a high-class escort?”
“High class?” He looks at my ripped dress.
“Oh, shut it, mister.”
He grins. “I promise. You and me. A private evening. Food if you like, and maybe something to drink. No pressure.”
“Really?”
He hands over the burger bag.
I feel the warmth against my hands and bask in the heavenly scent. I take my time peeling back the brown paper bag and inhale deeply with every breath I take.
“That look you have on your face right now?” Bradley is struggling to hold back a smile. “That’s the look of great sex.”
“Who needs great sex when you have great food?”
He makes another strangled noise in his throat.
“Oh, you pretend like you’re so good at sex.” I throw a glance over at him. “I don’t buy it.”
“Fine.”
I inch the burger out, still too distracted by the beautiful patty staring back at me to really think about what I’m saying. “Are you good at it?”
“What?”
“Sex.”
For once, Bradley appears speechless. “Uhm—”
“Never mind.”
“You could find out.”
“I already told you, I’m not interested in kissing you. When we try to be more than friends, it only ends in...” I pause, not wanting to say heartbreak. To admit that would be saying too much. “It ends awkwardly. Sorry, it’s not happening. So, don’t try anything.”
“I’m not going to try anything.” Bradley watches me, his eyes melting to the color of gooey chocolate chips. “Here’s what’s going to happen, Lexi Monroe.”
I frown as he reaches out a hand, lowers the burger from my mouth. When he speaks, his voice is hoarse and sturdy. It steals my attention from the burger, which is next to miraculous.
“I’m going to take you out on a date, and it is going to be the date to end all dates. The best date you could ever imagine, and then more,” he says, his eyes locked on mine. There’s a heaviness in the air, a weightiness that tells me he’s deadly serious. “I’ll be patient, and I’ll wait. Until you’re ready, and until you come to me. I’ll have you, Lexi Monroe, but only when you ask for it.”
My heart thumps against my chest. He’s too close to me, too intense with his gaze. Almost as if he’s been thinking about this moment for ages, just biding his time.
I’m just about to tell him how cocky that speech sounded when the elevator jars to a start, and we ascend the rest of the way to floor seven. The doors spring open to reveal a series of firemen looking in with concern.
Two of them are fat older men, one of them bald, the other quite red-headed, but the third is probably just older than me. Young and quite handsome, the latter steps through the doors and extends a hand toward me.
“Alright, ma’am?” the studly young fireman asks, helping me to my feet. “Apologies for the delay in response. This old elevator turned out to be finicky.”
I stand, my gaze still torn between this new handsome fireman, and the words hanging in the air between Bradley and myself. Then I look down at my hands and realize the burger is still there.
“You’re kidding me,” I grumble. “All that effort and I didn’t even get to eat the burger.”
“A deal’s a deal,” Bradley says from the floor. “I’ll let you know a time and date later.”
“Ma’am?” The fireman looks between Bradley and myself. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” Bradley says, sweeping crumbs off his shorts as he brushes past us in the elevator. He turns, nods at the fireman, then winks at me. “Guess Superman didn’t get the day off.”
Bradley disappears down the hall, and I turn to finally face my rescuer. “Sorry, everything’s fine. Just a neighbor dispute.”
“Neighbor?”
“Just a neighbor,” I say firmly. “We, uh, don’t really get along.”
The fireman reaches behind me, scoops up my purse and blanket from the floor. “These belong to you?”
I hurriedly gather the things into my arms before he pays too much attention to my craft project. “Thank you.”
“Is it too forward of me to ask your name?”
“Lexi.” I smile, shake his hand. “Lexi Monroe. And you are?”
As Cole Anderson introduces himself, I catch a glimpse of Bradley over my shoulder. He’s frozen, one foot inside of his apartment, the other outside, and a look of murder on his face.
I let Cole walk me to my apartment, but when he asks for my number, I apologize and tell him I don’t give it out the first time I meet someone.
“Well,” he says with a smile. “Then I hope we meet again, Miss Monroe.”
I let myself into the apartment, give him a wave, and lock the door behind me. The burger is still warm in my hand. Moving to the kitchen, I toss it onto a plate, plop down on my kitchen stool, and stare at it.
“This is all your fault,” I tell the burger. “You’d better taste damn good, my friend.”
Chapter 3
LEXI
My apartment is located in downtown St. Paul in a rather primo location. The rent for a one bedroom is just barely affordable on my salary, but for the last few years I’ve made it work. I’d even managed to save something here and there.
Business isn’t particularly booming at the diner, but we have a steady stream of fiercely loyal customers. Margaret and Howard come for their daily waffles, Stuart for his late-night pie slices and bottomless decaf. Lou, the out of work actor reads lines at the table all day and mostly doesn’t buy anything.
Then there’s Barb, my first customer ever—who makes sure everyone knows it. We even have our fair share of regular policemen and firefighters stopping by since its location is directly between the firehouse, police station, and just about everything else. I briefly wonder if I’ve ever seen Cole there before, and then realize that no, I definitely would’ve remembered.
I sink my teeth into another bite of the burger as I hurriedly reply to Rick’s worried texts. He’s my right-hand man at Minnie’s, and is probably having a stroke at the moment. My message about being late never sent, and I click re-send furiously before he sends the SWAT team after me. I’m never late to the diner if I can help it.
I love it there. I love my work, I love the people. It’s not an incredibly high margin business, but it’s always felt good, always felt right.
During my reckless, post-college drifting phase, I’d decided to take a chance and open my own business. Every penny, every bucket of blood, sweat, and syrup that I could scrounge up had gone into making Minnie’s a success.
For the last three years, it’d been paying my bills and keeping me satisfied and fed, but I’m not living a life of luxury by any means. We still have tight months now and again, and recent months have been tighter than I would’ve liked.
I inhale another bite of the burger at my kitchen table, and that’s when I notice the noise. A distinct breathing coming from behind me. Human breathing. All thought flies out the window as I whirl around and face the living room.
“What’d you have to do to g
et that burger?” A groggy male voice calls across the room. “You’re savoring it like it’s cloaked in gold.”
“Lucas?” I stare open-mouthed at my brother. Only seconds later do I realize I’m still chewing a full bite of burger. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing with that burger?” Lucas squints at the clock behind me. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
Now, I’m turning from startled single woman at home alone into the annoyed little sister. “Hold on, you broke into my apartment, made yourself at home, and now you’re chastising me? Nope. Not happening.”
“Thank you for letting me crash here.” He runs a hand through his hair, and it looks like he’s had a much harder night than me. His button-up shirt is missing a few buttons, and his pants are rumpled. “It got late, and I wasn’t in shape to drive home.”
“No kidding. Why my place?”
“I went out with Andi and Ryan to that new bar...”
He snaps his finger trying to think, and I fill in the gap. “TANGO.”
“Yes!”
“And?”
“And we had a few drinks. I didn’t want to drive home, so I came here.”
“Through my window, or...?” I glance skeptically around my apartment. “Just curious in case next time, it’s not my brother I find sneaking in and sleeping on my couch.”
My apartment is old but well maintained. It used to be some sort of warehouse, but they updated it in a housing boom some years ago, leaving trendy exposed brick and lots of wood. The ceilings are lofted and sunlight has a tendency to splash all over the rooms, sometimes earlier than I’d prefer.
Lucas pulls out a key, waves it around.
“Where’d you get that?”
A guilty expression slides over his face.
“You didn’t.” I cross my arms. “Really? This doesn’t qualify for the apocalypse stash.”
When I’d first rented this apartment, it’d been a group effort. Lucas had moved in next door, and Bradley across the hallway. Some people might think it odd that the three of us stayed so close, but it’d been that way for so many years it just didn’t seem right to move away from one another.
Especially since the boys had been playing hockey together at the time, and my diner wasn’t far away. This place was moderately affordable, convenient, and everything we’d needed. We’d also created an ultimate emergency stash upon our move into the building. I didn’t think anyone had accessed it in years; I’m surprised Lucas even remembered it.
“It was still there after all this time?” I’d almost forgotten about the stash. I slide across the room to examine the key. “Was it still behind that loose brick out back?”
“The one and only.” His face clouds for a moment, as it often does when we get too close to the topic of Bradley.
“Ah, well, it was a good choice of hiding spot.”
“So, I should be going.”
“Yeah, I’m running late for work.”
“Speaking of late nights, where were you last night?” Lucas waggles his eyebrows. “I happen to know you didn’t come home.”
I pick up the stupid knitting project and throw it at him. “I stayed at Kitty’s.”
“How’s Kitty?”
“She’s fine. Didn’t ask about you,” I say. My brother’s had a crush on her for forever. They’ll never work out, so I feel it’s my duty to make sure his hopes never get raised. “We tried to be domestic. Failed. Drank copious amounts of wine instead.”
“If Kitty needs someone to help her become domestic...”
“Shut up.”
“Understood.” Lucas reaches for his wallet and keys. “I think I left my car somewhere downtown. I suppose I should find it.”
“What a guy,” I say, walking him to the door.
I’m just about to open it when there’s a knock.
Lucas frowns at the door, then looks at me.
“Expecting company?” he asks. When I shake my head no, he opens the door. “Hey, we’re just leaving...oh.”
The door opens to reveal Bradley Hamilton standing there in all of his glory. He’s changed since the elevator and is now dressed eerily similar to my brother. Khakis and a button-up shirt. He could be ready for church, while I’m still looking like a lady of the night.
This just goes to show how long it’s been since I’ve seen Bradley for any length of time—he’d never have worn something like that years ago. He, like my brother, had lived in hockey gear—sweats, jeans, and boy things.
This person standing before me is a man. A gorgeous man at that, and it takes everything I can do not to stare at the cut lines of his jaw, or the way his dark hair rolls gently away from his face. I notice the second his warm chocolate eyes harden, and that’s the second he recognizes my brother.
“I’ll come back—” he says at the same time that my brother yells for me.
“Lucas. I’m right here,” I say from a step behind him. “Thanks, I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?” Lucas opens the door wider, then eyes his old friend with disdain. “What’s he doing here?”
“What are you, four years old? Go away for a minute. Out or in,” I tell him. “Choose.”
My brother chooses to retreat to the couch. He doesn’t even pretend not to eavesdrop.
“Hello, Bradley,” I say, just now realizing my fingers are still clamped down on the burger. “Can I do something for you?”
“Never mind.”
“What? You came over here and knocked on my door. Don’t pretend it was to tell me never mind.”
Brad’s eyes flash over my shoulder and land on my brother. “It can wait.”
I raise a hand, and it inadvertently comes to rest on his chest. The feel there, beneath my fingers, is solid. He’s like a source of heat, sending spirals of warmth all through me as I gently push him into the hallway and follow him there.
I pull the door shut behind me. “What do you need?”
“Call in sick.”
“Excuse me?”
“Call in sick,” he says again. “You’re already late to work. Just explain to them that you got stuck in the elevator and need the day off.”
“You’re right—I’m already late and getting later by the second. Why would I need the day off?”
“I don’t have anything going on, so I figured we might as well make good on our deal.”
I suck in a breath. “The date? You want to do our date right now?”
“I was talking about driving you to the impound lot, but sure. We can have our date today if you’d like.”
“No! No, I wouldn’t like that. I have to go... sorry. I have to work.”
“Fine. When do you want to get your car?”
“Look, you don’t have to take me. I’ll figure it out; that stuff in the elevator was a joke.”
“A joke?”
I raise the burger. “My stomach was talking for me. I was hangry. You can’t trust anything that comes out of my mouth when I’m hungry, angry, or somewhere in between.”
“You’re reneging on our deal?”
“No, I’m...” I sigh. “Thank you for the offer, Bradley. I’ll find my own way to pick up the car. If you still want to do the date thing, I’m game.”
“When would you like to do our date thing?”
“You have my number,” I say. “Feel free to call me and set something up... like a date.”
“Next weekend?”
“I’m out of town.”
“Weekend after?”
“Working.”
He sighs. “I’ll call you.”
“Bye.” I turn, resting a hand on the doorknob to go back inside. Before I twist it, however, I pause and watch him walk across the hallway to his place. “Hey, Bradley.”
He turns and leans against the doorframe. “Yeah?”
I swallow my surprise at the shape his body has taken over these last few years. He might’ve wrecked his knee and ruined his hockey career, but his body has taken on all sorts of
muscles that weren’t there before. Curves and dips, tone and strength that make me wonder how I hadn’t noticed before.
“It’s really good to see you again,” I say. “I hope you do call.”
He smiles, the kind of smile that lights up his whole face. It makes me all sorts of happy as I turn and let myself into the apartment. The boys might have their stupid feud going, but I’d let myself get caught in the middle for too long without making enough effort to right the situation.
As I step through the door and find myself facing my brother, I tell myself all over again that my new effort to repair past ties is because I value Bradley as a friend. As a buddy. A pal.
Not because he’s turned into some sex on a stick man who looks at me like I’m his cheat meal, and definitely not because it’s been months since I’ve had any sort of relationship worth writing home about.
“What was that all about?” Lucas asks. “I didn’t know you two were talking.”
“As a matter of fact, Bradley asked me out on a date.”
“Bradley?”
I started calling him Bradley in my head after my brother and he had a falling out. It just seemed... easier that way. To separate the guy who’d been one of my closest friends—Brad—and this new, distant person. Bradley. More formal, more controlled.
“Yes, Bradley,” I say. “And I told him yes.”
“Is that how you got the burger?”
“What?”
“You don’t buy fast food. Where’d you get the burger?”
“Traded my soul for it. What’s it to you, anyway? I never bother you about your dates.”
“Because I’m not dating your former best friend.”
“Oh, come on. You drool every time Kitty walks into the room.”
“Why was he at the door?” Lucas scowls. “Early start on date night?”
“He offered to give me a ride to pick up my car.”
“Because your car is...?”
“Impounded.”
“Ah. I’ll take you.”
“How do you know I turned down his offer?”
“I don’t care if you turned it down.” Lucas pulls his things into his arms. “Let’s go. I have to find my car, and then I’ll drop you off.”
“You need to give me five minutes to shower and get out of these clothes.”
