Be Mine: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance

by Lauren Wood

  “I told you that I am fine Joel.”

  I liked that she remembered my name, even if she said it in a tone that wasn’t that nice. At least she remembered me. That was how I was going to look at it. I wasn’t going to notice the attitude or the roll of the eyes. Cameron was complicated and I didn’t want to get involved. I reminded myself of that several times before I couldn’t help myself.

  “Let me help you Cameron. You are pretty drunk and I don’t want you to fall down the stairs. I’m sure my uncle wouldn’t approve of me just letting you go up by yourself. My cousin Carlos would have approved, but this was business.”

  She shook her head and insisted that she was fine. Maybe she was and she would make it, but the nagging feeling inside of me was hard to shut off. I tried to think of what Carlos would have done. He would have left her there and told her to have at it. It is what I should have done, but I couldn’t. I was still trying to turn off that part of me, but it was hard to do. It was hard not to care about Cameron, even though I had another woman in my bed.

  Taking her arm, I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. It was clear that she needed help and even if she didn’t want it, I wasn’t going to let her hurt herself. It was going to be easier if I just helped her up there and then I would be able to get back to sleep.

  “Take your hands off of me Joel!”

  I wasn’t expecting the strength of the refusal and I did as she asked. Cameron wasn’t ready for it and she leaned into the wall to stop herself from falling. I was trying to figure out what it was that I was doing trying to help her. It was obvious that she didn’t want my help, even though she needed it and I was getting more and more irate with her.

  When I tried to help her again, she pushed against me and sent herself into the wall again. It was funny to see, but I knew that I was going to have to do something. Picking her up, I ignored her protests and started up the stairs with her. Even though she was squirming in my arms, I could smell her perfume filling my nostrils. She smelled as good as she looked and I felt a tightening in my pants. Why was I always attracted to the difficult ones?

  “Put me down!”

  We were up the two flights of stairs and she wasn’t that far from her door. I didn’t do what she wanted immediately, when we were in front of her door, I finally put her down. She swayed and I let the wall help prop her up.

  “Do you need any help getting inside?” I was more than willing to help her to bed if that meant I would get to relieve myself of the perceived duty that I had. I was trying to become more like my cousin that just didn’t care, but it was harder than I thought when it came to certain people.

  “I don’t need your help Joel. I told you that I was fine.”

  Not believing her, I waited for her to fumble with her keys and then I just grabbed them and slid the key in for her. Neither one of us was going to get any sleep the ways she was going about it all and it was hard to be around her when I knew that my attention wasn’t wanted.

  “There. Now I am going to go back to sleep now. If you decide to go anywhere, don’t. You are too drunk to be walking around.”

  “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  She was being childish and the slur in her voice made it a little more entertaining to me. I just shook my head and walked away. All I was trying to do was help her and I was learning that no good deed ever goes unpunished and this was one of those times.

  Going down the stairs slowly, I looked up once to see that Cameron had made it into her apartment. I hadn’t seen much of the inside, but it was far more put together than she was at that time. Was I the reason that she was so drunk? Our altercation earlier had bothered me, but I liked the idea better that it may have bothered her as well.

  Stripping off the jeans that I had thrown on when I had thought there was something going on in the hallway I laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. I didn’t want the unnamed woman that was next to me. I asked myself the same question that I had since I arrived in New Orleans. What was I doing here? Was I really ever going to get to start over fresh and if I was, would it be here? I just wasn’t sure and before I could think much more into it, my mind went to Cameron. While it was clear that she didn’t want anything to do with me, I was sure that I was going to be able to change her mind.

  It was just going to take a while to convince her. I wasn’t very patient, but I always got my way and this time was going to be no different. Like Carlos had told me so long ago, if you really want something, you just have to take it. Cameron was someone that I really wanted and I was going to do everything that I had to, to get her. It wasn’t a question of if I was going to get her, the real question was when.

  Chapter 3

  Cameron

  I woke up with a groggy head and I couldn’t even think straight. It took me a minute to remember why I felt this way. I had way too much to drink when I went out with Carol and more than that, my body was sore from all of the gyrating. I didn’t want to think about what all I did, but I knew I was going to have to. Carol was most likely going to tell me about it when I talked to her later. It felt like it had been an embarrassing night for me and I remembered kissing some bald guy that I was dancing with.

  Getting out of bed, I made some coffee and waited for the slow drip to wake me up. I looked at the clock and I at least had woken up in time for work. I hadn’t even bothered with the alarm clock and even though it was Saturday, I still had to go into work for a while.

  The coffee had me feeling a little bit better, but as soon as the night before started to come into focus, I was more aghast than I would have thought. Not only had I kissed some random guy at the club, but if I remembered correctly, the apartment manager had to let me in because I couldn’t figure out which key it was that I needed to get in the front door. Even worse, he had carried me up the stairs like a damsel in distress. In my drunken stupor, I remembered how I felt in his arms and I knew that it was a good feeling. Why had he helped me though? That I just didn’t understand.

  I didn’t have time to worry about it because all of my musing was eating up time that I needed for other things. I jumped in the shower and washed off the body glitter that had rubbed off on me from God only knew where. Getting dressed, my head was still a little weird feeling, but the shower had made me feel a little bit better. I wasn’t looking for everything to be better, so with less pounding in my head, I was just going to take that as a good thing and go with it.

  Leaving the house, I looked around, hoping that Joel wasn’t up on the second floor. While I knew that I was going to see him around, today was not the day that I wanted to see him at all. I was going to have to say something, but right then I didn’t think I could take his verbal sparring.

  Making it out of the building without running into him, I sighed in relief. It was short lived though because the next thing I know, I almost literally ran into him in the parking garage.

  “Sorry.”

  “Are you still drunk?”

  My defenses went up because I was so embarrassed from before. “No, I am not drunk.”

  He put his hands up like I had a gun and backed up a little bit. “Sorry, you just seemed to be a little out of it and most of the time that I have seen you, you were drunk.”

  It was most likely true. I had been so worried about him, that I had literally almost run into him. What was this guy doing to me?

  “No, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to be snippy with you. Thank you for helping me last night. I appreciate it.”

  “Well I am surprised you remembered. You were about three sheets to the wind. If I would have known that you partied like that, you could have come over last night when I had a few people over. There were lots of other women from the area here.”

  The last thing that I would have wanted to do was go to his house for anything. I knew that he was most likely the type to have a party that I would have never been caught dead in. I didn’t live the way he obviously lived. I had seen what or who had come out of his apartment ea
rly in the morning. “Thanks but I really don’t drink like that. I don’t know what got into me last night.”

  I was trying to side step him, but the man was not going to budge. He just had this look on his face that drove me a little crazy. He enjoyed making me feel this way, I was sure of it.

  “Thanks again Joel, but I am going to be late for work.”

  “Where does a pretty thing like you work?”

  “Not too far from here at an accounting firm.”

  “You guys work on Saturday? Seems like such a waste to work away your weekend when you could be having fun.”

  I shook my head that we did and looked at my watch. I was going to be late if I didn’t leave soon. There was always something that sidetracked me from where I was going and I hated to be late.

  “Yeah, most Saturdays, though I don’t think I like to have the same kind of fun that you do.”

  He didn’t say much for a moment and I waited to see what it was that was on his mind. You could tell there was something that he was thinking about and I wondered what it was. I felt like I was waiting an eternity for his words, but none came forth.

  “Have a good day Cameron. I guess I will see you around, hopefully it won’t be at the door when you are drunk at two in the morning.”

  I was a little disappointed as he started to walk away. I don’t know why I was, but there was a moment where I wanted to stop him and say something. I didn’t have a clue what to say though and I knew that I shouldn’t say anything, not after what happened the day before. I was just going to be better off steering clear of the man, no matter how hard it was going to be living in the same building as him.

  ***

  Getting home, it was almost three and I was tired. The drinking from the night before had made me feel tired and foggy most of the day and I was thankful to see the apartment building. My eyes scanned the garage, half expecting to see Joel there. He wasn’t and surprisingly it was a little disappointing when I didn’t see him. I told myself that I didn’t want to see the arrogant man that had picked me up like a sack of potatoes and thrown me over his shoulder the night before, but I did. I wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t change the fact of the matter I felt drawn to him.

  When I saw him inside of the building, I pretended that I didn’t notice him and walked past him without saying a word. He looked good and his shirt was off again. I couldn’t help but see the small trickle of sweat that was coming down the hard, tanned abs. Pulling my gaze away before I was caught, I stopped at the base of the stairs when I heard his voice.

  “How was work Cameron?”

  I shrugged and told him that it was fine. I waited for a heartbeat for him to say something more and realizing that I wanted to keep talking to him, I asked how his day was.

  “Hot.”

  His answer made me look at his sweaty body and I could tell that he was hot. I could also tell that I liked him that way. He was far too handsome for me to ignore and it took everything in me to pull my eyes away again. Did he know how badly I wanted to touch the ripples on his chest?

  “Well you have a good night Joel.”

  “Where are you going?”

  I was already up to the fourth step when I turned around to answer him. It was rather clear in my eyes where I was going. “Up to make some dinner I guess. It is too hot to do much of anything else.”

  “We are going to the beach later to have a bonfire and drink some beer, you want to come with and have some real fun for once?”

  My first thought was yes. I loved going swimming, but then I had to remember that I didn’t even really know him. Sure I knew his uncle, but the man was obviously a bad boy, something that I told myself that I had to stay away from. While they were fun, they were also heartbreakers as well, something that I needed to steer clear of.

  “No thank you. I think after last night, I just need to take the night off and rest a bit.”

  He looked like he wasn’t happy with my answer and every part of me wanted to change it. It was in my best interest not to though. That man was trouble and that was all that I knew to be true.

  I walked up the stairs and there was a part of me that wished that I had said yes. When I got into my apartment, I looked around and I was already bored with everything. My quiet night of dinner and a movie didn’t seem all that enticing anymore and I debated seeing if he had left yet. I was fighting with myself and finally I just went to bed early, trying to save myself from doing something that I was sure to regret later.

  Joel was just bad news and I needed to stay far away from him. Why was that so hard to sink in? Even with everything I knew of men like him, something inside of me wanted to play with fire. I wanted to know what it was like to be with a man like Joel. Just once.

  Chapter 4

  Joel

  “Good morning Cameron.”

  The young brunette looked over her shoulder at me and smiled. She had her hands full and I rushed forward to grab one of the bags that she looked like she was going to drop.

  “Thanks. I thought I could carry it all in. I hate making a second trip.”

  She looked like she was in a better mood today and I was going to take it as a sign. I was still working on her slowly, but I wasn’t any closer to getting what I wanted as when I first met her. Today I was feeling a bit luckier.

  “So how was work?”

  Cameron sighed and said she was glad another week was over. I was still surprised how much she worked, but I was happy that it was Saturday afternoon and she was going to be home the next day. I just had to find a way to get her to agree to go out with me. Last time my attempts had failed miserably and this time all I could think about was how I knew I wasn’t going to be able to fail. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I just couldn’t be patient anymore.

  “How was your week Joel?”

  “Boring. There is not a lot to do after I got the back ordered fixes done. Not enough is breaking around the apartments to keep me busy.”

  “It seems like there is always something breaking. Just give it time.”

  I kind of chuckled and stopped in front of her door. I was waiting for her to open it and then shoo me away. It was what she had done many times before in the last few weeks, but I kept telling myself, today is going to be different. Today she is going to say yes.

  “Well since I have so much extra time, I was thinking of going out tonight. Do you know of any good places? I still don’t know much about the city. I came here a long time ago when I was younger, but it has changed a lot since then.”

  I was playing to her helpful side that I had learned she had. Cameron noticed things and ever since meeting her, she had become more and more helpful. If that was the angle I had to take to get her to go out with me, I was not above it.

  “There are a lot of good places around here. Are you looking for a place to eat, drink or dance?”

  “I don’t know. Somewhere to eat first I guess. Would you like to show me a good place that you like around here? I am buying.”

  Cameron looked at the groceries that I had set on her kitchen counter. It was like only then did she realize that I was in her kitchen, just feet from here. The door was still open, but no one was in the hallways and it felt like we were alone.

  “Um, well I was going to just make some pasta.”

  “Come on Cameron. You haven’t gone out in a while.”

  She didn’t like the comment or maybe it was the fact that she didn’t like that I noticed. It was hard not to and whether I wanted to or not, I was constantly aware of what she was doing. It was a hazard of the job and the fact that she was always around. How could I not notice such a woman?

  “I guess I could.”

  Although she wasn’t as enthused as I would have liked, it didn’t matter, I would take it how it was. After trying to forget about her in the arms of several others, it was becoming clear to me, painfully so that she had gotten under my skin. All I needed to do was scratch the itch and then I could forget about the sassy mou
thed tenant that kept me up at night.

  “Let’s go then.”

  “I have to get ready and put these groceries up.”

  “I will help you.”

  Cameron didn’t look so sure of my skills, but I was already taking things out of the bags and setting them on the counter. I wasn’t going to give her a reason or a chance to say no.

  “Um, okay. I’m going to jump in the shower then. I will be back out in a few minutes.”

  I watched her walk into the bathroom and I felt a tightening in my chest. I was thinking about her naked and soaped up in the shower. It was the first thought that went through my head and it was one that I just couldn’t shake. I couldn’t wait to see what she looked like without her clothes on. Tonight was the night.

  The water turned on and my mind went into overdrive. What would happen if I just went in there right now? Would she turn me away?

  ***

  Without a real idea of what she would do, I didn’t go into the bathroom. I didn’t want to move too far too fast and lose her. It was the last thing that I wanted to do and all I could tell myself was that it was going to happen soon.

  There was a small peek of her in a towel, her hair damp from the shower and that was enough. It was a tiny, tasty tease that was going to get me through until I could peel off whatever it was that she was putting on.

  Unlike most girls, Cameron was done pretty quickly. She looked completely different, sexier then I had seen her before. There was a touch of makeup that I didn’t usually see and I liked the idea that she had done it for me. The woman was beautiful and swallowing my tongue was well worth it to see her like that.

  “You look…”

  Cameron giggled and swished her skirt around. “Do you like it?”