“Who cares? No offense, but you are boring. I’ve never seen such a squeaky-clean person in my life. You need to stop standing on the sidelines and dive into the game!”
“I’m in the game,” I said stubbornly. “My game just happens to be in a time-out. I don’t have time for guys right now. I’m focusing all my attention on my new job.”
“You’re always focusing on something else. High school and college were all about grades. Now, it’s your job. You’ve got to stop letting your goals keep you from having fun. I’m not asking you to settle down and marry someone. Just take time to actually enjoy life.”
I frowned. She had a point, not that I’d ever admit that to her. All I did was work. Even in college, I hadn’t gone out and partied like most of my friends. I’d spent my evenings studying or working on my homework in my dorm. I never truly enjoyed life.
“He’s not even interested in me, Arie. Yeah, he checked me out in the most disgusting way possible, but that doesn’t mean he’s interested in me.”
“He doesn’t have to be interested in you, dumbass. All he has to care about are your looks, and I promise, you have more than enough of those to keep him interested. Come on, let me teach you the ways of womanhood.” Arie pouted.
I sighed. “I’m not agreeing to this yet, okay? But if I do, what would you want me to do?”
She squealed and did a ridiculous happy dance in her seat. “We’ll start off simple, I swear. When you go home tonight, I want you to knock on his door and apologize for barging in on him last night. I’m sure he’ll be an ass about it, but don’t let that deter you. Keep calm, and above all else, don’t get mad. Just act embarrassed, and let him think he’s winning. Then, once he’s finished being an ass, try flirting with him.”
“I don’t even know how to flirt,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not that hard. All women know how to do it. We’re born with the flirting gene.”
“Apparently, I was skipped over for that one.”
“How did you ever manage to land boyfriends in high school, Bec? You’re impossible.”
I laughed. “Well, they came to me. It wasn’t like I was following them around with puppy dog eyes.”
“Look, just follow his lead. If he’s the type of guy you’ve made him out to be, I have no doubt that he’ll make the first move. Just go with it.”
“This is going to be an epic fail,” I mumbled.
I took a deep breath before knocking on Alec’s door. I shifted my weight from foot to foot as I waited for him to answer. Maybe if I were lucky, he wouldn’t be home. Then, I could go to my apartment and forget Arie’s ridiculous scheme. Maybe if I were really lucky, Alec would move out by tomorrow, and I’d never have to see him again.
I heard his door unlock. So much for luck.
The door swung open, and there he stood. I couldn’t help but stare. I’d found a few men attractive over the years, but none of them were even in the same league as him. His hair was still damp, probably from a recent shower, and curled a bit at the ends. My eyes dropped lower.
Dear Lord…
He wasn’t wearing a shirt. His body was still wet, and I watched as a drop of water slid down his bare skin to the top of his shorts. At least he was wearing those. I wasn’t sure what I would have done if he’d answered the door with only a towel around his waist.
“Are you finished staring at me yet? Or do you need a few more minutes?” he asked, his deep voice causing goose bumps to rise all over my skin.
The man was a walking orgasm.
My eyes snapped back up to his face. He was smirking. Somehow, I knew he would be. I felt my face heat, embarrassed that I’d been caught staring at him like that.
“I wanted to apologize for last night,” I blurted out.
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“About, you know, when I accidentally walked in on you while you were…well, you know. When I knocked on the door, it just swung open. I would never do something like that on purpose, I swear. I was just upset because your music was blaring in the middle of the night, and I was trying to sleep. Today was my first day at my new job, and I was just nervous over that, so I let my temper get the best of me. I was so embarrassed that I froze. I wasn’t watching you on purpose. It kind of just happened,” I rambled. Please, someone, put duct tape over my mouth.
His smirk turned into a full-out laugh. I looked away from him, too mortified to keep eye contact any longer.
He stopped laughing. “At least you got a good show, right?”
“I didn’t really see anything, I swear,” I mumbled, still not looking at him.
When I felt his fingers under my chin, I sucked in a shocked breath. He lifted my face so that I was staring at him again.
“You’re easily embarrassed, aren’t you?” He glanced down my body and then back up to meet my eyes. “Let me guess. I bet you work at a church or do something saintly like that.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You hit me as the saintly type. Plus, if you wore any more clothes, you could be a nun.”
I glanced down at my outfit. It was the same thing I’d worn to work—a white button-down shirt with loose-fitting dress pants. I didn’t think I looked saintly. Professional? Yes. Saintly? No.
“What’s so saintly about my clothes?” I asked defiantly.
“There’s just so many of them.” He grinned. “So, am I right about your job?”
I stuck my chin up in defiance, and he let go of me.
“I’m a teacher.”
He whistled softly. “Damn. If teachers looked like you when I was in school, I might have shown up to class more often.”
I rolled my eyes, unable to stop myself. “That has to be the dumbest line I’ve ever heard.”
“But I bet you’ve heard it before, haven’t you?” he asked.
“Actually, I haven’t. I don’t normally talk to guys long enough to deal with this kind of crap.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he mumbled.
I sighed in defeat, realizing just how dumb Arie’s plan was. There was no way I could flirt with a man like this.
“Look, I just wanted to apologize. Now that I have, I’m going back to my apartment. We’re neighbors now, and I didn’t want things to be awkward.”
I turned to leave, but he reached out and grabbed my arm.
“Why don’t you come inside and have a drink with me?”
My mouth dropped open in surprise. “Well, I kind of need to go. I have to be up early tomorrow, and I didn’t get much sleep last night.” I gave him a pointed look, letting him know that he was the reason I was sleep deprived.
He grinned. “Come on, one drink isn’t going to take that long. I’m curious to know more about you, Rebecca.”
I hesitated before finally nodding. “All right, one drink, but then I’m gone.”
“Fair enough.” He released me and stepped back.
I walked past him, and I looked around his apartment as he shut the door behind me. I was careful not to even glance at his couch because I knew my cheeks would flame the moment I looked at it. His apartment was set up exactly the same as mine. Even our furniture was the same. I grinned when I saw his white appliances.
My mother wouldn’t approve.
He walked past me and into the kitchen, motioning for me to follow him. I couldn’t help but stare at his ass as I walked behind him. It seemed like my mind would go straight to sex every time I laid eyes on him. I shook my head to clear it as he opened the fridge.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Huh?” I said, my mind still in an awkward place.
He turned to look at me, and if his smirk was any indication, he’d obviously noticed my red face. “To drink. What do you want to drink?”
“Uh…soda is fine,” I mumbled as I sat down at his kitchen table.
He frowned. “No alcohol?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really drink.”
He turned back to the refrigerator. “Again, why am I not surprised?”
I watched as he grabbed a soda for me and a beer for himself. He walked over and sat directly across from me at the table.
He popped the top on my soda and slid the can across the table to me. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
We stared at each other. I felt more and more awkward as the seconds ticked by. I had no idea what to say to him. When it came to one-on-one conversations, I wasn’t good with people, especially men.
“So,” he started, “tell me about yourself, Rebecca.”
I loved the way he said my name. With his deep voice, he could make anything sound sexual, even a word as simple as my name.
“There isn’t much to tell,” I said before taking a sip of my soda.
“Somehow, I doubt that.”
As I bit my lip, I noticed that his eyes settled on my mouth. I wanted to grin. Maybe flirting wouldn’t be that hard after all. It seemed as if his mind was always focused on sex.
“Well, you already know I’m a teacher. I just graduated last spring. My parents are divorced. My dad is a lawyer in Washington State, and my mother is a doctor. She lives in Morgantown, too.”
“What do you teach?” he asked.
“History at the high school.”
“How was your first day?”
“Um…okay, I guess.” I had no idea why he even cared. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you have a job?”
“Yeah, I own a bar a few blocks away. I’m usually the one behind the bar. From time to time, I also sing and play guitar on stage. I like working there, but it has shit hours. Plus, the boss is a dick.” He grinned.
For some reason, I wasn’t surprised that Alec was a bartender or that he was a musician. Both suited him and his personality. He could work while picking up women, allowing his ego to thrive all in one place. But I was shocked to learn that he owned the bar. He didn’t look like he was much older than me. I had no idea how to run a business, but I knew it couldn’t be easy.
“I bet he is. At least now I know why you were up so late last night,” I joked. “If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”
“I’ll be twenty-eight in a few months. How old are you?”
“Twenty-three,” I said, surprised that he was about five years older than me.
“You’re still just a baby,” he said. “But you’ve already got your life figured out. You’re doing better than most people your age.”
I shrugged. “I know what I want out of life.”
He sipped his beer as he watched me. I fidgeted uncomfortably under his scrutiny.
“Are you always like this?” he asked.
“Like what?”
“Nervous. I don’t think you’ve stopped moving since you sat down.”
I looked away. “You make me nervous. I can’t help it.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Why do I make you nervous?”
I shrugged. “No idea. I’m not good with people, but I’m not usually this bad either.”
“Maybe it’s because of all this sexual tension between us,” he said.
I would have assumed he was joking, but for once, he wasn’t smiling.
“You’re really full of yourself, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Not at all. I just like to point out the obvious.”
I shook my head. “You’re impossible.”
He tilted his head to the side, still studying me. “Maybe so, but at least I’m upfront about things.”
I dropped my eyes to the soda can in my hand. I ran my fingers around the rim, trying to think of something to say. If Arie were here, she’d know just what to say and do to put him in his place. Me? Not so much. I had no idea what I was doing. Alec made me feel like a preteen—shy and overrun with hormones. One look at him was enough to send my heart racing.
“I should probably go,” I said finally.
He watched as I stood and pushed my chair in.
“Thank you for the soda and the talk. I’m glad we’re okay now.”
He frowned. “You’re really leaving, aren’t you?”
I gave him a questioning look. “Well, yeah. What did you think I’d do? Ask to have a slumber party with you?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Maybe I was hoping.”
I grinned. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
He stayed silent as I walked to the front door and opened it.
As I stepped into the hallway, he called out, “Rebecca?”
I turned to look at him. “Yeah?”
“What are you doing on Friday night?”
I planned to do the same thing I did every Friday night—stay home and read. I wasn’t about to tell him that though. He already thought I was saintly. If he knew I rarely went out, that would only solidify my good girl status in his mind.
I shrugged. “Not sure yet.”
“Why don’t you come to my bar?”
I opened my mouth to politely decline, but I stopped myself. Maybe I should go. I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t curious to know more about Alec. It would be entertaining to watch him as he worked. Also, I doubted if I’d be as nervous with him if there were other people around us. Then, a thought occurred to me. I could bring Arie with me. Either she would help me flirt with Alec, or if I were lucky, she could do all the flirting for me, and I’d be off the hook. I had no doubt that someone like Arie could handle Alec.
“Can I bring someone with me?” I asked.
He tensed. I could see it from across the room.
“Who?”
“My friend Arie,” I said, giving him a questioning look.
He visibly relaxed. “Sure. Why don’t you have her come to our apartment building, and we can all drive over together?”
“Won’t you be working?” I asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I’d rather drive myself. That way, I could leave whenever I want.”
“That’s fine—as long as you don’t leave right after you get there.”
I grinned. “I won’t. Have a little faith, my friend.”
“Fair enough. It’s a date.”
I didn’t realize he’d used the D word until I made it back to my apartment.
“Please tell me you aren’t planning to wear that out tonight,” Arie said the moment I opened my apartment door to let her in.
I glanced down at my plain blue fitted T-shirt and jeans. “Yeah, I was. Is that a problem?”
She shook her head. “I knew you’d pull something like this, which is why I brought this.” She held up a gym bag.
“What are you talking about?” I stared at the bag. I was terrified of what was inside.
“You’re supposed to make this dude go crazy for you. He won’t even notice you if you go like that. Chicks go to bars to pick up guys, Rebecca. You’ll look like a nun compared to the rest of us.”
I looked her over. She had a point. Compared to her micro mini and tube top, I did look like a nun. Even Alec had teased me about being saintly the other night.
“So, what’s in the bag?”
“Clothes and makeup. There’s no way I’m letting you go to a bar looking like that.” She breezed by me and dropped her bag on my couch.
“Arie, I’m twenty-three. I think I can dress myself at this point,” I said sarcastically.
She gave me a look. “Obviously, you can’t.”
I watched as she unzipped her bag and started pulling clothes out—no, not clothes. The things she was laying out on my couch were nothing more than scraps of material pretending to be clothes.
“Arie, I hate to break it to you, but we’re not the same size,” I said as I pointed to my chest. “I doubt if one of my boobs would fit into one of your shirts.”
“That’s why I brought stretchy clothes. We’ll make them fit.”
I rolled my eyes. There was no way that anything she owned would fit me.
“Let’s try
this on first and see how it looks.” Arie held up a dress I’d seen her wear a few times.
“I’m not wearing that. My ass will hang out.”
“Your ass will not be seen tonight. I promise. Try it on!” She tossed it to me.
I groaned as I pulled off my clothes. I put the strapless dress on. The material clung to my body like a second skin. I tugged it down so that it covered my ass, but then it showed way more of my boobs than I would ever want a bar full of people to see.
“I told you it wouldn’t fit me,” I grumbled.
She frowned as she looked me over. “Okay, so my dresses are out. Your boobs make them shorter on you.”
“You think?” I pulled the dress off and tossed it at her.
“No worries. I brought plenty of outfits for you to try on.” She threw the dress back into the bag.
I watched as she sorted through the clothes. When she picked up a tube top, I growled at her. She rolled her eyes before throwing it back into the bag as well. The next outfit was nixed before she had even lifted it off the couch.
“I’m going to strangle you,” she seethed. “The next outfit I pick up, you’re wearing. I don’t care if I have to dress you myself.” She sorted through the clothes some more before finally smiling. “This is it!”
She picked up a black shirt and a black miniskirt. The skirt made me cringe, but the shirt wasn’t that bad. It was sleeveless, but at least it would cover my stomach.
She handed them to me. “Try these on.”
I sighed as I pulled on the miniskirt. It was shorter than anything I owned by at least six inches. I tried on the shirt, and although it was tight, it covered everything well enough. It showed a bit of cleavage but nothing indecent.
“I told you we’d find something,” Arie said smugly.
I tried to pull the skirt down a bit. “If anyone sees my ass tonight, I’m suing you.”
“Oh, shut up. No one will see your ass. Here, put on these shoes, and you’ll be good to go.” She handed me a pair of black open-toed shoes with six-inch heels.
She obviously wants me to kill myself.
Arie studied me thoughtfully. “Now, we need to work on your makeup.”
Alec had told me the name of his bar, but I’d never heard of it, so he had to give me directions. I stared at the bar as Arie found a parking spot in the lot full of cars. Apparently, I was the only person in Morgantown who hadn’t known this place existed. I watched as several people made their way across the lot to the entrance.
Taming Alec Page 2
