by Vi Keeland
I swallowed. “Not until Sunday.”
I was really doing this.
Butterflies swarmed in my belly, stronger and stronger with each step I took toward Hunter’s building. I took a deep breath as the doorman greeted me.
“You must be Ms. Rossi?”
It wasn’t the same doorman who had been working the night I’d visited. “Yes. How did you know that?”
He smiled warmly and took off his hat. “Mr. Delucia called earlier and said you would be arriving about now. He was unable to reach you and wanted me to let you know his flight was delayed, and he’ll arrive home about nine.”
“Oh.” Disappointment settled in. I’d taken all afternoon to psych myself up for arrival, and another hour would surely fray the last of my nerves.
The doorman reached into his pocket. “He asked that I get the key from the super so you could let yourself in and wait. Would you like me to take you up?”
“Oh. No. I can do it myself.” I took the keys and felt the need to explain myself for some unknown reason. “I dropped my phone in water. That’s why he couldn’t reach me.”
During the elevator ride up, I dug my new phone out of my pocket again. I hadn’t checked it since the store activated it, other than to have Izzy enter her number. Sure enough, I had a new message from Hunter that had arrived in the last few minutes.
Hunter: Just landed at JFK. My messages aren’t showing as delivered. Hope all is okay.
I saved his number to my contacts and typed back.
Nat: I broke my phone and just picked up a new one an hour ago. Lost all my contacts.
Hunter: Flight was delayed. Going to be about another hour before I get there. Sorry. Benny the doorman should have a key for you to let yourself in.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open as I typed.
Nat: On the elevator with key in hand as I type this.
Hunter: Nice. I was starting to worry you were blowing me off.
His apartment was a few doors down from the elevator, so I let myself in before responding again.
Nat: I still have an hour to reconsider. Anything can happen…
Hunter: How about you spend that hour getting undressed and thinking about all the things I’m going to do to you when I get home.
Now that was tempting. I bit my bottom lip and played with him a little.
Nat: You’re not even going to feed me first?
The dots started to jump around, then stopped, then started again.
Hunter: I’d give you the visual of what I just imagined feeding you, but we need to stop texting or I’m not going to be able to walk off this plane in a few minutes without embarrassing myself.
Oh my. He didn’t have to describe it, my own image was just as vivid. Another text came in before I could respond.
Hunter: See you soon.
Sigh. I left my suitcase at the front door and walked to the balcony. I pulled the cord to open the privacy blinds that covered the glass doors and appreciated the spectacular view. It was odd to be inside Hunter’s apartment by myself. After a bit of city gazing, I decided to look around a little. And by look, I mean snoop.
It wasn’t his home, so the place was pretty bare of personal belongings. Yet that didn’t stop me from checking out his medicine cabinet. An extra box of toothpaste, large bottle of mouthwash, unopened vitamins, two untouched deodorants—pretty much just the basics. Although I suppose if he had medicines, they’d likely have traveled with him, so I wasn’t really learning anything. In the bedroom, there was a fair amount of clothes in the closet, and the chest of drawers had the usual assortment of socks and underwear. Looking around the room, there wasn’t much else to look at—other than the nightstand.
The one on the far side of the room was empty. I was just about to call my little snooping session a bust when I stopped at the other nightstand. Slipping it open with my pointer finger, I hit pay dirt. Inside was a bag, sitting on top of some papers. I took note of how the bag had been placed inside and then lifted it to check out the contents. Inside was the largest box of condoms I’d ever seen, a bottle of lubricant that could be heated, and…bath bombs. I swooned seeing that Hunter had picked up the same scent as I had soaked with earlier today—sweet pea. It also made me happy that the only condoms in the apartment seemed to be an unopened box that he’d purchased with me in mind.
Before replacing the bag, I fingered through the papers, being careful not to disrupt them too much. Inside was a short-term lease agreement for the company-owned apartment, a rental car agreement, and a piece of mail addressed to Hunter. As I started to place the bag back where I’d taken it from, I happened to notice the postmark on the envelope—which had been mailed almost ten years ago. Scanning the return address, I recognized the name—Jayce Delucia—Hunter’s brother. I knew he’d died years ago. My hand rubbed at a spot on my chest, feeling emotional that Hunter carried around an old letter from his dead brother. He wasn’t just a handsome guy blessed with natural charm—he was a man of many layers. And unlike most men, the more I looked beneath the surface, the more I liked what I saw.
I was a snooper, but I wasn’t a total asshole, so I put the letter from his brother back and arranged the drawer the way it had been before sliding it shut. I had no idea what to do with myself after that. Hunter wouldn’t be here for another forty-five minutes, at least, so I decided to call Anna. It would be fun to play guess where I am.
“My nipples are killing me,” she said as she answered, rather than hello.
Nothing surprised me with her. “Well, okay then. That’s where this conversation is going. I was going to take it in a different direction, but I can work with this. How’s your asshole doing?”
She groaned. “Seriously, why can’t men be the ones to produce milk? I mean, we do everything. I carried this little pipsqueak for ten months, popped her out of my tiny little vagina, and now my tits are killing me because all she does is suck on them all day.” I heard a sweet little yelp in the background when she finished her rant.
“Is that my niece?”
“It is.” Her voice softened. “She sucks like a Hoover.”
“Aww. I miss you guys. Tell me what she’s up to these days. Is she walking? Talking?” I joked.
“Not quite. But she’s got pooping and sucking down pretty good.”
I laughed and settled into Hunter’s couch. It was so good to hear her voice, like wrapping myself in an old blanket from childhood. “How are you feeling?”
“Aside from the cracked nipples, I actually feel really good. I’ve been walking the baby in the stroller a lot, and with breastfeeding burning up all my calories, my body is starting to shrink toward its normal shape.”
“Wow. That’s great.”
“What’s going on with you?”
“Eh.” I feigned no big deal. “I’m just sitting at Hunter’s place, waiting for him to come home so we can screw like rabbits.”
A shriek so loud came through the phone that I had to pull it away from my ear. Needless to say, we did a lot of catching up over the next half hour. Though Anna had been initially leery of me and Hunter getting together, she was genuinely excited. Maybe too excited. She had me moving out to the west coast, marrying her husband’s best friend so the four of us could be inseparable, and pushing a baby carriage next to her. The reality was, Hunter and I were only going to be fuck buddies.
I attempted to set her expectations straight, although the hope I heard in her voice told me that wasn’t going to be an easy task.
“Why don’t you meet him at the door naked?” Anna said.
I laughed. “He’s been traveling all day. He’s probably starving.”
“My point exactly.” My little niece began to mewl in the background. We’d been talking on the phone for a long time. “Damn. She’s wet. I need to change her. Can you call me back in a few minutes?”
“Hunter should be home soon. How about if I call you tomorrow.”
“Oh my God. Call me right after it’s
over.”
I chuckled. “Sure. I’ll call you while he’s taking off the condom.”
“Okay!”
I wasn’t quite sure if she knew I was joking or not. “I’ll call you tomorrow, crazy lady.”
After I said goodbye, I went to the bathroom to freshen up. While I was in there, for a half a second I gave serious consideration to what Anna had suggested. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Hunter would be thrilled if I answered the door buck-ass naked. But I was still on edge and needed the passion to build between us before I could let go that much.
As I was brushing my teeth with my finger, I heard the front door quietly open and close. Oh my God. He’s home. I was half giddy, fully nervous, and buzzing with a sudden surge of adrenaline. Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths and then looked in the mirror before heading out to see the man responsible for my heart hammering a million miles a minute.
Only, when I walked out, it wasn’t Hunter standing in the living room. It was a woman. Just as I emerged from the bathroom, she dropped her coat to the floor.
And I froze in place, standing there staring at her beautiful, naked body.
Chapter 23
Natalia
“Shit!” The woman mumbled as she bent to pick up the trench coat pooled around her bare feet. “I thought someone else was staying here.” She seemed to have a British accent.
I blinked a few times, at first stunned at the turn of events, but then in an attempt to unglue my eyes from the statuesque redhead. She was drop-dead gorgeous. Tall, thin, with creamy porcelain skin, perky boobs, and legs that ran for miles. I didn’t tend to be overly self-conscious, but standing in a room with her fixed that real quick.
Before I could form a coherent sentence, the woman spoke again while pulling on her coat. “I’m so sorry. I’m in the flat next door. A guy I work with sometimes stays in this one, and I knew he was in town. When I asked the doorman who was staying in this apartment, he told me it was him.”
“How did you get in here?”
She pointed over her shoulder. “The door wasn’t locked. I knocked first, but no one answered, so I opened it.”
“Who are you?”
“Brooke. Brooke Canter.” She cinched her coat at the waist. “I do apologize. I thought you were someone else. I’m mortified.”
The dread that settled in my belly knew the answer, but I asked nonetheless. “Who did you think was staying here?”
“Hunter Delucia.”
Seeing my face falter, the woman’s eyes closed. “Shit. Hunter is the sublet here, isn’t he?”
I nodded slowly.
“We used to…” She shook her head. “Never mind. I should get going.”
Before I could say anything else, the embarrassed woman scurried back out the door. I, on the other hand, seemed to be immobilized.
***
“Such a goddamn idiot.” I jabbed my finger at the elevator panel a second time, grumbling to myself. The damn thing wasn’t moving, and all I wanted to do was get the hell out of here before Hunter showed up. I shouldn’t be so upset, but I couldn’t help it. It was stupid of me to expect that someone who’d proposed we have a short-term affair hadn’t had others. It didn’t even sound like she’d spoken to Hunter since he’d arrived in town weeks ago, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
The elevator car finally started moving. In my haste to get out of the apartment, I thought I might’ve forgotten to grab my new cell. As I dug frantically in my purse to check, the elevator doors slid open on the ground floor. Frenzied, I found my phone, grabbed my roller bag, and stepped off, without first looking up. Which was the reason I crashed right into a man.
Of course, that man had to be Hunter.
He grabbed my shoulders and steadied them to keep me from falling over. “Hey…where you running off to?”
He said it playfully and with a smile on his face, but when he got a look at my scowl, his smile wilted fast.
“Move.” I demanded.
“Natalia? What happened? What’s going on?”
“I’m leaving.”
“Why?”
“You don’t need me here.”
“What are you talking about? Why are you so upset?”
His hands were still on my shoulders. “Let go of me!”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “Okay. But talk to me. What’s going on?”
I leveled him with a scathing look. “I met your neighbor.”
His brows drew down as if that wasn’t enough information. Who knows? Maybe it wasn’t. I hadn’t gone door to door to see what other women he was fucking on the floor. I rolled my eyes. “Brooke. The redhead.”
Hunter’s eyes shut.
I waited until they opened again to finish my description. “And she’s a natural redhead, in case you’d forgotten. Lucky me, I got to verify that first-hand.”
I started to walk around Hunter, but he grabbed my arm. “Natalia.”
Stopping, I answered like a sullen child. “What?”
I’d been speaking to his chest, and he kept quiet until I looked up into his eyes. His tone was firm, yet calm. “Let’s talk about this. You can decide to go after, or you can stay, but either way, please hear me out.”
I was weary, and he read it on my face.
“Please,” he pressed.
Our lives were intertwined through mutual friends. It only made sense that things end on a better note than my storming out. I nodded, and the look of relief on his face made me realize he was a lot better at controlling his temper than I was.
Almost as if he was afraid I might change my mind, he pushed the button to call the elevator, slipped the handle of my roller bag from my hand, and put his other hand at the small of my back to usher me inside the car.
You could’ve heard a pin drop on the ride up. Yet even being pissed off and hurt, I found sharing a small space with Hunter had an insane effect on my body. He was just so right there. He filled a room with his intoxicating smell and the way he planted his feet wide in that masculine, alpha-male way.
I was relieved when we arrived at his floor. I needed air that wasn’t shared with this man to keep my head on straight. Our silence continued as we walked down the hall. Still feeling off kilter, I didn’t even realize we’d passed the door to his apartment until he was knocking on another door.
“Why are you knocking?”
Before he could respond, the stunning redhead swung open the door. Her eyes lit up to find Hunter on the other side, until she caught the look on his face and me standing next to him.
“Brooke.” He nodded.
She looked between the two of us. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“When was the last time we saw each other?” Hunter asked, again in that calm but firm tone.
“A year ago, maybe?”
“How about the last time we talked?”
She shrugged. “A few emails on the Cooper project, but I don’t think we’ve spoken in a year either.”
Hunter nodded. “Thank you. I’m sorry to bother you.”
His hand still at my back, he guided me to the next door. His hold only briefly loosened so he could unlock it, and then he was ushering me inside. Setting my luggage down, he turned to face me, brushing the hair from my eyes.
“What happened?”
“I was in the bathroom, and I heard the door open, so I thought it was you. When I came out, she was standing in the living room and had just let her coat drop to the floor. She was completely naked.”
He nodded and seemed to contemplate that information for a minute before speaking again. “If I’d been waiting for you and some dude let himself in and I walked out and was greeted by his cock, I’m pretty sure I’d be pissed off. Pretty sure he’d also have gotten a black eye before I stormed the fuck out.”
Ten minutes ago, I couldn’t have imagined he could say anything to make me feel better. But somehow, him putting himself in my place alleviated a lot of the anger. I was
still hurt, but he’d cooled my fire.
“Did she have to have such an amazing body and be such a knockout?”
“She doesn’t hold a candle to you. Not by a mile.”
Either he had poor vision or was a good liar, because he sounded pretty damn sincere.
Reaching out, he took one of my hands in his. “It was once after a holiday party a long time ago. I didn’t even know she was in town and wouldn’t have cared if I had.”
I nodded.
He pulled me to him, and I didn’t fight it when he wrapped his arms around me for a long, tight embrace. Somewhere along the line, I lost the rest of my fight, and I hugged him back.
“Sweet pea,” he lowered his head to my neck. “Never knew what it smelled like until I met you, and now I can’t stop smelling it everywhere and thinking of you.”
***
Hunter took a shower after the drama had passed. He’d been at a construction site all morning and then traveled all afternoon to get home. The entire week I’d been imagining we’d rip each other’s clothes off the minute we were finally alone in his apartment, but the impromptu visit from the neighbor had dampened the expected mood—at least until he emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel and looking insanely hot.
I’ve never been a good poker player. I wear my emotions on my face. Hunter caught me visually gulping his body, and perhaps I unknowingly drooled a little as I stared at the carved lines of his chest. Jesus. Men didn’t look like him in real life. Maybe the men on the advertisement painted outside the gym I belonged to but seldom visited…but not real, live men. His abs were defined and neatly cut into eight peaks and valleys that I wanted to trace with my tongue. If it were possible, his broad shoulders looked even wider without a shirt, and I couldn’t even begin to explain what the deep-set V that disappeared into his low-hanging towel did to me.
