by Anthology
“Is that what’s bothering you?”
“Not at all.”
“What is, then?”
“You fell asleep before we were done going through all the paperwork, but I was able to relocate everyone in Terrace Gardens except for one, well two because I wasn’t planning on moving Frank. He’ll just have to find a new place to live on his own.”
“Okay, who was the other one?”
“You.”
“You don’t have a place for me to go when you tear down my building? How can that be?”
“I just don’t have enough units open. Jerry just finalized the closing paperwork on a place in this building yesterday, so it’s already a done deal.”
“Who’s Jerry?”
“My assistant, sorry.”
“You have a man for an assistant?”
“Yes, so much less drama that way. Why are you laughing?”
“Because my assistant is also a man. We definitely agree on the drama part but for you, I’m just surprised.”
“Why?”
“Because, you’re young, successful, and extremely handsome. I’d think the women would be falling at your feet.”
“You think I’m handsome?”
“That’s all you got out of what I just said?”
He laughed but continued. “Anyway, I wouldn’t say falling at my feet. Trying to stalk me is more like it. Greedy women and money don’t really mix very well for me at least, so that’s exactly the reason I wanted a guy. I don’t have time for all that. Jerry’s the best and he’s a family-oriented person with a great wife, and he really takes his job seriously.”
“That’s great, I’m glad you found a good one. They are definitely hard to find.”
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to the lobby. He motioned for her to go ahead and they walked out of the building to the waiting car by the curb. Zayn told the man the address of her office and they started their drive.
“Am I going to have to find my own apartment?”
“No, not at all. I will find you something, and I’ll pay for anything extra so don’t worry about the cost. There is one other possibility but not sure you’d be interested.”
“What’s that?”
“I have a second bedroom here you could…”
“You want me to live in your penthouse?”
“Only if you wanted, but at least it’s another choice. It wouldn’t cost you anything.”
They pulled up in front of her office building and the driver parked the car.
“I need to get inside, can I think on it and let you know?”
“You can. I wanted to talk about it a little more, but we ran out of time.”
She climbed from the car but leaned down into the door.
“I’ll be in touch.”
Then she shut the car door and walked off.
“That went well.”
CHAPTER SIX
Jenna hid in her office most of the morning, not talking to anyone about anything, which wasn’t much different from any other day. She usually stuck to herself and did her work. Kevin was the only one she talked to besides her boss, but she’d even been avoiding him. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours and she wasn’t quite sure how to process it all. The suit that visited her office the day before ended up being her landlord, and the man she spent the evening with, heck she spent the whole night—not that she remembered that part. What she couldn't forget, though, were the kisses—many of them, and they were amazing.
But now, that same billionaire was offering his penthouse apartment in the middle of downtown Chicago for her to move into so her current home could be torn down? Call her crazy, but it all sounded much like some of the romance novels she edited for a living. Granted, those stories always ended with a happily-ever-after, but that was because the author wrote it that way. There was no author writing her story, it was real life, and she had no idea what to do.
A knock sounded at her office door but then opened before she had a chance to answer.
“Okay, you better start explaining missy.”
Shit.
It was her assistant Kevin, carrying a large vase full of beautiful flowers. No doubt they were from Zayn.
“These are a sexy kind of gorgeous, but just what did you do to warrant a delivery like this? With a card so cryptic?”
“You read the card?”
Kevin only smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
Jenna reached for the card when Kevin sat the arrangement on her desk.
Please say yes!
She rolled her eyes and covered her face with a hand, before swiveling her chair to face out the window. She had a view much like the one from Zayn’s apartment, just not as good. All she could see were the buildings crowded around her and if she focused hard enough, even the people in their offices.
“Who in the world are these flowers from and why do they want you to say yes? Oh my god. Wait just a minute. Don’t tell me.” He pointed at her over and over. “I already know…these are from that gorgeous Adonis who came looking for you yesterday, aren’t they?”
She didn’t move or answer.
Kevin sat down in the chair in front of her desk and crossed his arms like he was there to stay.
“Might as well spill, I’m not leaving until you do.”
“Nothing is private with you, is it?
He shrugged again.
“I got myself into a bit of a pickle.” She turned to face him, her brow furrowed.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“What do you mean by that? I haven’t done anything wrong. When do I never do anything wrong?”
“Then, what’s the problem?” He grabbed the card from her desk and held it up toward her. “What are you saying yes to? Did you get a marriage proposal?”
“No! Good lord. But, you were right, it’s from the man that stopped to see me yesterday morning. His name is Zayn Holden.”
“Wait, the Zayn Holden, of Holden Investments, the real estate tycoon?”
“That very one. Do you know him?”
“Only of him, or his money. He’s like some billionaire and a playing recluse. How in the world did you end up meeting him?”
“He’s my landlord. And he’s not a player. Recluse, maybe—but he’s a nice guy.”
“Say what? How long have you known this and why didn’t I ever know?”
“It’s not like that. Night before last, I was fed up because the air in my apartment hadn’t worked in days and the super in my building is a putz and a creeper. So, I took it upon myself to find out who owned the building by digging out my lease. Then, I called and left a voicemail. It was like two in the morning, so I didn’t really expect an answer but then he showed up here looking for me that next morning. I went to find him at his office yesterday after work when I never got a return call but he was already gone so I went to where he lives. That’s how we met.”
“Okay, wow. Stalkerish much? You went to his house?”
“I was desperate. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been having a crazy stupid heat wave and no air at all comes in my windows. I had to do something. It was like a twenty-four-seven sauna.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t tell me what he’s asking you to say yes to.”
Jenna closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths because she still hadn’t decided how to deal with the next part of her story.
“It turns out that the building I live in has a lot more issues than just a broken air conditioner, which he did have fixed. But, the building isn’t really safe to live in. It needs a lot of work and he would rather tear it down and rebuild than dump a bunch of money into fixing all the issues.”
“Well yeah, that does make sense. So, he’s basically tearing down your home? Where are you supposed to go?”
“Yes, but he is offering to relocate all the tenants to units he has available in his other buildings.”
“Sweet, where will you be living then?”
“Well, t
hat’s the thing. He doesn’t have a place for me.”
“That’s not hardly fair.”
“In his defense, he made sure that all the elderly people and families had living arrangements. That’s a selfless gesture in my book. He’s not charging them anything additional, either. And he’s going to have them moved free of charge.”
“Glad he’s generous, he’s got the funds to be, but that still leaves you with nowhere to go.”
“He did give me one option, actually.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“He offered me his home.”
“Really? So he asked you to move in to his place? Usually there has been at least a date or two before that step and maybe some sex. Unless you already had sex. Did you?
“No, Kevin. I did not sleep with him.”
“Why?”
“It’s a long story that I’m just not going to go into with you.”
“You have to say yes. Seriously, Jenna. You need to.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Why not? Do you have anywhere else to go? Because you are definitely not staying with me. Things are starting to heat up at my place, if you know what I mean, so no women allowed.”
“I don’t even know the guy and spending one night with him didn’t really enlighten me all that much.”
“What? You spent the night? There’s more you aren’t telling me.”
“Ugh, it’s not what you think.”
“Well, explain quick then because I’m already thinking what you think I shouldn’t think.”
And Zayn said male assistants were less drama? He clearly hasn’t met Kevin yet.
It was obvious the conversation was not going in the direction she wanted it to. She should have known Kevin would have been all gung-ho for her to move into the billionaire’s place.
“Listen, boss. I get that you don’t know him. However, if you spent the night with him, you aren’t strangers anymore. He’s tearing down your building so what could it hurt? Do you get to sleep in his bed with him?”
“Why am I not surprised you asked that?”
“That’s where I’d push to sleep.”
“You would and I’m not surprised at all you’d think that. I have no idea, but I would seriously doubt it. I didn’t have time to get all the details but I do know that he has a second bedroom so if we were to assume, that would be a more likely choice.”
“How big is his place?”
“Big, I guess. So sorry I didn’t give it a thorough inspection while I was there.”
“Maybe you should call and talk to him about it.”
“No. Absolutely not. I’ll think of another way.”
“When is he tearing down the building?”
“No idea.”
“Well, Jenna. I don’t mean to be a noodge, but I think you already know what you need to do.”
“Yes, I do—damn it. I just don’t want to.”
Why did her assistant always have to be right? She needed to at least call Zayn because she literally had no clue what was going on. She pulled the embossed business card he’d handed her that morning—the one with his cell number scrawled across the back. She brushed her finger over the seven digits before flipping it over. Plain Roman letters in black on a field of white. No fancy font. No images. No logo. Just the facts. Jenna could deal with just the facts—she could deal with having her things moved from place-to-place, but she wanted to pack herself. Yeah. She could do facts.
Zayn sat in his overstuffed desk chair looking out the window, not able to focus on work in the slightest. Jerry had been in and out of his office several times with typical business questions and papers to sign but he’d not really offered to talk about what was obviously bothering Zayn.
Asking Jenna to live with him—even on a landlord to tenant level—was not a typical arrangement. But, if he were to offer his second bedroom to anyone from the building, Jenna was the likely candidate. His place wasn’t exactly kid friendly and it would be a little weird to have a couple living with him, doing...couple things. Heck, it was hard for him to admit it, but he was just comfortable around her. He’d never officially lived with anyone before, other than his foster family but he hadn’t thought twice about extending the offer to her.
Now he was just biding his time until what he sent to her, got delivered. The assumption was that she’d call if it arrived, but he wasn’t so sure, he could only hope. She was a pretty independent woman and he probably shouldn’t assume anything. He wouldn’t let it go on much longer though, before he’d try calling her because the anticipation was killing him. He had a feeling she was going to avoid him, but if she said yes, he would like to get the movers started. He’d have to rent out the whole company because he had so many people to get packed and moved.
Once he had Jenna’s answer, he needed to approach the other tenants. He thought about having a meeting in the common room of Terrace Gardens to make it convenient. He halfway expected them to be uncooperative, but it was the only solution where everyone would benefit. With Jenna on board, he hoped she would help smooth over any concerns with the others because she knew them better than he did.
“Hey boss, what’s going on with you?”
He’d known it was only a matter of time before the inquisition, but he was so engrossed in his thoughts he hadn’t heard Jerry open his door.
“Just stressing over the apartment move.”
“Did you get everything organized?”
“Yes, we matched everyone up with an apartment except for one.”
“What do you mean we?”
“You know the tenant that lost her air? She came looking for me yesterday here, but we were already gone so she hunted me down at my apartment and ended up sticking around to help me go through the files and match tenants. When I finished up, she was the only one left and nowhere to put her, so I kind of made her an offer.”
“And? No, wait, don’t tell me, I already know.”
“How could you?”
“Because I know you. You offered to let her stay in your spare room.”
How does he do that every flipping time. I seriously don’t get it. Am I really that transparent?
“Do you think it was a dumb idea?”
“Depends, what do you see her as?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said, what do you see her as? A tenant that you feel sorry for? Someone that you actually like and want around? What exactly?”
That was a good question and he wasn’t sure he knew the answer.
“I don’t really know. She isn’t what I’d expected after hearing her voice, but I’m not sure what I thought would happen when I met her. She’s comfortable and fun to be around. I think the thing that hooked me right away was that she didn’t know who I was when we ran into each other and once she did, her demeanor never changed. It was like she didn’t really care who or what I was other than making sure her air conditioning got fixed.”
“So, basically, you’re attached?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that.”
“I would. You don’t ever talk about women and you never hang out with them on a social level. But this woman comes along looking to get her air conditioning fixed and you invite her to stay in your apartment? What would you call that if it’s not odd attachment behavior?”
“Awe shit, I don’t really know. I guess, maybe. All I know is I can’t get her off my mind.”
“Are you ready for drama?”
“Why do you ask? I don’t really think she’s like that.”
“Hate to break it to you, but all women have drama—some just worse than others. So, she’s moving in?”
“Well she didn’t give me an answer, so I don’t know. She was quite against the idea to tell the truth. I really worry that I overstepped by asking because she doesn’t really know me. I could be some stalker or pedophile.”
“Yeah, but you’re not and I’m sure she knows that. Just call her and find out. If you’r
e going to move on this project, you should do it now because I’ve already had two inquiries today on different empty units. I need to know what to tell them.”
“I was hoping she would call me after her delivery arrived.”
“Uh oh, what did you do?”
“I might have gotten just a little over-zealous and sent her flowers. Women like flowers, right?”
“Sometimes, but I guess time will tell.”
“That gives me no comfort.”
“Sorry, I can’t help you with that. All women are unique in their own way and react differently to things. Where one woman might melt at the sight of flowers, another might think you’re a sleaze for killing a living, growing thing.”
“Does your wife like to get flowers, Jerry?”
“She does but only when it’s not expected or when she has to remind me of a special occasion. On those occasional fuck-ups, I’m better off sleeping in the cot I have stored in the garage.”
“Seriously, a cot?”
“Oh yeah, I have it up in the storage attic above the garage, but I’ve only had to use it once or twice when we had a big fight and she locked me out of the house. I just swallowed my pride and left her alone. She finally came around, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience.”
“Did you have to apologize?”
“Yep and beg and grovel. I wouldn’t worry if I were you. I don’t think you are at that point in your relationship where she can have that kind of leverage on you.”
“Relationship?”
“What did you think you were creating? You asked her to live in your apartment, Zayn. Your personal space. She’s no longer a stranger, that’s for sure.”
Wow, a relationship? Is that what it is?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jenna felt bad that she hadn’t called to acknowledge the flowers Zayn sent her the day before. They were beautiful, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been given any. It wasn’t exactly the thing to do after a one-night stand if one or both parties didn’t intend on seeing each other again and she’d have to stop and think when exactly the last time was she’d had a steady boyfriend. Even then, she didn’t remember getting flowers. Instead, Jenna stopped at the corner grocery and grabbed as many produce boxes as she could carry and started packing her belongings.
