by Terry Towers
“Let me take you to dinner.” He pulled out a pen from his pocket and jotted his phone number on the brown paper bag I was carrying. “Call me, or text me. Whichever. Pick your poison.”
“Okay…” I was still a little shell-shocked at what was going down right now. This man was like Jekyll and Hyde, which wasn’t a good sign. But he was a cop, so that should account for something. Cops could be psychos too, a voice in the back of my mind chimed in.
He looked down at his watch and gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but I’m in a rush and gotta go.”
“Uh-huh.”
I watched him enter the elevator and the doors closed behind him. He gave me a wink a second before the doors met.
I looked down at the phone number he’d jotted down along with his name, as if I’d forgotten. What in the fuck just happened? I stood in the hallway another moment, before giving my head a shake and going to my apartment.
Would I call him? I wasn’t sure. A part of me certainly wanted to, but I was going to have to have a stiff drink and then give it some thought. No matter how sexy and charming he was, I couldn’t dismiss the fact that he’d been avoiding me like the plague the past couple of days, not even giving me the courtesy of polite conversation in passing.
Maybe he had a reasonable explanation?
Chapter 6
Nate
“What’s your problem, man?”
I looked over at my partner, Anthony Robbins, and shrugged. “What do you mean?” I knew what he meant, my entire shift my mind had been on Layla and the hostile vibe I’d gotten from her the previous day. Sure, I could understand why she was upset, but on the flip side I’d told her the deal from the get-go. It was a little stress relief and fun, that was it.
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. You’ve got something on your mind and if I were a betting man I’d guess it was some chick.”
“You know I don’t get involved with my playmates. One time and goodbye.”
“That’s sad, man. You’re twenty-eight years old. If you don’t start taking women seriously then you’ll end up an old man, lonely with no one in your life.”
“Please. If I had a nickel for every time you bitch about your wife and kids, I’d be able to retire.”
“I never said marriage and a family is easy. It’s damned hard. Even though I love my wife, I’ll admit there’s days when I dislike the woman. Life isn’t a fairy tale, like I say it’s damned hard at times. But here’s the thing, no matter what, we always have each other’s back. After everything is said and done, everyone needs someone they love and respect to share this world with.”
“Yeah, maybe.” We’d had this conversation before. One woman for the rest of my life when there was a buffet of beautiful women just waiting to be plucked? No thanks. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t take Layla out. She was the first woman in a long time that I’d felt a desire to see beyond just one night. What would it hurt to explore that? Not a relationship mind you, just two people eating food.
“Still doesn’t explain what’s got you in a tiff.”
I pulled my phone from the inner pocket of my jacket and looked down at the display and frowned. No calls or texts. Why hadn’t she contact me yet? Okay, it had only been a day, but it was unusual to be blown off by a chick.
Anthony began to chuckle beside me as he pulled the squad car up in front of my apartment building. Anthony lived in Jersey so since I lived in Manhattan it was easier for him to do the pick-up in the morning and drop-off each evening. I lived in the same building as both my brother and Layla, just a few floors down.
“What?”
“I see what your problem is.”
“What is it?” I looked up from the phone to face him.
“The chick you were with over the weekend, she hasn’t fallen for you and it’s bothering the shit out of you.”
I huffed. “You’ve got an overactive imagination.” Grabbing the door handle, I opened the car door and stepped out.
“Sure, I do.”
Looking in, I grinned at my partner. “Nate Striker doesn’t fall for women. Period.”
“That’s what I told myself at one point in time. Now, I’ve been married for fifteen years and have three kids that I love and even like most of the time. Living the dream, pal, and one day that’ll be you.”
Laughing, I shook my head. Nope, not going to be me. “See ya tomorrow, man.” Closing the door, I started to walk inside my building when I stopped and thought twice. I decided to take a chance that Layla would be home and went to the deli across the street getting a turkey bacon club sandwich for both of us. Sure, it was almost ten at night, but hopefully she’d be up for some company.
I whistled as I rode the elevator up. Not to be deterred, I was going to get to the bottom of why she was blowing me off. Arriving at the proper floor, I went to her door, knocked, and waited. There wasn’t a reply immediately, but after a second round of knocking the door was flung open and Layla appeared in the doorway wrapped in a red satin robe that fell to mid-thigh.
My dick jumped in my pants and I cleared my throat. “Hey, I thought I’d bring an evening snack.”
She frowned and looked down at the silver watch on her wrist. “It’s nearly ten, Nate. I have to work in the morning.”
Okay, this wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for. This was awkward.
She took a deep breath and slowly released it, stepping aside and motioning for me to enter. “I haven’t eaten all evening and that does smell good.”
“They have the best sandwiches at the deli across the street. If you haven’t been there yet you need to go.” Walking into the apartment, I found she’d unpacked almost everything already. “You’ve done a lot in a matter of a couple of days.”
She shrugged and motioned for me to follow her into the living room. “I’m pretty task oriented, once I set my mind into getting something done, I do it. I start a new job tomorrow so it needed to get it done.”
I sat down on the sofa, opening the brown paper bag and pulling out the sandwiches that came with sides of hand cut fries.
“Would you like a soda, or water…”
“Soda, Coke if you have it.”
“Coming up,” she replied, smiling, the first smile I’d seen since arriving. I’d take that as a good sign. She disappeared, and a moment later reappeared, passing me a can of Coke as she sat down next to me and began eating the sandwich.
“This is amazing. It tastes even better than it smells,” she said, the smile reappearing as she finished off the last bite of sandwich and began to dig into the French fries.
“Told ya.”
“I wish you hadn’t told me about this place.”
“Why?”
“Its going to be hard to not get fat eating there everyday. My cooking is subpar at best. Trust me on that.”
“Believe it or not, I happen to be a good cook.”
“You don’t say.” Her eyes raced up and down my body. “Are you talking protein drinks and tuna sandwiches?”
Laughing, I shrugged. “Nope. I meant actual food, smartass. I will take that as a compliment though.”
“Mmm.” She crinkled up her nose as she looked at me. “So, did you really drop by my old place or were you just saying that?”
“I did. Wasn’t sure how I’d be received, but as it would seem you weren’t there to find out.”
“You didn’t leave on the best of terms. All that was missing was the twenty-dollar bill on the nightstand.”
“Ouch. Yeah, I didn’t mean for it to come off quite as badly as that. But in my defense, I had thought I’d been quite clear on....”
“You didn’t have to be so rude the past week.”
I eyed her, confused. What the hell? I didn’t know where she was. I’d explained I hadn’t had her number. I was tempted to challenge her on it, but decided against it. She had her opinion on the situation and I had mine, why argue semantics and ruin the chance to get to know her?
“I apologize f
or that.”
She looked at me hard and slowly nodded. “All right.”
“I was also wondering if you wanted to go on an actual date.”
“Actual date?” she parroted.
“You know, dinner, maybe a movie. If I’m lucky, a good night kiss at the door when I drop you off.”
Her expression remained stony for a moment, making me second guess my approach. But then her lips formed into a wide grin, humour in her gaze. “Wouldn’t a good night kiss at the door be a step back from our last time together? Need I remind you that you’ve been in my ass.”
I was left speechless for a moment, not expecting her crass comment, but also finding it amusing. At least she had a sense of humour about it. “We could just skip the date and get to the good stuff, hell, we could do it right now if you like.” I stood and reached for my belt. “I’m game.” I wasn’t sure how she’d react, but was betting she’d take it as it was meant to be, flirtatious teasing.
“Presumptuous?” she asked, raising a brow at me.
“Very,” I agreed, releasing my belt and sitting back down next to her. “Though, I certainly wouldn’t turn it down.”
“I’m sure.”
My smile faded and I looked at her with a serious expression. “Though I am quite serious in starting fresh.”
“Okay, so when were you thinking for this date?”
“How about tomorrow night?”
“Wow, a weekend night date. This is serious.” The teasing returned to her tone and her smile returned.
“I am extremely serious.” Grabbing the sandwich, I finished it off, along with the drink. “And considering the hour, I think I should be going.” Standing, she quickly followed suit, leading me to the door. She opened the door and stood there, her hand on the knob. “So, say seven o’clock?”
“That would be great.” My entire plan was to not kiss her, to be the gentleman, but she was so damned sexy standing there I couldn’t resist myself. Just one taste. Slipping a hand to the back of her head, I leaned down and brushed my lips across hers. She made an audible sigh against my lips as she responded. I wanted to deepen the kiss, pull her into my arms and ravish her like I’d done less than a week ago, but I pulled myself together and forced myself to release the grip on her neck and pull back.
“I’ll be seeing you later then.” Walking past her and into the hallway, I was about to take another step away when I couldn’t help myself. I turned back and gave her one final kiss—quick and unassuming. “Bye.”
“Bye,” I heard her murmur behind me, causing a large smile to appear on my lips.
Chapter 7
Layla
“This will be your office,” the senior partner of the accounting firm, a middle-aged man by the name of Gary Lappa, said, opening the door to my new office and stepping aside for me to enter before him. It was a decent office, not as big as my one in Bangor, but considering that space was at a premium in Manhattan and I was the new recruit at this firm it was to be expected.
“It’s nice.” Despite the smaller size, it was indeed nice. As I went to the window I was surprised to see how beautiful the view was. The office was on the twenty-ninth floor and it had an amazing view of the Hudson, only partially obstructed by another towering buildings. “The view is amazing.”
He came up behind me, to stand by my side at the window. “I made sure that you had one of the better views in the building.”
Looking up at him, I gave him a smile of gratitude. “I really appreciate that. I can’t believe that I’d forgotten how beautiful the city was. So many people see the bad things of this city, but don’t appreciate that there are also so many good things.”
“A true New Yorker.”
“I didn’t realize how much I missed it here until I returned.”
He hesitated as if searching for something more to say. When he didn’t come up with something he gave me a nod. “I’ll send my assistant in with work to get you started on.”
He’d barely gotten the door closed when my phone buzzed, signalling a text message. Reaching into my purse, I pulled out my phone and looked down. The newly received text was from Nate. I smiled despite myself as I pulled up the message.
Nate: You’ve been on my mind all day. I barely know you and you’re becoming an obsession. I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.
A second message followed the second, timestamped at just a couple minutes later.
Nate: By the way, I wish I’d kissed you a second time.
My smile widened as my heart did a little flutter in my chest. I wasn’t going to get my hopes up on anything when it came to Nate. Just take it day by day and see what happened. If nothing else maybe I could at least make a friend out of the situation since I’d lost contact with many of the people I used to know over the past few years.
Another text came in perhaps twenty minutes from the previous one, making me chuckle at his persistence. Fishing the phone from my purse, I smiled. The smile quickly faded when I realized the text wasn’t from Nate after all. Instead it was from Craig, that lying, cheating SOB.
Craig: I need to talk to you. Call me when you get this.
Fat chance of that! Disgusted, I deleted his message and tossed my phone back into my purse. Boy, did he have nerve—everything had already been said that needed to be said between us.
~*~ TT ~*~
Darrin
Why in the hell did my shoulder still hurt? It was a simple dislocation. This was hardly the first time I’d dislocated it. Stepping off the elevator, I hesitated as my eyes focused on the woman ahead of me unlocking her door. She looked nice with her black hair piled on top of her head into a loose bun with a number of wispy locks hanging down the back of her neck.
She was wearing a sheer white blouse and knee length skirt combined with a pair of black heels that showed off her amazing calves. My eyes worked their way back up the length of her. Taking a deep breath in, I slowly released it and made my way down the hall, walking briskly past her, getting a whiff of her rose scented perfume. It didn’t matter how hot or put together she looked, or how amazing she smelled, she was still a wack-a-doodle.
I had the key to my door in hand as I reached it and swiftly unlocked and opened it. I looked over in the direction of my neighbour to find her staring at me. Not wanting to be impolite—like it or not, she was my neighbour—I gave her a smile and nod but nothing more, not wanting to induce a conversation before disappearing inside my apartment. No doubt, I was being silly. Chances were I was overreacting and she was a perfectly nice and sane woman. I just didn’t have the inclination to find out for sure, at least not today.
With a soft grunt of agony, I shrugged off my jacket and was about to remove my gun from the holster when a knock came at my door. My twin brother, Nate, was off today, no doubt waiting for me to get off so we could kick back, drink a beer or two, and watch some television.
Opening the door, I was surprised to see my neighbour standing on the other side. I was even more shocked when she stepped forward, placed her hands on my chest, leaned in, and kissed me. Thoughts left me for a moment as the scent of her perfume and the feel of her lush, succulent lips teased mine and I responded, my dick jerking in my pants. It wasn’t until my hands grabbed her upper arms and drew her in, her breasts crushing against my chest, that I came to my senses.
What in the fuck!
I took a step back, pushing her away from me. “What was that?” I asked, my brows knitting together as I stared down at her, confused as sweet fuck.
“I’ve been wanting to kiss you all day as well.”
Huh? This woman really was a wack-a-doodle. “Do you think it’s safe to just go around kissing strange men?”
She fingered my name badge, which said STRIKER, pulling her lower lip between her teeth and looking up at me through long, full lashes. “Considering you’re a cop, I’m sure it’s safe enough. And you’re hardly a stranger.”
Because we were neighbours? I shook my head. “That’s besides t
he point.” Being neighbours hardly made us more than acquaintances.
She brushed past me and into my apartment. “I hope you don’t mind me just dropping by like this. I assume you’re just getting home from work.” She eyed me up and down. “You look amazing in that uniform, by the way.”
Maybe she just had a cop fetish? The first time she’d seen me I was in uniform. But what was with the previous hostility? Maybe she was bi-polar? But damn, that kiss had been electric. As much as I wanted to kick her pretty, perhaps crazy, ass out of my apartment, she intrigued me. I’d let her stay for now, if for nothing else than to get information on her.
“How are you liking the building?” I asked, trying to dismiss the idea that this was an unorthodox situation. “You’re new here, right?”
She laughed, giving my arm a soft swat. “Yeah, you know that. Funny.”
I wasn’t trying to be. I was becoming more and more confused by the second. Why in the hell I ushered her further into the house and offered her to sit down was beyond me, but that was exactly what I did. I decided to blame it on my upbringing and how my mother always emphasized that hospitality and politeness, especially to women, wasn’t optional, but required.
“Would you like a beverage?”
She shrugged. “I’m actually parched, so that would be wonderful. I was just getting home from my first day back to work. When I noticed you arriving home as well, I figured I’d take a moment to say hi.” Exiting the living room, I quickly grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and returned with them, passing her one before taking a seat in the armchair across from the sofa.
“Where are you working?”
“Robbins, Mitchell and Associates.”
I had no idea what that was. I was very familiar with the law firms in the city, and to my knowledge, that wasn’t one of them. “I’m sorry, I’m unfamiliar with the name.”
Cocking her head to the side, she gave me a peculiar look, as if I were supposed to know. After a moment, she responded. “It’s an accounting firm. I’m a new accountant for that firm.”
