Not Just Friends (Hot in the City Book 3)

by T Gephart

  What I was doing was his sister.

  And I was positive he wouldn’t want me going back to that.

  Not to mention I couldn’t exactly volunteer my location. Tibbs might not be the smartest man alive but even he would question why I was in Presley’s apartment when I was supposed to be with my “girl.”

  Presley’s head shook under my hand, probably wondering why I was muzzling her while I was talking on the phone.

  “Tibbs,” I said both into the phone and to her. “It’s fine, you sure you want to go to Presley’s? You know she’s not usually awake before noon.”

  Like the smart girl that she was, her eyes flared in recognition. Her hand reached up to mine, pulling it away from her mouth as she stayed silent, shuffling up the bed as she listened.

  “Dude, I know. But this is important. She’ll get pissed and then get over it. Not a lot she can do when I’m on her doorstep.”

  Well, he clearly had his head up his ass because there was plenty she could do. But I was thanking the saints and angels that he’d decided to call before heading over wanting the spare key and not just turned up and pressed the fucking buzzer.

  “Okay, give me twenty-five, I’ll meet you there.” I shook my head wondering what kind of shitshow it was going to turn into. “Bye.”

  “What the fuck?” I’d barely ended the call when Presley leapt from the bed. She was still extremely naked, which shouldn’t have been as distracting as it was considering the circumstances.

  What? I’d already admitted I had issues.

  “Lewis was seen around the club last night, Tibbs tried to call you this morning. Your phone’s off,” I paraphrased, joining her off the bed while I pulled on my underwear. “He’s on his way over to talk to you about it.”

  “Why can’t he just leave a message like a regular person?” She tossed me my jeans while I pulled my T-shirt over my head. “It’s like he doesn’t trust a recorded message which will literally give me the information exactly as he says it.”

  We didn’t have time to debate her brother’s inability to leave voicemail, tossing on my pants as I tried to find my socks and shoes. “Presley, I’ve got nothing. But unless you want our grand reveal to be right now, I need to get downstairs to meet him, and you need to be suitably surprised when he arrives.”

  She nodded, grabbing a fluffy bathrobe. “What about your bag?”

  “I’ll take it down with me and toss it in the car.” I moved to her, my hands resting on her hips. “I’ll go back to my apartment with Tibbs so he doesn’t get suspicious and then come back later.”

  “Do you promise?” She grabbed my arms, bringing me closer.

  “I promise. I better go. I have no idea if he’s walking or driving and the last thing he needs to see is me leaving here with a bag in my hand.” I kissed her, wanting it to last longer but knowing we were on the clock.

  With my socks and shoes located, I threw them on and grabbed the rest of my things. I did a quick sweep of the apartment, checking to see I hadn’t left anything and then after one final kiss, I walked out of Presley’s loft.

  Not bothering to wait for the elevator, I ran down the stairs to the main front door, checking to see the coast was clear before punching open the glass and stepping onto the street. I jogged around back to where I’d left my car, tossing my bag in the trunk.

  So far there’d been no sign of Tibbs, which meant I had time to go through the stupid charade of pretending I’d just arrived and was waiting for him. Shaking my head, I checked my phone, locking my car again and leaning against the hood. If I arrived at the front too early, he’d be wondering how I’d gotten there so fast. And since he had no idea where my mystery woman lived, I had to at least keep up the pretense that it had taken me the whole twenty-five minutes.

  I waited thirty.

  Chilling with my ride until half an hour had passed and then I slowly strolled back to the front of the building where surprise, surprise, Tibbs was waiting.

  “Sorry, dude,” I apologized, not in any real hurry.

  Tibbs shook his head. “It’s fine, thanks for meeting me. Things must be going pretty good with you and this girl if you were with her again last night. When are you going to introduce her to us?”

  “Soon,” I coughed out, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible. “So should we go up?”

  He hadn’t asked me for the assist, but like hell I was going to let him go up there alone. Last thing Presley needed was to deal with an overbearing Tibbs on her own, especially since I was partly to blame for his appearance anyway. Had to think if I hadn’t been around, wearing her out with our extracurricular activities, she’d have probably not switched off her phone. And even if I wasn’t feeling some residual guilt for his early morning visit, I wanted to know if there was any other information he hadn’t shared yet.

  Tibbs hesitated, putting in the code for the external door. “You don’t have to, man, you can head back to your girl or home . . . I’ve probably asked more of you than I should.”

  “Hey, fuck that, Tibbs. You know I’d do anything for Presley . . . and for you,” I quickly added. “Let’s head up there and let her yell at you for a bit.”

  He nodded, heading to the elevator. “Right? I’m surprised she hasn’t taken a chunk out of you yet, that charm of yours must really be working.”

  You have no idea.

  “Must be.”

  We took the ride to Presley’s loft in silence, the metal doors opening with a ping on her floor.

  He knocked on her front door, giving her a chance to answer before he unlocked it with his reacquired key. I was probably going to have to get it back, the idea that he could drop by unannounced, not one that sat well with me.

  “Who is it?” Presley sounded suitably annoyed, her voice coming from behind the door.

  “It’s me and Leighton,” Tibbs responded, oblivious she already knew as I played along. “Open up or I’ll let myself in.”

  We heard the lock disengage, followed by a few curse words and then the door opened.

  She looked amazing, her mess of brown curls no tamer than the thirty minutes before I’d left, her fluffy bathrobe covering those amazing curves. Her eyes were wild, shooting her brother a murderous look while she played her part being annoyed.

  God, I wanted to kiss her. Right there in front of Tibbs and not give a fuck what anyone thought.

  “You were just going to burst into my apartment, uninvited?” She pointed to the key in his hand. “What if I’d had a date spend the night? You might’ve got an eyeful more than you bargained for.”

  I raised my brow, trying to hide my smirk.

  She was being naughty, and I loved it.

  Tibbs rolled his eyes. “Well, were you? Because if you were and he’s already gone, not much of a man, is he?”

  Ouch.

  That fucking stung.

  And he had a point.

  I was just about to open my mouth and set Tibbs straight on exactly the kind of man Presley was with when she answered instead. “No, I was alone. But seriously, you can’t just come in anytime you want. Family or not, this is my place and I’ll control who has access to it.” She held out her hand, tipping her head to the key. “I want it back.”

  Tibbs laughed, looking at his sister like she was insane. “Pres, you’re being unreasonable. What if you lock yourself out? Or worse, something happens to you and we need to get in? You have my key.”

  “Tibbs, this isn’t up for discussion. I’m going to control what I can, and this is one thing I get to decide. I want my key back.”

  There was so much confliction in her eyes, I wasn’t positive it was an act, her words hitting me right in the chest.

  She was right, there was a lot going on she didn’t get a say in, but she absolutely had a right to decide who entered her home. Especially when some asshole had already invaded what should have been a safe space. Hell, even I had muscled my way in that first morning, using the spare key to let myself in under ques
tionable circumstances.

  “She’s right, Tibbs.” I snatched the key out of his hand and handed it to Presley. “No one will ever come in without your explicit permission or consent. And if they do, I’ll deal with them.”

  His brow scrunched in confusion, taking a step back. “Jesus, Leighton. Dial it down, okay. Fine, keep the key. And I promise I’ll always knock. Now, are we done making me feel like the asshole? I came over for a reason.”

  Presley directed us to her couch, which incidentally I’d fucked her on when we’d originally gotten home. She bit back the grin, her attempt to not smile telling me she was thinking about the same thing.

  Yeah, we were a couple of sex fiends. And there probably wasn’t a lot of places in her loft that hadn’t been desecrated. And it gave me a warped sense of pleasure to know she liked it too.

  “So what’s so important? You guys might have the day off today, but I’m still working tonight.” She moved into her kitchen, turning on her coffee machine and pulling out three cups.

  Tibbs parked his butt on the sofa, leaving me room to join him. “Lewis did a drive-by last night. There were no uniforms in the area at the time, and the guy who was tailing him lost him in traffic when he crossed into Brooklyn. You know any of his friends who live out there?”

  “If it wasn’t the cops, who was tailing him?”

  She was a smart woman, and even though he hadn’t exactly signposted the additional help, she picked up on it right away.

  The coffee machine was left as she spun around to face us. “Tibbs, what did you do?”

  He shrugged, probably not planning on telling her right away. “There’s an old cop we’re friends with. He’s no longer on the force. He’s doing some digging.”

  “Wait, you knew about this too?” She narrowed her eyes, the venom that had previously been reserved for her brother now directed at me.

  Shit.

  “Tibbs had mentioned it.” I rubbed the back of my neck, knowing I probably should have told her. She had a right to know but to be honest, there wasn’t a lot to tell. Shapiro hadn’t found dick, and who knew if he would. “He was doing some behind the scene stuff.”

  Even to me it didn’t sound good, the intentions getting lost in the heavy handedness of it.

  She took a breath, exhaling slowly in what I assumed was an effort to stay calm. “I can’t be an outsider on this, it’s literally my life. I get what you’re trying to do, what you’re both trying to do. But if your guy finds anything out, you’ll come to me, Justin. You don’t get to make the call.”

  It was a lot more rational than I was expecting, not blaming her if she wanted to cuss us out. Not sure I’d be as cool being handled.

  “Pres, of course.” Tibbs nodding his head, his voice softening. “But I’m not sorry I did it. Between Shapiro working the backend and Leighton keeping an eye on you, I feel a lot better. And you know I’d be fucking driving you around and doing the other stuff if you’d let me. I get why you don’t want your big bro around cramping your style, but I can’t sit around and do nothing either.”

  It was an impassioned speech, and I could tell it came straight from the heart.

  And I hated he didn’t know the truth.

  “God, Tibbs, and Mom always accuses me of being dramatic.” Presley shot him a smile. “Is there anything else I should know?” She looked between us, inviting me to volunteer any intel if I had it.

  “That’s it. Unless you want to know about Chief’s new woman. The guy is hardcore for her, totally smitten. He didn’t even look half as happy when he was married to Melinda.”

  Presley’s eyes widened as she went back to the coffee, “Oooooo, you need to spill. The chief deserves someone nice for a change, I want to know everything.”

  She turned, returning her attention to the coffee she had started making. “Well, come on. You’ve got me awake, the least you can do is come up with the goods.”

  Her brown curls bounced as she moved, my hand itching to walk up behind her, push that hair out of the way and kiss her on the neck. She was beautiful, stunning in every fucking way and she’d been under my nose the entire time.

  “He’s been baking,” I added, keeping my hands and lips right where they were. “Walking around with a goofy look on his face.”

  Tibbs elbowed me in the ribs and snickered. “Sounds like someone else I know.” He cleared his throat before announcing loudly, “And Leighton has a girlfriend.”

  Presley spun around, the cup of coffee in her hand splashing a little on the side. “Wow, really? You been holding out on me, Leighton? You’re dating someone?”

  God she was adorable, going along with Tibbs when she knew exactly who he was talking about.

  “Yeah, I really like her too. She’s different than the others, special. It’s early days and things aren’t going to be easy, but I’m hoping she feels the same way.”

  Last thing I intended to do was tell her how I felt while her brother looked on. And what was worse, it wasn’t half as much as I wanted to say. But every single word of it was true. And whether the timing was right or not, it didn’t matter. I would’ve tapped it out in Morse code if it were the only way.

  Her beautiful eyes softened, giving me a smile. “I’m sure she feels the same way. But make sure you tell her. Women like to hear that kind of thing.”

  “I will,” I promised, swallowing as she walked over and handed me a cup. “I’m going to tell her the first chance I get.”

  Tibbs laughed, rolling his eyes. “Now who’s being dramatic.”

  And you know what, he was right. I was. But I no longer cared.

  Presley

  HEARING JARED SAY I was special was something I hadn’t known I needed.

  It was unexpected, his declaration happening after my brother had almost caught us, and somehow that made it a little more exciting. His little code, the words said publicly but meant just for me, and I loved hearing them.

  Of course, it took hours before we were back to being alone. Tibbs insisted we go out and get breakfast, and hang out like old times. I’ll admit it was nice, Jared slipping right back into Leighton as we sat side-by-side and ate pancakes and bacon.

  He was so sweet too, remembering I preferred blueberry syrup instead of the regular stuff and passing it to me without even asking. I wasn’t even sure how he’d remembered, the last time we’d eaten breakfast together probably when I was still in college.

  But later in the day, when he came back, Leighton didn’t immediately disappear. He kissed me slow, his lips gently pressing against my skin as he told me again how much he liked me and how special I was to him.

  I’d assumed we’d have sex, but we didn’t, laying on my bed fully clothed as we watched stupid daytime television and cuddled. And then when it was time for me to go to work, we left together. I went and did another night like I always did, and Jared sat at a table lazily drinking a beer and making me crazy.

  It had been just over a week and Jared and I had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. And other than Raelle and Bennett, we hadn’t told anyone we were dating. Staff at Diablo had their suspicions, wondering why he was hanging around without his sidekick that was my brother. But they were too smart to say anything outright, choosing to keep their mouths shut and their heads down. It was the way it worked between those walls, we did our job and left the commentary to everyone else. Except for Raelle of course, who had plenty to say.

  “Girl, just out this relationship already. The pressure to keep the secret is too great.” She groaned, tucking into one of the bagels she’d brought over for brunch.

  Jared was working, having left early in the morning which meant Raelle had come over. I’d finally caved, telling her about my plans for Diablo after she found a property flier on my desk. I’d been careless, too blissed out from my personal life and warned her that it was one thing she could not gossip about.

  She’d been hurt for a second, and then got over it, wanting to know everything she could. She’d even argued her
current visit was to “help me” pick an outfit for my meeting with David. But what she really wanted was to talk about Jared and was unable to do it freely at work where other people might hear.

  “How is my relationship affecting you? And you know, don’t think I haven’t noticed your lingering hugs with Bennett. Something you want to tell me?” I held my black shift dress against me before alternating to a white one.

  “I wish I could say it was more than hugs, but it’s not.” She sighed, brushing bagel crumbs off her hands before coming to stand beside me. “I really want to do more, but we work together. Soooooo risky. Besides, our boss is a hard ass and could totally fire us.” The last bit said with a smile.

  “Rae, your lives outside the club are your business. I would never begrudge anyone happiness. I trust you both to keep it professional, if it was my blessing you were looking for, you have it.”

  Maybe it was because I was feeling good, confident my meeting with David was going to be a success. Or maybe it was because Lewis hadn’t been seen since that drive by near the club and I’d assumed he’d found some other sucker to con. Or maybe it was that I had a guy who was amazing, who I literally couldn’t believe I was dating. And other than us keeping it to ourselves, it really was the perfect relationship.

  He was kind and considerate, and so goddamn sweet. He always made sure I had lunch or dinner, looking after me for a change. He even cleaned up after himself, never leaving towels in the bathroom or dirty socks on the floor. And the sex . . .well the sex was off the charts. His body was incredible, every inch of him toned to perfection with a determination to drive me crazy. He knew exactly what to do with it, able to get me off in seconds if he wanted. Or draw it out for hours, just to see me squirm. And if all of that wasn’t enough to prove I’d won the boyfriend lottery, he never once complained about my hours or the fact I worked almost every single night of the week.