My stomach grumbled, reminding me of the lunch break I had skipped because I chose to nap instead.
There were plenty of food joints open at this time of morning. It was just a matter of finding one that wouldn’t be crowded, full of crazies, or expensive. I could easily go home and make something.
Fuck it, I thought as I headed down the sidewalk towards my favorite twenty-four-hour pizza joint.
The night was quiet and gave me time to think, while I walked the few short blocks.
I hadn’t heard from the lawyer. I knew it was a weekend, but I had hoped to hear something from her. At least that way I’d know if she was still onboard for helping me with my case or if she had run for the hills.
Ding.
I pulled out my phone and continued walking. Glancing down, I noticed a text message from an unknown number. I clicked the message.
The message read: “It’s Naira. Save my number.”
I thrust my fist into the air. A few pigeons, in a nearby tree, spooked and flew off.
I quickly replied back to Naira, “Glad you’re still talking to me.”
The minute I hit send, I felt like a gigantic jackass. My reply made me sound like some teenager. It wasn’t like me to act this way towards a woman. Usually, I was calm and collected. I really didn’t put too much thought into how a woman saw me. I was who I was.
“Motherfucker,” I growled and went to put my phone in my pocket.
Ding.
Another message from Naira. I grinned like an idiot and opened the message:
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping? Hopefully, you aren’t causing any more trouble :-) “
I slowed my pace so I could reply back:” Just got off work. Heading to grab some pizza. Want to join me? “
What the fuck was wrong with me? I had just invited Naira – the lawyer Sister Mary Agnes introduced me too – out for a one o’clock pizza date.
I grimaced as my phone sounded notifying me that she had replied. Her response would probably be somewhere along the lines of fuck off. Sister Mary Agnes was going to kill me.
Taking a deep breath, I looked down at my phone. My eyes widened as I read the message again… and again. “I just ordered Chinese. There’s enough for two if you want to come by.”
“Need me to bring anything?” I replied.
“I have water, tea, and orange juice. If you don’t like those, you may want to pick up something to drink,” she responded.
“Do you need anything?” I rubbed the back of my neck as I waited for her to reply.
“No. I’m good. But thanks. See you soon.”
As cool as I could play it off, I speed walked down the sidewalk. This woman had me acting like a complete idiot. I couldn’t even blame it on the peep show I got earlier either. It was just something about her that turned me into an idiot.
Less than twenty minutes, I was knocking softly on her door. I didn’t want to wake up the Cougars. There had been enough awkwardness for me involving them.
The sound of locks being turned sounded. I took a few steps back. Slowly, the door opened revealing Naira. She wore pink sleep pants and a matching t-shirt. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun.
“Hey,” I smiled.
“Hey,” she blushed then opened the door wider for me to enter her apartment. I walked inside and she closed the door behind us. Her apartment smelled like delicious Chinese takeout. “We can sit in the living room.”
I followed her over to the couch. On the coffee table were takeout boxes, two glasses, and two plates. Naira sat down on the floor and looked at the spot next to her and then up at me.
“You can sit here… if you want,” she said softly.
“Is it okay if I wash up first?” I held up my hands that weren’t the cleanest.
“Of course,” she smiled. “The bathroom is the first door on the right.” She pointed at the hallway.
“Thanks.” Quickly, I hurried off and washed my hands. When I returned, Naira was watching TV. I sat down next to her on the floor and she smiled.
“General Tsao’s, sweet and sour chicken, Chow Mein, and wantons,” she said pointing at takeout boxes.
“My favorites,” I admitted. Her eyes widened.
“Really?” she laughed.
“General Tsao’s is my first pick, but the rest are a close second.”
“Me too,” she opened the box with the General Tsao’s in it. She scraped some on my plate and then hers. “Want a little bit of the others, too?”
“Sounds good.”
She proceeded to fill our plates with food. When they were done, she handed me a fork.
“It’s because I’m white, huh?” I said with a straight face pointing at the chopsticks. She looked at the chopsticks and then up at me.
“No. It’s not like that. I just assumed… I am so sorry,” she blurted at a hundred words per minute.
“Relax. I’m only kidding,” I chuckled. She let out a deep breath then whacked me playfully on the arm.
“You gave me a heart attack!” she finally laughed.
“Sorry,” I smirked. “Was trying to be funny.”
“I will have my revenge,” she declared, making me laugh.
“I look forward to it, Ms. Kang.”
She frowned.
“Naira,” she corrected.
“I look forward to it… Naira,” I allowed her name to linger on my tongue. She sucked in a sharp breath. My cock grew rock hard as I watched her bite her bottom lip.
“May I call you Eli? Or do you prefer Mr. Mattis?”
“You can call me whichever you prefer.”
“I like Eli,” she smiled and then turned her attention to her plate. “Guess we should eat before it gets cold, huh?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Naira
What the fuck am I doing? The question pinged in my mind as I lifted the first bite to my mouth. The spice zinged on my tongue and I hummed in appreciation before I thought about what it would sound like to the man sitting next to me. What the fuck am I doing?
From the moment Eli Mattis left my apartment I hadn’t been able to get him out of my thoughts. Pulling some strings, I had all of his information faxed to me and had looked into the charges that had been pressed against him.
The woman and the man involved in the domestic disturbance both had a list of arrests and convictions a mile long. It had only taken me a few calls to the arresting officer and to Judge O'Malley to get the charges dismissed as a good samaritan gone wrong situation. So, why had I texted him at one in the morning? Why had I invited him to my place for takeout? And, why hadn’t I told him the good news yet?
The only answer I had was the fact that I wasn’t ready for our relationship to be over.
“You weren’t lying when you said you like General Tso’s?” Eli asked with a chuckle.
“What?” I asked around my most recent bite.
“You’ve been shoveling it in and making the most distracting noises for the last ten minutes.” Eli’s gaze was locked on my mouth.
Chewing and swallowing as heat burned my cheeks, I looked at him from under my eyelashes.
“Sorry. I haven’t eaten since this morning. It happens when I get focused.”
“I skipped lunch so I could grab a nap,” he laughed as he shoveled in a fork full of the spicy chicken.
“What a pair,” I giggled softly.
“Mmm hmm,” he replied through his full mouth.
“So, you had another late shift?” I asked while tapping my chopsticks on my plate.
“Yeah,” he reached for his glass and realized it was empty.
“Oh, how inhospitable of me.” I jumped to my feet and grabbed the glass. “What did you want to drink?”
“Water is fine,” he replied.
I headed into the kitchen as I threw out another question to keep the conversation moving.
“You mentioned that it wasn’t your usual work hours…” I opened the freezer and used the ice pick to break apart the ice before shu
tting the door and holding the glass to the dispenser.
“My normal hours are 6 A. M. to 4 P. M. on weekdays,” Eli replied. “We had a special project that just finished up.”
“Oh, so you don’t have to work tomorrow?” I asked hopefully as I tried to think of some way, we would need to see each other.
“Yeah, overtime tonight was the end.” Eli’s voice was muffled, and I figured his mouth was full which had me chuckling as I moved the glass to the water dispenser on the fridge door.
“Which has me wondering, since you just spent time in the slammer last night, weren’t you afraid of having another altercation?”
“Nah. That guy won’t be ready to tussle with me for a while,” Eli leaned in the doorway and flexed a bicep at me. His grin brightened his face and caused his eyes to twinkle.
“Tussle?” I raised an eyebrow at the strange choice of word.
“Sister Mary Agnes taught me lots of ancient words. Some of them kind of stuck.” He laughed and accepted the glass of water I handed him.
Returning to our food, we once again lapsed into silence. It was more comfortable than the first time, but I wanted to get to know Eli. Since the sister sent him to me, I knew he was more than black ink on the printed sheets I’d hidden away in my desk before answering the door. I knew he was more than the black ink scrawling over his skin as well.
“So…” I sighed and moved the remaining bite of food around on my plate. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“What?” He looked at me in shock. “You saying you haven't already googled me or had my records faxed? I know it’s the weekend...”
“But us lawyers have our ways, right?” I looked at him sternly and he squirmed in his spot on the floor. The giggles started and before I knew it, Eli had me pinned to the floor and was tickling me.
“That wasn’t nice. I felt bad,” he laughed.
“You deserved it for the chopsticks,” I gasped out through my laughter.
We were both laughing so hard that we couldn’t breathe. Maybe it was the MSG in the Chinese food – I never believed them when they said they didn’t put it in – or the fact that it was approaching two in the morning, but I was feeling giddy and carefree for the first time in years.
We collapsed to our backs beside each other as we gasped for air. I couldn’t remember a time when I was able to just laugh. Growing up there was always a focus on getting good grades and earning my way to college. Then in college it was more of the same. I had to get the grades to keep my scholarship money coming in. Times were always rough growing up. My parents were immigrants who believed in hard work. Unfortunately, that meant long hours at their jobs as they tried to earn money to pay for our needs and those of our family still back on the farms in Japan.
“I’m an only child,” I whispered. “Grew up around here. My parents worked and my grandmother took care of me. When I was still young, the government wanted to force my grandmother back to Japan. Sister Mary Agnes helped us find a lawyer who was able to get her citizenship.”
Eli remained silent and I sighed. I wasn’t sure why I was spilling my guts to the man. We didn’t know anything about each other. Hell, earlier in the day he was technically my client and off limits.
“I feel like I’ve been going to school and working for some amazing reward my entire life.” Letting out a sigh, I prepared for Eli to say thanks and goodbye. “So, yeah, I have my ways and I took care of your charges. You’re a free man.”
A loud rumble filled the room in response.
Sitting up, I turned and looked at Eli. He was sound asleep on the floor. And, for the first time, I could understand what people meant about the innocence you could see in someone when they slept. All of the stresses of life had slipped away, and his face was slightly softer.
“Sweet dreams, Eli,” I pressed a kiss to his cheek and rose to go find him a blanket and pillow.
CHAPTER FIVE
Eli
A bright light had me rolling over and growling. My body thumped against something hard. I opened my eyes to find a coffee table. Not just any coffee table… Naira’s coffee table.
Fuck, I groaned as the realization of me having fallen asleep struck me. The two days of overtime had kicked my ass.
I slowly sat up and looked around the room for Naira. The room was barely lit with the only light being the sun that came through between the blinds. Naira was nowhere to be seen. The only evidence that she had been near me was the blanket draped over my body.
Quietly, I stood up and stretched before folding the blanket and placing it on the couch. The coffee table still had the takeout boxes and our glasses on it. I gathered up as much as I could and took it into the kitchen. I returned to the living room with a damp paper towel. I wiped the coffee table down and then went back into the kitchen with the remainder of the items.
I cleaned Naira’s kitchen and gathered the trash. I’d take it out on my way out the door. The least I could do was clean up for her. She had bought the food, invited me over, and tucked me in. If I was lucky, Naira might forgive me and allow me to ask her out on a date.
“Fucking idiot,” I muttered to myself. How could I fall asleep so easily with a drop-dead gorgeous woman near me?
I found a sticky-note and a pen, and jotted a note to Naira:
Good morning, beautiful. Sorry I fell asleep.
Text me when –
“Leaving so soon?” Naira’s soft voice said behind me. I turned to see her standing by the couch.
“Hey. Good morning.” I grabbed the unfinished note and balled it up. Calling her beautiful might be creepy to her.
“What’s that?” she asked, walking over to me. I placed the wadded-up sticky-note in my pocket. She shook her head and held out her hand.
“What?” I chuckled.
“Let me see. It was for me, right?”
My cheeks burned. I felt like a real jackass. Reluctantly, I pulled the note from my pocket and handed it to her.
“I didn’t even have to present my argument,” she teased, and uncrumpled the note.
“I’d really be a goner if you had,” I chuckled. She read over my note and then looked up at me and smiled.
“Good morning, handsome,” she blushed. “You could have woken me up.”
“I had already made an ass of myself,” I admitted. “I was prepared to do the walk of shame.”
“Why would it be a walk of shame?” Naira cocked her head to the side and looked up at me.
“Well… uh…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I fell asleep.”
“You were tired. I understand busy schedules and exhaustion.”
“Just saying that to make me feel better?” I joked. She laughed and shook her head.
“No. Not at all. Trust me. Some days I’m in court all day and still have cases to work on at night. I get sleep in when I can,” she sighed.
“I’m sure Sister Mary Agnes sending people like me to your door doesn’t help you any.” I felt regretful for having added to her caseload. I could have hired a lawyer, but Sister Mary Agnes had insisted on Naira.
“I don’t mind,” she smiled and walked past me. My eyes remained glued on her ass, which even through her pajama bottoms was still well-defined. Maybe Sister Mary Agnes knew Naira and I would hit it off and she was playing cupid.
“Coffee?” Naira called out from the kitchen.
“Yeah. Sure,” I replied. “I mean, if I won’t be keeping you from your work or downtime.”
“Not at all.”
I walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter next to where she was.
“Pick your poison,” she grinned then pointed at a rack of coffee pods. I looked them over. There were a lot of fancy flavors, I had never heard of.
“French vanilla is fine for me,” I picked up the pod. She took it from me. Her soft fingers brushed against my rough fingers. I found myself attempting to put my hands in my pockets. Naira grabbed one of my hands with her free hand. She looked at my hand.
>
“You’re a hard worker,” she smiled and continued to study my hand. I tried to take care of my hands by wearing gloves and using lotions, but the two things only went so far. With long hours, it made it almost impossible to not have calluses.
“Sorry,” I sighed. “They’re pretty rough looking.”
“Relax, Eli,” she looked up at me and smiled. “I’m not a girly-girl. I can appreciate a man who works.” She released my hand and turned her attention to her coffee machine.
There was something in the way she spoke that had my cock rock hard and aching to be freed. She probably hadn’t meant to linger my name on her tongue or talk seductively as she mentioned appreciating a man who works. However, I couldn’t help but read into her words. Afterall, she was beyond sexy.
“You okay?” Naira asked, glancing at me. I shook away my new thoughts of bending her over the kitchen counter and fucking her.
“I’m good,” I smiled. “Need help?” She raised an eyebrow and smirked.
“I’m good, but thanks for the offer.”
When our coffee was ready, I grabbed the two mugs and followed her over to the small dining room table. I placed her cup in front of her, where she was now seated, and then took a seat.
“Thanks,” I smiled.
“Are you always this polite?” she asked. She seemed genuinely curious, which made me laugh.
“Is it because of my tattoos?”
Her cheeks reddened.
“No. I wasn’t implying that you were–” she blurted.
“Relax, Naira,” I chuckled. “I’m just giving you a hard time.” She sighed heavily.
“That’s not nice,” she pouted dramatically. Her bottom lip stuck out. I wanted to lean across the table and nip it with my teeth. My cock jerked to attention again.
I cleared my throat and looked down at the cup in my hands. I focused on the steam in an attempt to direct my attention from Naira’s lips.
“Are you okay?” Naira’s question had me looking up from my cup of coffee and looking at her.
“I’m fine,” I smiled, but she wasn’t buying it and frowned at me.
“Why are your cheeks red then?”
And… busted.
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