by Tess Oliver
My gaze shot around the room. No dangerous looking characters in sight. "Oh shit."
"What are you doing? Why did you break down my door?" She glanced frantically around, apparently for something to fight me off with. She picked up a book and held it like a shield in front of her as she hopped out of the foot bath.
"I heard you through the door." I wondered just how big a rock would have to be for someone my size to crawl under it. "I thought someone was hurting you."
She didn't seem to know how to respond.
I stupidly decided to fill in the awkward silence. "Remember our last encounter when you found my coffee table full of sex toys? Well that is no longer the most embarrassing moment of my life." I forced a smile.
The thick paste on her face cracked as she burst out laughing. I laughed too but with less enthusiasm because I was still feeling like burrowing under a rock.
Jane went to wipe a tear of laughter off her face and looked horrified when her fingertip brushed the thick cream. "Oh my gosh, how embarrassing." She rushed past me toward the hallway.
"I don't think there's anything you could do to feel more embarrassed than I feel right now," I called to her as she disappeared into the bathroom.
I took the time alone to inspect the damage to her door. It was totaled. The shitty door jamb and lightweight door had both fractured into massive splinters. It was too late to call the building supervisor, and I doubted there was anything that could be done tonight. With all the noise, not one neighbor had stepped into the hallway to help or find out what’d happened.
Jane returned with a freshly washed pink face, a color that made the green of her eyes stand out even more. I worked hard not to let my gaze drop, but her naked nipples pressed against the thin fabric of her shirt were making that impossible. She caught where my attention had landed.
"Sorry, I wasn't expecting visitors." She disappeared into the bedroom and returned wearing a sweatshirt. "I suppose I should explain myself, just so you don't think I'm in here talking to myself. I'm an actress." She paused and shook her head. "I mean I'm hoping to be an actress. So far my resume consists of parts in high school plays, a commercial for deodorant and extras on movie sets." She glanced over at a stack of bound paper. "I was practicing for an audition."
"Well then, bravo. You had me convinced it was real."
"I suppose that's one check in the positive column. I'm not sure what the protocol is here. Do I thank you for coming to my rescue?" Her eyes widened. "I didn't even ask—did you hurt yourself?"
"Nope, luckily the door and the jamb are both made out of Saltine crackers."
She laughed again, which relieved some of the complete humiliation I was feeling from having broken through her door like Frankenstein's monster.
"I will call the supervisor first thing in the morning and let him know I'll pay for everything. But in the meantime, there's no way you can sleep in here. I'll let you have my place, and I'll stay here. Let me just go over and straighten things up. I'm pretty much a slob."
She waved her arms around. "Uh, have you noticed that you are standing in a cyclone zone as well. I couldn't put you out like that."
"You have to—I mean, it's not putting me out, and I wouldn't get a wink of sleep knowing you were sleeping in here unprotected."
She tilted. "Maybe not so unprotected. After all I have a six foot plus neighbor with the shoulder span of two men and an ability to walk through walls. Or at the very least doors made out of crackers."
I stepped closer and was relieved she didn't take a step back. After our two encounters, one where I came off as a creep with a dildo collection and one where I stormed into her apartment like a madman, I expected her to shrink away from me.
I stopped a few feet away not wanting to push my luck. "Come over as soon as you get your things together."
"Fine, but you can't sleep here. It's not safe."
"I don't think anyone will carry me off into the night. At least not without a crane. I'll be fine, and that way I can make sure no one steals your stuff. Really, Jane, I have to find some way to work off the embarrassment I'm feeling. I haven't done anything this humiliating since I fell off the top of the gym bleachers in high school trying to impress a girl with my dance skills. By the way, she was not impressed, and I broke my ankle in three places. At least this time all my bones are still together."
"And this time you impressed the girl." Her eyes glittered green as she smiled up at me. "Not many men would have done what you did tonight." She stepped closer, lifted her hand and placed it on my arm. "Thank you. I'll get my stuff." She lifted her hand away, but I could still feel the warmth of it on my arm. "But I'll sleep on your couch. And as for watching my stuff, I don't have anything of value." She pointed her thumb behind her. "With the exception of that foot bath machine. They will have to pry that from my cold, dead feet."
Her easy going humor had helped make a really awkward incident much better. "Great. I'll see you across the way in a few minutes." I turned to leave but stopped. "And, Jane, thanks for not making me feel like the biggest fool in the world."
"Trust me, Aidan, no woman in her right mind would ever look at you and think 'big fool'."
Chapter Nine
Jane
The clink of a coffee cup woke me from a sound sleep. After a good twenty minute argument about who should sleep on the couch, I pulled the nuclear option and insisted that if I didn't get to sleep on the couch, I would go back and sleep in my apartment, shredded door and all. It had taken me a bit of tossing and turning to fall asleep, but that was more due to the unexpected turn of events in an otherwise dull evening than to the comfort of the couch. In fact, the apartment might have been shabby, but the furniture inside was far from it. The couch was more lush than my bed.
I sat up and quickly tried to comb my hair into some semblance of a normal hairdo. Aidan was turned around facing the kitchen counter, unaware that I was awake. I took a few silent moments to admire the incredible width of his shoulders, made to look even more imposing by the snug fit of his t-shirt.
He turned around with a cup of coffee. "Did I wake you? I was trying to be as quiet as a mouse, but it's kind of hard when you are more the size of a bull."
"That's all right. I needed to get up. I've got to study before my shift starts." Not completely sure what the proper attire was for sleeping on a new neighbor's couch, especially one of the opposite sex, I had slept in my t-shirt and shorts. Social nerd that I was, I'd even put my bra back on. Definitely not a comfy way to sleep.
Aidan, who had already showered, was glistening with animal magnetism. As I crossed the room to the kitchen, I wished that I'd considered whisking on mascara along with the bra. "Thanks so much for the use of the couch. I'll get out of your way."
"What? No, I just stirred up some eggs. I can't eat all six by myself." He lifted a big shoulder. "Ah, who am I kidding? Six is no problem. But I cracked them open to make you breakfast. I'm still trying to rack up points to make up for last night's disaster. Which brings me to a little piece of bad news."
"Some desperate thief ransacked my place last night and took all my worthless junk?"
He placed a cup of coffee on the counter. I climbed up on the cherry wood bar stool. It was upholstered in black leather and had a nice brass footrest. It looked totally out of place in front of the fake granite counter.
Aidan busied himself at the stove cooking the eggs. "I talked to Milo, the building maintenance guy, and he said that he'd have to special order the door." A pat of butter sizzled on the frying pan, and he swirled it around. "I told him I'd go out and buy a door, but he said it has to match the rest of the apartments."
"So I have to have a Saltine cracker door just like the rest of the tenants. I guess that makes sense, otherwise I might start finding nasty messages in my mailbox about my fancy door."
Aidan's phone was sitting just inches from my elbow, close enough for me to see the names on the texts as they came through. The first was Cindy. Eve's t
ext followed close behind. I stopped short of reading the texts, deciding that snooping about to read the names was low enough for me to sink at such an early hour.
"Hmm, those eggs smell good. I guess I'm hungrier than I thought. Apparently, my red licorice dinner wasn't as hearty as I thought."
He laughed as he held up a piece of bread. "Toast?"
"Yes please. How long will it take to get the paper thin front door? There can't be too big of a demand for those." Another text. Cindy was at it again.
He dropped the bread in the toaster. "There must be a lot of cheap landlords out there because he says it will take three days."
"Oh crap. Maybe I could put up a piece of plywood." That idea sounded silly the second it left my mouth. "Or maybe I should go out and get a really big dog."
"No. You can stay here. Or I can rent you a hotel room, anywhere you want. The Ritz?"
"No, that's not necessary. I think I'll be perfectly safe in my apartment. I could sleep with one eye open." I pushed an eye wide open with my fingers.
Eve's text popped through next. Dueling texts, it seemed.
"Nope. It's settled. You'll stay here and you'll sleep in the bed. I'll put on clean sheets tonight."
I opened my mouth to protest, but he lifted his hand. It was massive. "I won't take no this time, Jane. Please. Help me to get over this fiasco with some of my dignity left."
"Would you please stop. You did a brave thing. You had no idea what was happening behind my door. The attacker might have had a gun."
"Except that the attacker was invisible."
"Aidan," I said firmly, "give yourself credit for doing the right thing. Most people would have scurried into their apartments and turned up the volume on the television just to drown out my pleas for help. Besides, you made me laugh again, and after a few rough weeks, I needed it."
He was polite enough not to ask me to elaborate, and I was glad. Brock was a subject I liked to avoid.
Aidan's phone buzzed, and my eyes darted toward it again. "So, I guess the search results on Google weren't exaggerating."
Aidan looked confused. I motioned with my head toward his phone and he seemed to understand my comment. He had the decency to look slightly ashamed.
"Yeah, I guess there are a few stories and pictures out there about the owners of Plaything. A lot of them are true. Trey, Chase, Zane and I grew up with barely enough money to keep us in shoes. We all struggled a long time before we started the company. Sudden wealth and success sort of went to our heads, and we might have gone a little wild. Of course, wild was sort of my thing anyhow. I didn't have much supervision growing up. I was basically left to do whatever the heck I wanted. Which I did. Sometimes I'm amazed that I lived to adulthood. Not trying to make excuses for those Google stories, but that's where it stands. My three partners are all in steady relationships now. I'm the only one left to carry on the playboy reputation."
"And I'll bet you do it proud. At least with the way your phone is lit up with texts from women."
He spun the phone toward him. "Eve works in the warehouse, but Cindy . . . well, anyhow, I think the eggs are done. What about you? Anyone special? Did you grow up in the city?" He turned back to the stove.
"No one special. At least not anymore and in retrospect he was never actually special. I moved to the city to be close to the movie studios and acting auditions. I grew up in the Midwest, which is where my parents still live. I grew up with shoes on my feet, but they were always second hand from my older cousin. I, unfortunately, haven't found that success highway yet. One day. Hopefully."
"It'll happen." He placed the plate in front of me.
I took the first bite of eggs. "Hmm, these are delicious. You can cook. Never would have guessed it."
"You learn fast when you're growing an inch a week and you're on your own a lot. I don't cook much more than eggs though. There were always chickens in the yard at home, so it was the one food I could count on." There was no edge of sadness or self-pity in his tone. He said it as if growing up without parents giving a darn was a fact of life. I was sure I saw a spark of pride in his eyes as if his self-dependence had been a badge of honor, something that had made him the man he was today.
Aidan looked at his phone again. "I should hurry. I've got a big delivery coming at seven." He hopped up and opened one of the kitchen drawers. He dropped a key on the counter. "Here's a spare key for my apartment. Study here. In fact, just bring over what you need to shower and get ready for work. You'll have the place to yourself. It'll make my workday go a lot easier if I know you're not sitting in that door-less apartment armed with only a book as a shield."
I laughed. "I suppose I should have taken those self-defense classes they were offering at the community center. Thank you. I will do that. And to show my appreciation, I will fix you dinner." My gaze shot toward his phone. "Unless of course you have plans?"
"No plans." He got up and placed his plate in the sink. "Then it's settled. I'll see you tonight."
Chapter Ten
Aidan
“Let me get this straight," Zane said as he picked up a slice of pizza. "You heard her pleading for help, but you didn't knock or call out her name. You just bulldozed the door. Fucking classic." He took a bite and fought a long string of cheese that kept his mouth tethered to the pizza.
"See, I knew I was going to regret telling this story the second it left my mouth."
Chase reached for another slice. "C'mon, buddy, you should never worry about telling embarrassing stories when you're with friends."
I wadded up my napkin and tossed it on my plate. "You're right. I should go find some friends right now."
Trey tossed some parmesan on his slice, and I knew he wouldn't be happy until he put his two cents into the mix. "Zane brings up a good point. Why the hell didn't you knock or yell her name?"
"I told you I thought she was being strangled. She's a good actress. And she's cute," I added unnecessarily.
"And now, she's conveniently inside your apartment," Zane added. "Well played, my giant wrecking ball of a friend. Diane was telling me that new honey milk massage oil is awesome. You should take a bottle home tonight." Zane winked. "Give her a little five star treatment."
"Considering I haven't kissed her, or, for that matter, done anything more than gawk at her breasts displayed nicely under a t-shirt, I think the massage oil might be a bit of a jump. Especially after I scared her off with dildos on our first dinner date." I sat back. "Jane's different. I don't know the details, but I think she just came out of a bad relationship. I'm going to have to move slowly, if at all. I'm not even sure if she's interested. I did, after all, destroy her front door." I shook my head and rubbed my face. "I feel like such a fucking dimwit. But she was cool about it. She could have made a huge stink and screamed and cried and told me she was going to call the supervisor and get me evicted."
Trey sucked hard on his mostly empty soda. "That's what I would have done if I saw you lumbering through my door."
"Yeah, that's because you're a sensitive flower. Jane handled it all with grace and humor, and that's why I'm determined to woo her."
The word woo caused Chase to spit out his mouthful of soda. I flipped the top closed before he destroyed the rest of the pizza.
"Damn, you're fast when you're protecting food, Swift." Zane laughed. "Guess that's why your name is Swift."
Chase had recovered from his soda spit. "Did you all catch the big news of the day? Our giant boy is interested in wooing a woman. Looks like the biggest tree in the forest is about to fall."
"Sounds that way," Trey said.
"Just because you three saps follow your women around like lovesick puppies doesn't mean I'm following suit. Someone's got to keep the reputation going. And like I said, I don't know if she's even interested in me."
"But you're so fucking irresistible." Zane reached over to pinch my cheek, but I blocked him with my forearm.
"Someone's feeling extra invincible today," I said to Zane.
He leaned back and patted his chest. "Yep. Tried out that new sex wedge last night, and I thought Raini was going to lose her fucking mind."
Trey dropped the crust of his pizza on the plate. "That explains that fucking grin that's been plastered on your face all day."
I got up from the chair. "Well, lovely lunch but I've got to head back to the warehouse and do real work while the three of you sit around here and look pretty."
"How's Heath working out?" Chase asked as I walked to the door.
"He's an England. Need I say more?"
Chase looked at Trey and Zane, who looked just as confused as him. "Yeah you kind of do."
"The women keep bringing him donuts and cookies. They are all competing for his attention."
"Ah yes, the England family curse," Chase quipped.
I opened the door. "Yep, it's pretty fucking annoying." I walked out thinking that maybe if I hung out near Heath more, then some of that curse would rub off on me.
Chapter Eleven
Jane
I tasted a sliver of the roasted chicken and silently commended myself for a job well done. It would still need a good twenty minutes to get a nice crust. Aidan told me he'd be home around six, give or take fifteen minutes depending on traffic. I put the water on for potatoes and then returned to the script I'd left on the couch.
I'd taken a break from the overly dramatic movie script and opened up the script for the Murder Mystery weekend. I only hoped that I wouldn't mix the two up and start spouting the part of Kelly, the abused, murdering, two timing woman in the movie script. The writer and director were big names, but I wasn't all that impressed with the script. I found it melodramatic and not terribly plausible. That said, I'd still kill someone to get the part. Russell was trying to remain positive, but I found it hard to believe that they'd hire a no name actress to fill the part. From what Russell had heard through the very long movie grapevine, the director had all but begged Oscar winner Katrina Blake to take the part but she’d turned it down.