by C. J. Lake
“Wait, you mean I have to go get milk now?” he said, not exactly hiding his disgruntlement.
Briana blinked at him, surprised. “You don’t have milk in your kitchen?”
“No.”
“What do you put in your coffee?”
“I don’t drink coffee.”
“Hmm. But don’t you need a morning caffeine rush?” she asked.
“Uh, that’s what soda is for,” he declared.
At that, Briana rolled her eyes and gave a disbelieving laugh. “God, seriously? You still drink soda at breakfast? That’s ridiculous.”
Unaffected, Jamie said, “See? Now do you really want to trust your plant with someone like me?”
Smiling, Briana reached up and gave him a quick hug, careful not to squish the plant, then said, “Yes. I do.”
“Damn,” he muttered.
“I’ve got to go. The cab’s still outside, waiting.” Before she raced out, his sister paused at his door and said, “Jamie, I knew I could count on you!”
~
Later, Jamie was at Tray’s apartment, playing the new Death Call Asylum game with his friends. By the third beer, Jamie and Matt were out—while Pellican and Tray were still battling the videogame and each other.
“So, Bardo, what happened before?” Pellican asked, leaning back on the couch while he waited for his next turn. “Did you have that guy towed?”
“Girl,” Jamie corrected. “I told you it was a chick car.”
“How do you know?”
“She came up to me while I was leaving a note.”
“Yeah? What did she look like?” Pellican asked.
“Well, from across the street, I thought she was very attractive,” Jamie began. “But up close? Not so much.”
“Oh, man. I hate it when they’re ugly up close,” Pellican sympathized.
“No, I didn’t mean that,” Jamie said. “She’s definitely a good-looking girl. And she’s got some nice bootylicious action, too…” he added, thinking out loud. “But she’s got an attitude.”
Pellican snorted at that. “The hot ones usually do. Where have you been?”
“Nah, it totally killed the mood for me,” Jamie said.
“Fuck!” Tray shouted as he lost another life. “Shit!” He tossed his controller aside with an angry-sounding sigh, before joining the conversation. “Andy doesn’t have an attitude,” he pointed out. “And she’s hot.”
Glibly, Jamie asked, “Hey, does bragging about your love life make you feel better about how badly this game is going for you, bro?”
“Yes,” Tray admitted with a gruff laugh. “It does. Prick.”
Matt chuckled as he rose to his feet and headed toward the kitchen. “Get me a water, bro?” Jamie called.
Matt nodded and returned a few seconds later with two water bottles. He tossed one to Jamie, then unscrewed the cap on his own. “So she got annoyed about the parking,” Matt said, speaking up as the mature voice of reason. “It happens. I wouldn’t write her off just yet,” he said.
“Man, you should’ve heard her,” Jamie muttered, recalling their interaction. “That’s a mountain in Antarctica,” he said, imitating Sky’s prissy tone. “Why am I supposed to know that?” he asked, looking to all his friends on this one. “Seriously—do I look Antarctican?”
“How should I know?” Tray said with a laugh.
“Good point,” Jamie conceded. “We’re not very worldly, are we?”
As he took a seat in the armchair across from them, Matt offered a casual shrug and said, “Look, women can be prickly sometimes. You just need to know how to finesse the situation.”
“Too much work!” Pellican interjected, his eyes still glued to the screen as he played.
Curiously, Jamie asked, “Did Emma have an attitude when you first met her?”
Matt thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t say attitude, but…she wasn’t easy, I can tell you that.”
Setting his water bottle down on the coffee table, Jamie declared, “Well, these days I’m all about easy chicks.”
“Yes,” Pellican agreed, nodding heartily, “I’m feeling that!”
“No, wait,” Jamie backtracked with a laugh, realizing what he’d said. “You know what I mean. Low-maintenance, sane chicks I can have fun with—that’s all I meant.”
Pellican grimaced and said, “I liked the first way you said it better.”
Chapter Five
A couple of days later, Sky was trying, futilely, to concentrate on Elle’s manuscript, amidst thudding booms coming from upstairs. She had spent enough time in gyms over the years to know the sound of dropping weights. Figuring that the people upstairs, whoever they were, were on a new fitness kick, she tried to ignore it. But after fifteen straight minutes of metallic thuds on her ceiling, she let out a frustrated sigh and pushed away from the kitchen table.
It seemed awkward to introduce herself to her upstairs neighbors with a complaint about the noise they were making, but so be it. She and Elle hardly ever interacted with the other residents; it just wasn’t that sort of building. The whole vibe of this Back Bay neighborhood was somewhat mature, with people living and working quietly, keeping to themselves. Never once had Sky heard a loud party going on or police sirens right outside the building.
Now she took the stairwell to the right of her apartment and hopped the steps up to the fifth floor. On the one hand, she was annoyed that she even had to come up here and tell her neighbors how loud and inconsiderate they were being. On the other, she knew she had to check the attitude if she was going to get what she wanted. After all, her upstairs neighbor wasn’t violating the building’s “quiet hours” so technically he or she had the right to make noise and didn’t have to cooperate with Sky at all.
Steeling her nerves, she vowed to be charming and knocked on the door. When it swung open, she nearly gasped. Suddenly “charming” didn’t seem like a realistic option—in fact, it was safe to say, that ship had sailed.
“Oh,” the new guy, Jamie, said, appearing stunned to see her. “Hey…it’s you.”
Sky’s mouth curved open, but no words came out. For a moment, she froze. She was stunned for a couple of reasons—the foremost one being that Jamie had no shirt on. She definitely didn’t want to look, but somehow her eyes had a will of their own and she found herself checking him out. He had a smooth, carved chest and a flat stomach. Like every guy with a truly sexy physique, he made it look effortless.
He didn’t rush to grab a shirt when he saw it was her. He was nonchalant about it, and seemed to think nothing of opening his door wearing only sweatpants. But then, why would he thinking anything? He’d just been working out, and society always had relaxed expectations for men when it came to half-nakedness.
Still…Sky felt her heart accelerate and her palms begin to sweat.
“What’s up?” he said, breaking her trance.
Oh, that was right. The other reason she was momentarily stunned speechless: it was him. The same guy she’d been rude to a few days earlier, the same guy she’d practically stormed away from--and this was the guy she was going to ask for a favor? Of all the luck! Obviously he wasn’t going to want to help her out after she’d snubbed him the other day.
Forget it, she told herself. Abort mission. “Uh, never mind,” Sky said quickly and turned to go. Her heart beating even faster as she began walking back to the stairwell.
“What…?” she heard Jamie say, sounding confused, even put-out. When she glanced back, he leaned out his doorway, calling after her, “Really?”
She hesitated, her hand on the stairwell doorknob, realizing how she was bungling this beyond belief. Why did she feel so self-conscious all of a sudden? Seriously she was being ridiculous. Inhaling a breath, she retraced her steps to his door. As she approached, he said, “You know if you are going to do the whole ring-the-doorbell-and-run thing, you really should leave before the person comes to the door.”
Sky took another breath, directly met his gaze and said, “Sorry, loo
k. I wanted to ask you something, but I didn’t know that you were the one who lived here.”
He leaned against the door jamb, waiting. She forced her eyes not to coast down his body again. Of course she had seen plenty of nice physiques in her travels, having spent her teen years and beyond around athletes and adrenaline junkies, but that being said…
She was still struck when a particularly appealing male body crossed her line of vision—one that specifically attracted her, the way that Jamie’s did.
“So ask,” he said, his tone neutral.
Sky cleared her throat, then spoke plainly. “I wondered if you could quiet down a little. I’m right below you.” She almost said “beneath you,” but stopped herself, because the words sounded too sexual all of a sudden.
“Oh,” Jamie said, clearly not expecting that. “Sorry. I was working out.”
“I know,” Sky said. When he raised his eyebrows, she explained, “I could tell. I know the sound of weights dropping on the floor.”
He nodded and apologized again. She had to admit he seemed surprisingly agreeable. “I’ll be more gentle,” he added—and for some reason, that sounded sexual to her, too.
Again, she cleared her throat and ignored her quickening pulse.
Then she noticed a weight bench behind him, sitting smack in the middle of his living room. So obviously a bachelor, she thought. No live-in girlfriend would put up with that interior decorating idea! “You know, there’s a fitness center on the first floor,” Sky blurted.
Jamie gave her a cynical look. “I think ‘center’ is being pretty complimentary,” he said.
“Well, there is a weight bench down there,” she maintained.
“There’s one here, too. But this one is in front of a 46-inch TV. Which would you choose?”
“I don’t watch TV when I work out,” Sky told him.
“What!” Jamie burst, eyes widening behind his glasses. “For real?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. Next you’re going to tell me that you don’t watch TV while you eat dinner, either.”
“No. I don’t,” Sky said—which was a fib. But she was afraid admitting that she ate in front of the TV more often than not made her sound like a couch potato.
Now Jamie looked visibly stunned. Finally, he shook his head and put his hands up. “I have no words for that.”
A little laugh slipped from her lips. Maybe she should admit that she wasn’t Miss Perfect, the way she was kind of making it sound…but she didn’t. Instead, she focused on her original purpose when she’d come up here—pushing away all thoughts of Jamie’s chest and arms, because they were irrelevant and extremely distracting right now. “Anyway…” Sky said, inching back from his door a bit, “if you could just not slam the weights down so hard, I’d appreciate it. The floors and ceilings here are really thin.”
He raised an eyebrow at that. “Sky—that’s not a comforting statement,” Jamie said, and she smiled again.
“Um, I’m sure they’re up to code, if that helps,” she added brightly.
“Uh-huh,” Jamie mumbled doubtfully, then grinned at her. “But…yes. No worries. I’ll be quieter.”
“Thanks.”
Sky was about to give a quick wave and go, but basic decency compelled her to say one more thing. “Listen, I’m sorry about the other day. I had a really bad…day,” she said, even though bad year was more accurate. “I took it out on you.”
“No worries,” Jamie assured her easily. “It wasn’t that serious. Let’s start over. I’m Jamie Bardo,” he said, extending his hand.
As she took it, she introduced herself. “Sky Dirente.”
Jamie had a warm, firm handshake; something about it felt comforting and safe. In fact, Sky was kind of sorry when their hands broke contact.
“Dirente—is that Italian?” he asked.
“Yes. Don’t say it explains my temper.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good—because if you did, I’d go ballistic,” she joked.
Jamie chuckled, then motioned to the stack of papers tucked under her arm. “Are you a student or something?”
Elle’s manuscript! She’d forgotten she was still holding it. “No, I graduated school last year. This is just something for my roommate. She wants to write a book.”
“Oh, about what?”
“Herbs and leaves.”
“Huh,” Jamie said with a nod. “So, it’s one of those psychological thrillers.”
“Pretty much,” Sky said, matching his sarcasm.
“I could totally see that as a movie,” he added.
Half-grinning, she squinted at him. “I can’t tell when you’re kidding.”
“Well, get to know me better,” Jamie said with a playful smile, “and then you will.”
Chapter Six
Jamie didn’t see Sky again until a few nights later.
“This place is cool,” Pellican remarked as he entered Grendel’s, a bar diagonally across the street from Jamie’s apartment building.
“Yeah, I discovered it yesterday,” Jamie said as both men took a seat at the bar. “They have really good food. The only downside is—”
“Man, that screen is small,” Pellican observed before Jamie got the chance to say it. Looking disappointingly at the one television, perched above the bar, Pellican said, “How are we going to watch the game on that?” Jamie decided to treat the question as rhetorical and ordered a beer as soon as the bartender approached. “Is Tray coming?” Pellican asked after he ordered a beer, too.
“No. He just texted me; he won’t be able to make it. Andy’s class ran late tonight so she needs a ride home.”
“What about Winter?”
“He’s at Emma’s,” Jamie said.
“There’s a surprise,” Pellican remarked sarcastically, because lately Matt was always at Emma’s.
Jamie clapped him on the back and said, “Good, now why don’t you channel some of that bitterness into meeting a girl tonight?”
When Pellican glared at him, Jamie chuckled and looked idly around the bar. That was when he saw her.
Sky Dirente was walking through the door. Her silky dark hair was flowing over her shoulders. Her expression was a bit uncertain as she roved her big dark eyes around the bar—and her gaze caught Jamie’s. She hesitated only a fraction of a second before giving him a smile and coming closer.
“Hey, Sky,” Jamie said with a warm smile as she approached his seat at the bar. “You here alone?”
“Um, yes…” she said, sounding hesitant.
“You can hang with us if you want,” Jamie offered. “This is my friend, Dan,” he added.
“Hi,” Pellican said.
“Hey, nice to meet you,” Sky replied, then looked at Jamie again. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m meeting someone. I’m supposed to meet him here at the bar.”
Although the restaurant part of Grendel’s, which was set farther back, wasn’t crowded, the bar was packed—except for the two seats to Jamie’s right. So he glanced down at the bar stool next to his; it was a silent suggestion for Sky to sit there and she did. “Want a drink while you wait?” Jamie offered, motioning for the bartender.
“Okay,” Sky said, glancing over her shoulder almost shyly. She seemed slightly nervous. Either she was meeting a guy she was really into—which, for some reason, Jamie found an irritating thought—or this was a blind date.
“Excuse me, are you Sky?” a male voice said from behind.
Both Sky and Jamie turned. A tall, lanky guy was looking at her with a toothy grin. Automatically, Jamie sized him up, unimpressed. The guy oozed over-eagerness. Surely Sky wouldn’t go for him…would she?
“Hi…” she said, smiling and reaching out to shake his hand. “Tom?”
“Please—call me Thomas,” he corrected, as he climbed into the seat next to her.
Now Sky was sandwiched between Jamie and her date. Jamie couldn’t help thinking that first dates were always pretty cringe-worthy to witness, and Sky
must have had some similar sense of awareness, because she quickly said: “Let’s get a table.”
“No way!” Thomas said, jovially rebuffing the notion. “I never get to sit at a bar anymore. I’m usually stuck at my huge desk—in my big, lonely office—or in meetings all day. When I go to restaurants, it’s always with clients, so we get the most private, exclusive tables. When do I get a chance just to roll my sleeves up and grab a drink at the bar?” he finished, affecting a down-to-earth tone at the very end.
“It’s just so crowded up here,” Sky said. “It’s, um, hard to hear,” she clearly improvised.
Jamie kept his eyes on the television screen, as though he weren’t aware of her beside him, but…damn, he couldn’t help it. He was aware of her. Not only could he tell that she felt self-conscious having her neighbor within earshot of her blind date—which, let’s face it, was destined to be filled with awkward getting-to-know-you conversation—but also, she smelled good. It was impossible not to be aware of her.
“Sorry, I’ll speak up!” Thomas shouted, definitely missing the point.
Abruptly, Jamie tapped Pellican on the shoulder and said, “Hey, want to grab a table?” If Thomas wouldn’t appease Sky, then Jamie would. Hell, he didn’t particularly want to sit right next to the two of them, either.
“Huh?” Pellican said distractedly watching the game and then the words registered. “Get a table? No way, we’re right in front of the TV. Why would I want to go all the way back there?” he said, jerking his thumb toward the dining area.
“I’m hungry,” Jamie said. “I want to order food.”
“So call a waitress over,” Pellican said, still watching the game. Then: “Are you kidding! What the hell kind of pass was that?!” he shouted at the television.
“Look, I need room,” Jamie lied. “I, uh, like to spread my arms out.”
That earned him a what-the-fuck? look from Pellican, who sounded genuinely confused when he said, “Dude, what the hell are you talking about?” Just then half the bar erupted into a cheer and Pellican said, “Damn, I missed it!” and whipped his head back toward the screen.