Always Mine: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance

by Lauren Wood

  So I sighed to myself and left the apartment. I wasn’t going to get any work done until around five when the loud man upstairs went to work or wherever it was that he was going.

  I almost ran into a woman that was going into the building.

  “Sorry about that.” It wasn’t my fault, but it just seemed easier than arguing with her. Moving out of her way, I almost wanted to ask her a question about the man she was going to visit, but I didn’t have the guts to do such a thing. What I really wanted to know was what in the world he did all day, but that wasn’t something I could ask.

  “Does Carlos live here?”

  Her voice overturned the one in my head that had been musing about what it was he did all day. When I turned back around, she was looking at my door and then to the stairs that led to Carlos’.

  “I think the guy that you are looking for lives upstairs.”

  The redhead smiled and thanked me before making her way up there. She was certainly in a good mood to be seeing him. All I could think about was the noises that came from his apartment when he had women over. It was enough to make me blush.

  Putting the Ipod ear buds on, I started down the street in a slow jog. I had already gone earlier that day, but I needed some fresh air and time away from the loud music and soon to be moaning that would be coming from the neighbor’s house. It had only been a week and I was already debating how plausible it would be to find somewhere else to live. I would lose all of my deposits, but that might be better than losing my sanity.

  Stopping at the crosswalk, I was surprised to see Joel coming out of a restaurant. He spotted me and waved, crossing the street to say hello. I didn’t really know him all that well, but since I knew almost everyone less, I talked to him for a few minutes and eventually invited him over for dinner. It was supposed to be to thank him for helping me move in, but if I was honest it was more about some kind of buffer for the neighbor. Maybe I could have Joel talk to him. I seem to remember him telling me that they were related.

  “I have to stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things. I’ll have dinner ready around seven or so if you aren’t busy.”

  “Eve, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  I smiled back at him and I couldn’t help the draw of his dark eyes. He looked a lot like the man that lived upstairs, even though I had only seen him from the distance a couple of times. I could tell that there was a resemblance.

  After telling him goodbye, I did as I was planning to do and picked up a few things for dinner. It was something that I missed, having someone to cook for. I didn’t see Joel as a potential mate, but I did look at him like he could be a friend, something I needed far more.

  When I got home, the music was loud and the moaning was louder. I looked over at the clock and saw that I only had another hour of the racket before he would have to leave for the night. It was my favorite time of the day and I couldn’t wait for the time to change so that he would leave. Then I would be able to hear myself think again and possibly get some work done.

  ***

  “Sorry I am a little late.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I was just getting some work done. It’s hard to do when it is usually so loud, so I try to squeeze it in when it is quiet like this. Come in.”

  “I take it that Carlos is a bit louder than you had thought.”

  I pressed my lips together, not really sure what I was supposed to say. I didn’t want Joel to say anything to him, but in a way I did.

  “I’m just not used to living so close to everyone. I think my last neighbor was almost a block away in my hometown.”

  “The city is a lot different. I don’t know if I would like the slow pace of a small town, though I didn’t know that there were girls like you there. Maybe I would have moved a long time ago.”

  He made me blush and it was the first time I realized that he was attracted to me in that way. Joel had been nice and for some reason I hadn’t looked at him in that way. He wasn’t my type, if I had one.

  “I am sure there are plenty of small town girls here in the city to choose from.”

  “None like you.”

  My face was red, I could feel the heat, but I didn’t want to give him any ideas. I wasn’t after all looking, but I didn’t know what to say to let him down easily. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I just kind of laughed it off.

  “How do you like the city so far?”

  My mind went to my crazy neighbor and I once again just kind of shook my head, not saying anything one way or another. It was clear to me then that I was just going to have to keep that to myself.

  “It’s been okay. It just takes a little getting used to.”

  “Has Carlos came down and introduced himself to you yet?”

  I shook my head that he hadn’t and Joel didn’t look so surprised about it. It was easy to see that he knew exactly what kind of guy his cousin was. I was already pretty sure I knew what kind of guy he was and I had only met him in passing from a distance.

  “Carlos is just hard to get to know. Once you know him, he has a heart of gold, but he can be a little aloof at times. I was hoping that the two of you would hit it off.”

  There was nothing to say and I just kind of smiled back at him. I saw my mistake rather quickly when his eyes had darkened and he as looking at me in such a way. I realized then that it wasn’t the best idea to invite him over. Not now that I knew what he wanted from me.

  “Well you are nothing like him, I can see that. You are a good man Joel.”

  “We are cousins, but not too much alike after that. I always looked up to Carlos, but we never agreed on how to treat women.” He looked away like he had said too much. “So how is your writing going?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t getting near enough done because of the noise upstairs. “It’s going. I am just used to more quiet. It can get loud around here at night and early in the morning.”

  “I bet. You can always come by and write at my house if you want. I stay upstairs sometimes, but even I need a break from all of that. Carlos just has a certain kind of lifestyle that is fun, but exhausting if you are not used to it.”

  My mind went to the moaning that I heard almost always on a daily basis. It did sound exhausting.

  “What?”

  My smile faded and I told him that I was just thinking about something. I wasn’t going to tell him what, but Joel didn’t push and I was thankful for that. The rest of the evening I tried to keep my mouth shut on his cousin and keep him from thinking that this was a date. It was just dinner. It was just a dinner between friends.

  The differences between the two men were stark and I was glad that I had gotten to know Joel. It didn’t help me understand his cousin any better, but it did make me feel a little less lonely in a city of strangers.

  Chapter 3

  Carlos

  The pounding on the door had just started, but it was messing up my rhythm that I was already struggling to keep. Cassie was underneath me, screaming as she always did over the music blaring, but none of that was loud enough to drown out the hard knocks that I heard at the door. I couldn’t concentrate and after yelling at whoever it was to go away, there was a moment of silence that made me think that they had gone away.

  When it started up again after a few moments, I cursed and got up, not even bothering to cover myself with more than the sheet that had fallen off of the bed.

  Cursing to anyone that would listen, I told whoever it was that there better be a good damn reason that they were disturbing me. It was almost three in the morning and the last thing I wanted was someone there to visit.

  “What?”

  I opened the door quickly with a hard jerk and it made the person on the other side almost jump out of her skin. I hadn’t ever seen her before up close and all of the anger left me when I stared into her bright blue eyes. Eve’s face was alarmed and I could see her taking a step back from where she had knocked from. I was making her nervous and I didn’t like the reactio
n I got from her.

  “Um, sorry, I…”

  “Sorry I was so short. Can I help you with something?”

  I leaned against the edge of the door on the frame and took in the small woman in front of me. She was petite, but curved in all of the right places. It was hard to not to smile in a suggestive way. It didn’t matter that I already had a girl in my bed. I would have easily traded her out right then if I could have.

  “Yes Sir, I uh, live downstairs.”

  My demeanor changed because it finally clicked. It was the blonde that I had seen from the balcony and I realized then that she was something special like Joel had said. How could I have not seen it? This woman was living beneath me the whole time and I never even knew it. She was absolutely beautiful and the way her eyes kept leaving mine to look down like she was bashful just made her even more so.

  “Yes, I was meaning to come down there and say hello. Been busy though.”

  It was then that I saw how stiff her expression was. She was not looking up at me with coy eyes. She was tired and upset by the looks of it and I knew that it was because of me.

  “I can tell you are busy Sir and I won’t keep you long.”

  Her voice was loud because of the music and I told her that I would shut it off so that I could hear her better. When I got back, she was avoiding my gaze and asked her what was wrong.

  “You are out.”

  “Out?”

  Covering her eyes a little, she pointed down and I saw that it was part of my body that was out, having slipped between the tan sheet that I had pulled around me to answer the door.

  “Do you like what you see?” I said it as a joke with a grin on my face, but Eve didn’t take it that way. Instead she was blushing and stepping back.

  “No Sir, not particularly. I just need some sleep, so can you put a muzzle on your girlfriend for the night or at least hurry up? I am tired from just listening to you.”

  The change in her mood was quick and I didn’t get to say anything else as she was already turning to leave and go back down the stairs. My first inclination was to yell something back to her, something derogatory, but I was transfixed by her small waist and round behind. I just watched her walk away silently and didn’t say a word. I was still asking myself what had just happened. Did that sweet little woman upstairs just tell me to muzzle my bitch? It wasn’t her words, but it had the same meaning. I don’t know why the thought had me smiling, but it did.

  “Carlos? Are you coming back to bed?”

  She didn’t even ask who it was. Cassie was just worried about if I was going to come back to finish her off. Cassie knew not to ask questions and I liked that about her. I called back that I would be there in a minute, but I found myself not as eager as I had been about it. I wanted Eve in my bed all of a sudden, my cousin and his sensitive heart be damned. The new neighbor was my kind of woman, even though I was starting to get the feeling that I was not her type of man.

  ***

  I knocked on the door and pushed the brown hair back from my face, trying to calm it down from where it was springing up from rolling around the night before. I wasn’t sure what I was doing there, but I knew that I wanted to see Eve again. I had a coffee in my hand that I had retrieved from the coffee shop down the road. I was looking at it as a peace offering.

  “Hello?”

  The door didn’t open, but I could hear her voice on the other side of it. I had a feeling that she was looking at me through the peephole and part of me wasn’t sure what to think. Why wasn’t she answering the door?

  “I thought I would bring you some coffee, my way of apologizing for last night. I hope we didn’t bother you too much.”

  The door still didn’t open and I was starting to think that it wasn’t going to. After another long pause I heard a couple of locks move over and she cracked the door open finally. “You didn’t have to bring me anything.”

  “Just muzzle her next time huh?”

  The red in her face was back and she opened the door a little wider. “I’m sorry I said that. I just haven’t been getting a lot of sleep is all and I just popped off at the mouth. You didn’t have to come by here Carlos.”

  I insisted that she take the coffee and she refused, telling me that she didn’t drink coffee that late in the day. “It’s only noon.”

  “I’ve been up working since five. It is about the only time I can while you are here and it actually quiet around here for a little while.”

  “Is it really that bad?”

  I don’t know why I expected any other answer but the one that I got. “Yes it is. I am looking into moving because our lifestyles are just not compatible together. I don’t think it would be wise to stay living in the building, but I thank you for the apology. I hope you have a good day and I am once again, sorry that I was so rude with you last night.”

  The door closed and I was left standing there holding two coffees like an idiot. I don’t know what I expected from her, but it wasn’t what I got. Instead I had been dismissed like I was a child and I now had an extra coffee that I wasn’t going to drink. I didn’t like it to begin with, but I didn’t think my normal shot in the morning was going to do well to share with a woman like her.

  Getting back up to my apartment, I silently the girl downstairs that was taking up too much of my attention and mind. I wasn’t used to caring and I could tell that I still didn’t really care for the sentiment. I didn’t like having to care and I certainly didn’t like it if I was going to have to live next to her, not able to get into her panties. That was all I could think about when she came by last night and it was the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning. I didn’t need this in my life.

  Now, I was left to call Cassie if I wanted something and when I thought about it, I didn’t find myself too enthused to see her. While I should have been, I just wasn’t. What I wanted I couldn’t have, so instead I turned up the music and tried to forget her. I didn’t even think about going down to the bar and picking up someone new. It was only Eve that had me going.

  There was no noise from downstairs and I had to wonder what she was doing. It seemed to me that a woman like Eve would come around eventually. I had never met someone that I couldn’t have and I was sure she was no different. The only thing that could stop me was her moving and I had to make sure that it didn’t happen. I could be quiet if I wanted to be…

  I looked over at the radio and felt the floor underneath me moving. I was already being too loud, but I hadn’t thought about it that way. I had always been a little loud, but now I was starting to realize how much. Going to the stereo, I turned it way down and sighed deeply. I wasn’t doing this because she asked. I was just doing it to get on the right side of her. That was all this was, just until I convinced her to give me a chance and then I would run with it. I’m sure as soon as I have her the way I want her, I will be able to get her off my mind once and for all.

  Chapter 4

  Eve

  The music stopped upstairs after Carlos left. I was sure that it was going to be louder and he would be worse than before, but it seemed like he was actually going to be better. I could have handled talking to him a little nicer, but it was hard to. All I could think about was how he had looked the night before when he had opened the door to me. I had not been expecting the hard chest and hard rod that was practically bursting from underneath a very thin sheet around his waist. It was something that I wasn’t prepared for and talking to him after seeing him in such a way was not how I was going to be able to look at him straight.

  Now it was becoming a problem. Before I couldn’t write because I was too tired and everything was too loud, but now things were different. Now I couldn’t work because I was thinking about Carlos and I couldn’t help but think about how long it had been since I was with a man in that way. My last boyfriend was my only boyfriend and he didn’t look anything like Carlos with his clothes off. If he had, maybe we would still be together, but Tony never looked like that. He had been u
pset when I left, but now I was starting to see that there were a lot of things that I never knew about, things that were now making me wonder.

  Sighing to myself, I knew there was nothing that I could really do, but leave the apartment. I couldn’t work and I was starting to get a little cabin fever. A run was just what I needed and before it got too much later and hotter, I was going to get a run in. I was hoping that it was just what I needed to get the man off of my mind. He was off limits after all. A man like that would be dangerous to a girl like me, to any girl really.

  I left the apartment and did my best not to look up at the balcony of Carlos’ apartment. There was part of me that wanted to, to see if he was up and smoking a cigarette like I saw him doing some days. But I didn’t look. I was trying hard to be good and ignore the temptation that was right above me.

  The pace that I started was faster than usual. I had too much energy to get out of my body and all I could think about was the hard abs that I had seen the day before. It was hard to think of anything else and I found myself on the wrong side of the road, going the wrong direction. Where was my mind at today? I was never going to get any work done this way. I knew what I needed, but there was no clear answer on how to get it.

  Passing up the coffee shop that I had seen Joel in, it gave me an idea of how I could get my mind off of everything. I knew that Joel liked me in a way that I wasn’t sure I liked him, but he was nice and didn’t push. He was also one of the only people out of work that I knew in the city and I was starting to feel lonely. The knowledge that I wasn’t going to see my friends at home for months was hard to fathom. It was rather lonely in the city that didn’t sleep.

  Calling Joel when I got back to the apartment, I asked if he wanted to go out and do anything that evening. I was sure that I knew how it sounded, but I was hoping that he would take it as a friendly invitation. That was what I was hoping for anyways.