by Tijan
“You’re a new partner?”
He nodded. “Two months. It paid to be there all the time.” Pride filled his voice. “How about you? What do you do?”
“Uh…” I looked at the table, for just a moment. “I’m a freelance writer. I used to do a column.”
“Used to?”
“I’ve taken some time off.”
“Breaks are good.” He lightened his tone, glancing around and frowning at the pool. “I’ve been in New York for work the last few weeks, and I’ve neglected working out.” His gaze swung back to mine. His eyes narrowed. “I’m surprised I haven’t run into you before now. When’d you move in?”
“Five weeks ago.”
His head bobbed up and down. “Oh yeah, and I’m sure you were probably busying unpacking and everything.”
I nodded, gesturing out the door to the gym on the other side of the hallway. “I saw another woman in there a few times.”
His grin widened. “Let me guess, she took off as soon as you walked in? And kept doing it, making you think you have a disease or something?”
“She did that to you, too?”
“Oh, yeah.” He rolled his eyes and began drumming his fingers on the table. “That’s Dawn, but that’s just how she is. She has to warm up to people. Gotta say, this place is perfect for her. Not many residents here. It’s exclusive, safe, and she’s protected. The first couple months I was here, that’s how she was. Then it switched. She started smiling, talking, and now we’ve hung out a couple times. There are a few of us who do dinners together. Dawn’s hosting the next one. I can ask her if you can come, but I’d be surprised if she okayed that. I’m doing the one after that. You should come to that one for sure. It’s next month. I’ve got a mean slow cooker, just to let you know.” He blew on his knuckles. “I’m known around these parts as Chef Slow Pot.”
A laugh burst out of me. “Thank you for that, Chef Slow Pot.”
“Mmm-hmmm. Ninja skills in the kitchen. I’m telling you.” He winked. “But seriously, don’t worry about Dawn. She’ll warm up to you, and you’ll find her buzzing your door with coffee every morning.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “She does that for you, huh?”
“No. She’ll do that for you.” He gestured to my empty cup on the table between us. “She tends to show up with wine at my place, when I’m home. Because of her thing with people, she sticks like glue to the ones she knows. I’m the wine-and-movie friend. Half the time she zonks out and sleeps on the couch.”
“You two are good friends?”
“I guess so. She’s fun. Wicked obsessed with The Walking Dead.” He leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “I know Dawn and I are single. How about you? There’s a couple on the fifth floor, and the only other resident I’ve met is Derek. He’s an IT guy, so if you’ve got computer problems, he’s below me on the sixth floor.”
“What floor is Dawn?”
“Second. I don’t know who’s on the fourth floor.” He pointed to the ceiling. “And the big boss, too. I’ve not met him.”
My mind was spinning, doing the math. “So there’s you on seven, IT guy on six, a couple on five, four is a question mark, I’m three, and Dawn’s on two. Who’s the big boss? He’s not on four?”
“No way. I’m sorry. I meant the owner. He’s got the top three floors in here.”
There were those three black buttons in the elevator. “Who’s the owner?”
“Who knows.” His shoulders lifted and dropped back down. He pushed his chair up to rest on the back two legs. He kept hold of the table. “That’s the big mystery. No one knows who owns the place. We all go through Dorian for everything.”
“Why the secrecy?”
He shook his head again. “You got me. I know Dawn’s obsessed with figuring it out. She’s a hermit in terms of the outside world, but she tries to stake out the elevator. Dorian or Kenneth always kicks her out. Technically, we can do whatever we want around here. That’s their whole motto—that this building is our home—but you noticed there’s nothing in the lobby, right?”
“I did. Yeah.”
“That’s because of Dawn. There used to be a couple couches down there, but she took them up as her favorite knitting spot. She’d sit there for an entire day and all night a couple times, knitting her blankets and listening to books on tape. I thought it was hilarious. She texted me to bring her food and relieve her so she could go to the bathroom.”
“And during that, still no sign of him?”
“Nope. Not a glimpse. I don’t think he’s here that often, if it is a he. Who knows. Maybe it’s a woman. I think he or she—” He winked at me. “—was here last month sometime. The shipping elevators were shut down.”
“When you weren’t here?”
“Dawn told me. She orders stuff a lot. She had a table coming that day and was super steamed because Dorian made her move the arrival date back. I was on the phone with her for three hours.”
“Sounds entertaining.”
He glanced back over his shoulder, eyeing the pool again. “I suppose.” A deep sigh. “I have to meet clients tonight. I should get to my workout.” He stood up, pushing his chair back in place. “It was nice to meet you, Addison.”
“You, too.” My stomach dipped as he said my name, his eyes lingering on my lips. “Jake.”
“Yes. Jake. That’s my name.” He pointed to me, winking again. “Keep using it, and if you’re not here when I finish, I mean it about the dinner next month. I’ll drop an invite in your mailbox.”
“Sounds perfect.” Sia. “Wait.”
He turned.
“Can I bring a friend?”
The corners of his mouth turned down, but smoothed out right away. He smiled. “Of course.”
“You might regret saying that. I’ll bring my best friend. She’s…a handful, I’ll just say.”
His grin widened. “Perfect. Dawn will freak if there’s a stranger, so we’ll have a good show. She’ll come back down once you’re gone. She’s already claimed a TWD marathon that night. Anyway, sounds good. I look forward to meeting this friend of yours.”
He lingered, staring another moment before he pulled his gaze away and went to the pool. I still had more mail to open, but I checked my phone. The clock agreed with me. Grabbing my mail, I went to the front lobby. There was a back elevator, and I wasn’t sure about the special codes. I’d stood at it one day and kept hitting the button. Nothing happened. So since then, I’d always gone to the front elevator.
Pushing through the door that connected the rest of the first floor with the front lobby, I stopped abruptly when I saw Dorian talking to Ken. Both wore similar grim expressions, but when they heard the door open, welcoming smiles instantly took their place.
“Ms. Bowman.” Dorian approached, his hand stretched out toward the elevator. “May I ride up with you?”
I nodded as the doors slid open, and he stepped inside, holding them for me. I glanced to Ken and saw some of the seriousness had returned to his face. He didn’t catch my look, but Dorian did. He cleared his throat, saying pointedly, “I’ll be right back, Kenneth.”
Ken looked up and saw my scrutiny. His warm and welcoming smile returned as he nodded. “Of course, Mr. Dorian. Ms. Bowm—”
“Addison.”
“Hmm?” He was half-turned back toward his office.
“Use my first name, Ken.” I added quietly, “Please.”
“Oh. Yes.” He chuckled softly. “I certainly will from now on.”
Stepping inside the elevator, I swung a stern look toward Dorian. “That goes for you, too.”
His head lowered slightly. “I will, Addison.” He hit the third button.
After that, we rode in silence, and when I stepped out on my floor, I glanced over my shoulder.
Dorian hit one of the black buttons.
Sia closed her eyes, humming “We Are The Champions” by Queen, as we waited for the elevator. Her head bobbed in rhythm when she got to the “on and on” part.
The crescendo was building. Her hips swayed back and forth, and her shoulders had started to move by the time the elevator arrived.
“Oh.” She quieted, straightening as the doors opened. Smoothing a hand down her hair, she flashed me a grin as we stepped into the empty elevator. “I’m getting all jacked up for the party. I’m going to conquer the shut-in. Mark my words.” She paused. “She knits, right?”
I hit the seventh-floor button, holding a bottle of wine. “Yeah.”
Jake had been true to his word. I’d found an invite in my mail, and we’d chatted more over the last month. Either his swimming time matched when I went through my mail, or he’d rearranged his schedule. Either way, it had become almost a regular thing to meet up in the pool area three times a week. Dawn had sat with us two of those times—in silence the first and grunting a few words the second. Jake assured me she was warming up and my presence at his dinner wouldn’t be an issue, but we both knew Sia would be. The last we talked, the plan had been to wait and see, so that was what I was going to do.
“I need a problem about knitting.”
“You knit?”
“No.” She pulled out her phone. “But she won’t know that.”
“What?”
Sia was busy looking at her phone and waved a hand at me. “Don’t worry. This is what I do. You said Dawn is the building shut-in, right?”
I nodded.
“I’m new. She just started saying hello to you, so she’s going to bolt at the sight of a stranger. That puts pressure on you. I’m your friend, you’re the new resident, and the other people are going to blame you. I don’t want that to happen, so therefore, the shut-in needs to stay put. She knits. She must have a love for it, and little does she know—” Sia flicked her wrist, showcasing her face in a Vanna White wave. “She’s about to meet her knitting soulmate. By the time that elevator door opens, I’ll have enough in my head to bullshit my way through a problem only she can help me with.” She leaned forward and dropped her voice. “Because, you know, us knitters need to stick together. No one else gets the frustration of a—” She checked her phone. “—dropped knot.”
I could only stare at her. “Your powers cannot be challenged by mere mortals.”
“Darn tootin.’ I’m the Athena of networking. A shut-in is a snack before lunch for me. Give me a room of shut-ins, and I’ve got my dinner entree.”
“I have no idea how you do it, but thank you.” My voice softened. “I know you’re doing this for me.”
Her smile softened as well. “I know.” She nudged me with her arm. “Love you, girl.”
“Love you back.”
“Now, shut up. I have to get more info in my head before those doors open.”
But we were already there, and the door opened with Jake standing on the other side, two glasses in his hands. He raised them. “Champagne for my new guests.”
“Well…” Sia stopped, still in the elevator, and looked him up and down. She wasn’t subtle. Tucking her phone away, she exited, keeping her eyes on him the whole time. “You’re a nice surprise. I’m Sia, Addison’s best friend.”
“Jake.” He handed us each a glass and held out his hand.
“Hello.” Sia shook it and moved closer, giving him a good view down her dress.
His eyes widened a bit, and the corner of his mouth lifted. He glanced to me, a question on his face. I lifted a shoulder. I should’ve thought about this. Sia had been searching for Mr. Gorgeous from the restaurant, but she’d come up with nothing. Her frustrations had been expressed over and over…and over again.
Whoever the guy was, he’d escaped certain heartbreak. Sia would’ve run through him like a snowplow and spit him out at the end. That was her way. Always looking for The One, she got a whole lot of hot sex instead, and the guys never lasted long. She had that look right now, still grasping Jake’s hand. Her eyes narrowed like a predator who’d found the prey to beat all other prey. I was surprised she didn’t lick her lips and stalk around him, giving him a good onceover.
“Hello back to you.” Jake said to Sia, but he cast me a look, surprise in his depths.
I pretended to be ignorant. Sia was my best friend, after all. Their hands finally parted, and I handed over the bottle of wine. “I brought this with. I hope it works for dinner.”
Sia continued looking him up and down.
I was a barrier between them, and Jake ducked his head, speaking so only I could hear. “Should I be scared?”
“Oh, yeah.” I grinned. “Be very scared.”
He laughed and squeezed my shoulder before gesturing toward the dining room. “Come on in. Make yourselves at home. I’m—” His eyes found Sia’s again, and he faltered, running into his counter. “Uh, I have to check on some of the food real quick.”
He moved away, and Sia closed in. “You didn’t tell me he was gorgeous.”
Jake? He opened the oven and bent over to pull out a pan. I looked at him thoughtfully. His ass was firm and tight. His pants showed it off perfectly, so why hadn’t I… I shrugged. “Yeah. He’s pretty, but I thought you were obsessed with the other guy. The restaurant guy.”
Her eyes were still trained on Jake’s ass. “I was, but whoever he is, he’s not in my circle. That means he’s either wealthy beyond wealthy, or he’s a criminal.” She sighed. “Goddamn. Why didn’t you warn me about Jake? Wait.” She stiffened. “Do you like him? I’ll back off if you do. You haven’t shown interest in a guy since…” She trailed off, her eyes darkening. “Sorry.”
Liam.
I could sense an apology about to spill from her lips, but held up a hand. “Don’t. I mean it, and yes, I thought Jake was attractive when I first met him. But it’s dwindled since then. He’s just another building resident to me now.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” I glanced around. An older couple stood on the other side of Jake’s place. Both held champagne glasses, and they were talking to another man. I assumed they were the couple from the fifth floor, and the other man was from sixth, the computer guy. I skirted around to take in the rest of the space. Dawn stood in the corner, hostile eyes latched onto Sia. She held an entire bottle of champagne in front of her like it was a shield to ward off evil spirits. Sia looked at her, too, and Dawn’s eyes widened. She jerked. Her back hit the wall. “Um.” My hand closed over Sia’s arm. “You might get hit by a bottle if you go over to see Dawn.”
“That’s the shut-in?”
I nodded. “Let me do the introductions.”
It was pointless. Sia headed right for her. Dawn looked around her—down to the floor, back to the elevator, and then to the windows. Then Sia was in front of her, her hand stretched out. I watched my friend in action. Dawn was a cornered wild animal, but as Sia kept talking, her shoulders relaxed. The weapon lowered. She sagged back into the wall instead of bouncing off it, and she began to nod. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and a smile appeared. Sia had her. Just like that. Whatever lie she was weaving, it worked. Sia took the bottle and placed it on a nearby table. Her phone came out, and the two bent over it as they continued to talk.
“Holy shit.” Jake breathed into my ear, stepping around to my side. “I wouldn’t believe that if I hadn’t seen it for myself.”
“That’s what she does.”
“You’re proud of her.”
I paused, and decided he was right. “I wish I had skills like that. She has the ability to make everyone in this room feel like her best friend. I’m most definitely not that way.”
“You and me both. I’m friendly, but I can’t compare. Took months for Dawn to warm up to me. She’s eating out of your friend’s hand within ten minutes.”
His voice dipped down, and I readied myself. I knew where this was going.
“I have to ask…” He leaned even closer. “Is your friend single?”
“And ready to mingle.”
“Do you mind if I…?” He gestured with his head.
I could see it now. Sia would be at the pool. She’d
be in the exercise room. She’d pop in every now and then. That’d be great, until the other shoe dropped. Then she’d pop in to vent, not to chat. She’d want to know if I’d seen Jake that day, if I’d heard laughter from his floor, if I thought another girl was with him. Sia’s love affairs were hot until they got chilly. And if she was here, if she was my friend, and they broke up—that’d be awkward. She wouldn’t want to come over. She’d be tense, wondering whether she was going to run into him or not.
A sense of impending doom slowly slithered all the way down to my feet, but I waved him toward her. “Have at it.”
“Thanks, Addison.”
Jake was smitten.