Behave yourself, Angelica.
“What’s your name? I’m Angelica Fields, by the way,” I said to the attractive stranger. I was immediately curious. He didn’t seem like the type who would want to be cooped up in a little two-bedroom garage apartment.
“Nice to meet you Angelica, I’m Lee. Lee Keating.”
“Well, Mr. Keating, you’re in luck because I’m your girl.”
His lips tilted up to form a smile that reached his light brown eyes which seemed to darken as he looked at me, “My girl, huh?”
“I could be a lot of things and maybe if you played your cards right...who knows?” I gave a carefree shrug and leaned over just a little bit towards him and smiled. I loved to flirt. His gaze traveled down my body and he briefly let his eyes linger on my exposed cleavage that I had deliberately put on display by leaning closer to him.
He licked his lips and slowly brought his eyes back to mine, “Is that right?”
I just as unhurriedly righted myself and placed a hand on my hip, “Well, I’m the owner, but I’m also available for other things, depending on my mood.”
He laughed, “And what type of mood are you in now?” This time he leaned on the desk, bringing his body closer to me. And I could smell his cologne or was it aftershave? I didn’t know. He had a beard so I doubt that he shaved, but his beard was well manicured, making him look like a rock star instead of a hobo. But anyway, he smelled heavenly, like a man should. The motion of him leaning forward towards me, made his hair fall across his shoulders and I realized that his hair was long and wavy. I envied it. My hair was fine and blonde and I kept it cut into a bob, given that it didn’t have much body for anything else. My fingers itched to touch his hair, but I controlled the urge at the last moment and went to answer him when a voice came from the other side of him.
“Seriously, Lee? You’re in here flirting, while I’m stuck in the hot car dying. Seriously?” The whiny voice came from a teenager, not more than fourteen years old. She was the splitting image of Lee but just short and female. She had the light brown eyes and the wavy jet black hair and from the look of her face, she also had the same sense of confidence. And she gave me an appraising look and then dismissively looked away.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay in the car?” Lee questioned, a sigh in his voice.
“So you want me to go back to the car and die? Because I’m pretty sure I might have suffered a heatstroke if I hadn’t gotten out.” Gosh, she was sassy.
“I’ve been in here what? All of sixty seconds. Have some patience, Avani. I’m pretty sure you weren’t knocking on death’s door.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know that you’re already driving me crazy and it’s still morning. You need to chill kid. Go look at something. I’m doing business here.”
She made a rude sound with her mouth, but then disappeared to go study a shelf full of figurines. I eyed her, hoping she wouldn’t break anything.
“Cute kid,” I said, attempting to keep my voice light.
“You don’t lie well.” He remarked again smiling.
“You’re right,” I conceded and laughed. “Is she your daughter?”
“God no!” The kid said loudly and then quickly turned away when Lee shot her a warning glance.
“She’s my sister. Drives me crazy.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” Avani said with a bright smile. I had to admit, her sass was starting to grow on me.
“She’s funny.”
“When she wants to be,” Lee said, “but back to our discussion...”
“Yeah, well I’m the owner. My grandparents actually are the owners, but they live elsewhere, so I’m in charge of renting it out for them. It’s nine hundred a month, plus utilities and water. I’ll take one month deposit. And your credit history better be pretty impressive.”
“It’s not,” he said bluntly, “But I’ll give you first and last month rent as a deposit.
“That works for me. You want to see the place?”
“Right now? Aren’t you busy?” He said looking around.
“Everyone in here is a regular. They can watch the shop while I’m gone.” I approached a pair of older women who were sitting at an antique table watching the action between me and Lee play out while sipping tea.
“Hey ladies, can you watch the shop for me? I’m just going to take this kind gentleman out to see the property.”
They nodded eagerly, sneaking glances of Lee under lowered eyelids, “Sure. Not a problem, dear,” Mrs. Averly, said. I’d known her my entire life. She had been my grade school teacher from kindergarten to fifth grade. “He’s a cutie,” she added and winked at me.
“I think he heard you,” I said looking back at Lee, who was trying to hide a smile.
“Oh good, I wanted him to,” Mrs. Averly then giggled and her long-time friend, Mrs. Kasenow joined in. I shook my head. Those two were incorrigible. I dropped the keys to the shop in Mrs. Averly’s hand and told her I would be back in about an hour.
I gestured for Lee to follow me and as he did, Avani came running up behind us.
“You have some cool things in you shop. Even though they’re seriously old, they’re pretty cool.”
“Thanks, I think,” I said not sure how to respond. “I guess you’re into stuff like Xboxes and PlayStation, huh?”
She gave me a look as if she were offended, “I’m not a gamer. I would rather write or something.”
“You write?” I asked as I paused at their car.
She shrugged her shoulders, finally showing a hint of self-doubt, “Just blogs.” She admitted not meeting my eyes, “That apartment does have Wi-Fi, right?”
“I’m sure it has Wi-Fi,” Lee said gesturing for Avani to get in the car. She rolled her eyes at him, smiled at me and slid in. He closed the door behind her and said, “Do you have siblings?”
“I wish.”
“Do you want one? Let’s say about fourteen years old and talks a lot of smack.”
“Umm...I think I’ll pass.” Even though his words might have sounded harsh, he said them with a smile on his face and looked at his sister warmly, who was staring at us through the window making mock kissing sounds.
Lee laughed and shook his head, “I’ll meet you at the apartment.”
“Sure thing,” I said as he climbed into the car and drove away. I was intrigued as I headed to my own car. What was this dude who looked like an outlaw doing taking care of his little sister? Clearly, there was more to Lee Keating than what met the eye.
Chapter 2
I ended up renting the apartment to Lee. He asked to sign a lease just seconds after I finished giving him the full tour of the garage apartment that sat behind my own home. I didn’t know how I actually felt about being attracted to a tenant, but it was my job to lease the apartment and so that’s what I did.
As he promised, he paid me first and last month’s rent and signed a year-long lease. I didn’t ask if his little sister was going to live with him as I assumed she was just visiting. Either way, I didn’t feel that it was any of my business and the garage apartment was two rooms, so even if she stayed, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have the extra room.
It had been about a week or two since I had rented the apartment to Lee when he knocked on my door one morning. I had just gotten in from my daily run and wasn’t expecting someone, so I was a little taken aback when I looked out of the peephole and saw Lee standing there.
I immediately opened the door, “Hi,” I smiled warmly at him, “Is everything okay with the apartment?”
He didn’t answer immediately as he was distracted by my long legs clearly on display given the very brief running shorts I had on. Frankly, if I were to bend down and pick anything up, the shorts would err on the side of indecent. I liked Lee’s attention and welcomed it. His eyes seemed to burn a slow trail from my legs up my flat belly that was uncovered given that I was only wearing a cropped top and then he gave my breasts a cursory glance. I didn’t think the s
ports bra I was wearing did my breasts any justice, but frankly, Lee didn’t seem to care.
I cleared my throat to get his attention and he looked up at me, clearly a little embarrassed having gotten caught checking me out.
“Do you run every morning?”
“Yep. I like to keep in shape. I was in the military for a while so it’s ingrained in me.”
He looked surprised, “I was in the military too.”
“Really? Here in the U.S.?”
He seemed surprised by my question, “Oh, it’s the accent. I grew up in Ireland, but my Mom moved here when I was about fourteen. I’m a U.S. citizen now.”
“I’m sorry, I just figured...”
“No need to apologize. I didn’t know my accent was still so detectable. So what branch were you in?”
“Navy. You?”
“Army.” He said looking at me with a renewed sense of respect.
“Surprised that I’m not just a pretty face?” I said succinctly, turning away from him and leaving the door open for him to follow.
He hesitated saying, “Can I come in?” I nodded and helped myself to a drink of water before turning around and speaking to him.
“You want some?” I asked leaning back against the counter while his eyes scanned the interior of my home.
“No, I’m good. Nice house, though.”
I turned to place the glass in the sink. “Thanks. I inherited it from my grandparents.”
“Oh really?”
“They moved to a small senior living apartment complex in the city. Strangely enough, small town living just didn’t seem all that interesting to them after having spent so long here. But my grandparents always were the cultured type, so being able to go see a play or an opera without having to drive an hour to the nearest big city appealed to them.”
“I can’t say I understand given that I’m partial to small towns myself,” he remarked looking at the antiques that dotted their home.
“So you kept all the original furniture when they moved out?” He asked.
“No. I know it looks old-fashioned, but I love antiques. I collected all these on my own.”
“That’s right, you own an antique store. Duh. I’m not thinking straight. Was that also your grandparents’ store?”
“God no. They didn’t like old things.”
Lee laughed, the irony of my statement not escaping his notice.
“So what did you come over to ask me?” I sat down at the dining room table and motioned for him to do the same.
He sank down in the seat across from me and I couldn’t help but stare at the hint of a tattoo that was across his throat, leading to his chest.
“What’s that tattoo of?” I asked curiously.
“Which one?” He said.
“The one on your chest, peeking through the neck of your shirt.”
Without hesitating he removed his shirt and my mouth might have dropped open just a little. I promptly closed it when I saw the knowing smile on his face. I was right about earlier, his entire chest and ab areas were nothing but layers of perfectly sculpted muscles. He could easily be on television as one of those trainers on the infomercials promising a perfect body in just ten minutes a day. Except that he was better looking than them. I forced myself to focus on the tattoo instead of his flawless body.
It was a hodgepodge of different tattoos: an eagle with its wings spread wide, letters that I guess meant something to him, but I was unsure of the significance. But despite the random nature of the illustrations that consumed his chest, it seemed to all have been done by one person. It was a work of art and it all had rhyme and reason to it. I didn’t understand it but it was seamlessly all tied together as if Lee’s chest was a storyboard and only he knew the full story. And then at the bottom of the tattoos was a date, nearly indiscernible.
“What does that date mean?” I asked more curious about it than anything else.
He looked down and slowly lowered his shirt. “It’s the day my mother died.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said instantly regretting that I had asked.
He shrugged, “It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure, after she died.”
“And now you’re raising your sister?”
He nodded, “I’m doing my best.” I knew from the date that it hadn’t been too long ago. Only about two years, give or take a few months.
“She seems happy with you.” From the few interactions I had seen between the two of them, she seemed to adore him. She drove him crazy with her smart comebacks and endless teen angst, but besides that, she seemed to genuinely like being around him.
“She’s a strong kid. She’s bouncing back well, especially given the circumstances.” I didn’t want to pry so I didn’t ask him to explain. Instead I said, “So what did you need?” I wanted to change the subject. I hated talking about death and loss. I had lost my parents early on in high school and it hadn’t been easy for me to get over it. If it weren’t for my grandparents, I didn’t even want to think what the alternative would have been. I had heard horror stories about foster care and luckily I hadn’t had to go down that route. I respected and admired Lee for what he did for his sister. It made him even that bit more interesting to me as a man.
“You.” He said simply and I did a double take.
“Excuse me?”
“Are you seeing anyone?”
“Maybe.” I said teasingly and he called me on it immediately.
“You’re such a tease.”
I shrugged, “It keeps men interested.”
“Even if you weren’t a tease, they would still be interested.”
“You’re right,” I said enjoying this conversation more than I expected I would.
Most men were intimidated by me. I spoke my mind, was comfortable in my sexuality and went after what I wanted. My friends, male and female alike, commented that I behaved more like a man when it came to relationships than like a woman. I didn’t necessarily take that as a compliment. I just felt there was nothing wrong with taking what you wanted and leaving emotions for the other person to handle. But I was starting to think, maybe with Lee, things might be different. I had an interest in him that went beyond just getting into his pants. I was curious about this man who had his whole life story tattooed across his chest. I was intrigued by him. He was an enigma, a man who obviously valued family, but seemed to be a bad boy at heart.
“So how’s tomorrow for you?” I asked getting up and perching my hip against the counter in what I thought was a sexy pose. Apparently it was, as Lee’s eyes traveled down my body, lust was apparent in his gaze.
“I thought I was the one asking you out.” He laughed.
“You took too long,” I said straightening up and sauntering over to him. “I did you a favor.”
I stopped just a few inches from him. “Are you curious?”
“Curious about what?” He said as I lowered my lips towards his.
“Curious to know what I taste like?”
He didn’t respond; he just roughly pulled my body to his and I groaned in pleasure as his lips crushed mine. He wasn’t gentle as he kissed me and he definitely wasn’t gentle when he shoved a hand under my sports bra and started to roughly play with my nipples, before pulling me down into his lap. I responded by letting my hands have a little fun of their own, reaching down between us to rub my hand up and down his crotch. I could feel it hardening in my hands, growing thicker as it pushed against the fabric, begging for relief in more ways than one. And when I went to unbutton his pants, he placed his hands in my exercise shorts and then abruptly raised his head away from me, “You’re not wearing any panties.”
“Is that a problem?” I said huskily.
“No way. Covering an ass this perfect would be a crime.” I smiled and then suddenly his expression grew serious as he looked down at me, rubbing my behind gently. “I don’t do emotional ties, Angelica.”
I hadn’t been expecting that statement. Normally I didn’t do emotional ties either, but the
re was something about Lee that made me want to break that rule, but there was no way I was telling him that. “Have I said anything to make you think I want any ties at all?” I challenged him. “I’m a no ties girl myself. Are we done talking because there are other better ways to use that mouth of yours?”
He grinned and was about to say something else when I heard a knock at my front door. I swore softly to myself and climbed out of Lee’s lap. I straightened my bra and shorts and Lee looked on with a slight smile on his face.
I was surprised to see the sheriff standing there when I opened the door. I was even more surprised to see Avani standing there with him looking both nervous and outraged.
“Is Lee Keating here?”
I stepped back and gestured for the officer and Avani to come in, “He’s right here.” I said.
Lee’s face looked tight as he approached the door. “What’s going on Avani? You’re supposed to be in school.” He said keeping his voice controlled even though it sounded like he was angry.
Avani didn’t meet his eyes and the cop instead began to talk, “Are you her Dad? Her legal guardian?”
“I’m her brother. She’s in my custody. What’s going on?”
“Can we talk somewhere privately?” The sheriff asked.
Lee looked at me and I nodded in understanding and then without a word he followed Avani and the sheriff outside. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but I felt as the landlord that I should know if I had an errant teen on my property. Not that I would kick Lee and his sister out, but I wanted to know what I was dealing with. Unfortunately, they were all standing at the cop’s car now so I couldn’t hear a word.
Kane (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 1) Page 66