by Lauren Wood
Using his brush and washing my face, it was as good as it was going to get without a shower. I wasn’t that desperate to use his shower, not when I lived just downstairs. The thought came to me that I should have went down there to begin with, as soon as I had woke up. The only problem was that I hadn’t known that I was in my own apartment building.
Where in the world was Joel, my date at?
Chapter 7
Carlos
“How are you feeling Eve?”
She looked beautiful, all fresh faced, but she didn’t look all that happy to really see me. I was sure that she had some questions, much of the same ones that I had answered for Joel, but she didn’t say anything at first so I gave her an omelet.
“You made this?”
“Of course. I’ve been single far too long to not know how to cook by now.”
“I didn’t mean. I don’t know. You just don’t seem the type I guess.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but I was sure that it wasn’t a compliment. My type to her was something different than I was. She saw me as some biker by the way she looked at me, some criminal. Maybe part of that assessment was true, but there was more to me than that and she was the first person that I wanted to know that. I didn’t want her to think that I wasn’t worth her time.
“What type is that?”
She shrugged and took a bite. “This is really good.” The surprise wasn’t even hidden from her voice.
“So what type am I?”
Eve shook her head like she wasn’t going to answer or that she knew better than to answer. Where was the girl that told me off the other night? Now she was like a pussycat and I wanted the fiery one back. That Eve was far more fun, though there was an appeal to the innocence that she was showing now.
“I don’t know. I guess you are the kind of guy that I was warned about before I came here.”
I chuckled and asked her what that meant. I was many things, but I had never heard it described quite like that before.
“You are the bad boy type of guy. I am sure you have broken your share of hearts.”
“And beds. Don’t forget that.”
Her cheeks were flaming pink and I wished I knew what was playing in her mind. I knew where it took my mind, but I was sure that we were different. I was sure that Eve wasn’t thinking about me on top of her. Something was on her mind though to make her look at me like that.
“Are you okay?” I couldn’t help the grin that ran over my face. She looked rather delicious when she was unsure of herself like she was then.
“Yeah, I just am a little hungover is all.”
“Well eat your breakfast and it will make you feel better. Do you have a lot of writing to do today?”
“How do you know I write?”
“Joel told me about you. I have to say that he is quite taken with you.”
“Joel is a nice guy. Where is he anyways?”
I told her a quick overview of the evening and her face got a prettier shade of pink than usual. It was clear that she was embarrassed by her actions and the fact that she had went home with another man and ended up in my bed. There was a moment that I thought she was going to ask what happened, but she didn’t. Maybe she didn’t want to know.
“Sorry, I don’t know what got into me last night. I assure you that I am not usually like that.”
“I didn’t think you were Eve. That is why I took you home. You made a few passes that I didn’t think you were really genuine about. I think it was the alcohol talking.”
“What kind of passes?”
Raising my brow, I didn’t give her any reason to think that the passes she made were not of the sexual nature. I didn’t tell her that she was far too drunk to have been taken seriously, but they were there and I liked to think that was just her true desires coming out, the ones that she was afraid to make out loud. That was what I liked to think anyways.
“Well I don’t know what to say. I guess you got to see another side of me. I don’t even know what I was thinking. I am not a good drinker, never have been.”
“It’s because you can’t be a hundred pounds soaking wet. You shouldn’t be able to drink like that.”
She blushed again and oh how I liked the way she looked when she did that. The innocence in her was back and I was rather getting used to the changes. While she liked to say what was on her mind, there was a part of her that was delicate and I liked that.
“I won’t be doing that again any time soon. That much I do know. I haven’t felt this bad in a long time. Now I remember why I gave up drinking when I got out of college.”
“You went to school?” I don’t know why I was asking all of these questions. It could have been that I wanted to know, but more than likely I asked because I just wanted to hear her speak. She had the most melodic sounding voice and I could hear her talking all day.
“Yes, I went to school for accounting, but starting writing for a paper and never looked back. Now I have a dual major.”
Nodding my head, I didn’t really care what she went to school for, but I did like the idea of a girl that could hold a conversation. It was hard to get one that looked good in my world and had a brain on her. Maybe I was looking in all the wrong places and that was why I never really found what it was that I wanted. I wanted Eve. That was all I knew now.
“Did you ever go to school?”
I shook my head that I didn’t. I never saw myself as inferior or stupid, but book smarts wasn’t my thing. “I just wanted to drink and ride bikes when I was younger. I barely made it through high school because I was gone so much. I started a bike shop that did well and then I bought the bar. Now I just run them and I do pretty good without any extra schooling.”
I felt a touch defensive because I felt like she was judging me and more than anything else I just wanted her to like me. I seemed to forget that I wasn’t worried about what anyone thought. I never had been, but there was something about Eve. I wanted her to want me, but more than that, I wanted to be the one that she went to when she needed something. I wanted to be there for her.
“Not everyone needs to go to school. I am sure what you do is far more needed than what I do. Everyone can write, so we are a dime a dozen. I love it of course, but I can’t fix anything. If I am honest, I have never even changed a tire by myself before. That’s sad, isn’t it?”
I found it cute. I liked that she needed a man. That meant that she would need me and I was totally okay with that sentiment.
“No, not at all. There is a lot of things that I can’t do. You just got to find the people that are good at what you are not.”
I was blabbing at this point. She was going to leave soon. I could feel it and I didn’t want her to. I wanted her to stay and talk to me. If it was any other woman, Eve would have already been in my bed. But she was different I was coming to find out. Eve was different than any other girl that I had dated before.
“Thank you for breakfast Carlos and bringing me here. I hate to think what would have happened if you wouldn’t have been there.”
“I would never let anything happen to you Eve, even though you do give me a hard time.”
The blush was back that I loved so much.
“I will have to pay you back, maybe with dinner one night this week or whenever you aren’t working.”
The offer was a little out of the blue for me. I didn’t see it coming, but I was quick to agree. I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted more.
“That sounds perfect Eve. Just let me know when would be good for you.”
She told me that she would let me know. I gave her my number, but we both knew that if she didn’t call, I would be coming to her house to see her. I wasn’t going to let her get away too far. Eve was going to be mine. I wasn’t sure how she was going to be mine, but she would be. That was the only thing at the moment that I was sure of.
Chapter 8
Eve
It had been a week since I had went out with Joel and ended up in C
arlos’ bed. I still wasn’t sure how that happened and the more I thought about it, the more embarrassed I became. I still wasn’t sure how I had gotten into Carlos’ bed and the thought that he could have done anything still stayed with me. He didn’t, I knew that, but it could have happened and the thought bothered me immensely.
Joel had called a couple of times, but I had been ignoring his calls. I didn’t know what to say to him. He had been drunk as well, so it wasn’t like he had done anything wrong. It was what I had done that bothered me so much. Here I was supposed to be going out to meet new friends and instead I just got drunk around a bunch of strangers. It wasn’t a good idea in any stretch of the imagination and being in the city at a biker bar just made it worse. I was starting to think that maybe I wasn’t ready to be here. If I was going to make choices like that, maybe I should move back home and pack it in now. The big city might just be a little too much for me.
It was about how I felt about Carlos. I knew that he wanted me. It was clear and I was under no false pretense of what it was that he wanted. The problem was that I wanted him as well and I knew what would happen if I was with that kind of man. I had been warned for years about men like him. They were the type that you stay away from if you want to keep your heart intact. I wanted to keep mine whole, so even though I had promised a dinner, I wasn’t going to call and invite him over anytime soon. It was for my own good.
That was hard to do though when the man kept popping by. It was the third time this week that he had. Twice it was rather late so it was easier to ignore the sound, but once it was right after he woke up that he had come by. I had heard him hollering through the door, telling me that he knew I was there. It was awkward to say the least. He knew that I was avoiding him.
The strange thing was that I wanted to answer the door, knowing what it would be, but I just couldn’t. When I heard him starting to get up that morning, I knew that he was on his way down. I could hear everything from upstairs and I could hear him moving down the stairs.
I hadn’t been able to write since I had woken up from a disturbing dream earlier. It was about him, they all were nowadays and the more I tried to push him from my mind, the harder it was to. He was taking over my mind and it wasn’t a good thing.
The knock was hard and I knew it was because I hadn’t answer so many times before. It made me jump and instead of just staring at the wood as if it was going to come at me, I moved towards the door.
“Just a second.”
“About time you answered the door Eve. I was starting to think that you were going to ignore me forever.”
“Sorry about that. I haven’t been feeling very good lately. I don’t know what is wrong with me.”
“If I didn’t know any better Eve, I would say that you were trying to avoid me.”
I shook my head like what he said was wrong, but I think we both knew that it wasn’t. I was trying hard to stay away from him because I was afraid of him. I was afraid of what I would feel and then how badly he would hurt me when he was done with me. That was what I thought about and that was a pretty good reason to avoid him as far as I was concerned. Who really wanted to walk into the face of a storm?
“It’s not that. I just, I don’t know, haven’t been feeling all that well. I think it is just the change of season and all.”
He nodded his head slowly with a grin on his face. God, he was handsome and he knew it. That was the biggest problem. Carlos knew that he was gorgeous and by the way the woman upstairs screamed, I was pretty sure that he knew how to make a woman feel good too.
Shaking my head, I asked him what I could do for him. I needed to get the naughty thoughts out of my mind. It was literally all I had been thinking about lately.
“I was going to see if you wanted to go out and get a bite to eat for lunch. I know that you offered to make me dinner, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”
I blushed and had the decency to feel bad. I had said that I would make him dinner as he had saved me, as well as made me breakfast. Before I could agree or disagree, Carlos moved into the apartment and I was left to move back so that he could come in.
“Come on, you have to be hungry.”
I was and it was at that moment that my stomach wanted to growl, like it knew that we were talking about food.
“I could eat. Um, well let me get dressed and I will be right out.”
Carlos looked at my clothes and told me that I looked fine. I didn’t see what he saw. I looked a mess, a state that I seemed to be in all of the time when I saw him.
“Yeah, not really. Just give me a minute and I will be right back out.”
He agreed, but his eyes didn’t leave mine. My shorts were too short for his attention and the camisole that I was wearing didn’t feel like it was covering me very well. I felt vulnerable and the longer that he looked at me in that way, the worse it got.
“Yeah, okay, I will be right back.” The smile on my face was not something that I could change. Why did I get so happy and giddy when I was around him? It really just didn’t make any sense to me.
I moved to my bedroom and shut the door behind me. There was a moment that I was urged to lock it, but then I stopped. Did I really want him to come in? Moving away with the door unlocked, I decided then that I did. I really wanted Carlos, even though he was going to be bad for my heart. It wasn’t my heart I was thinking of at the time, but something else that I was almost positive that he would be good for.
Chapter 9
Carlos
“Eve, are you about done in there?”
I had been waiting for almost an hour it felt like. She was supposed to be getting dressed, that was it, but now I was starting to wonder if she had done a runner out of the window. Maybe she was trying to wait me out to see if I would leave. I wasn’t going to leave, so she might as well come out. I was a man that got what he wanted.
When there was no answer, I moved to the bedroom door slowly. I said her name again, waiting to hear something from her, but there was no answer. “Eve?”
I tried the knob and felt that it was unlocked. If she had wanted to keep me out of there, I was sure she would have done a better job of keeping me out. I knew that there was something on her mind, but when I finally got my eyes to adjust to the darkened room, I was way off on what I thought it was going to be. Here I had thought that she was upset or something, but that was not the case at all. If anything, she was the complete opposite.
“Eve, what are you doing?”
She didn’t answer me, but I was already moving towards the bed. There was no answer needed. Eve was wearing only some panties from what I could see and nothing on top at all. She was smiling at me in the most innocent way, but there was nothing innocent about her at all. Eve was looking devilish and the part of me that she wanted responded immediately.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Waiting for you Carlos. I know this is what you want.”
My mouth was dry all of a sudden and it took me a moment to swallow. It shouldn’t have hurt to swallow, but it did. I did want her, every perfect inch of her, but I had thought of it so many times in another way. Never before, not even in my dreams had she gave herself to me in such a way.
Eve frowned when I stopped at the end of the bed. “Do you not want me now?”
Her voice was so small sounding and her eyes were big and round. How could she ever think such a thing? Can’t she see that she is the very epitome of perfection?
“Yes, I want you. How could I not?”
“Then come here Carlos. I don’t want to play these games anymore. You want me and I want you. Why can’t that just be enough for right now?”
I was shaking my head in agreement while I started to fumble out of my clothes. I almost fell trying to get my pants off and I was going to ignore the giggle that was coming from her.
“I thought you were a little more suave than that Carlos.”
She was ribbing me and I was sure that I was getting the fiery Eve.
The look in her eyes told me that she was just joking, but I still took it as a little bit of a challenge. I wanted her to laugh with me and have a good time, but right then all I wanted was to be with her.
Crawling onto the bed, I left my boxers on as a reminder for me more than for her. I wanted her too bad and I was sure that if I came in as naked as she was, there was going to be no stopping me. I wanted to take my time with her, something that I thought might be impossible. I was just going to have to slow myself down, one way or another.
She wasn’t going for it though. For a woman that had kept her distance, Eve didn’t want to anymore. As I moved over her, her hips rose to meet mine and I heard the low groan in the back of her throat. I was hard and I could feel the heat coming from her. She was ready, had been for some time and I was kicking myself for not giving her what it was that she needed sooner. I just hadn’t known. I felt like I should have known, even though it was out of the blue.
“Carlos, I want you in me.”
Her words made me close my eyes. Didn’t she know what she was doing to me? I wanted to make it perfect, but it was hard to when she was egging me on in such a way. Bending down to kiss her, our tongues met and it was the first taste of her that I had ever had. While Eve had tried to kiss me when she was drunk, I hadn’t even went there with her. I wanted it to be like it was now, though then I wasn’t sure if it was actually going to happen.
“God, I have wanted you since you came banging on my door Eve. I never thought I would have you.”
She giggled at my confession and told me that she had wanted me since then as well. “Ever since I saw you like that.” Eve stopped talking, her eyes closed as my mouth moved to her neck. Her face was turning red, but there was no time to be shy. She had already showed me her true colors and there was nothing else that would stop me now. I had to have her.