Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2)

by Baker, Janice

  “Well, are you going to see him again?” I asked, wondering if maybe Clark will break her no double dip rule.

  She pushed off the counter and shook her head pressing her lips together. “Nope. Sticking to the rule. There’s no way it could be that great the second time around. It’s only fun the first time. The bar is set way too high for him to perform like that again. Rule stays.”

  I rolled my eyes. Aubrey has never given a guy a second chance. I’ve known her since college and no one has been able to penetrate her rule.

  “Work out with me?” Aubrey asked as she took a sip from her mug.

  I shook my head. “Nope, I worked out last night.” She pulled her brows together and frowned so I felt compelled to explain further. “It was either that or Ben & Jerry. I was able to fight the urge this time.” She nodded her head in understanding.

  “So what happened last night?” I looked around feeling guilty as I remembered last night. “Vanessa?”

  I gave a faint smile remembering almost kissing Matt. “It was…romantic. We had one of those storybook ‘almost’ kisses. Then a friend of Charles’ mom literally stopped us from kissing.” I cringed thinking about how much of a gossip she is. “I just know she’s going to say something.”

  Aubrey threw her hands in the air as if she were about to claw the invisible woman right in front of her, making a frustrated growl. “They’re like fucking vultures everywhere.”

  I gave a quick laugh at her description of the woman. It was a pretty accurate description of the way I felt about the whole thing.

  “Well, that doesn’t mean you still can’t get some with Matt. You’re technically broken up with Charles, right? Except for this fake engagement for your parents.” She rolled her eyes on the last part, which I ignored.

  “I still can’t. I should have never even gotten that close. We work together and I have the policies in place for a reason. Not to mention I have to watch him ogle every woman at work anyway. He’s such a player, it wouldn’t work out. I’ll just stay to my side of the building and he can stay to his. My office is a pretty good walk from his. Everything is, except for the break room.” She gave a brief head nod as I continued my explanation, “I need to be single for awhile anyway. I really need to concentrate on my career and focus on myself for a while.” I received an approving head nod from Aubrey on my last statement. I took a deep breath. “It did seem kind of nice though. To feel wanted by him…you know, by someone like him.”

  “What on earth do you mean? Are you doing that whole ‘I’m not good enough’ thing again?”

  “I wasn’t saying that. I was just saying that…” I sighed. “I guess I did mean that, didn’t I?”

  Aubrey nodded. “You did. And you need to snap out of that. That’s your goal for your single timeframe. If you go back to Charles, you’re going back a different and stronger woman. You need to stop the ‘I’m not good enough’ shit.”

  I bit my lip and nodded knowing she was right.

  “So what’s the plan for today?” Aubrey asked, changing the subject. I glanced out the window and gave a sigh of relief that the weather matched my mood. It was dark and grey. Rain was pretty much a sure thing with the heavy clouds. Just the thought made my stomach drop.

  “Movies, lots of movies.” I looked back at Aubrey as I asked, “What should we watch?”

  Aubrey’s lips curled up into a knowing smile. “Superman marathon it is.”

  ******

  I had a horrible night’s sleep, filled with nightmares of Matt having sex with anything that moved and the horror on everyone’s face as that woman from the country club makes an announcement about me kissing other men. Add to that, the look Mom will give me when I finally tell her Charles and I are no longer engaged — all of it kept me from any sort of restful sleep. I looked out my window and realized that the grey that daunted me yesterday was continuing on through today.

  My eyes were still swollen and puffy from crying yesterday. I broke into sobs several times during our Superman marathon.

  I tried to push aside my irritability as I rushed through my morning routine to get out the door and to the office on time. My nerves were shot and I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like at the office if I ran into Matt. I decided I would avoid him at all costs today and hopefully this thing between us would blow over.

  I turned around from locking my door and stared right at Matt and Clark walking out the door across the hall. My heart felt like it stopped beating and was coming out of my throat. What the…? “Did you guys both hook up with the same girl or something?” I blurted out my thoughts. I regretted it only slightly, but why else would they be coming out of that apartment together?

  They both looked at me with shocked and quizzical looks on their faces. Matt’s half smile returned as he grazed over my body, making me melt. I couldn’t have these feeling for him anymore, but then I remembered our near kiss and it made my stomach twitch with excitement again.

  I had decided yesterday that I would refrain from any further feelings for him, especially now that I see him walking out of some woman’s apartment with his best friend. Matt and Clark both walked towards me. “Why would you ask that?” Matt asked, still sporting that half smile and also the curious expression.

  “Well, you’re both coming out of someone’s apartment together.”

  The both exchanged glances, laughing glances at that. “Yeah, because we live here,” Matt told me.

  My mouth dropped open. “You what?”

  Matt seemed to enjoy repeating himself to me. “We live here.”

  Stunned, I glanced at Clark. His face lit up immediately. “Please tell me you live with Lois Lane. Dear God, please tell me that.”

  “Her name is Aubrey and yes, she’s my roommate. But you won’t ever be with her again.”

  “What?” Clark asked.

  “She won’t sleep with you again. She never beds the same man twice,” I stated bluntly, still reeling from the fact that they live right across from us. How the hell did I not know this? And why I felt like disclosing that information to him, I had no idea. But somehow I took comfort knowing that he wouldn’t be over at our place. Then I went over the fact that they live here. “You live here? In that apartment, right there?” I asked, still shocked, as I pointed to the door.

  Matt smiled huge. “Yes, apartment 630. And I can see you must live in apartment 629. Interesting.” He smiled again. “Need a lift to work?”

  Deeply agitated, I sputtered out, “What? No! No, I don’t need a lift to work. I have my own car.” My thoughts were spinning as I tried to process this whole situation. I took a deep breath. “You live there, right there in that apartment?”

  They exchanged glances again and Matt laughed. “That’s pretty much what I just said.” He paused and then chuckled, giving me that damn sexy half smile. “Since we’re neighbors, do I get to call you Vanessa at work now?”

  “I, uh...” Oh shit.

  Chapter 11

  Matt

  I stood there staring at Vanessa. She’s my neighbor. Yes. There is a God. Thoughts of just barely kissing her on the dance floor seeped into my mind again. I dreamed about her Saturday and last night and still can’t stop thinking about her. My dick twitched from just glancing at her lips. I tried not to stare at her gorgeous luscious mouth as she gaped at Clark and me. Her eyes bore into me in disbelief. I couldn’t help but smile. I swallowed and realized she looked more pissed off and not as happy as I was about our new living situation.

  “You okay?” She looked a bit pale and her eyes seemed swollen and puffy. I started to wonder if she regretted our near kiss. Then I remembered she was probably still upset about her break up with her fiancé. So I’m sure that’s why she seemed a bit off. I glanced down and noticed her engagement ring wasn’t on her left hand. I quickly turned my gaze to her other hand and noted a different ring was now gracing that one. Not the same engagement ring, I was relieved to see. I smiled to myself knowing she was now singl
e. Why that made me so happy, I wasn’t sure.

  “I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind. I…hadn’t realized where you lived. I guess I should have noticed that from your paperwork. It’s unlike me to not note things like that in an employee’s file.”

  “Oh well, that’s probably because I didn’t have my address yet when I first transferred. I guess I’ll have to stop by your office and fill out another form.” I gave her my best smile.

  “I…you can have Kara drop it off. I’ll email it to her,” She stammered as she swallowed and glanced around nervously. “I need to get going. I’ll see you at the office.”

  “I…yeah, okay. I’ll see you…” at the office. I trailed off as I watched her take off down the hallway and hit the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. I glanced over at Clark, who shrugged. “What the hell was that?” I asked him.

  “No idea. Maybe she heard stories that you’re a pussy and she didn’t want to ever see you again,” he said as he quirked up his mouth. Jerk.

  I shook my head. “Or she was thrilled that you won’t be able to tap her roommate again.” We started down the hallway to the elevator.

  Clark punched the elevator button. “Says who? I’m tapping her all the time now that she’s across the hall. I’ve never had so much fun with a chick before.”

  Although I pretty much assumed that since I heard them pretty much all night long through the stupid thin hotel wall, I was still impressed. He didn’t usually comment unless a chick was really great in bed. “Really? That good?”

  He pressed his lips together and nodded. I noticed he took a deep relishing breath as he closed his eyes. “Fan-fucking-tastic. Sweetest pussy I’ve ever tasted.”

  I quirked my brow, “Huh. Really? Guess you did find your Lois Lane, Clark Kent.” He nodded with a satisfactory smile on his face.

  After getting into my car and knowing I was alone, I let out a huge “YES!” Vanessa fucking lives in the apartment across from mine. What are the odds of that? I’ll definitely swing by her office to fill out that form with my address. Maybe I’d brush against her again and smell her sweet scent. God, her lips brushing against my throat felt incredible.

  I keep wondering what it is about her. It’s gotta be the challenge, I resolved. Of course, now that she’s single, it won’t be much of a challenge. Although, her policies might present a problem. She seemed into me at the wedding, so I’m sure we’ll have a good time together. I can add her to my list of rotation girls, I’m sure. Just need to start one here, since Kara was my only girl so far on that list and she was still sticking to that damn office policy. Oh, that Sarah chick from the bachelor party. I made a mental note to give her a call.

  I continued to drive as I wondered what type of woman Vanessa would be in the bedroom. Would she be feisty like she was at the office? A bit bitchy, wanting to make sure she was in charge? Or would she be submissive and let me toss her around however I wanted? My cock got hard just thinking about what she would be like in the bedroom. The code word Clark and I determined for the perfect woman ran through my mind. “DLW” for dirty little whore. A perfect woman poised to perfection to the outside world, but get her into the bedroom and she’d be more than willing and ready for hot raunchy sex. Yeah, I thought to myself, she’s definitely a DLW.

  I walked past Kara’s desk to get to my office. “Hey, Matty!”

  “Kara how was your weekend?” I was wondering when she would get over the little office policy she was worried about. After being left hanging at the wedding by Vanessa, I texted Kara to see if she would want to come out, she texted back that she had other plans and she was still going to stick to the rules at the office. Then Strawberry saw me with Stephanie outside the window and saw that I almost kissed Vanessa. She told me I seem like the cheating type and wanted nothing to do with me. I wound up just getting as drunk as possible and listening to Clark and Lois go at it all night through the thin hotel walls.

  “It was great!” Her face was lit up as if she had the best time ever.

  “Really? That great? What happened?” I asked as she got up and followed me into my office, practically skipping.

  “Tommy’s roommate!” she chirped.

  “Tommy? Who’s Tommy?”

  “Tommy Brecken” She pointed to the sales floor and it dawned on me who she was talking about. Tom’s sales were really down and he was one of the guys I was going to spend more time with to train.

  “What does Tommy’s roommate have to do with you having such a great weekend?”

  She rolled her eyes, still smiling bright. “Ryan,” she sang. “His name is Ryan. And he’s almost as tall as you. And he’s got a fantastic smile. And he’s just so sweet!” she trilled. Fuck. She found someone. Not that I didn’t think she would at some point in time, I just didn’t think it would be so quick. My look must have matched my thoughts. “Are you upset, Matty? I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have told you anything,” she fretted.

  I shook my head, feeling ridiculous. It’s not like we had something exclusive. I just thought that…I don’t know what I expected Kara to do since she wanted to stick to the company non-dating policy. “No, Kara, you’re fine. It’s good. I’m happy for you. When did you meet him?” Suddenly I felt more like an over protective brother and needed to find out more about this guy.

  She continued to tell me about meeting him when she went out for drinks with several of the sales staff after work on Friday. They hit it off and he asked her on a date for Saturday night and then they hung out all day Sunday.

  I knew my face said it all as she rolled her eyes and told me, “No, we didn’t sleep together.” She blushed and then shrugged. “I read this book that said to make him wait if you really want to keep him.”

  I chuckled wondering which book she read. Then I turned serious knowing my feelings for her were mixed. “Just make sure he respects you Kara. Don’t let him treat you like the other guys you’ve tried to date.”

  I watched her swallow and look up at me from under those thick lashes. “Did you respect me, Matty?” she quietly asked.

  Definitely not. I took a deep breath and looked around the room as I answered her. “I didn’t treat you the way you deserve to be treated, Kara. I’m sorry for that, I really am,” I said sincerely.

  She looked away briefly and then back to me, nodding. “It’s okay Matty,” she said softly. “Thanks for being honest.” She took a deep breath. “Well, I’ll get back to my desk. We should get the day started,” she told me, looking a bit sad.

  “Kara.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m happy for you. Really.” A huge smile swept over her face as she bit her lip and she nodded. She turned and left my office.

  Damn. I’m going to miss her. I decided to dive into work, realizing I needed a distraction from my personal life. I checked my emails and noticed one from Vanessa’s assistant, copying Kara about my address change. I wonder why she didn’t send it directly to me. Probably because it’s the way management is supposed to do things. Kara came into my office with the form, placing it on my desk.

  “Just needs your signature and I’ll run it over there. Do you need me to change your address on any other forms or companies?” I sat back thinking about it. I nodded my head and told Kara to get her notepad so I could tell her all the companies that needed notification of my new job title.

  I signed the form and was about to hand it to her when I realized I could walk it down and see Vanessa myself. She might be in a better mood than she was this morning. If so, she might want to head out to lunch with me.

  “What are you doing, Matty?” Kara asked as I took the form back and glanced down at it.

  “I’ll take a walk over there. I need to stretch my legs anyway.” Kara pressed her lips together as her eyes squinted with her brows pulled together.

  “You have a thing for her?” She asked.

  “What? No. I just need a walk, that’s all.”

  “Hmm, just remember the corporate policy,” Sh
e trilled as she walked out of my office.

  I knocked on Vanessa’s door quickly and stepped into her office. She looked up from whatever paperwork she was reading and then quickly looked back down. “Can I help you Mr. Williams?” Mr. Williams?

  “I thought I’d walk that form over to you to change my address.” I walked in and placed it on her desk since she still wasn’t looking up at me. She glanced at the paper and then placed it into the “out” bin on her desk.

  “Thank you,” she said without glancing up.

  What the fuck? I stood there wanting to get her attention, but wasn’t sure what else to do. Most women are eager to talk to me. I’ve never had a problem striking up a conversation. I started thinking about how fun and flirty she was at the wedding. How her hair was down and so was this bitch attitude she seems to have again. It must be the office. Maybe if I get her out of the office she won’t act like this. That’s gotta be it.

  “I was wondering if you have any lunch plans. I wanted to try out that new deli on the corner. It’s a little overcast today, but I don’t think it’ll rain. We could walk over.” Why asking her out just made me nervous perplexed me beyond reason. I don’t get nervous that often, especially chatting with a chick. Vanessa was putting me on edge and it was annoying the hell out of me. So much that I found myself knowing that I had to get her out of my system somehow.

  She barely glanced up from her paperwork before responding, “I’m sorry, I can’t get out for lunch today. I need to get this project done. Maybe next time.”

  I nodded even though I knew she wasn’t looking at me. “Okay. How about dinner tonight?”

  She snapped her head up; her huge gorgeous grey eyes were wide with surprise. “I…why would you want to have dinner with me?”

  Now it was my turn to be surprised. “Why would you ask that?” I walked in closer to her desk, leaning with both hands on her desk. “I thought we had a great time at the wedding before you had to take off.”

  I watched her swallow and glance around her office. “I should apologize for running out of the wedding. I was just taken aback by Mrs. Weber. I’m sure you understand.”