The Playboy Next Door

by Christina Tetreault

  “You’re going to be here a while.” Jessie placed the curtain rod over the window and then arranged the material before stepping down to take a look. “Those two love shopping. Especially Ella. The last time I went to the mall with them, we spent the entire afternoon there.”

  Tony assumed Jessie wasn’t satisfied with what she saw because she climbed back up on the stool and readjusted the curtains. “Much better,” she said when she came back down for a second inspection.

  He heard the click of toe nails against the wood floor and turned to see Sean’s large Irish wolfhound, Max, enter the room. The dog came right to him and sniffed his hand.

  “Did you decorate upstairs too?” Tony scratched the dog behind the ears and watched as Jessie moved the stool over to the only bare window left in the room.

  “Not yet. Sean’s just finished the second coat of paint in the master suite, so I’ll hang the curtains next week sometime.”

  Footsteps sounded on the staircase in the hall, and then Sean appeared in the room. “Sorry, Jessie. I didn’t mean to disappear on you like that.” Sean stopped near the dog and gave his head a pat. “Hey, Tony. Good to see you.”

  Jessie stretched to get the rod up on the hooks. “No biggie.” Like she had on the last window, she arranged the material and then stepped down. “What do ya think?” She looked over at Sean.

  “Looks good to me.” Sean shot him a look that Tony interrupted as ‘they’re curtains, big deal’ and Tony assumed, if not for the fact Mia would soon be living with him, Sean wouldn’t have ever bothered with them.

  “I appreciate all your help, Jessie. Mia will be surprised when she comes home.”

  Jessie blushed and she started to fold up the stool. “Anytime. I’ll come by next week and take care of the master suite. The comforter I ordered came in yesterday and the matching curtains are already at my apartment. Once that room is done, everything will be ready.” She leaned the stool against the wall and retrieved her jacket and purse. “I need to stop home before I head to Mack’s. I’ll call you and see when a good time to come over again is.”

  Sean nodded. “Sounds good. Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

  Sean’s dog followed Jessie and Sean outside, leaving Tony alone in the transformed room. It was hard to believe this was the same dining room he’d seen that summer. Sean definitely had a knack for transforming old homes.

  “It’s good to see you’re still alive,” Sean said when he walked back into the room, Max right at his heels. “I thought maybe Striker had finally done you in.”

  “I’ve just been busy.” Tony followed Sean through the door that connected the dining room to the kitchen.

  Sean went straight to the refrigerator and took out two cans of cola. “Yeah, I’ve heard enough about that situation. Every time Mack isn’t around or gets sick of hearing about it, Striker complains to me.”

  If Striker had to complain, he was glad he didn’t bother him. Instead, he stayed as far away as possible at football practice, and he hadn’t called him once since he found out about their relationship.

  “Happy to be living alone again?” Sean asked.

  “Cat hasn’t moved out yet. Striker only closed on his condo yesterday.”

  “Yeah and he told me he planned to move in without his furniture.” Sean opened a cupboard and searched around before pulling out a container of mixed nuts. “He wants Cat out of your place bad enough that he borrowed an air mattress to use until we move his stuff in on Sunday.” Sean took a handful of nuts before he pushed the container toward Tony. “I thought you’d be ready for her to move out. She’s been living with you for a few weeks now. You don’t even usually take women back to your place, never mind let them stay there.”

  Tony picked out several cashews and popped them into his mouth. “She’s going to stay with me a little longer. She wants to make sure Striker gets all his stuff out of her apartment before she moves home.”

  “Last time I talked to him, he planned on doing that Sunday after we finish up. Even if he doesn’t, how much stuff can he have there?” Sean studied him for a moment with an all too familiar look on his face. Tony knew that look. It meant Sean was analyzing all the information at hand and at any moment he’d stick his nose in a place it didn’t belong. A place Tony didn’t want to go.

  Needing something to focus on, Tony grabbed more nuts from the container and tossed them in his mouth.

  “You’ve got it bad, my friend.”

  “What are you going on about?”

  “No matter how mind-blowing the sex, you’d never have a woman live with you unless you cared about her.”

  “I think you’ve been inhaling too many paint fumes.”

  Sean smirked. “And I think you’re full of shit.” He took a swig from his soda before he continued. “If you wanted more sex, you could have stopped at her apartment more often. You wouldn’t ask her to keep living at your house.”

  “Maybe you should start writing an advice column and give your opinion to people who want it.” If he’d known Sean would give him such a hard time, he would’ve stayed at home until Cat finished shopping. “Let’s go shoot some pool downstairs.”

  Tony didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, he took his soda and headed for the basement stairs. Complete darkness greeted him when he reached the bottom step and he pulled on the string attached to the overhead light bulb. “Thought you planned on putting the lights on a wall switch.”

  “It’s on my to-do list.” Sean grabbed two pool sticks down from the wall and handed him one. The smirk he’d had on his face upstairs was gone. Maybe Sean had decided he’d given him enough shit for the night.

  Tony stood back and watched while Sean lined up his first shot. It was a perfect break that sent the solid yellow ball into a corner pocket. Not that Tony was surprised. Sean excelled at this game, and more times than not, he won whenever they played. Sean’s second shot came close to sending the orange ball into a side pocket, but it stopped just short of going in.

  “Didn’t hit that one quite hard enough.” Sean moved away from the table.

  Tony examined the table for his best option. After deciding the only real hope he had was sending the purple-stripped ball into the corner pocket, he lined up the shot.

  “You love her.”

  Sean spoke just as Tony took his shot. Rather than sending the ball into the pocket, Tony made the cue ball jump in the air before landing back on the table with a thud. “Cheating now?”

  “Like I need to.” Sean leaned the pool stick up against the table. “You gave me hell when I let Mia go. I’m just repaying the favor.”

  Tony tightened his grip on the stick and pain shot threw his hand. “Good, now we’re even. So let’s play.”

  The sound of the old ticking clock on wall filled the basement.

  “You haven’t acted like this since Isabella.”

  Neither Sean nor anyone in Tony’s family had mentioned that name to him in so long, Tony figured they’d forgotten all about her.

  “When the hell did you turn into a woman?” He picked up Sean’s pool stick and held it out toward him. “Are we going to play or what?”

  Rather than accept it, Sean crossed his arms. “Grow a set already and admit you love her, Bates, before she realizes what an ass you really are and looks for someone new.”

  For a moment, he pictured Cat and Zack walking together through the center of town. The image made him grip his pool stick tighter. “She’s free to do that anytime she wants.”

  “Maybe you should tell Cat that. Then she can stop wasting her time with you. You can get back to those one-night stands you love so much and Striker will stop complaining every damn time I see him. Everyone will be happy again.” Sean pulled his pool stick out of Tony’s hand.

  Just because Cat could move on whenever she wanted didn’t mean he was in any rush for her to do so. And that certainly didn’t mean he loved her. Like Sean stated earlier, he cared about her. A huge spectrum of emotions existed betwee
n cared about and loved. He cared about Jessie Quinn too. That didn’t mean he loved her, but rather he considered her a friend.

  “I forgot I promised my mom I’d stop by tonight. She wants to show me the pictures of the summer house she and Dad are thinking of buying on Lake Winnipesaukee.” So what if he hadn’t talked to his mom this week. If he remembered correctly, his parents had gone looking at homes on the lake that month.

  Tony didn’t wait for a response. He hung his pool stick back up on the wall.

  “Don’t be an idiot.”

  He didn’t look back over at Sean, but he heard him clear his throat. Whatever else Sean intended to say, he wasn’t going to like it.

  “Tell her you love her. It’s easier than begging for forgiveness later. Trust me.”

  “Save your advice for someone who needs it.” He started up the stairs, but Sean’s next sentence still reached his ears.

  “You’re more of an idiot than I thought.”

  Months earlier, Tony had said something very similar to Sean in regards to a woman. He never thought someone would say it to him however.

  Chapter 10

  Cat left clean clothes for the morning on the bed and then added the rest of her pants to her suitcase. She’d already packed the few outfits she had hanging in Tony’s closet. Now that she’d cleaned out the drawers she’d used while she’d stayed there, only her stuff in the bathroom was left to pack. Most of that she’d need in the morning.

  Zipping up the suitcase, she set it on the floor next to her overnight bag. Packing that afternoon had been much harder than she expected. Truthfully, she didn’t want to leave. However, Striker had closed on his condo a week ago, and he’d moved all of his stuff out of her apartment. Staying with Tony any longer wasn’t necessary.

  “What’s all this?” Tony asked from the bedroom doorway.

  “I packed my stuff while I waited for you.”

  Tony entered the room, dropping his jacket on the bed before he hugged her. “I can see that. Why now?”

  “Striker is all settled in his condo. I thought, while you’re at the football game tomorrow, I’d take my stuff home. Then, afterward, you can pick me up, so we can go to the party.”

  He tightened his grip around her. “Sure. No problem. If that’s what you want.”

  No, it wasn’t what she wanted, didn’t the moron know that. Could he really have no clue about how she felt? If she wanted to move back home, wouldn’t she have been saying that all along?

  “If it’s easier, I can meet you back here instead.”

  “Nah, don’t worry about it. Get yourself settled back at home.” He kissed her before letting her go. “After the game, I’ll come back here, get ready, and pack a bag so I can stay with you after the party.”

  Maybe hoping he’d ask her not to move out had been too much to ask for. “Great. Is it a home game this weekend?”

  “Yeah, against Peabody. It should be an easy win. Their defense is nonexistent.” He removed his shoes and tossed them into the closet before stretching out on the bed. “How did the interview go this morning?”

  “Good, I think.” Very good. Her emotions were all over the place in regards to that fact. Cat joined him on the bed and immediately Tony pulled her down next to him.

  “Tell me about it.” Tony ran his fingers through her hair as he waited for her to answer.

  “This time, the interview was a one-on-one with one of the presidents. Before today, I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to him, but I’ve seen him at various company events. He wasn’t what I expected.”

  Tony’s hand left her hair, and his arm wrapped around her, holding her close. “How so?”

  “Zack went on a golf outing with him last year, and he said Mr. Carson was a stuck-up stuffed shirt. The type who acted as though he thought he was better than everyone else.” She felt Tony’s heart beat under her palm as she snuggled closer. “He didn’t seem that way at all today.”

  “Maybe he just didn’t like Zack. I don’t blame him.”

  Whenever Tony mentioned Zack, he got an annoyed tone in his voice. She heard it now too, only there was another emotion mixed in with it.

  “Zack does have a few good qualities, but sometimes his bad ones just overshadow them.” She knew she shouldn’t say that considering how Tony felt about her ex-boyfriend, but she and Zack were still friends, and it seemed like she should defend him. She’d do the same thing if he made a similar statement about Jessie or Kelsey.

  Tony turned his head and looked at her. “He keeps them all well-hidden. So when do you find out whether you got the position or not?”

  Part of her never wanted to find out. “Mr. Carson said he hoped to make an announcement next week. I heard Leo Gorman, who’s in the position now, plans to leave soon. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but supposedly, Leo and his wife are moving back to Canada to be closer to her family. But who knows. The office grapevine isn’t always correct.”

  “I better pick up a good bottle of champagne this weekend then, so we’re ready to celebrate when you get the offer.”

  She appreciated Tony having so much confidence in her. However, every darn time he mentioned celebrating when she got the job, she wanted to cry. Yes, she wanted to advance her career, but she didn’t want to leave him. Was he that eager to get rid of her? He never gave her any indications he was. However, it didn’t appear to bother him either that, if she got the new promotion, she would leave the area. If he cared about her, wouldn’t he have said something? Even if he didn’t come right out and say ‘I don’t want you to move,’ wouldn’t he have given her some kind of hint rather than say, ‘I’ll buy champagne so we can celebrate’?

  “What’s the matter?” Tony asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Nothing, why?”

  “You sighed as if something is bothering you.”

  His hand stroked her arm, but rather than sending comfort or longing through her, it sent a chill down her neck. No matter what happened next week with the promotion, soon she wouldn’t find herself in Tony’s arms like this.

  “I’m a little tired. I think worrying about the interview all week wore me down.”

  Tony kissed her forehead and then her lips. “Let’s stay in tonight then.”

  “I love...” Cat clamped her teeth down before the word ‘you’ slipped out. “That idea,” she said, finishing the sentence and hoping Tony didn’t pick up on the tiny pause. Before he could respond, Cat rolled on top of him and kissed him, infusing all the emotions she couldn’t say in words into the kiss.

  When she needed some air, she sat up enough to take her sweater and bra off.

  “I thought you were tired?” Tony asked as his hands cupped her breasts first and then slid down her stomach toward her waist.

  Taking one of his hands, she moved it back up to her breast. “I’ll take a nap later. Promise.”

  Tony smiled at her, the tiny dimple in his cheek that she loved appeared, and she leaned down to kiss it.

  “If I let you,” Tony said, as he rolled over, pinning her beneath him. Then he took her nipple in his mouth and all thoughts disappeared.

  ***

  She’d been a little worried about leaving her brother alone in her apartment for so long. She’d visited his place enough to know what a horrible housekeeper Striker was. However, so far, it looked as though she’d worried for nothing. At least, here in the kitchen, everything looked the same as the night she left. Sure, the refrigerator was more or less barren, but there were no dirty dishes in the sink and the trash basket she kept under the sink was empty. It even looked like Striker had restocked whatever food he’d eaten because there were new boxes of cereal, pasta, and soup in the cupboard.

  Cat picked up the suitcase and overnight bag she left near the door and went to her bedroom. This room looked perfect too, but she’d expected that. Striker wouldn’t have had any reason to come in her bedroom.

  When she dropped the suitcase on the bed, she spotted the white envelop on her
nightstand. Since only Striker had been in her apartment, she knew he’d left it there. Had he taken to leaving her written notes now in an attempt to get her to break up with Tony?

  Not eager to read her brother’s message, she took her time putting away her things. She’d washed everything before packing, so she was able to put everything back in its right place.

  After grabbing the last stack of clothes, she sorted them into piles according to where each item belonged. The last shirt in the stack didn’t belong in any of the piles. It wasn’t even hers.

  When Tony came by tonight, she’d give it back to him. She started to put the Boston College T-shirt off to the side and then stopped. The T-shirt had to be old. Both the fabric and the logo were faded and she’d noticed a tiny hole near the hem the night she’d worn it. Would he even notice it was missing? He had at least one other similar to this one. He’d worn it the previous weekend.

  Before she changed her mind, she stuffed the T-shirt into a drawer. She found the shirt ridiculously comfortable for sleeping in. If he asked about it, she’d give it back; otherwise, she’d keep it.

  Once all of her things were put away, she picked up the envelope Striker left behind. Expecting to find a letter listing all the reasons she was making a mistake, it surprised her when she pulled out the greeting card. On the cover was a cat holding up a thank you sign.

  Maybe he did learn some of those manners Mom always drilled into us. Cat opened the card and read the short note inside.

  Trina, thanks for letting me stay. I appreciate it. I left the washed sheets folded on the bed in the spare room. Come and visit soon. Striker.

  Not a single mention of Tony or what a colossal mistake she was making. Wow. Maybe sometime soon she would stop by and visit. At some point, they needed to start getting along again, and it looked like this was her brother’s attempt at doing that.

  With all of her unpacking done, she checked the time. She had an appointment for a manicure at one o’clock, which left her just enough time to watch one of the television shows on her DVR before she went out. Since she’d been staying at Tony’s, she’d fallen behind on most of her favorite show. Thankfully, she always set her DVR to record them regardless of her plans for the evening. She suspected that was a good thing, because she saw many nights alone in her future.