by Anna Lewis
“Why are you living in a shithole like this then?” Scarlett asked. “Why not get some big fancy mansion for you and all your dragons?”
“I do have a country house,” Titus said without a hint of modesty, “but I'm often here for work, so I figured it'd be prudent to have a place here as well. The other place is mostly for vacation now.”
“Oh,” Scarlett said. She didn't have a rebuttal for that. “Good on you then.”
“Let me know if you'd ever like to see it,” Titus said. “Might as well be a museum with all the things I've crammed in there over the years.”
“Busy bee,” Scarlett mumbled.
“Of a sort,” Titus replied. At Scarlett's startled look he chuckled. “I have very good hearing.”
“No kidding,” Scarlett said.
Titus looked at the gold watch on his wrist. “Still early yet. You want to play a game or something? Or do you want me to piss off?”
“What games have you got?”
Titus was quiet for a moment while he thought. “I've got a deck of cards. You any good at poker?”
“No.”
“Gin?”
“Not strip gin, right?”
“Not unless you want it to be,” Titus said, smirking. He stood, went back to the closet, and returned with a battered deck of playing cards. “Playing for fun or for cash?”
Scarlett searched her pockets and bag. “I've only got twenty quid,” she said.
“Just for fun, then.” Titus sat cross-legged on the other side of the coffee table, letting Scarlett have the couch, shuffled the deck and dealt out a hand to each of them. Scarlett scooted forward, put her drink aside, and settled in to play. Occasionally she glanced up at Titus, feeling a familiar warmth in the pit of her stomach. If only she had it in her to do one night stands... she sure would have rattled his bones. She considered asking him if he wanted to go on a date with her, but right now she still felt a loyalty to Hunter. Until she found out what really happened it would be cruel of her to go on a date with another guy behind his back. But if it turned out that Hunter was full of shit...
“Gin,” Titus said.
Scarlett looked down at the table. “You bastard. Are you cheating or something? This is the third round in a row you've won, what the hell?”
“Told you dragons are a symbol of luck,” Titus said, winking. “Here, you shuffle. I need a piss.” He pushed the deck to Scarlett's side of the table and got to his feet with a grunt, stretching his arms high above his head. His shirt rode up, exposing the base of his stomach along with the hint of abs and the V of his hips. Scarlett nearly dropped the cards, her fingers suddenly clumsy. The heat in her stomach returned, and made its way up to her chest. She let out a soft exhale through her mouth, half a sigh, and roughly shuffled the cards. When Titus returned she dealt.
“Your face is red,” Titus said. “You okay?”
“I'm fine,” Scarlett said. “Just feel a bit warm. It's warm in here.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Titus replied. “I don't do so well with cold.”
“Sucks living here, then.”
Titus laughed. “Yeah, it's a pain in the winter.” They played in silence for a while. Scarlett tried to get the image of Titus' naked torso out of her mind. At some point Titus grabbed a beer from the fridge, then got one for Scarlett as well. They toasted and drank. The game continued on for a good couple hours. Titus was the one who suggested going to bed and Scarlett did not argue.
“Don't bother waiting around for me in the morning,” Titus said. “Just lock the door on your way out.” They said goodnight and Scarlett stretched out on the couch, which was far more comfortable than she had assumed it would be. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wait long for the landlord to let her into her own apartment in the morning, but she probably would, and she'd likely be late for work because of it. Not much she could do about that, sadly. As she settled in her thoughts turned to Hunter. She hoped that he was okay, and that he family emergency was real, as awful as that sounded. She didn't want him to have stood her up for no reason at all. She genuinely liked him.
And she was starting to like Titus, too. A night of gaming had showed a side of him she would have never imagined existed. She always just thought he was a playboy, but clearly he was way more than that. The offer to go out to his country house was a nice one as well. Scarlett had never really considered herself much of a history buff, but that didn't mean she couldn't have an appreciation for things that didn't include the centuries-old buildings she passed every day.
She yawned and felt her body grow heavy as she neared sleep. When she did fall asleep she dreamed. The dream was weird in the way that dreams are, featuring both of the new men in her life; one light and one dark. She was sandwiched between them, feeling hot and heavy, hardly able to breathe. She didn't know whose hands were where or who was kissing her neck or who was kissing her chest, because she couldn't open her eyes, but she could smell both of them, feel both of them. Her alarm startled her violently out of it, blaring its happy little jingle by her ear. Blearily she fumbled to turn it off and reluctantly sat up. The first thing she did was call the landlord again. This time at least there was an answer. He wasn't happy, but he said he'd drive up as soon as he could. Scarlett knew that would be a while, regardless, so she called work to explain she'd be late. She didn't want to linger in Titus' flat, but she didn't have anywhere else to go.
She scrolled through her texts with Hunter on her phone. There hadn't been anything new from him overnight. Scarlett toyed with the idea of texting him. She was well within her rights. She opened up their conversation but hesitated. She didn't want to sound like a jackass, but she wanted to know what the hell had happened last night. Had he really had a reason to leave so quickly or had he just suddenly decided he didn't like Scarlett's company? She hadn't seen any signs of him being uncomfortable. In fact he seemed to be having a great time until his alarm went off. Maybe there really had been an emergency. She texted him.
//Hey I know it's early but is everything okay? You left quickly. Just checking in.
She sat and waited for a reply.
***
She didn't really expect a response, and she didn't get one. It was probably too early for him, or his phone had died, or a number of other reasons that would justify it. She went to the kitchen for a drink and glanced at the closed door to Titus' bedroom as she did. She couldn't hear any sound coming from behind the door, but that didn't mean he wasn't awake. Her phone pinged with a text from the landlord saying he'd be there in five minutes. Scarlett finished up her water, folded the blanket she had used and hesitated before she left, wondering if she should say goodbye to Titus or not. She'd likely see him again. She opted for leaving him a note on the kitchen counter instead, thanking him for letting her stay and leaving her number for him.
The landlord was very unhappy to have been called in so early, but he did let Scarlett back into her flat with minimal grumbling. She thanked him and quickly slipped inside before he could give her a piece of his mind. Her keys were right where she had left them on the kitchen counter. She sighed to herself and put them immediately in her bag then got ready for work. She wasn't as late as she had thought she would be, thankfully. She put her head down and got to work. Her work kept her busy but didn't do much to occupy her mind. She still hadn't heard anything from Hunter, or from Titus. She hoped that both of them would say something to her, especially Hunter. She needed confirmation that he hadn't stood her up on purpose. She thought about sending him another text but she didn't want to sound desperate. The best thing to do was to wait, as difficult as that was. She would give him until the end of the day, until she went to sleep, and if she didn't hear anything then she would consider it a lost cause and turn her attention to other things instead, namely to Titus and his flat full of dragon statues.
Titus was the one to text her first, just a simple message to give her his number, but he was busy so she didn't bother to text back. Besides, she was behind on her work
for the day since she was late and didn't have a lot of time to screw around. When she finally got home, however, there was a surprise waiting for her. Titus stood outside her door, holding a casserole dish in his hands.
“I cooked,” he said by way of greeting, smiling. “Can't speak to how good it is, but I learned a new recipe today and thought I'd try it out. Wondered if you'd like to have some as well.”
“That's sweet of you,” Scarlett replied. “I'm starving, actually.”
“All the better,” Titus said. “You got your keys this time?” Scarlett jingled them and he let them both inside. “You ever hear from your date?” Titus called from the kitchen as he sorted through cabinets looking for plates.
“Not yet,” Scarlett replied. “I'm giving him until the end of the day. Just gonna get changed.”
“Yup.”
She slipped into her room and quickly traded her work clothes for something more comfortable. Titus had laid a plate out on the tray table Scarlett kept next to her sofa and was setting up another one. They sat next to each other to eat.
“What made you want to share?” Scarlett asked. “Not that I'm complaining, this is great.”
“I'm not really familiar with my other neighbor,” Titus replied. “And I thought you'd appreciate it after the shit day you had yesterday. I wasn't sure you'd say yes, honestly.”
“I never say no to free food,” Scarlett replied.
Titus laughed. “I'll keep that in mind.”
Scarlett cleared her plate quickly and leaned back against the sofa with a satisfied sigh. Titus did the same not long after, stretched, and let his arm fall over the back of the sofa behind Scarlett. She noticed, but didn't say anything. As far as moves went it wasn't very subtle, but she didn't mind it, especially since she hadn't heard anything from Hunter. Maybe Titus would prove to be a better date if Scarlett gave him the chance.
“Would you like to take me out to dinner tomorrow night?” she asked.
Titus didn't look or sound startled. “I'd love to,” he replied and let his arm fall over her shoulders, a warm and heavy weight, almost as hot as Hunter's body felt.
“Pick me up after work? I'll be home at six.”
“I'll be ready,” Titus said.
“Good.”
They didn't kiss, but Scarlett almost let it happen. Titus was standing at the door, giving her a brief hug goodnight, and when she stepped back and tilted her head up to look at his face she found her lips scant inches from his. All she would have to do was stand up on her toes and they would meet. Her heart launched up into her throat and her whole body filled with a tingling warmth that shortened her breath and made her knees tremble. Titus' green eyes had gone very dark and the arms he had wrapped around Scarlett's waist tightened just enough... but she pulled back and cleared her throat.
“See you tomorrow,” she said with an awkward little wave.
“Tomorrow at six,” Titus said in a low voice. Scarlett very slowly closed the door on him and turned the lock. She heard his footsteps as he walked away and leaned against the door, waiting for her heartbeat to slow. She breathed out hard and ran her hands through her hair, noticing only then that they were shaking. It had been a long time since a guy had had this kind of effect on her and it'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it. She only made Titus leave because she knew that a kiss would have turned into something more and she'd be breaking her own moral code if that happened. Besides, she still had a couple hours left before she went to bed, which meant that Hunter still had time to contact her before she gave up on him and labelled him as a jackass. She kept one eye on her phone but as the night passed grew surer and surer that she wasn't going to hear anything. Too bad for him, then.
It wasn't until right when Scarlett got into bed and was plugging in her phone and winding down to go to sleep that she heard the ping of a text message. She assumed it was a friend, because Titus knew when she went to bed, and Hunter had gone all day without even sending her a sorry I'm okay. She was surprised when it was Hunter's name that showed on the screen.
\Probably not the person you want to hear from but yeah I'm okay and I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you
\Let me make it up to you?
\Dinner tomorrow night? Say 6?
//I've got plans. Glad you're okay though. Was gonna cut you off if you didn't text before I went to sleep, and I just got in bed
\How about just a drink then? I'll be at the pub as usual
//Maybe, if I can. I gotta sleep
\Goodnight. I hope there's no hard feelings?
//No, no hard feelings. Night
Scarlett sighed and put her phone down then threw her arm over her eyes. She'd told herself if Hunter contacted her before she went to sleep she would give him a second chance. Just because she had a dinner date with Titus tomorrow night didn't mean she couldn't go out for a drink with Hunter after. She wasn't exclusive with anyone after all. Thinking about it made her head hurt. She would deal with it tomorrow when the time came. She curled up in her blankets and thought about the dream she'd had the previous night upstairs on Titus' sofa. The details were fuzzy now that so much time had passed, but she did remember that it had been some vague kind of sex dream involving both Titus and Hunter. Scarlett pushed her face into her pillow. She hated making decisions. The last thing she wanted to do was have to pick between her neighbor and the stranger from the bar. Unless one of them proved to be a jackass then someone would end up getting hurt, not that either of them would admit it. Scarlett wouldn't. She fell asleep trying to figure out how she would ever choose between tall, brilliant Titus and dark, funny Hunter, with their sharp smiles and devilish good looks.
***
Scarlett spend her entire work day thinking about what she had gotten herself into that evening. She pulled one of her co-workers aside at lunch, a woman around her age called Jenna she got along with pretty well, to ask for her advice.
“Why just settle for one?” was the entirely unhelpful response.
“That's literally not what I asked,” Scarlett replied with a hint of frustration in her voice. She poked at her packed sandwich. “I asked 'how do you choose between two equally attractive guys who are both interested in you'.”
“Again I say, why just settle for one? It's the 21st Century, Scarlett, if you can have both then take both. I don't know a single guy who would turn that down.”
“A threesome with a girl and another guy? Most guys' fantasies involve them and two girls.”
“Have you watched porn lately? No don't answer that you're clearly not that kind of person,” Jenna said quickly with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Just trust me when I say that they'll probably be into it so if you really can't choose between both of them, then, well. No reason you can't have your cake and eat it, too.”
Scarlett sighed and rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised they didn't fall right out of their sockets and stared up at the ceiling like it held all the answers. “I mean I guess it's advice,” she said. “I did ask you for advice.”
“And advice I gave,” Jenna said cheerfully. “Course, if it doesn't work out that way, would you mind sending the loser over my way? I'll get my hands on any bit of man I can.”
“You're gross,” Scarlett said without meaning it. Jenna just smiled and winked. It would be dishonest to say that her idea didn't have some appeal behind it. She doubted either of the guys would go for it though. Her impressions of them hinted at a trace of possessiveness, certainly not the personality of anyone who would be happy to share his woman with another man. Was there really any harm in asking though, if it came to that? It sounded like the best of both worlds; not technically a one night stand but not having to actually choose between two men she was very fond of. She shook her head and started to eat. It wasn't something to worry about unless the opportunity actually presented itself. There were more pressing matters for her to think about; namely her date with Titus and her promise to try and have drinks with Hunter. There wasn'
t anything wrong with dating two men at the same time, she reminded herself. Of course that usually only applied when both men knew about the situation. It was probably a good idea to let Titus know and hope that he didn't react too badly to it.
Scarlett dressed casually for her dinner with Titus, the same as she had for Hunter. She didn't want to put one man above the other. In her eyes they both needed to be equal until the time came for her to make a decision. She didn't want there to be any biases, just an honest assessment of how she felt for each of her suitors. She could almost laugh at herself. That night at the bar when she first met Hunter she had lamented over the fact that no guy seemed to notice her and now she had two of them and lacked the knowledge and the ability to decide between who she wanted more.
At 6:45 there was a knock on her door and on the other side awaited Titus in a casual suit, holding a single rose. “Hey,” he said in greeting. He held out the flower. “This is for you. A scarlet rose for a Scarlett.”
Scarlett snorted at his pun but accepted the flower with a smile. The stem had been meticulously trimmed of thorns. “Let me just find something to put this in. I think I have a vase around here somewhere.”
“I'll wait,” Titus said. It took Scarlett a couple minutes to find something suitable to put the flower in which turned out to be a tall pint glass. She filled it up with water and put it on the coffee table then checked she had all of her things, especially her keys.
“So, where are you taking me? I feel a bit under-dressed.”
“You look beautiful,” Titus said, making her blush. “Nowhere fancy. Just a place I thought you'd like.”
He kept his hand on her knee during the drive, only moving it when he needed to shift gears, which thanks to light traffic wasn't all that often. His touch was warm and welcome, like Hunter's was, but something about him was different. Scarlett couldn't put her finger on what, though. Personality wise she couldn't see much difference between the two of them. They were both confident and cocky, although to her knowledge Hunter didn't have a different girl over to his place every night. Since that night with Titus though she hadn't heard him having sex, which made her wonder if he had stopped all together because of her. It was flattering if he had. Or maybe he had just taken a break until he decided whether or not she was worth it.