Against the Rules (Liberty Cove Book 1)

by Julia Black

  I dropped the box in the middle of the family room and glanced around. The apartment wasn’t too bad, I guess. I couldn’t ask much for the price I was willing to pay. A nice sized family room with space for TV area and eating area, a small kitchen separated by a high counter. Beyond the kitchen, a small laundry room that also served as pantry. Then two small bedrooms with closets that the tenant insisted in calling walk-in-closets, but I could barely take one step inside before I hit my nose on the wall, and one bathroom in between the bedrooms. What more could I, as a broke med school student, ask for?

  My eyes were drawn to the door as my mind raced to what was behind it.

  Kiera and her daughter. Fuck, I still couldn’t believe she had a daughter. I hadn’t slept with many girls, but I didn’t think any of them had kids.

  I snorted. The little girl showed up right as I was coming on to her mother. What a turn of events. Yeah, better that Kiera turned me down right away, because if she had said yes before her daughter appeared … I didn’t know. I guess I would probably change my mind about it. Wouldn’t I?

  When kids were involved, things got messy. Or messier.

  I shook my head, trying to forget about my neighbor and her cute kid.

  My body, though, had other idea. Since the other night, I couldn’t take Kiera off my mind. She had just said she wasn’t that kind of girl. Well, I wasn’t that kind of guy either. Not gonna lie, during college I did have a few nightstands at frat parties, screwing girls in bedrooms and even in a bathroom once. But I was twenty-five now and in med school. I hadn’t had a night like that in ages. To be honest, I hadn’t had a night like the one with Kiera ever. And it wasn’t just how dirty it had been, it was how good it had been.

  My cock jerked at the thought of being inside her again.

  “Down, boy,” I muttered. “It won’t happen again.”

  With a sigh, I looked around the apartment. There wasn’t anything for me to do. I had to go back to my old apartment, where my mattress still was, for the night. Then, tomorrow the rest of my stuff would be here, and I would get it all organized before my classes and my new internship started on Monday.

  I took in a deep breath. That was it. I had to focus on what was important: working hard during med school and getting the dream life I had always fought for. Nothing else mattered.

  ***

  Kiera

  “One more,” Luana asked, her sweet voice low. I smiled as I caressed her face. She could barely keep her eyes open. If read one more book, she would be out by the time I finished the first page.

  “I’ll read one more tomorrow night.” I leaned over her and kissed her cheek. “Good night, baby.”

  “Night, mommy,” she said, her eyes already closed.

  Still smiling, I checked on her nightlight beside the dresser, retreated from her bedroom, turned off the lights, and closed the door.

  I turned to our messy living room and let out a long breath.

  Trying to keep my mind blank—and failing—I picked up the toys from the floor and put them in the big basket we kept in the corner beside the couch. Luana was supposed to help me, but our time together was so limited—from the time I got home around five until her bedtime at seven thirty—I focused only on spending time with her, playing. I usually cooked an easy dinner, with her help, and I left the dishes and cleaning up to be done later.

  I went into the kitchen, scooped the leftovers of our pasta alfredo, Luana’s favorite, into plastic containers, put them inside the fridge, rinsed the plates, and loaded the dishwasher.

  Then, I made coffee and went to the desk in the corner of my bedroom. I sat in front of my open laptop and quickly logged in the school dashboard. Even though I hadn’t finished high school the normal way, I had gotten my GED, once I thought I could manage juggling a baby, work, and our apartment, I added one more ball to the game: online college. I had thought about going to one of the local colleges, but the times of the classes varied too much and getting a babysitter would be too expensive. Besides, I didn’t trust my baby with anyone, except Mercedes, Pillar, and if it was for a short period of time, with Ella and Charlotte too. Even her father had come to visit her a couple of times in the past year, and I had been glued to her, afraid of what he might do.

  So, I opted for online classes after her bedtime. Because of my busy schedule, I could only take two or three classes per semester. At this rate, I would graduate when I was thirty, but hey, better than waiting on bitchy customers my entire life.

  I put on music—I had to study with music—I sipped my coffee and stared at the screen, reading the text from the new lesson. Trying to read was more accurate.

  How could I focus and read and do homework when I knew Josh, freaking Hot Blond Josh, was just two apartments away from me? Holy crap, what a turn of events. Never in a million years would I have guessed that I would see him again. I mean, it was possible. Though I didn’t think he was a college student like most people at that party, he had to be friends with them, right? Otherwise, what had he been doing there?

  It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.

  It had only been five days ago, but Josh was already in the past, I told myself over and over again. And yet, a wave of heat traveled low in my stomach each time I thought of him, remembering his delicious touch, his intoxicating scent, and the possessive way he had grabbed me.

  I shook my head. I had two rules I couldn’t break, and that meant I had to push Josh out of my head.

  “We could repeat that night, don’t you think?”

  His words came back to haunt me, and I let out a shuddering breath. He had said that before he had met Luana. And I had seen the shock stamped on his face. He probably regretted saying that now.

  He didn’t have to worry. He was just my neighbor, and I wouldn’t do anything, with him or any other guy, near Luana.

  Why then I still couldn’t get him out of my mind?

  A slow song by SoMo started playing, a sexy tune, that instantly reminded of how Josh moved his body against mine.

  My breath caught. Leaning back on my chair, I dragged my hand over my belly and under my panties. Reliving the moment we shared back at the library, I touched myself, imagining it was Josh’s hands on me instead of my own. My heart rate sped up. My breathing came out in little rasps. Heat swarmed in me and my belly clenched as I pumped my fingers inside me. Then I rubbed my thumb across my clit once, twice. It was all it took. I bit my lower lip to keep from crying out as the climax ripped through me.

  My body trembling, I melted in my chair, suddenly too exhausted to do anything other than closing my eyes, and letting sleep claim me.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Kiera

  Something tugged at me.

  What?

  Slowly, I blinked.

  “Mommy, why are you sleeping in the chair?”

  I looked around. Shit, I was sleeping in my chair. I glanced at the clock. It was past seven forty already. What had happened to my alarm clock?

  “Shit!”

  Luana gasped. “Mommy, you said a bad word!”

  “Sorry.” I jumped from the chair and, as I straightened my back, pain laced my neck and shoulders. Shit. Besides sleeping in a bad position, I hadn’t completed my homework, which meant I had to work twice as hard tonight. Double shit.

  That was what I got for touching myself while thinking about Josh.

  I shook my head and focused. “Go get dressed, baby. I’ll be in the kitchen making breakfast soon.”

  She dragged her little feet back to her bedroom, and I raised my arms above my head, trying to stretch a little. I hissed. It only hurt more.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  I took a quick shower, got dressed in pencil skirt, my kitten heel pumps, and a blue blouse, and rushed to the kitchen, where I whipped out a quick toast and handed a yogurt to Luana. Usually, I tried to make pancakes and eggs, something more hearty for my little girl, but today we couldn’t waste time.

  I made sure Luana had put on he
r clothes right and had everything she needed for class, then raced out of our apartment at eight twenty.

  “Watch out!”

  I bumped into Josh’s outstretched arm. On instinct, I grabbed hold of his elbow, so to steady myself. His bright green eyes met mine. I sucked in a sharp breath and quickly let go of his arm. Heat flooded my cheeks, and low in my belly, as I remembered what I had done last while thinking of him.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, averting my eyes.

  “Whoa,” Luana said from behind me, staring as two guys carried a big sofa along the hallway.

  “I’ll have the movers around the building this morning,” he said. I lifted my eyes to his again. “Hope that is okay.”

  I shrugged. “I’m leaving for work.”

  “Oh. Good.”

  When the movers had cleared our door, Josh stepped away back.

  Luana and I exited the apartment into the hallway and I locked the door.

  When I turned to leave, Josh was still right there, just one foot from us, staring at Luana and me with a deep frown.

  “Bye, Josh,” Luana called out in a singsong voice as we walked toward the staircase.

  With Luana’s hand in mine, we climbed down the stairs. We were at the building’s main door when Josh ran down the stairs.

  “Kiera, wait.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Clutching Luana’s hand tight, I turned to him. “Yes?”

  “About what I said yesterday …” He ran a hand over his hair. My eyes widened. He wouldn’t talk about that in front of my kid, right? “About repeating … you know.” He cleared his throat and glanced at Luana. She was smiling up at him, clueless about what he was talking about. He shifted his gaze back to me. “You know I was kidding, right?”

  The air fled my lungs. I stared at him, completely shocked.

  One thing was to ignore what happened, pretend it didn’t happen, and move on. Another thing was to come back and tell me at my face he was joking about getting together again. Why? Was I so disgusting that he didn’t want to fuck me anymore? He seemed very content about that while he was at it. Or … it had been because he had met Luana. Now that he knew I was a mother, he didn’t want anything to do with me.

  Which was fine. Perfect even. Right along my rules.

  I shook my head once, sending the shock away. “Oh, I know. Don’t worry.” I smiled at him, a totally nasty thing. “It wasn’t that great anyway. No need to repeat that.”

  And I whipped around, pulling my child with me. I didn’t look back at all as we crossed the street and turned the corner. The tension and pain in my neck and shoulders only increased as I walked to the bus stop at the small park in the center of the apartment complex, back to my car in front of the building, and to work.

  By the time I had clocked in, my neck and shoulders were in so much pain, I wanted to scream. Instead, I swallowed the pain and the tears I had been fighting since Josh had ripped my spirit without knowing, and went to work.

  ***

  Kiera

  I wasn’t in the mood, but Ella and Charlotte insisted. They said I needed time to relax and forget about work and school and even my daughter for a couple of hours—as if that was possible.

  So, on Saturday night, they came over for dinner loaded with plenty of pizza and wine and ice cream. As soon as I put Luana down for the night, Ella served ice cream on disposable paper bowls for us, Charlotte poured more wine into our glasses and we sat in my living room, trying to catch up.

  From our little group, only Pillar was missing, because she was away at school. Every time we got together, we texted or facetimed with her, so she wouldn’t feel too left out. Tonight though, she was at a party and not answering any of our texts.

  Charlotte had moved into Liberty Cover about eighteen months ago from her small town to pursue her dream of becoming a famous super model.

  “Let me see if I got this right,” Charlotte said, pulling her legs up and sitting crisscross applesauce on my couch. Like a model, she was tall and lean, though she had more muscles and curves. But she was exquisite with her bright green eyes and dark golden wavy hair. “The random hot blond you slept with last Saturday moved to the apartment down the hall this week?”

  “Yup.” I smacked my lips loudly for effect.

  “Oh my word,” Ella said in a dreamy voice. She was the shortest and the slimmest of us all. Even with her pretty gray eyes and curled blond hair, she looked younger than twenty-one. “Can I write that in a book?”

  I chuckled. “Be my guest. Just make sure to give it a happy ending, because this story here is doomed. In fact, it already ended.”

  She lifted her chin and pouted at me. I rolled my eyes. Ella wrote super sexy romantic suspense and was actually starting to make a name for herself—though she wrote under a pen name because she was eternally embarrassed of the many explicit sex scenes she wrote.

  “Bullshit,” Charlotte called out. She wasn’t as timid as Ella, but she wasn’t as ballsy as Pillar, at least not with other people. “If he is as hot as you say he is, and the sex was as good as you make it sound—” I put my finger over my lips and shushed her. My daughter was sleeping in the next room. I didn’t need my four year old hearing us talking about sex! “—then it’s not over. Go over there, knock on his door, and ask if you can borrow some sugar.”

  Ella laughed, almost spitting out her wine.

  “Oh, you want to talk about that?” I rebuked. “Actually, I prefer talking about Theo. Let’s talk about him and you and what’s going on there.”

  Her fair skin gained a pink tint. “Nothing,” she said quickly. “There’s nothing there and you know that.”

  I cocked my eyebrows at her. “Does he know that?”

  She sighed. “Of course he does. He never tried anything again.” Theo was a rich guy, heir to an automobile empire, and a womanizer. He usually had a different model under his arm each weekend. He probably got his first big no from Charlotte. Though the two of them had become friends and Theo came to visit her often.

  “But you want him to try, right?” Ella asked, taking the words out of my mouth.

  Charlotte’s cheeks darkened. “Of course not.” She took a long sip from her wine than looked at Ella. “You mentioned having a new idea for a new book. Tell us about it.”

  I almost called her out on changing the subject so fast, but I had done it too mere minutes ago, so I let it slide.

  Ella shook her head. “It’s not fully formed yet, and I don’t share vague ideas.”

  “Come on,” I said. “It’s us. Tells us about it.”

  She looked down at her wine glass, as if she was too shy to look at us while speaking about her ideas. “I usually write about strong girls, but they are the victims of my romantic suspense. They never do any fighting and, honestly, I don’t know anything about fighting other than the many Jackie Chan movies I watched. My fight scenes aren’t technical, and I stay in the heroine’s POV so she narrates what she sees, not blow by blow and whatever is going on in the hero’s mind. This time, I wanted the heroine to be the fighter, the one that goes after the clues and the suspect and, with the help of the hero, beats the villain with her awesome martial arts skill.”

  “That sounds awesome,” Charlotte said.

  “It does,” I agreed.

  “Yeah, but I don’t feel confident enough to write about a girl fighting.”

  Charlotte smiled wide. “Then join a martial arts school and take some classes.”

  “I like that idea,” I said. “Don’t writers do a lot of research? That would be your research.”

  She gaped at us for a long time. “That is … I can’t do that.”

  For the next thirty minutes, Charlotte and I tried to convince Ella that she had to join a martial arts school for research and write that great idea. Then we switched back to Charlotte and talked a little more about Theo and also her career. As a model, she wasn’t that successful. She had an anxiety problem, and she got too nervous before a gig and, most of the time, en
ded up messing it up. Which didn’t help her in getting new gigs.

  Then, of course they circled around to Josh, our new hot blond neighbor.

  I glanced at my apartment door, as if I had x-ray vision and could see through the doors and walls into his apartment. Sighing, I wished Josh would had never moved to Liberty Cove.

  ***

  Josh

  I was fucking tired of carrying boxes up and down three flights of stairs. When did I acquire so much shit? All the places I had lived, I didn’t have any decorations or knick knacks or side lamps and paintings on the wall. It was just the basics.

  And why did I have to be such a dick and not pay extra for the movers to take the little things with them too? I could be home relaxing right now, watching The Walking Dead and drinking a beer.

  It was eleven on a Saturday night, and finally, I was carrying the last box up the stairs. On Monday, I would drop the keys of my old apartment at the front office before going to class, and that would be over.

  Earlier today I had gotten a few calls from some acquaintances, inviting me to parties. If I didn’t have so much to do in my apartment, I would have gone. A cold beer sounded like a good idea right now. Peter, the guy who hosted the party last weekend, was one of the callers. He was the younger brother of Douglas, a guy in med school who was in most of my classes. Douglas was what I could call my best friend, but I didn’t believe in true friendship. Douglas was quiet and a lone wolf—probably what made me like him—and Peter was the exact opposite. We had partied a few times together, and now he invited me to all of his get togethers.

  With an exhausted huff, I finally reached the third floor. I dragged my feet along the corridor. Without meaning to, I slowed down as I walked by Kiera’s door. It was late, she was probably sleeping.

  When voices and laughter carried through the door, I halted. She was having a party at this time? What about her kid? What about the neighbors?