Apartment 2B (13 page)

“My brother is dead. Get the fuck out of my apartment.”

She lunges at me and begins punching my chest hard with her tiny fists. All rational
thoughts are gone as she unleashes her fury on me. And even though I’m pissed, I realize
that she’s hurting for my brother and I feel the need to comfort her.

“Sidney,” I whisper and pull her to me, trapping her in a tight embrace.

All fight leaves her body as she melts into me. But only for a moment. As if a switch
flips on, she pushes away from me and bolts out of my apartment, back to her own.
Moments later, I hear that annoying-ass shower running.

What just happened? Completely confused, I locate my duffle bag and pull out my sweats.
A run will help clear my head. But I discover I can’t clear one thing from my mind
no matter how hard I try.
Sidney.

It’s nearly dark when I make it back from my run. I haven’t been able to push Sidney
from my mind. There is something wrong with that girl and I am going to figure out
what is going on with her.

I come out of the stairwell and my hackles rise when I see a man standing by Sidney’s
door. Something about his demeanor lets me know that he doesn’t belong anywhere near
her.

“Can I help you?” I growl at him.

He seems startled at first but turns and gives me a sick grin. “I believe you can
mind your own damn business,” he tells me angrily, baring his yellow teeth. He’s every
bit as tall as I am and has probably fifty pounds on me, but I’m solid muscle. If
need be, I’ll stomp his big ass into the ground.

“And I believe you can get the fuck off my floor before I call the police. What are
you doing by her door?” I demand, stepping close to him. The anger is building, and
I’m close to losing control with this idiot.

“She’s my girlfriend. I was about to go fuck her,” he spits out at me. His hand grasps
the knob, and my eyes widen when it easily opens. There is no way in hell that girl
would be with someone like him.

My protectiveness over someone I’ve only met once sweeps over me and I lose my shit.
One hand grabs his throat while the other wraps around his over the doorknob and pulls
it shut. I squeeze tight, cutting off his air. He seems surprised that I’ve put my
hands on him. Both of his burly hands are on my wrist, attempting to pull my hand
away. I just grip him even harder. He’s starting to black out, so I drag him to the
door to the stairwell. I wrangle the door open and push him inside.

“I don’t want to see your fucking face around here again or you will regret it. Do
you fucking understand me?” I bark at him. He’s rubbing his neck, but he nods as he
stomps up the stairs to the third floor. Good to know. I will be talking to building
management tomorrow.

I reenter our floor to see Sidney peeking through her open door at me.

Stalking over to her, I push open the door a bit so I can see her better. She lets
out a squeak and scrambles away from me. I can see that she has a different dress
on, and by the way her nipples are greeting me, I’d say that she isn’t wearing anything
underneath. I nearly groan at the thought.

“Do you not lock your door? That asshole was about to come pay you a visit. Do you
know him?” I demand.

She turns white at the mention of him, which further indicates that he didn’t belong
around her. “I forget,” she whispers.

“What do you mean you forget? How do you forget to lock your door? Don’t you have
common sense? There are lunatics out there!”

She starts to cry softly, and I feel bad for being so harsh on her. Her head is bent
down, looking at her bare feet. Wavy brown hair curtains around her face. Stepping
over to her, I sweep a section of her hair away so I can look at her.

When her face meets mine, she looks like she wants to kiss me. Instead, she stumbles
away from me and makes her way to the window. She struggles a minute but manages to
get the window open. All but hanging out the window, she inhales in like she’s close
to hyperventilating.

“Are you okay?” I ask her from across the room.

She nods, but I know she isn’t. As if in a zone, she heads toward her room, and I
get another lovely view of her perfect ass as she yanks off her dress before rounding
the corner. My cock comes to life and tries to escape its sweatpant prison. I hear
her shower come on, which reminds me that I need a shower of my own—a very cold one.
As I leave her apartment, I push the lock button on her front door and pull it behind
me. After checking to make sure it’s locked, I then head back over to my place.

Sidney definitely has issues going on. She is a mystery I intend on unraveling and
soon. But first, I need to give my cock some much-needed attention in the shower.
And I’ll be damned if I don’t think about her curvaceous bottom as I whack off.

After the run and shower, I realize that I am starving. There’s nothing in the apartment,
of course. Deciding I need to check on Sidney, I hurry and dress in some jeans and
a white T-shirt. I feel nervous for some reason when I get to her door, but I knock
anyway.

She answers the door but looks shocked to see me standing there.

“Hi. I was just checking on you. How are you feeling?”

I see her sweep her eyes across my chest, and I hold back a grin. Apparently she finds
me attractive as well. Her blushing cheeks confirm that.

“Um, fine. I was just about to settle down and watch a movie.”

My eyes roam her body and notice that she’s wearing another dress. This woman changes
clothes a lot and showers frequently from what I can tell.

“Want to go out and grab some dinner?” I ask.

She drops her jaw and immediately shakes her head. “Oh, no. I will just stay here.
I-I don’t get out much,” she stammers.

“Did you eat dinner?”

“Well, not yet. But—”

“But nothing. You should come eat with me. Look, I have absolutely nothing in the
apartment. I’d like it if you came and had dinner with me.”

She frowns, but I can tell that her mind is contemplating my words.

“You can eat here. I’ll make us something.”

I’m still pretty exhausted from my travels and run, so I concede. Well, partially.

“Fine. I’ll eat with you, but tomorrow you’re coming with me to the store.”

A smile lifts the corners of her mouth and she becomes impossibly more beautiful.
My cock agrees. Down boy.

“Okay. Come on in. What do you like? Do you like wine?” She is nervous about having
me over, and it’s fucking cute as hell.

“I’m a man. I’ll eat anything. And a drink sounds great.”

She flushes again at the mention of the word ‘man’ but tries to hide it as she scurries
into the kitchen. I shut and lock the door behind me. That asshole still has me on
edge. I follow her into the kitchen to see her bent over, pulling a pot from the cabinet.
My eyes greedily follow every curve of her ass. Her dress is short, and I want to
lift it up to really appreciate her ass-ets.

When my eyes finally leave that sweet swell, I graze them down her bare legs and notice
scars for the first time. She finds the pot she was looking for and stands back up.
My eyes are glued to her legs though. Fury is building up inside me. Those scars are
not from an injury. They are from something dark and sinister.

“What happened to your legs?” I question.

She spins around and gasps when she realizes I’ve been checking her out. “Oh, that.
It’s a long story.”

I cross my arms as I wait for it. Her eyes fall to my arms and tears fill them.

“Liam.” Just one word. I know she isn’t calling me that, but she says it more like
a memory.

I unfold my arms and walk over to her. She backs away from me until her bottom hits
the edge of the counter. Grabbing the pot from her hands, I set it on the stove next
to her. Then I place both of my hands on either side of her on the counter.

Dipping my head down, I inhale her womanly scent. She smells like soap and lavender.
It’s such a clean, intoxicating smell.

“I’m Lane,” I remind her.

She nods as she studies my face, which is just inches from hers. Those pouty lips
are just asking to be sucked on, but since she is so different, I don’t dare. Instead,
I bring my lips close to her ear.

“I’m captivated by you, Sidney. What is it about you?” I seriously want to know the
answer.

“Please don’t touch me,” she begs quietly.

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t handle it. Please.”

This girl doesn’t make sense, and I want nothing more than to touch her. Everywhere.
I find some self-control and pull away to look at her.

“Talk to me. I need to know you, Sidney. Clearly you knew my brother, although that’s
still unclear. I want to know you.”

Tears fill her eyes again at the mention of Liam, and I feel like a dick.

“I’m sorry. Let’s eat and save serious conversation for after, okay?”

She nods, looking quite relieved as I pull completely away from her. Turning her back
to me, she sets off to make what would appear to be spaghetti. I’m hungry for more
than just food, so I force myself to stay on the opposite side of the kitchen. I don’t
want to scare her away.

Effortlessly, she flies around the kitchen, preparing the meal. The scents are delicious,
and I didn’t realize how starved I’ve been for a home-cooked meal. Since she mentioned
wine earlier, I go ahead and locate two glasses, pouring them for us.

After she fills two plates with spaghetti and salad, we make our way to the kitchen
table. Within minutes, we are seated across from each other. We don’t speak as we
eat, but I manage to groan loudly at the delicious food. Her eyes fly to mine, and
I see that, for the first time since I met her, they are heat-filled. It takes everything
in me not to climb over the table and attack her lips.

“Sidney, this is so fucking good,” I praise.

Her cheeks turn red, but she seems proud of my comment. This girl clearly doesn’t
get compliments often. That is about to change.

After we’ve finished our meal, I can tell that the wine is warming her because she
starts to smile a lot more. I finally break the silence as we start to clean the kitchen
together.

“What do you do, Sidney? For a living?”

“I look after an old woman downstairs throughout the week, cleaning and cooking for
her.”

She starts scrubbing the pot in the sink under the water. When I go to wet a rag to
wipe down the table, I am shocked to find that the water is cold.

“You’re supposed to wash dishes in hot water, you know,” I tease at her.

She suddenly goes tense and grabs either side of the sink. Shit, I’ve said something
wrong.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, coming up behind her.

Her body suddenly comes back to life as she breathes heavily at my proximity. “I can’t
do hot water, okay?”

Sweeping the hair away from her neck, I whisper, “Okay.”

She sighs and visibly relaxes. I release her hair and we finish the kitchen without
any more episodes. After we’ve filled our glasses, I follow her into the living room.
She sits on one end of the couch, so I sit right beside her. Her eyes widen in horror,
but I ignore it as I stretch my legs out over the coffee table and get comfortable.

“Liam always gave me my space,” she sniffs out at me. I can tell that she’s irritated
with me, but I don’t care.

“I’m not Liam. I’m Lane.”

“Lane, you don’t understand. I have issues. You can’t just come in here and mess things
up.”

My dick perks up at the mention of my name. That damn thing has a mind of its own.

I’m not trying to mess things up, Sidney. I’m trying to fix things. My brother was
a selfish man.”

She jerks her head over at me and glares. “Take it back, Lane.”

Her lip is trembling now, and I do what I’ve wanted to do since the moment I first
saw her. Reaching up to her with my hand, I gently use my thumb to stop the movement.
I hold my breath as I realize that I’ve done exactly what she’s asked me not to. Time
freezes for a second while she looks at me wide-eyed. Pulling it away quickly, I grin
down at her.