Voyeur Extraordinaire (8 page)

But the elation slipped from his face and his green eyes narrowed. “Did she set you up to this?” His voice was hard and cold as if a switch had been turned. That voice gave me a
whole different sort of chills.

Okay, I was confused. “Did who set me up to what?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

Anger
surged through me. “Excuse me?”

We stared at each other for what felt like forever,
then the suspicion disappeared from his face. Whatever he’d seen in my expression must have made it pretty obvious that I had absolutely no clue what the hell he was going on about. He shook his head and gave me a smile. “I’m sorry. I--” His eyes searched my face again. “Never mind.”

I waited for him to say more, to mention the window incident but he seemed perfectly content watching me. I tugged at Bruno’s leash and took a step back. “I have to get going. I’m late.”

I wasn’t actually late for anything, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Wait,” he said quickly and with a certain amount of authority that only someone who was used to ordering people around could possess. I hesitated. I really wanted to get away from him. Well, my brain wanted to get away. My body was a very different matter. I raised my e
yebrows, not trusting my voice.

“Let me make it up to you.”

I blinked at him. Wasn’t I the one who should make it up to him? Very inappropriate images of Adrian and I naked on his bed shot through my head and I was almost sure he knew exactly what I was thinking about.

His smile widened. “I was rude. I really want to make it up to you.” His voice was like silk; it held the promise of pleasure and adventure. I wondered if he used that tone often. Panties probably dropped left and right whenever he did. And he certainly kn
ew how to take advantage of it.

I took another step back from him. This was dangerous and I didn’t mean the weirdo, stalker, serial killer, he will kill you when you sleep dangerous. I meant the ‘if you don’t put a stop to it, you’ll have your heart broken’ dangerous. Adrian was so out of my league. I hadn’t even reached third base yet, and Adrian probably had more home runs than Babe Ruth. Oh god, I really had to stop listening to my dad talking baseball. I was going to die a virgin, probably smothered by the stack of unpublished ma
nuscripts in my tiny apartment.

“Go out with me.” It was an order. I wasn’t very experienced in the whole dating area but I was pretty sure you asked someone to go out wi
th you and didn’t tell them to.

“I don’t--”

“I can’t accept a no,” he said smoothly.

Well, tough luck, douche. I wasn’t going to become another one of his conquests. “I really need to go,” I said quickly before
I spun around and hurried away.

I allowed myself a glance over my shoulder when I’d almost reached the front door. Adrian was still watching me – like a lion would watch a gazelle. His stance was relaxed, sure of himself, that cocky smile plastered on his handsome face. I didn’t need to read his mind to know exactly what he was thinking:
You just wait, you’ll say yes eventually
.

And worst of all, I was pretty sure he’d be right.

***

As the day wore on, my confusion slowly turned to anger. I was clutching the handles of my scooter so tightly that I was worried I'd break them. I couldn't believe what had happened this morning. First he’d yelled at me and then he expected me to go out with him. The audacity of him! Arrogant bastard! And he hadn’t even asked. He’d just assumed that I would go on a date with him. Maybe he’d thought he was doing me a favor by gracing me with his presence.

Asshole.

I'd never been this angry before, but I was also confused, and I was very confused by my confusion. There was also a bit of regret in the mix, and that frustrated and confused me even more.

There wasn't any reason for me to regret not having agreed to go on a date with him. It was mere self-preservation. Not a single reason for regret.
Nope.

Except for the fact that I couldn't stop thinking of him, and the fact that his cocky grin made me wet my panties, and the fact that his hair looked good enough to kill for, and the fact that I wanted to run my hands over his muscled chest, and the fact that I wanted him so very badly...

“Fuck.” Bruno tilted his little head to the side and looked at me curiously from his spot in the basket. I groaned. I was losing my mind. If I totaled my scooter because I was talking to myself, my father would kill me. And I’d have to rely on public transportation.

I pulled up in front of the bar and took a few breaths to calm myself. It didn't really want to work. I was a mess but if I didn’t get a pay check soon I’d have to sell a kidney,
or return home with my tail between my legs and admit to my parents that my dream was just that. A dream. I’d rather sell my kidney and any other parts of my body that were of value than admit to my parents that they’d been right.

I grabbed Bruno and carried him into the shabby bar building with its faded paint. Mona patted Bruno’s head in passing and gave me a curious glance. I guess it was very obvious from my expression that I didn't have the best of days. My life was slowly turning into a nightmare. I forced a smile on my face, though I wasn't sure how convincing it was. But smiles were required if I wanted to get tips. The bar was still quiet and empty – how I liked it best, but I knew that would change soon. Leon was behind the counter, wiping the glass bottles that tended to get sticky. I did a double take when I realized Leon had cut off his hair. I walked up to him, set Bruno down and then gaped at Leon’s haircut. As long as I’d known him, he’d always worn it long. I reached out and touched his hair. It was mussed up with styling gel. “Wow,” I breathed. “You didn’t tell me you planned to cut off your hair.” Then I realized how stupid that sounded. Leon was my co-worker and maybe friend. He had no reason to involve
me in his personal decisions.

He smiled and shrugged. “It was a spur of the moment kind of thing.”

“It looks good,” I said. I wasn’t into guys with long hair but now with his black hair cut short I decided Leon looked good. Female customers had always fawned over him and now I could see why. I wiggled out of my long coat, embarrassed by my thoughts. The thing with Adrian had muddled my brain.

“The boss man is here,” Leon murmured. “Don’t let him see Bruno.”

“Fuck,” I whispered. I had to come up with a way to hide Bruno from him. I was on strict orders not to take him to work with me. Everything because of a tiny incident that involved Bruno and a couple doing it in the men’s restroom.

“Yep,” Leon said with a smile. “He won’t be happy to see your dog.”

“Well, if he’d pay me more, I could maybe afford a dog sitter.”

“What about your friend Amy?”

“She’s busy this week.”

Leon leaned close to me, wiping the surface of the bar. “I could hide him under the bar. If he stays silent.”

I shook my head. “Bruno is never silent.” Leon would probably trip over him and break his leg.

The door of Jack’s office opened and he stepped out. As usual he was dressed in a Versace shirt and khakis. His big belly strained against the silk of his shirt. Bruno let out a bark and Jack’s narrowed eyes zoomed in on him. “What’s that thing doing here?”

“I have no one to look after him. It’s a one time thing, I swear.”

I hoped nobody had mentioned to him that I’d taken Bruno with me all week. From the corner of my eye, I saw Leon winkin
g at me.

Jack narrowed his already small eyes. “I don’t want dogs in my bar, especially not that one. Get him out of my sight.”

“Just this once,” I half pleaded. I didn’t know what else to do. If he said no, I’d have to cancel my shift for the evening and I was pretty sure that Jack would kick me out if I did.

He muttered something I couldn’t hear,
then he said. “Only this once. But lock him into the staff restroom. I don’t want to see him attacking guests again.”

I didn’t mention that Bruno hadn’t exactly
attacked
the couple. Their grunting and groaning had probably just excited him and he’d jumped at the guy, who’d dipped forward. Unfortunately that had propelled his girlfriend’s hands into the toilet bowl. Needless to say there had been lots of screeching. It hadn’t exactly helped that in a wave of inexplicable snark I’d said that the toilets weren’t a place for fucking. I still wasn’t sure what had gotten into me that night. Probably one too many puppet comments from drunk customers.

Without another word Jack returned into his office – if you could call it that; it was more
like an extended storage room.

“He must be in a good mood,” Leon said. I nodded absentmindedly. With a quick smile in his direction, I led Bruno toward the staff toilet and shut the door. At once, he started scratching and yapping.
Sighing, I returned to the bar.

I plopped down on a bar stool and buried my face in my palms. “Could you turn on the music so I won’t have to hear Bruno barking?”

Mona took a seat beside me. “You look like something’s bothering you.”

“My life is a bit...stressful right now,” I murmured hesitantly. And that was a big understatement.

Leon cleared his throat. “If you need someone to talk to, you know where you can find me.”

“Or if you need a woman’s advice…” Mona trailed off.

I thanked them and told them that I might take them up on that offer some day, but I knew that my problems were a bit too extravagant to talk about. Only Amy could help now. It still felt surreal that Adrian Black had asked me to go on a date with him. Why the hell had he done that? Maybe he was just trying to humiliate me. There really wasn't any other explanation for it. I wasn't as beautiful as the women he usually spend his nights with and I wasn't experienced, but he didn't know that of course and it was probably better if it remained that way.

Later that day, after work, I didn't return to my apartment but knocked at Amy's door. I didn't know if Jared was already home, but I needed to talk to Amy right now, or I was going to lose my mind.

Amy opened the door, dressed in a burgundy silk camisole and what looked like Jared’s boxers. She smiled brightly when she saw me. “Nora! Home from work?”

I nodded and set Bruno down. “Can’t you tell?” I smelled of stale smoke and beer. Bruno walked into Amy's apartment instantly, probably searching for something to eat. Amy’s gaze followed him and she giggled. She thought Bruno's antics were cute. Her laughter, however, stopped when she saw my expression.

“Wanna talk?” she asked, stepping back so I could enter.

“Desperately,” I half groaned and walked past her into the kitchen of her apartment. Jared wasn't anywhere to be seen and I was quite glad about it, since this conversation classified as girls talk.

I plopped down on a kitchen chair and buried my face in my palms.

I felt Amy's presence next to me and smelled her vanilla perfume but she waited for me to start speaking. Usually patience wasn't her strength but she seemed to notice that I needed some time to gather my senses.

I raised my head from my palms eventually and looked at her. “I met Adrian Black this morning.”

Amy's eyes lit up with curiosity and excitement. She lowered herself onto the chair across from me. “So...what did he say? Was he angry? Or did it turn him on? Does he want you to keep watching him?”

My head started to hurt but I tried not to snap at Amy, since she was so nice to listen to my pathetic problems. “At first I'd thought he was angry, because he started shouting and accused me of having been set up by someone. Honestly, I don’t even know what that was about.” Anger still welled up in me when I thought of it. One moment he’d acted like a jerk and the next he was his charming self.

Amy was watching me with wide eyes, waiting for me to go on.

“But then he asked me on a date,” I finished lamely.

Amy let out a gasp. “He didn't! Did he?”

“He did.”

“Wow,” she breathed out.

“Yeah, wow. I mean who shouts at a woman and then asks her on a date? And the bastard didn't even ask me, he just told me the time when he'd pick me up!” It sounded even worse said aloud. I’d been right to say no.

Right?

“Sounds like he's a sociopath, or maybe he's got a split personality or something like that. Jared told me about it once,” Amy said with a little shrug.

“Probably,” I murmured, shaking my head. “Why would he ask me anyway? Who wants to go out with a woman who's been watching him every night? He's probably a freak.” It would be just like me to fall in love with a psychopath.

I gasped, causing Amy to look at me worriedly. Fall in love?

Holy shit. I had lost my mind. It was official. I didn't even know him and what I knew of him wasn't very nice. He was a man-whore and used woman solely for his own pleasure. God, it was so typical that I fell in love with an asshole. Why couldn't my life be easy? “I think
I’m kind of in love with him.”

Amy shook her head and touched my hand. “No,
sweety. I don’t think so. What you’re suffering from is lust. I don’t blame you. Adrian Black is hot. An asshole, but a hot asshole. It’s understandable that you want him. But don’t mistake lust for love.”