Chapter 9

Joslyn trudged up the stairs leading to her apartment complex, having stepped out of the elevator a floor below hers so she could round up her morning exercises with a stair climb.

Panting lightly, she stomped her way up the last few steps, groaning in relief when she finally reached the top and made her way into the corridor where her room was located. Uncapping her water bottle, she tilted her head backward and brought it to her mouth to take large gulps of the water rather quickly in order to quench her thirst, thereby allowing a few drops to escape the corners of her lips, trail down her exposed neck, mixing with the accumulated sweat there and continuing their paths into the sports bra she was wearing.

Still gulping down the water, Joslyn pinched the fabric of her sports bra between her index finger and thumb, lifting the now wet material off the skin of her chest. Her action brought a bit of her cleavage into view and the man who, at that exact time, walked out of his own apartment got to be the sole spectator of the show.

Joslyn, who was still occupied with slaking her thirst, remained blissfully unaware of the new presence that had joined her in the hall; completely oblivious to the man who stood absolutely still just in front of the door to his apartment.

The man was enraptured by Joslyn's form clad in simple workout gear consisting of a black sports bra and a similarly colored pair of high waist seamless leggings. His eyes zeroed in on every drop of the water that ran down the moving arc of her neck as her throat bobbed with each swallow such that not even the sight of the sweat on her body was enough to deter him—in fact the man couldn't help but think that the perspiration made her flawless skin glisten; it gave her already radiant skin even more sheen.

The immobile man struggled to regain his breathing, which had hitched at the sight of Joslyn, as well as to curb his hard-on, which had begun growing as his eyes very carefully followed the path the dripping water had taken down into her cleavage.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Joslyn tipped her head forward, back to its right position again and with a pop that was successful in creating a dirty image in the mind of the onlooking man, she unlatched her lips from the mouth of the water bottle, letting out a satisfied sigh as she darted out her tongue to catch any lingering drops at the corners of her lips.

That lone action made the man bite his bottom lip to stifle a groan. He couldn't quite arrive at the conclusion of whether this was an unconscious seduction or a form of sheer torture—especially when a continually oblivious Joslyn looked down at her damp chest, fingered the U-neckline of her sports bra and pulled it down a little before letting it go, allowing the spandex material to snap against her skin.

She repeated the action a few more times, each snap of the fabric giving the still staring man teasing glimpses of the swell of her breasts as she walked closer, advancing toward her front door and toward him in the process while her head remained tilted downwards.

When Joslyn was only a few feet from her apartment entrance, she raised her head momentarily to scan the hallway, only to do a double take when she finally noticed that someone had been standing there all along and her eyes grew wide, her jaw dropping in tandem when the said someone turned out to be none other than Gabriel.

Joslyn stared at him for a few moments, her mouth agape as she tried to process his presence in the corridor on the floor of her apartment but eventually, she blinked, her eyelashes fluttering repeatedly with the motion.

When she eventually managed to gather her wits, she looked around the corridor once more before directing her subsequent question at the only other person in the place but her—Gabriel. “What are you doing here?”

Gabriel, whose eyes had been occupied with gawking continuously at the view of Joslyn's cleavage, finally looked up at her face but almost immediately, his gaze shifted back to her peeking breasts again, the organs of sight seemingly unwilling to be detached from her chest area.

Noticing that the attention of the man in front of her wasn't on her face, Joslyn frowned in confusion, until she followed his gaze to her chest region and her eyes widened once again when she realized that she was still holding the spandex fabric of her sports bra away from her skin to prevent it from sticking to her breasts and making her uncomfortable.

Hurriedly, Joslyn let go of the fabric, hissing with a wince as it snapped harshly against her skin but she simply folded her hands over her chest, trying to keep them out of sight as she looked up to glare into Gabriel's eyes, quelling the embarrassment that painted her cheeks red with a blush.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Gabriel again, her tone a tad sharper than before, and the man quickly cleared his throat, attempting to subtly adjust himself in his pants.

Stifling the triumph threatening to take over his expression, Gabriel settled for a candid smile, a faux one, as he turned fully to face her. “Well, good morning to you too, neighbor. Fancy meeting you here.”

Joslyn frowned, the contraction of her brows deep enough to show her confusion as she took in his words, especially the first part.

Neighbor?

“What do you mean by ‘neighbor’?” she asked.

Gabriel cocked his head, gaining amusement in her confusion. He thought she looked adorable trying to refute the meaning of his words when in actuality, she knew exactly what he meant. However, he decided to clarify either way.

“I’m sure the dictionary defines ‘neighbor’ as someone who lives near—”

“I know what it means, Nicholas. What I don't understand is how you're my neighbor. How do you even know where I live?”

Joslyn had moved from her old condo less than a year ago, no matter how much it pained her to leave somewhere that'd been her safe haven behind. The decision to do so had been a long time coming since her mother was undergoing chemo to battle her cancer and her twin brother had been lost at sea.

Joslyn had felt like her life was teetering on the edge because together with her father, they had spent the majority of their time and income on finding her brother and settling her mother's medical bills respectively, such that when her mother eventually lost the battle against lung cancer, Joslyn had been forced to minimize her expenses by letting go of her housekeeper and moving out of the high-end condo, a decision which had been further solidified by Gabriel's visit to her after being introduced to each other by Sigourney.

Joslyn had thought it best to move away so as to avoid the complications that would certainly come with Gabriel and the past they’d shared, alongside him being her best friend's boyfriend and for the first few months, she'd been able to avoid him… until one day, Sigourney had told her that she and Gabriel had called it quits.

Having heard that, Joslyn had initially thought that her best friend had come to find out about what'd transpired between she and Gabriel that night at the club, but when she'd asked her best friend why they'd broken up, Sigourney's blunt response was that Gabriel just wasn't satisfying her enough sexually and that she had suspected he was impotent—something Joslyn knew was very false.

Even with everything Sigourney said and how quickly she'd moved on from Gabriel, Joslyn was still overwhelmed by guilt, concluding that she was the reason why it had happened. She’d even been tempted to approach Gabriel just to ask him but she'd been busy with everything happening in her own life, as well as avoiding being seen by him and she’d succeeded… or so she'd thought.

Imagine Joslyn's surprise when one day, she'd run into him on the flight she'd been attending. The same man she was avoiding had requested for her presence specifically and due to her job ethics, she couldn't have ignored the request of a passenger. Joslyn had served Gabriel a bottle of wine that day and in the months that came after, she'd had to play a game of push and pull with him.

Although she wouldn't admit this to anyone, especially to Gabriel, Joslyn had grown to look forward to some of her flights, unconsciously anticipating being specifically requested for by the persistent billionaire CEO—another thing she had come to discover about him.

However, what she would never have expected is what he'd just done: find out where she lived and apparently, move into the vacant apartment opposite hers.

Gabriel raised his brows just then, feigning an innocent expression (one Joslyn so desired to smack right off his gorgeous face) as he looked from her to the door of his apartment and back to her. His broad shoulders lifted in a shrug as he replied.

“I guess we could call it ‘fate’?” Joslyn scoffed as he grinned and began moving towards her. He came to a halt just as their arms brushed against one another, leaning slightly until their cheeks were a hairbreadth from touching. His voice was low as he muttered, “I guess this just goes to show that no matter how much you try to run or hide from me, I'll always find my way to you, Jos. Always.”

Gabriel straightened up to his full height and Joslyn could only watch, dumbfounded, as he towered over her almost a full foot. Humming pleasantly, Gabriel raised his watch to look at the time. “As much as I would love to stay and get to know my new neighbor, duty calls. But I will be seeing you soon.”

Shooting her one last wink, he began walking away, leaving Joslyn as bewildered as he had at the airport.

❀ ❀ ❀

Later at night, as Joslyn returned from her visit to the grocery store, she couldn't help but stall her movements at the reception of her building. Her mind reverted to the events of the morning after her jog. Since their interaction earlier that morning, thoughts of Gabriel had lurked in the back of Joslyn's mind, remaining constant there despite her trying to shut them out.

However, now that she'd spied the opportunity to satisfy her curiosity, Joslyn thought it best to utilize it. With that thought, she approached the receptionist counter, putting on a friendly smile for the woman seated behind it, whom she had interacted with a few times.

“Hey, Eunice.” Joslyn greeted.

“Hi, Jos.” The young brunette greeted in return while reciprocating Joslyn's smile. “Back from the store already?”

“Yup,” Joslyn responded, lifting the plastic bag containing the few items she'd purchased. “Just wanted to satisfy some nighttime cravings.”

“Ha,” Eunice agreed, a knowing smile playing on her lips. “As you totally should, girl.”

Joslyn simply hummed, allowing a moment of awkward silence to settle between them, as she tapped her fingernails against the surface of the counter, not knowing how to bring up the topic of her new neighbor.

Eunice, noticing Joslyn's reluctance, decided to give her a little nudge. “You know you can ask me for whatever help you may need, right, Jos? I've never bitten you before and I certainly do not intend to start now,” she said jokingly.

Joslyn chuckled despite the flush painting her cheeks red in embarrassment when she leaned fully against the counter, blinking owlishly. “I just didn't want to seem like a gossip…”

Eunice's brows raised slightly in question then. “Oh?” She voiced, wordlessly waiting for more from Joslyn.

“...however, I also can't help but be curious…” Joslyn trailed off again, causing the brunette to unconsciously lean forward over the counter, now just as inquisitive as she.

“About?” Eunice asked in restless anticipation of Joslyn's response. “Well, come on, Jos, spill the beans.”

“So, it's about my new neighbor,” Joslyn began in a low voice.

Eunice's eyes widened, the excitement palpable in their depths. “You mean real-estate mogul, Gabriel freaking Reid?! I know right!”

Joslyn raised her brows at her reaction, having not expected that. Promptly, she blinked away her surprise, however, and continued speaking. “Don’t you think it's a bit strange that someone as rich as he would leave their luxurious abode, just to come live here?”

The young receptionist gave a simple shrug in response. “I dunno, Jos, rich people tend to act a bit weird sometimes. And who am I to object if his weirdness had brought him here to this very building?”

But Joslyn disagreed, refusing to believe that Gabriel didn't have any ulterior motive for moving into her apartment building, especially on the same floor as her, and was simply acting based on the impulses guiding people like him, who had more money than they knew what to do with.

Eunice's next words, nonetheless, succeeded in resolving Joslyn's jumbled thoughts. “Besides, he might just be sticking around for a while to scope out the building he'd just purchased. You know, quality control or whatever.”

Joslyn frowned in confusion. “What building?”

Eunice tilted her head, oblivious to how much her next words were about to affect the course of Joslyn’s life. “Ours, of course. Gabriel Reid is now the owner of this apartment building.”

Joslyn's jaw promptly dropped.