TEN

I take another bite of lobster and pick up my phone. My mailbox icon flashes, and I focus on the documents Amelia has just sent over. Thank you very much!

"I must be pretty boring," Alma says, pouting. She stabs her salad lazily and looks at me.

"Of course not," I respond. "However, money never sleeps."

She smiles, leans back against the table, and runs her fingers through my hair. "I understand, but perhaps it can take a break." I'm confident I can divert your attention away from your work after dinner. Or, if you prefer, I can perform my magic right now."

You have a snowball's chance in hell of taking my mind off anything. Not now, and never.

"Tell me more about what you do," I say, trying to steer the conversation away from the possibility of us getting naked together.

Alma returns to her favorite topic, herself, and I stare. She reminds me of those kid dolls with the big eyes and huge lips that everyone went crazy over during the Christmas season one year.

I focus on her face and notice that it doesn't move much, which is most likely due to too much Botox. I'm not one to pass judgment on a little nip and tuck, but Alma's face is practically frozen.

I will never again let Joe talk me into a blind date.

As I go through the motions of being a gentleman, I feel like a robot. I settle the bill, pull out her chair, and reluctantly allow her to drape herself over my body as I escort her to my waiting Mercedes Benz.

Eric has parked right in front of the house and is standing there with the backdoor wide open. Alma makes a big deal about entering, her skin-tight dress riding up her thighs just enough to reveal that she's not wearing anything underneath. She leaps onto me as soon as the door closes behind us, kissing my neck and attempting to shove my hand under her dress.

I politely try to avoid her advances, but every now and then, her lips hit her target... me.

"Eric, take me home," I request.

He nods and presses the partition-raising button. I really regret what he did. With Alexa and her tentacle-like hands groping all over my body, privacy is the last thing I need. In my mind, she is replaced by the image of the blonde mystery lady. If she was here instead of Alma, I doubt we'd make it out of the parking lot with our clothes still on.

That kind of fire is exactly what I need in my life. I've had my fair share of the world's Almas, and I don't want any more of the same. I gently push Alma away with one hand while checking my phone with the other. The voicemail icon is flashing, and I quickly check to see who called me.

“I really need to check this message,” I say, turning my back to Alma. I press the button and listen closely.

“Hey uh, Mr. Jordan, it’s Grant. I dropped by your place but you weren’t there and I can’t find my key. So, um… I’ll catch you next time.”

I press the button to end the voicemail wanting to fold my phone in half. Since I don’t own the building yet, I can’t just flat out fire Grant.

One thing for sure, I’m making it my personal mission to contact his boss and have him be the one to terminate his useless ass. What kind of maintenance man loses his copy of the resident’s key?

I turn back to Alma to apologize for my distant and probably rude behaviour, and I instantly want to roll my eyes.

She has pulled her dress down to expose her breasts and has one hand working feverishly between her thighs.

“Come play,” she moans.

“You appear to have it under control,” I say dryly.

She nods her head and closes her eyes. “Right, you just sit there and watch, it’ll be your turn in just a minute.”

I ignore her moans and heavy breathing and scroll through my emails. Glancing out the window, I consider jumping out into traffic just to get away from this date from Hell. Luckily, I start seeing the familiar buildings of my street.

We pull up just in time and I slide over to open the door.

Alma scrambles to put herself back together and attempts to get out too, but I blocked her exit. Eric opens his door and gets out, trying to assist me.

“That won’t be necessary, Eric. Take Alma home or wherever she wants to go.”

Alma looks up at me and I notice her lipstick is smeared. I pray it’s not all over me and my collar.

“I thought we were going to your place,” she says.

I shake my head and smile. “I’m really beat, and tonight is not a good time. I’d rather wind down and be alone,” I say.

She pokes out her lip and sits back on the seat. “Next time?” she asks.

“Sure,” I say, not even trying to disguise the sarcasm in my voice. I close the door and walk to my building without so much as a backwards glance.

* * * * *

After another busy shopping day, I hoist the heavy grocery bags into my personal rolling cart and slam the trunk closed. I decided to stock up on produce this week and the bags are too heavy for me to carry all at once. The cart makes getting the groceries inside ten times easier since I refuse to make multiple trips out to my car.

I lock the doors and put my keys and phone into my purse before pushing the cart across the street to my building.

I manage to push the cart up the ramp and as soon as I’m about to reach for the door, I hear a man’s voice from behind me.

“Let me get that for you.”

I turn to the voice of the helpful stranger, my mouth poised to thank him, when I quickly realize I’m face to face with the rude Peeping Tom from the other day.

“Get away from me or I’ll scream,” I say.

He releases the door and holds up his hands defensively as he takes a couple of steps backwards.

“Whoa, I come in peace. Just give me a chance to explain before you haul off screaming bloody murder,” he says.

I roll my eyes and fold my arms across my chest.

The half grin on his face makes me want to punch him. I’m pissed off and he’s grinning at me like an idiot, a sexy idiot.

“A chance? You had a chance to explain the other day and you waved off your crime like it was nothing.”

His smile fades a little as he tightens his face into a scowl. “Crime? I didn’t commit a crime, it was just a misunderstanding. You stormed off before I had a chance to explain.”

I decide to fish around in my purse and grab my keys. I have a tiny bottle of pepper spray on the keyring… just in case.

“What’s to explain? Watching someone undress, without their knowledge is a crime. In fact, I should report you.”

He closes his eyes and sighs. I can’t help but notice the musky scent of his cologne saturating the air. I’m trying to focus, but he smells so damn good.

“Listen, let’s start over. I’ve been waiting for you all day to clear up this issue between us.”

I shuffle nervously from one foot to the other. “What do you mean you’ve been waiting for me all day?”

The playful, yet sexy grin spreads across his face again. “I temporarily work and live over here and once you mentioned the window incident, I just used the process of elimination to figure out where you live. Of course, I don’t know which condo is yours, which is why I decided to wait outside hoping to catch you.”

“Oh,” I say, fumbling with my keys.

His cool demeanor is unsettling and attractive at the same time. I take my time soaking in and analyzing every part of his appearance. His slacks are dark gray and custom fit.

The button-down crisp white shirt he’s wearing is tucked neatly into his waistband. The top button of his shirt is undone, giving him more of a relaxed look.

Despite his plain-looking outfit to the untrained eye, I’ve spent enough time around Romina and Jonas to know what expensive looks.