The damn couch looked expensive, but it wasn’t at all a comfortable place to sleep. He sat up gingerly as he tried to work the kinks out of his knotted muscles. He smiled to himself as he thought back to the night before.
His question about her sleeping habits really must have shaken her up something good. After annihilating a plate, she had stormed off, disappearing into the hallway. He had no idea where she’d gone, but she came back with her arms filled with sheets, a blanket, and a pillow. She had then announced that he would be sleeping on the couch.
He couldn’t argue. There really was no reason for him to share her bed when her ex wasn’t even around to have his face rubbed in it.
Eric looked over at Tip. The big guy was sleeping peacefully on Ms. Snooty’s love seat. She would have a fit if she knew. Eric smiled to himself again. She was so easy to provoke, he loved it.
“Tip.”
The dog opened his eyes, but made no sign of moving his large body.
“Come here,” Eric said.
The dog reluctantly jumped down. He stretched before making his way over to Eric.
“Sorry,” he said, rubbing the dog’s head, “but it was for your own good. If she caught you on her precious sofa, neither of us may live to rue the day.” He leaned close to Tip’s ear. “It would be inappropriate.”
Eric scratched behind Tip’s ears before leaning back on the couch. He looked down at himself. Speaking of inappropriate. He was practically naked, sitting there in nothing but boxer briefs. He decided clothes would be a good thing so as not to offend the lady’s delicate sensibilities.
“You ready to go outside?” Eric asked the dog.
Tip’s tail wagged furiously.
“Guess that’s a yes.” Eric rolled his shoulders as he stood. That damn couch. He now had yet another reason to look forward to sharing Ms. Snooty’s bed. He twisted from side to side in an attempt to loosen his muscles.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Eric stopped twisting and looked at her. She was shielding her eyes with her hand. “You don’t have to do that you know. I’m not shy.”
She shook her head, eyes still covered. “It’s fine.”
He decided to get a rise out of her since it was both fun and very easy to do. He shrugged. “Hey, if it makes you uncomfortable, I understand.”
Her hand immediately dropped as he knew it would. “I’m not uncomfortable.”
She still wasn’t looking at him though. Her eyes were firmly fixed on Tip.
“I was just taking him out.”
“Like that?” she asked, finally looking at him.
She was standing there in her oversize pajamas with ducks on them. She completed the look with one sock and a completely disheveled head. What the hell is up with this woman’s hair and choice of foot wear?
She actually managed to look completely adorable like that though, a thought that startled him into almost stepping on Tip’s tail. They were getting into the habit of staring at one another. He would never admit it to her, but it was actually starting to unnerve him a bit. He cleared his throat. “What happened there?” he asked, looking at her feet.
Cassie looked down. “I — ” She stopped. She looked up at him, frowning. “I don’t know. It’s probably tangled up in the covers.”
He gave her a lazy smile. “So you are wild in bed.”
She broke eye contact right away. “I guess I can be.”
“I’ll see for myself tonight.”
Her brown eyes collided with his.
A few seconds passed in silence before she shrugged. “Guess you will.” She smiled and walked towards the kitchen.
Eric shook his head and chuckled to himself. This woman was something else.
• • •
“I’m surprised you had the nerve to call me,” Cassie said.
“I almost didn’t. Then I figured what the hell? May as well get your bitching out of the way.”
Cassie looked out the window to make sure Eric was still in the backyard with the dog. She then turned her full attention to Julia. “What on earth were you thinking with this guy?” she whispered furiously. “There’s no way Steven will believe that we’re together.”
“Hey, I warned you. I said y’all were totally mismatched. And then you said something along the lines of ‘It doesn’t matter — ’”
“I know what I said,” Cassie grumbled.
“What’s wrong anyway?”
“Is that a serious question? What’s not wrong?”
“They’re all things you can fix, surely. I mean, clearly you don’t have a problem lying so … ”
“The man is tattooed, for Pete’s sake. There’s no fixing that. Well, not without several appointments for laser surgery.”
Julia sighed. “Who’s gonna see him naked?” She got quiet. “Wait, you’ve seen him naked?”
Cassie gripped the phone tighter. “No, I have not.” She thought about it. “I mean, yeah, basically, but — ”
“Do tell.”
“Calm down. He hadn’t dressed before I walked into the living room, that’s all.”
“So he was wearing … ”
“A pair of boxer briefs.”
“And?”
“A smile.”
Julia laughed. “What’d you think?”
“Julia,” Cassie admonished.
“Oh, stop being such a prude. I wanna know!”
“He’s your brother’s friend.”
“Yeah, and he’s pretty hot. I’ve never seen him naked though.”
Cassie could imagine the pouting that was taking place on the other end of the line. She had to smile.
“Spill it.”
Julia was not letting this go. Cassie peeked out the window again. “Okay, okay.” She lowered her voice. “He’s fucking sexy.”
Julia gasped. “Did you just say the ‘f’ word?”
Cassie smiled. “I did.” She pressed her lips together to keep from giggling. Here she was gossiping about boys, feeling naughty over her use of profanity. She was a schoolgirl all over again. She had to get it together.
“Girl, you’d better watch out.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The man has you cussing.”
“I curse.”
“Not out loud usually.”
Well, shit. She’s right.
“And you think he’s sexy.”
“So?”
“Despite the fact that he’s the opposite of everything you’ve ever found attractive.”
That sobered Cassie up but quick.
“The man has tattoos, for the love of all that’s holy and you managed to overlook even that?”
Cassie was definitely in trouble. “What’s wrong with me?” she cried.
“You just need to get laid.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “That’s your answer for everything, from the common cold to dealing with tax season.”
“Admit it. You’ll feel tons better.”
Cassie smiled. Julia never failed to make her feel a little less miserable. “Fine. I need to get laid.”
“You know,” Eric said, walking up behind her, “I could have helped you with that if it weren’t for that pesky rule.” He leaned close to her ear. “Sad.”
Cassie was mortified. She wanted to die right then and there.
“Hello? You still there?” Julia asked.
Eric walked out of the kitchen, glancing back at her to give her a wink.
Cassie covered her face with her hand. “Lord, take me now,” she groaned
• • •
She still wouldn’t look at him, nearly an hour later. He almost regretted his flirtatious words from earlier, but not quite. When he’d whispered in her ear, he had been close enough to smell her perfume, as faint as it was. She smelled delicious. He was sure she tasted delicious too.
Eric shook his head as if to clear it. He was losing it. He hadn’t been lying when he described the type of woman he went for, and Cassandra Jones was not it. Stranger still, he was sure she hadn’t lied while describing her type either. He did think that muscular bit had been thrown in to annoy him, but other than that, she had been honest. Therefore, neither of them should be the slightest bit attracted to the other, but something sure as hell was going on. He had to get away from her and fast.
Fortunately, her ex and his squeeze were only staying at her house for the weekend. After that, Eric didn’t much care what happened, as long as he was out of this zip code.
“Everything all right?”
He turned from the window to look at her. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know. You looked pretty lost in your thoughts there.”
“How long were you watching me?”
Cassie didn’t answer, instead making a show of smoothing down her black skirt and adjusting her dark gray blouse.
Eric laughed.
She looked up at him. “What’s so funny?”
“Why are you dressed like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re about to conduct a seminar or sell me some real estate.”
Cassie tapped her foot. She seemed to do that when she was feeling anxious. “I look fine.”
“It’s the weekend.”
“And?”
“If you don’t know what that means, there’s no help for you.” He turned to gaze out of the window again.
“Since we’re on the subject of clothing … ”
Eric didn’t respond. He already knew what was coming next.
“You can’t seriously be planning to wear that.”
He chuckled as he turned to look at her. “Oh, I’m seriously planning on it.”
“It’s jeans and a t-shirt,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Nothing gets past you, does it?”
“The jeans have seen better days. And the t-shirt is short sleeved.”
“So?”
“So it shows your … arms.”
“So what?” Eric looked down at himself. It didn’t take long for him to get her implication. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. “What’s wrong with my arms?” Eric already knew, of course. Steven and Ann might be offended by his body art. He honestly didn’t give a fuck.
Cassie was silent for the longest time. “Nothing. Nothing is wrong with them.” She whirled around and headed into the hall.
Eric frowned. She was definitely an odd duck. Still, he felt almost moved to apologize. And for what? He hadn’t done anything wrong. He might have hurt her feelings though. Snap out of it. Two days of this and then he was out. He would come up with excuses for why he couldn’t join the happy trio for awkward dinners and excursions around the city.
Cassie returned to the living room ten minutes later. “You need a shave.”
He sighed. If this woman doesn’t get off my back, I swear to God — He turned to say something clever, but he lost all thoughts when he looked at her. She had changed. Oh, how she had changed. Gone was the conservative, buttoned up look. She was now wearing a snug white t-shirt and jeans that rode low on her hips, hugging her in all the right places. She even had on sneakers. Two of them, in fact.
Eric forced himself to swallow the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He couldn’t even believe she owned this type of clothing. He couldn’t believe his reaction to seeing her like this. She may as well have been wearing see-through lingerie. That thought really didn’t do him any favors. What had he been planning on saying earlier? His mind was in a fog.
Cassie was giving him an inquisitive look.
He groaned inwardly. He hated to be so obvious, but he wasn’t used to being left speechless.
Cassie put her hand on her hip. “What now?”
He couldn’t even form words.
“Because I am not changing again.”
“No,” he said a little too quickly, “don’t change.”
“So you like this?” She turned, giving him an eye full of the back view as well.
Oh yeah. I like it. He shrugged. “It’s fine.”
Cassie brought a hand to her chest. “Stop now, before you embarrass me.”
He smiled as she turned to walk away.
Tip growled low in his throat.
“Uh, Cass,” Eric said.
He noticed her shoulders tense briefly before they relaxed. She must not like that name. Note to self: Refer to her that way all the time.
She turned around, dazzling smile in place. “Yeah?”
He nodded toward the front of the house. “I think our friends are here.”
Their eyes locked and he knew what she was thinking. The same thing he was thinking.
Shit.
She rushed to the window as he quickly ushered Tip into the backyard.
“Their rental car’s out there,” she said when he returned. She actually began to wring her hands.
Eric almost pointed and laughed, but caught himself just in time. Making fun of her right now would surely send her into a free fall.
“It’s them,” she said. “They’re here.”
He spoke slowly. “I know that.”
“What are we going to do?”
He looked at her in disbelief. “What do you think we’re gonna do?”
Cassie looked at him, eyes wide. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
The woman was having a meltdown. He had to do something. He was reluctant to touch her, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He needed her to focus. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, only barely resisting the urge to shake her.
Fortunately, she became completely calm as soon as he laid his hands on her. Eric took a moment to marvel at his magic touch before he spoke. “You ready?”
She shook her head.
He was firm with her. “You’re ready. I’m here, all right? We’re gonna do this.”
She just looked at him.
The doorbell rang.
“You ready?” he repeated.
She nodded. “I’m ready,” she said, voice cracking.
Eric grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. “Then come on,” he said. “It’s time to fall in love.”