Kyle sat up again. “I won’t say a word, butyou better not fuck this up.”
CHAPTER 11
By noon, Aida was sure every painting in the placehad been moved, rearranged, and put back in its original position.The workers were growing increasingly irritated, and Aida’s headwas starting to pound from lack of sleep and irritation. It took acolossal effort to keep from lashing out at Nicolette as she sippedher coffee and downed another aspirin.
When Nicolette was finally satisfied, Aidabreathed a sigh of relief as visions of her bed danced happilythrough her mind. She had enough time to nap before she had toreturn for the show tonight.
Feeling like she’d been run over by a Mactruck, Aida kept her hand on her pepper spray while she walkedhome. She didn’t normally hold it while she traveled, but she wasso exhausted her guard was down, and even though it was the middleof the day, she wasn’t about to take any chances.
She squinted her tired eyes while she studiedthe faces of those trudging by her. Most of them looked harried asthey rushed from one place to another, but some strolled alongwhile they enjoyed their Saturday in the shadows of the brownstonehouses and stores lining the street.
Aida turned a corner and almost let out awhoop of joy when her building came into view. An old brownstone,the five-story building was renovated in the fifties and turnedinto fourteen apartments. She loved the charm of the old buildingand the black, wrought iron railing leading up the stairs to theantique, double wood doors.
One of her neighbors, a middle-aged man witha chihuahua tucked under his arm, was coming out the door as shearrived at the top. When he spotted her, he tried to catch thedoor, but it had already closed.
“Sorry,” he said.
“That’s okay,” Aida assured him as he joggeddown the stairs while she punched in the code for the door.
It wasn’t until she was standing inside theshadowed hallway that she realized Julian could still be in herapartment. Her heart sank, and her shoulders slumped as she gazedup the stairs in front of her. Her bed was calling her name, butthe idea of running into him again made her stomach churn withdread and excitement.
She refused to let herself think about himwhile helping Nicolette rearrange everything, but now he was allthat was on her mind. She hated the way he’d strolled back into herlife and turned it upside down, yet he didn’t seem to care.
Aida grasped the wooden railing as shetrudged up the gray, industrial carpet to the second floor. Shefelt much safer in her apartment than on the street, but she stilldidn’t let her guard down as she strained to hear the footfalls ofanyone coming toward her.
Reaching the second floor, she glanced downthe empty, shadowed hallway before continuing to the third floor.Once there, she walked past two other apartments before stoppingoutside her own.
Her hand trembled as she unlocked the door,turned the knob, and stepped inside. Sprawled across the couch,Kyle hadn’t bothered to pull it out as he slept with his hand overhis head. He didn’t stir as she closed the door silently behind herand turned the locks before leaning against it.
The hum of the refrigerator motor was theonly sound in the small apartment as she searched for, and found nosign of, Julian. She shoved aside the disappointment tugging at herheart as she pushed herself away from the door.
She started down the shadowed hall as thebathroom door opened and someone stepped out. Aida barely kept hermouth from dropping when a wave of steam followed Julian out thedoor. She stopped dead in her tracks as she came face-to-face withhis bare chest, disheveled hair, and oh too enticing body.
Her mouth went dry, and her heart did someweird flip thing that it definitely shouldn’t do. She cursed herreaction to him, and then she cursed him for still being in themiddle ofherworld. It was all so unfair, but she’d learnedlife was one big, unfair, crapshoot, and she sucked at throwingdice.
His black hair stood on end, and his blueeyes were impossibly more vibrant in the shadows of the hall. Withhis shirt tossed over his shoulder, he looked incredibly relaxedwhile she felt like a cobra facing a mongoose.
Damn it, why is he so tempting?
“I didn’t realize you were home,” hesaid.
His deep voice sent a shiver down her spine.“I’m going to take a nap before returning. Are you stayinghere?”
She couldn’t think of a worse possibility.How was she supposed to avoid him when he was in her apartment? Shedidn’t have the money to stay at a hotel until he left, and whileshe was friendly with a lot of people, she didn’t consider any ofthem couch-crashing friends. And why should she go? It washerplace!
“I’m waiting for Kyle to wake up,” hesaid.
“Okay.” She had no idea what else to say.“I’m going to take a nap.”
She started to step around him, but he movedin the same direction to get out of her way, and she bounced offhis chest. When her palms heated from where they connected with hisflesh and her toes curled, unreasonable anger surged through her,and she yanked her hands away. She almost smacked her hand off thesolid wall of muscle before her and yelled at him to get out of herway, but she didn’t dare touch him again.
If she started touching him, she wouldn’tstop, and even with being exhausted, she would give anything totrace the edges of the thick muscles ridging his abs. Her eyesdipped to follow the trail of black hair leading from his bellybutton to the waist of his low-slung jeans. Every part of hertingled with awareness for this man.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“My fault,” she said as she tried to steparound him again.
This time, he didn’t move too, and she wasable to get around him. She ignored her disappointment as sheresisted sprinting for her bedroom.
