Page 16 of Baker

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I said, hoping that the change of subject matter would lessen my level of arousal. “It sounds awful.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. It got me here, didn’t it?”

“I suppose so.” I studied her, and then faked having an epiphany. “Are you the girl that chained the bicycle to the rack this morning?”

She smiled. “That’d be me. Why?”

“I own the building next door, and I saw someone ride up this morning. I just put two and to together.”

Her eyes went wide. “You own the entire building?”

“Primarily for business reasons.”

“You don’t live there?”

She was too smart for her own good. “I do, but I’m starting renovations. I need a place to stay for six months or so. I was considering uptown, but if there’s something here, I might be interested.”

She pulled her desk drawer open and removed a ring of keys. “Would you like to see it?”

I glanced at her breasts, and then met her gaze. I didn’t want to see it. I’d seen it before. Multiple times.

I wanted to shove her full of dick. Doing so in her office wasn’t the best of ideas, but fucking her in Preston’s loft was a fabulous idea. I stood and motioned toward the door. “I’d love to. I’ll follow you.”

SIX - Andy

Sex on a stick was standing so close to me that I could reach out and touch him. Overflowing with anxious energy, I unlocked the door and gestured into the open space. “Go right ahead.”

The apartment was over two thousand square feet of living space. The concrete floors had been stained to resemble brown marble, and the walls were painted an off-white. In one corner was the kitchen. In another, a large bedroom that overlooked the street below. The remaining floorspace was open, giving the tenant the freedom to decorate it into whatever he or she chose.

He stepped into the center of the room and promptly turned around. From head to toe, he looked me over, taking his sweet time to do so.

It seemed he was more interested in looking at me than the space.

“It’s uhhm.” I nervously walked past him and toward the kitchen. “It’s twenty-one hundred square feet with an open floor plan. It’s more spacious than anything else in this area. And, the price is--”

“Would you consider yourself adventurous?”

I spun around. “Excuse me?”

“Adventurous.” He began to walk in the other direction. “Would you describe yourself as an adventurous person?”

It seemed like an odd question. “In what respect?”

“Any,” he said over his shoulder.

My friends and family always said I was a risk taker. I wouldn’t call myself daring or fearless, but I could claim to be adventurous without much hesitation.

“Adventurous? I think so,” I said. “Why?”

“Just wondering.”

He sauntered toward the windows. With the edge of the window sill gripped in each hand, he gazed blankly through the glass. Immersed in whatever it was he was looking at, he stood there for some time without speaking.

I found him fascinating. He was handsome, mysterious, covered in tattoos, and as sexy as any man I had ever seen. There was something about him that made me question his intentions, but I couldn’t quite identify it.

After a silent moment, he turned around. “Desire or necessity?”

“Excuse me?”