AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tess!” I groaned to myself, sitting up and staring out my bathroom door. I waited to hear a strike three but instead of a thump this time, it was a splintering crash. “Shit!” Water sloshed onto the floor as I immediately jumped up and grabbed my robe, my heart beating fast as I imagined Tess bleeding on the floor in the hall, surrounded by a million shards of glass all because I wouldn’t get out of my bath.
Shit, shit, shit. I cursed myself as my feet tracked water all throughout the house till I breathlessly reached the door, my fingers unlatching all three locks at lightning speed before gripping the knob and swinging it wide open.
And once the door was open, I stared. Then I stared some more.
Holy… what.
It wasn’t Tess. I knew that because my eyes hit chest first – wide, hard chest stretching the soft cotton of a heather grey V-neck. I could practically hear my jaw creaking open as my gaze then traveled north to broad shoulders, sculpted collarbones, and a square jaw boasting the kind of dark, trimmed stubble that made my fingers twitch with the need to touch.
Shit. I had to catch my breath when our eyes finally locked, feeling legitimately smacked in the face with this stranger’s gorgeousness. He was an absolute wall of muscle and beauty with thick, dark hair and light green eyes and for a moment I forgot where I was, because in what world did a man who looked like this end up at my door?
“Hi,” he said with a faint smile. “Lia, right?”
My head tilted. And in what world did he somehow know my name?
“I…” I failed to sort through all the questions at the tip of my tongue. “Hi,” I finally said, letting go of my mission to magically figure out what was happening. Instead, I waited for him to introduce himself and tell me who he was – whether he had in fact been plucked from the cover of Men’s Health or maybe some steamy billboard for Calvin Klein. But instead he stood there a moment, brows up as his gaze dipped down to my body – and only then did I realize what I barely had on.
“Shit,” I hissed, grabbing my robe and wondering how much of me he’d seen before I remembered to actually tie the thing shut.
“I should probably be looking away, right?” the stranger asked. With a laugh. I shot daggers at him as I struggled to fix my indecency.
“Yes?” I answered brusquely, my cheeks burning as I cinched the sash around my waist. I stared at the stranger as he faced away from me now, chewing a wicked grin back as he palmed that ridiculously square jaw. “What did you see?” I demanded hotly. “Did you see anything?”
“I saw a lot. It depends on what your definition of anything is.”
“It’s – ” My lips parted but snapped shut. I meant nipple but I wasn’t about to say it. He laughed.
“If you mean nipple, my answer is no.”
My mouth fell open.
“Unless you count what I can see through that wet thing you’re wearing.”
I stared down at myself and hastily fanned my hair over my breasts. I wanted to call him out but I couldn’t find my words so glaring back up, I simply snapped, “Who are you?”
“Lukas Hendricks. I’m Tess’s brother.”
I gaped at him as he turned back to me. “Really?” It was hard to imagine. He looked about a foot taller and wider than her, and I could already tell he shared none of her manners or humility. Fuming, I craned my neck to see past his broad frame, finally spotting the shattered remains of the floor vase that once sat at the end of the hall between our doors. “What just happened?”
He peered over his shoulder, letting out a short breath of annoyance. “Right. I was having some trouble with the key. Might’ve swung my bag into the vase and knocked it over.”
I stared at the tiny shards of ceramic all over the floor, sobered quickly by the sight of Tess’s prized possession. “That was her favorite vase.”
“She’ll forgive me.”
I flicked my eyes back to him, doing little to mask my distaste for his nonchalance. “Right. Well, what can I help you with right now?” I asked. His crooked smile acknowledged my irritation.
“She said if I had trouble with the lock, I could ask her neighbor.”
“Fine,” I said, eager to get on with my night. I thought briefly about getting changed before I helped with the door, but that meant that my bath was over and that my night had gone officially off-course, and I stubbornly refused to entertain that notion. So grabbing my
phone off the kitchen counter, I stepped back out in the hall and closed the door, saying nothing to Lukas as I shot Tess a quick message.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
I took my time to reply. “Confirming with Tess that you’re her brother,” I said. “And not some guy who wants to loot her apartment.”
Lukas’s smile was slight, but it teased me something fierce. “Do I look like a robber to you?”
