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“Hmm. I will be following him around this week, and I’ll try to overhear his conversations. As soon as I sniff out another date, I will come up with something on the fly. I work best under pressure.” I couldn’t wait to make Julian look like the fool that he was. And get back at Thane. It would be a very satisfying week.
THANE & DARCY
Thane
I had been kicked out of the company I started with Evan. I had to make up for that loss. I always dreamed of being a billionaire. Evan, my former best friend, had been born with a silver spoon, so I’d always had to work harder than him. Maybe that’s why I had taken shortcuts to be wealthy, compelled to beat Evan and rub it in his smug face.
Though I was now able to make it on my own, I was still not where I wanted to be. Making money used to be so much easier when I didn’t have remorse. It took the fun out of it. I needed to get back on my feet fast. What was wrong with me? I had never been soft before. I was in the process of looking for a new building to buy to distract myself but instead I just felt empty and lonely.
Don’t get me wrong; I loved living by myself. My freedom was the most important thing in the world for me. But lately, I felt like my life was missing something. That was one of the reasons I rescued my toy Min Pin, Little Rascal. She was the reason I got up in the morning and the reason why I wasn’t at bars whittling my time away with meaningless relationships. I had my girl, and she was sitting on my bed staring at me. She had positioned herself between me and my phone, almost like she knew that was the “thing” she had to compete with for my affection. I reached out and rubbed her under her chin, which led her to roll over on her back, shoving her scrawny stick-like legs into the air, expecting her morning belly rub. How could I not give in to that face?
My eyes traveled to my phone, and Little Rascal barked with her little, tiny “arf” as if to say, “Don’t even think about picking up your phone, buddy. This is my time.”I locked eyes with her and laughed. “You know me too well.” She licked my chin repeatedly until I resumed her belly rub.
Once she was nestled into my chest, I risked a glance at my phone. I hadn’t picked it up yet—which was unusual for me—because I knew how tempted I would be to replay the video I had taken of Darcy. It was wrong of me on so many levels to film her, but in the moment, I hadn’t been able to help myself. She had looked so hot and without a care in the world, dancing around. It turned me on in a way that I hadn’t been in a very long time. I had been quite a ladies’ man in my late teens and twenties, but I was getting tired of the whole “game”. I was not quite ready to settle down and have a brood of my own, yet, but I was looking for a long-term relationship. I figured I should start growing up now.
I got up and showered, Little Rascal lying on the bathmat, waiting for me to reappear as she did every morning. As soon as I turned off the shower, she jumped up, grabbing the end of my towel, trying to engage me in a game of tug-of-war. I always gave in to her for a few minutes and was amazed when she would grip it so tightly that I could lift her off the ground with my towel.
“Alright, Little Rascal, let go now,” I told her, and she did.
I went to the kitchen and looked out my window. I hadn’t seen Darcy since I had done the little video and was anxious to see her reaction when I told her I was living next door. I considered calling my friend, a construction worker, to get a bomb-resistant shell placed over my house—something Darcy’s retaliation couldn’t penetrate through—but opted to make an unannounced visit instead.
I scooped up Little Rascal and put her in her crate, putting her dog chew in with her to keep her occupied until I got home. Taking one last look at myself on the way out, I made my way next door, once again.
This time I didn’t even bother knocking. It was early, and they would likely still all be sleeping. I had a plan, to do a good deed this time, and an agenda, so I made my way to the kitchen and began making crepes very quietly. I had them all assembled on plates full of raspberries and plain yogurt by the time they started trickling downstairs one by one.
Shellene was the first to appear, which suited me just fine because she was the nicest of them all. Her face lit up when she saw what I had prepared. “Wow. This looks delicious. Is this your way of trying to get Darcy to forgive you? It won’t work.” She sat down and dove into the crepe, rolling her eyes in contentment.
“Way to shoot me down, Shelly.” I knew she was right, but that was just the way things were with me and Darcy. So, I just put the other three plates on the kitchen table and sat down.
“What you did—that was downright mean. What were you thinking?” Shellene asked, popping another forkful. Her smoky eyes were staring at me quizzically.
I shrugged. Shellene wouldn’t understand the dynamic between Darcy and me and how competitive we were. “She had it coming.”
“Is that so?” Remi asked, taking her seat at the table. “You’d better eat fast and be out that door before Darcy comes down. I don’t feel like cleaning up your blood splatter after she’s done with you.”
“Very funny, Rem. It will be fine. She’ll forgive me as soon as she sees my darling face,” I assured her.
Remi laughed out loud. “You’re dreaming, Thane.”
Finally, Darcy came down the stairs but stopped as soon as she saw me. I could feel my heart race at the sight of her. She was beautiful, even with her straight-out-of-bed look and she was glaring at me. “What are you doing here?”
I didn’t feel compelled to antagonize Darcy. Maybe there was something wrong with me.
I grinned. “I made you breakfast. Crepes are your favorite, right?” I was glad Shellene and Remi were there as witnesses because the look on Darcy’s face could melt ice in a three-block radius.
“Get out,” Darcy ordered. She lifted her arm and pointed to the front door. “Out!”
I put another forkful in my mouth and washed it down with some coffee. “There’s fresh dark roast coffee to go with your crepe. Sit down and eat,” I said, completely ignoring her demand. Even if I kept my composure, my heart was racing like crazy from the imminent danger and the beautiful picture she presented. Like a bed-disheveled war goddess.
“I’m not eating your food, Thane. Get out.”
I eyed her for a moment longer.Man, was she ever gorgeous when she was angry.I found myself wondering what else I could do to piss her off. Looking at the girls, I said, “I just wanted you ladies to know that if you need anything, you can always count on me.” Looking right at Darcy, I added, “After all, that’s what neighbors are for, right?”
Her eyes widened as her jaw dropped. “What did you just say?”
It seemsthatworked. I grinned. “I moved right next door, so we’ll be seeing lots of each other in the future.”
“Really?” Shellene asked, pausing before putting another bite in her mouth.
