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I knocked again, a little louder that time, just in case he hadn’t heard the first one. I waited for a few seconds, my ear pressed to the cool, wooden surface, trying to hear any sounds of life on the other side, when a loud bang followed by a muffled curse caused me to jump back.
“What!” Rowan barked as he yanked the door open, looking absolutely edible in all his sleep-rumpled glory. I tried my hardest not to drool at the sight of his bare chest and all its chiseled perfection, but that proved to be a daunting task when all that warm skin wasright therein my face.
“Uh… um…,”I stuttered, my mind having jumped ship the second the door swung open.
“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Rowan growled. At second glance, maybe he didn’t look all that yummy. That intense glower on his face knocked his handsomeness down a few points while spiking my anxiety at the same time.
“It’s 8:20. Well, technically 8:23, since it took you a while to answer the door. But I can see now that was because you were sleeping,” I blurted, unable to stop the word vomit that nervously flowed from my mouth. “Lauren texted me to be here at 8:30. I’m a little early… sorry,” I added with a shrug that I hoped conveyed my apology.
“Oh, Christ,” he mumbled, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Just… just stop talking, for the love of God.”
“Sorry,” I said again, making sure to whisper.
“Baby,” a feminine voice called from behind the door. I couldn’t see who had spoken, but judging by Rowan’s dramatic eye roll and under-his-breath ‘fuck me’, I was willing to bet he’d forgotten all about his overnight guest.
My eyes narrowed as I watched a red tipped, manicured hand snake over his bare shoulder and down his chest. “Baby, who’s here?”
At those words, the door pulled open all the way, revealing a statuesque blonde wearing nothing but a men’s button-down shirt, with only a few buttons done up, revealing an uncomfortable amount of skin.
“Well, this isn’t awkward or anything.” I laughed awkwardly.
“Who are you?” the woman asked snidely.
Jeez, the chick was so gorgeous she could have been a model… or maybe shewas. Lord knew she had perfected the resting bitch face required in that industry. “Uh…” I mumbled, trying my best to formulate an educated response that didn’t involve a bunch of finger-twitching, hair-tossing, and ‘oh, no, you didn’t’s’.
“Time to go, Stephanie,” Rowan answered in my place.
“It’sBethany,” she hissed furiously.
“Yeah, sure,” he responded drolly. “Last night was fun. I’ll call you.”
Oh, man, if she hadn’t been such a raging hemorrhoid, I might have felt a little bad at the epic brush-off she just received.Bethanystomped off into the apartment, her feet slapping against the hardwood floors as she went. Once she was out of sight, I heard the sound of something shattering, no doubt something expensive, and no doubt on purpose. My skin began to feel itchy from the discomfort of having to stand on the other side of the threshold, Rowan’s icy gaze boring into me while his one-night stand trashed his apartment.
It wasn’t until Bethany came back into sight, yanking her shirt over her flat-as-a-board stomach and too-perfect-to-be-natural breasts that our odd, one-sided staring contest finally ended.
“You’re an asshole,” she seethed as she hopped from foot to foot, sliding on her undoubtedly expensive heels.
“So I’ve been told… many times,” Rowan replied drily.
With a shove past both of us, Bethany stormed down the hall toward the elevators, leaving us there, standing in silence.
“Sooo,” I drug out with another nervous laugh.
Rowan let out a huff and reached over, snatching something from what I could only assume was a table by the door… seeing as I was still standingoutsideof the apartment.
“I need you to pick up my suit from Sal’s Cleaner’s,” he said, slapping a dry cleaning receipt into my hand. “Then I’ll need you to get me a venti Americano with two raw sugars and a splash of skim milk, not half and half,skim milk.” He spoke slowly, like I was a mentally challenged eight-year-old. “And a low-fat blueberry scone from The Bean on 85thand Park. Not the one on Lexington, that place is shit.”
I stood in complete silence, my mouth hanging open as I tried to process what the hell was happening.
“You got all that, or you need me to write it down for you?” he asked snidely.
I snapped my mouth shut and narrowed my eyes into glaring slits, trying my damnedest to set him on fire with my eyeballs. No such luck. “I got it,” I answered between clenched teeth.
“Great. Well, hop to it, then.”
With that, the door was rudely slammed shut in my face and I was left honing some newfound murderous tendencies.
It was official.
