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The silence came once he was gone, and I sat there in it. This was new to me and uncomfortable at times—most of the time. I had never been alone much. My life had been filled with the guys in the band. I’d always lived with Kiro in the mansion we owned in Beverly Hills. When your life had been full of noise and people, you weren’t good with solitude.
I spent the next ten minutes trying to balance my beer bottle on my knee. Once I achieved success with that, I stood up and walked over to the window. The pool here needed work. A complete overhaul. I had been meeting with a contractor about putting in a rock waterfall and slide, but maybe I should have it completely taken out and made bigger. Add more flash to it. Something my grandkids would enjoy.
With that thought in mind, I decided to head down there. I grabbed a black baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses. If I kept my head down, this normally disguised me enough. I could get to the pool from my private elevator that led to my own garage, but it was a long-ass walk around the outside to the gate. So, instead, when I went out my door, I made my way to the main elevator in the building to use it for the first time since I had moved in.
The fresh paint looked good along with the new mirrors in the elevator. Gave it some depth. The elevator didn’t stop at any of the other floors, and I sighed in relief when it came to the bottom floor and no one was waiting on the other side. It was harder to stay unnoticed if you were face-to-face with someone.
I only passed some of the landscapers I’d hired, working on the palm trees I’d ordered to line the walkway toward the pool area. One of them noticed me and nodded, but said nothing. I lifted my chin in a silent greeting and continued until I was at the white gate that surrounded the pool. Stepping inside, I took in the facility. I’d seen it already once when I made an offer to purchase the building. I had known then that it was going to need work.
The only upgrade that I had made so far was replacing the cheap plastic loungers with teak loungers that had built-in cupholders on the armrests and cushioning to lie on. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone as I looked over the recliners not in use. My gaze, however, betrayed me when it came across a smooth, round, tanned ass, barely covered by a hot-pink bikini. I took in the legs, slim ankles, and dainty feet before letting my gaze move up over the bare back. Twice, I had to give in and look at the ass again before making my way up to see dark brown hair piled on top of her head.
A kid screamed and splashed water in my direction, interrupting me as I was memorizing the view for my spank bank. It drew my attention away from the woman, but only long enough for me to take off my sunglasses and dry them. When I shifted my gaze back to her, she was no longer on her stomach, but was sitting up and gathering her things. Her cell phone was pressed to her ear as she smiled, listening to whoever she was talking to.
She stood up and pushed her sunglasses back up onto her head as she began searching for something, and a smile slowly stretched across my face. It was her. The office girl from last week. The one at the college. Her name was … Brielle.
I stood there, watching her behind my dark sunglasses, waiting until the moment she noticed me. The conversation she was having on the phone had all of her attention. She began walking toward the gate to leave, not once glancing in my direction. I took a step back, blocking her path. She stopped then and lifted her gaze to mine. Annoyance clear in her frown.
It took her a moment. My sunglasses and baseball cap worked well if someone wasn’t looking for me or expecting me. However, I had hopes she would remember me enough from last week to see past the semi-disguise. I saw it in her eyes when it dawned on her who I was.
A myriad of emotions flashed across her face before settling on what I would call unsure and confused. Her eyes cut to look over the rest of the residents in the pool area to see if anyone was looking in this direction before swinging back to me.
“What are you doing here?” she asked me.
“What are you doing here?” I replied.
With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she said through clenched teeth, “I live here.”
Then, I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I had already deduced she was probably a resident, but there was always a chance she was visiting someone and using the pool here. Knowing she lived in my building was too fucking funny.
“Do you find that amusing?” she asked, then tilted her head to the side and glared up at me. “You don’t live here. Why are you—” Then, she stopped, and her eyes widened. That full bottom lip of hers dropped down as a gasp came out of her. “No,” she breathed, then closed her eyes tightly and muttered something under her breath that I didn’t quite catch.
I watched her, completely entertained by her reaction. “I’m going to assume you figured out on your own why I’m here,” I drawled, crossing my arms over my chest, unable to stop smirking.
“You,” she said. “Youbought this place?”
I nodded.
“Why? Don’t you have a …” She paused and glanced around again, then whispered, “A mansion in Beverly Hills or something?”
She knew where I lived. I was impressed.
“If you know that, then you probably know I have a son who lives in Rosemary Beach. Grandkids too.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, but this isn’t Rosemary Beach.”
“How do you like the pool?” I asked her instead. “Needs a makeover, don’t you think?”
She stared at me, saying nothing. I would admit, I had been bored before coming down here and finding her. I enjoyed seeing her annoyance with me. She was interesting, and although I was done fucking women her age, that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk to her.
“The pool is fine as it is,” she said.
“But you like the new lounge chairs,” I said, knowing she would be lying if she said no.
“Yes, I do like those,” she acknowledged, but the sour look on her face made it clear she hated to say so.
“How’s Cam?” I asked her, surprised that I had remembered the name of the poor guy she controlled with her magic vagina.
“He’s fine,” she snapped. “I need to go,” she added, then stepped around me to leave.
