Stalker Problems - Chapter 17 - JUMP!
The elevator opened directly into the penthouse of the Caldwell Hotel. And damn was it nice.
“Like what you see?” asked Frankie.
I took it back. Frankie wasn’t an idiot person. She was amazing. “Why was this not the very first place you showed me?”
“Have you already forgotten my warning?”
Screw her warning. This was the apartment for me. I just knew it. The only question was…who was the realtor? The walls were white, which meant he had white skin. What did the glass walls mean, though? Did he wear lots of mesh tank tops? Or was he so pale that his skin was practically translucent?
“Come on,” said Frankie with a tug on my arm. “You haven’t even seen the best part.”
She led me towards the kitchen, which was part of a two-story great room.
I was kind of obsessed. Not to mention the wall art.
In a normal house the bright colors and geometric patterns would have been too much, but against the white walls and paired with the sleek modern furniture, they were kind of perfect.
They also meant that the realtor probably wore bright clothing…
“Good evening,” said a deep voice behind us.
I turned around and found myself staring directly into my stalker’s beautiful brown eyes.
There were still speckles of blueberry on his shirt.
Oh. No. I immediately ducked behind the nearest piece of furniture.
Shit! Shit shit shit! Had he seen me? Yes, I’d wanted to meet him.
But now that it was happening, it kind of felt like my entire body was going to explode.
Or melt. Wait, was I already melting? Or was I just sweating that profusely?
I closed my eyes. If I couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see me. That was how things worked.
“Are you hiding?” he asked.
I stayed still. Maybe he was talking to someone else. I just wanted to disappear.
“You know I can see you through that glass table, right?”
I snuck a glance back at him. Sure enough, I could see him clear as day through the top of the glass table I’d ducked behind. Damned modern furniture. I stayed still for a second, hoping he’d just walk away and pretend this hadn’t happened.
Instead, the corner of his gorgeous mouth ticked up.
“I’m not hiding,” I said way too defensively. “I was just…tying my shoes.”
“Tying your flats?” His voice was filled with amusement. “They don’t have laces.”
“Don’t be rude to your guest,” said Frankie.
“You’re right, I’m sorry,” said my stalker. “I’m just having one of those days. You wouldn’t believe what happened to me on my way over.”
Please don’t recognize me from the pie incident.
“Anyway, I’m Ryder. Pleasure to meet you.” He stuck his hand out for me to shake.
By some miracle it seemed like he hadn’t seen me hit him with the pie. I breathed a sigh of relief. God, he was so beautiful up close. And his name was Ryder? That was a super hot name. And it suited him. I bet he could ride me all night. “I’m meeting to pleasure you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Well that’s rather forward of you.”
What? Then I realized I had jumbled my words all around. Fuck my life. “Er…it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I kind of liked your other greeting better.”
Kill me now.
“Raven here was just telling me how much she loves this apartment,” said Frankie. “We’ve visited a bunch, but this seems to be the only one she’s interested in.”
My stalker…er, Ryder…nodded. “Then she has good taste.” He turned and locked eyes with me. “What other places did you look at?”
“Uh…” How could I phrase this? For all I knew, all those guys were his friends. “Before I answer that, I have a question for you.”
“Ask away.”
“Are you good friends with a gay man or two rapey Spanish men?” Shit! That had seemed a lot less offensive in my head.
Ryder laughed. “I take it you met Ocelot and the brothers?”
“Maybe.”
He turned to Frankie. “What in the world made you think she’d like those apartments?”
Frankie put her hands up. “Don’t blame me. She asked for the biggest double shower I could find.”
“Really?” asked Ryder. His eyes locked with mine again. “I never would have guessed.”
I could feel my face turning red. “I didn’t fully understand what I was asking for,” I said. “But yes, I did technically request that.”
Ryder raised an eyebrow. “And it wasn’t what you wanted?”
“Not at all.” I shook my head. “Especially when I didn’t even have time to prepare myself.
Prepare mentally. For the shock of it. Not like…
prepare with lube. Although I imagine a lot of lube would be necessary…
” What the hell am I saying?! I cleared my throat to try to distract my stalker from the pure awkwardness that had just left my mouth.
“So…how about you show me around this place?”
“Got it.” Ryder pulled out a little notebook and jotted something down.
“What are you writing?” I asked.
“Nothing.” He tucked the notebook back into his jacket pocket. “So where shall we begin with our tour? The master bedchamber?”
“Sure.” Who the hell calls it a bedchamber? I thought I was the only one who said weird stuff like that.
He led me up the stairs and into a ridiculously awesome bedroom, complete with a four-poster bed. He kicked something into a closet and slammed it shut.
“Was that a Croc?”
“What?” asked Ryder with a laugh. “Why would there be a crocodile in the penthouse? That sounds like the title of a children’s book.”
Okay… There was no time to dwell on that, though. Because my eyes went straight to the silk neckties tied securely to two of the bedposts. “What are those for?” I asked.
Ryder stared at me. “Would you like to find out?”
I gulped. Was my stalker about to tie me to his bed? I’d had this fantasy before. But it usually ended with him cutting me up in little tiny pieces. Luckily Frankie would never let that happen though. “That depends. Have you used them before?”
“Oh definitely. But they’ve been thoroughly cleaned since then.” He took a step towards me. But then he stopped when his cellphone started ringing. “Hold that thought.” He answered his phone. “Talk to me.”
I tried to listen. Was he getting a call from the last girl he’d tied to this bed?
I couldn’t make out much, but I thought I heard a guy saying something about agents coming.
“You’re sure?” asked Ryder. “Okay. Thanks for the heads up.”
“What was that about?” I asked.
For a second Ryder’s confident smile faltered. “Nothing important. Want to see the balcony?” He put his hand gently on my back and guided me through a maze of rooms and out onto the balcony.
And then the wind blew through my hair and the familiar sounds of honking taxis and squealing brakes filled my ears. For the first time since I’d stepped foot in NYC, I felt like I was able to get a breath of fresh air. And the view… God, the view was everything.
“Not a bad view, huh?” asked Ryder.
“It’s amazing.” Is this even real life right now? I had no idea how I had gotten so lucky to end up on this balcony with my super sexy stalker. Who apparently wanted to tie me to his bed and do unspeakable things to me. Trying new things was working out pretty damned well for me.
And it was about to get even better.
My stalker leaned down towards me. Is he going to kiss me? Oh my God! I closed my eyes and got ready for it. I wasn’t even scared of whatever germs he had. I just wanted to taste him. But instead I felt his breath on my neck.
“Stay calm,” he whispered into my ear. “And don’t look back. There are some agents after us. Frankie might be one of them.”
My eyes flew open. “Agents? Like…FBI agents?”
Ryder nodded. “Yup. Exactly. FBI agents.”
What? “Quit messing with me.” God, why did it always seem like the FBI was after me?
“I wish I was.” He looked dead serious. “But an acquaintance of mine in NYC was recently taken, and I think I’m next. I’m sorry, I never meant to tangle you up in this.”
Taken? What?
“Where’d you guys go?” called Frankie from inside.
“We’ll just be out here another second,” yelled Ryder. “Why don’t you go ahead and draw up a rental agreement?”
“That’s up to my client. Is this the one, Raven?”
Ryder nudged me.
“Uh, yeah,” I called to Frankie. “Yup. Sure is.” My voice cracked as I talked. Playing it cool was definitely not my strong suit. Ryder wasn’t serious, was he? All the FBI talk had to be nonsense. This secret sex society was completely legal. Oh wait…
Frankie squealed with excitement. Excitement to send me to prison forever for dirty sex things. But I hadn’t even done anything bad yet! If anything she should be arresting Angel and Diablo for trying to rape me in the bathroom. I’d tell the judge everything and ask for leniency.
I looked back at Ryder. “Do we have to kill her? I can’t go to prison. I’m not made for it.”
His perfect smile reappeared for a second. “We could do that. But I’d rather jump.”
“JUMP?!” My stalker was out of his mind. Which also made sense. Because he was a freaking stalker!
“Shhh!” He pressed his hand over my mouth. It smelled like blueberry pie. I kind of wanted to lick it, but this was no time for such things. Wait…since when did I want to lick someone’s hands? That was super gross. But licking his hand kind of seemed appealing? Weird.
“Seriously, what are we gonna do?” I could feel the sweat pooling in my pits.
“Jump. Well, zipline, to be precise.” A zipline handle had appeared in his hands.
“Where did you get that?”
“From uh…under that plant.” He pointed to a potted shrub that definitely didn’t look like it had been hiding a zipline. And then he secured the handle to a thick metal cable that ran from his balcony all the way to an adjacent building. Above six lanes of traffic. Hundreds of feet in the air.
I was definitely going to die.