9. Char
CHAR
WHAT A WONDERFUL FUCKING DAY OFF.
As I tapped the ‘send’ button on my fourth application for that day, I sat back and watched it load out.
It hadn’t taken me long to update my resume in the first place.
Just added my three years of bartending and managerial experience at Bottle Grounds.
Nothing special, nothing spectacular, nothing that made me stand out.
I’d be lucky if a fucking grocery store hired me to bag shit.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
I froze at the sound of the knocking that rapped against my door. No, not knocking. Banging. Booming.
As if a monster sat just beyond the threshold.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
That wasn’t how Miss Lilly ever knocked on my door. She had a soft, delicate knock. One that was damn near impossible to hear from the other side of the studio apartment. But, the banging that ensued? That sounded like one of the guys from downstairs.
The hairs on the nape of my neck bristled.
Boom. Boom. Boom. “Open up, we need to talk.”
The gruff voice that sounded on the other side made me leap to my feet.
I barely caught my laptop in my hands, fumbling with it before it ultimately dropped haphazardly back down onto the coffee table.
I winced at the sound it made. I tried to be so careful with my things because I didn’t have a way to replace them.
I quickly closed the screen before tripping over myself to get to the door.
Boom. Boom. Boom. “I could do this all day, Char.”
“I don’t want to talk. It’s my day off. Go away.”
There was a brief pause. “Suit yourself.”
I heard tinkering on the other side of the door before that telltale zipping sound hit my ears. No. They wouldn’t. They couldn’t, right? There was no way in hell they had a key to my place. The paperwork hadn’t even processed yet!
Why the hell would Miss Lilly give them the key to my place?
“Don’t you dare!” I exclaimed as I watched the man on the other side unlock my doorknob.
“You leave me no choice,” the gruff voice said.
“I do not give you permission to enter. You aren’t allowed.”
Then, the upper lock turned for my viewing pleasure. “I’m coming in.”
“Like you fucking care if you announce yourself anyway, you stupid motherfuck.”
The doorknob twisted before the door eased open. “You really have a mouth on you, you know that?”
My front door creaked open and there he stood, in all his glory.
Dallas. The cheeky man with the chiseled muscles and a face I wanted to punch with my balled-up fists.
He pierced the threshold of the doorway before leaning against it.
He stuck his head in, peeking around the corners as his stare danced along my things.
My private things.
I looked over at the key hanging from the lock and found Miss Lilly’s coffee mug charm I had gotten her last year for her birthday.
Oh, no.
“Nice digs,” Dallas said.
I couldn’t stop staring at the keys.
“Paperwork went through,” Dallas said as he yanked the keys from the lock.
Holy fucking Christ, these men were my new landlords.
“You still can’t come in without my permission,” I said as I forced myself to hold my head high. “Plus, since you’re landlords now, you’re going to need at least a phone call ahead of time to let me know you’re coming by my place to come inside. Or, do you guys not understand how the law works?”
My father couldn’t even beat me into submission. These guys would be cake.
That is, until Dallas chuckled and stepped into my apartment. “You’re cute. I like you.”
I took a step back. “I didn’t give you permission.”
And yet, he kept coming toward me after he flung my door closed with his fingertips. “I’m not here to look over your apartment.”
I pointed to the door as I continued backing up, stumbling over my couch in the process. “Then, you can get the fuck out.”
“Are you sure?”
I got my feet back underneath me. “I’ll call the police. I’m serious.”
Dallas tucked the key into his back pocket. “Go ahead, then. I’ll wait.”
My back fell against the wall, and yet Dallas continued to approach me.
He closed the distance between our bodies, holding my gaze within his like a prized possession.
I held my breath. I placed my palms against the wall in the hopes of being able to sink right into it just to get away.
But, as his body heat scoured me from head to toe, he placed his hand against the wall above my head and leaned forward.
I felt his breath pulsing against my face when he spoke. “So, what are you going to do now that I’ve called your bluff?”
“Depends,” I said as my stare helplessly fell to his lips, “you got something in mind?”
I couldn’t help but look. His body heat called to me.
Those sparkling green eyes that had drawn me in that very first night weakened my knees.
His muscles pulled tautly against his tight, olive-green shirt, showcasing the strength beneath.
I wanted to run my tongue along their edges.
I wanted to trace the outline of his bulging bicep with my teeth.
My core ached for him. Ached to know what that pouty lower lip of his tasted like against my own.
My nipples puckered against my bra as a chuckle fell from his lips.
“You look positively… flushed,” Dallas whispered.
A shiver worked its way up my spine. He dipped down closer, causing me to gasp softly as my back straightened.
I forced myself tighter against the wall.
I released the breath I was holding as the world tilted around me.
My knees grew weak. I had to close my eyes as his breath pulsed along the crook of my neck.
I felt something warm and welcoming grace my shoulder, causing goosebumps to slither all along my body.
Then, his whispered voice found the shell of my ear. “I can smell you, little one.”
I gritted my teeth and found the strength to wiggle my arms in between us.
I shoved with all my might, grunting as I leaned my body forward.
I catapulted myself from the wall. I bucked my ass against that thing, thrust my hips forward, and shoved that man away from me with my entire body.
He stumbled backward. He caught himself against my small dining room table.
He stood there, blinking, his eyes getting wider with every movement.
He almost looked… shocked.
“Oh, you’re going to pay for that,” Dallas growled as he charged me.
“Get out!” I shrieked.
“Get away from her!”
Footsteps rushed up the wrought iron staircase that led from the back alley up to my front door.
“Get away from her right now, you animal!” Miss Lilly shrieked.
Dallas’s face fell and that gave me my opening. I sprinted around him, using the small, square kitchen table as a barrier between the two of us. Miss Lilly rounded the doorframe, her arms outstretched as I barreled into them. And the second my cheek fell to her shoulder, the tears started.
I felt Dallas’s eyes on my back the entire time, too.
“Get out of here,” Miss Lilly whispered. “Quit, run, and don’t stop until you’re far away from this place.”
My crying grew louder as I tried to focus on her voice. There was no telling what the hell would have happened had she not arrived.
And there was no telling how much I would have actually liked it.
“I said, get out of her apartment,” Miss Lilly said curtly.
She released me and shuffled me behind her before we both eased off to the side.
I stood with my back against the wall once more, only this time Miss Lilly was there as the barrier I needed.
I watched Dallas as his gaze never wavered from my face.
He stalked toward us, his broad stature looming over our bodies as he stopped just shy of my front door.
“There a problem?” he asked as he studied the parts of my body that he could find, licking his lips in the process.
God, I could have slapped him for such a stupid fucking question.
I also could have slapped myself for the heat that gathered between my legs as I wondered what that same tongue was capable of doing between my legs.
It didn’t deter Miss Lilly, though. Not for a second. “Reasonable notice for apartment checks in the State of California require at least a twenty-four-hour notice via phone call, or six days via snail mail.”
“Like I told you,” I said with a punctuated nod of my head.
“Well,” Dallas said as his stare finally moved to Miss Lilly, “we don’t do snail mail. So, she better stick close to that phone of hers. Otherwise, she may miss our notifications. And that’s not on us, now, is it?”
I hated feeling Miss Lilly twitch as Dallas started chuckling.
He straightened his back and stepped outside onto my measly little front porch and turned toward the stairs.
We couldn’t help but follow him. We crooked our necks around that corner and watched as he stepped down a few of the steps.
Enough for our gazes to be level as he stood there with his eyes craned over his shoulder.
“Have a good rest of your day off, Char,” he said as he peered at me. “We’ll see you at opening time tomorrow.”
As he walked down the stairs and disappeared back into the bar, Miss Lilly started panting.
I took her beneath my arm and guided her back inside, ready to close the door and lock it once more.
Maybe I’d put a lock on the door that didn’t require a key.
Just a lock that I could flip that couldn’t be unlocked from the outside.
Because if those assholes thought they were gonna barge in like that all they wanted just to try and get laid, they had another thing coming.
At least, that’s what my mind told me.
My body told a much different story, however, as my nipples started aching.
“What have I done?” Miss Lilly asked breathlessly.
“Would you like something to drink?” I asked as I rubbed her back.
But, my question seemed to shock her back to life. “I can’t. I have too many things to do.”
And as she left the safety and security of my apartment, I jumped when she slammed the door behind her.
Before I lunged for the door and flipped all of the locks back into place.