Chapter 2 Nipple Piercings for the Win! #2
His gaze slowly trailed to her open apartment door. “Am I to guess from the casual ensemble that you’re my neighbor? Did you stop by to ask for a cup of sugar? Because I’m sorry to say that I don’t usually keep the stuff on hand. I drink my coffee black as a starless night.”
“I’m not here for sugar.”
“Then what exactly are you here for?” His gaze slid down her body. “Unless that daydream I’ve been having since running into you at the wedding is finally coming true.”
She realized the error in her thinking, not having taken the time to at least pull on a pair of sweats. It was too late now. By the time his gaze dropped to her rainbow unicorn slippers, Addie had stiffened her shoulders and forced her back straight.
“You wish.”
“Yeah, actually, I do.”
She ignored the interest glimmering in his eye. “Look, I realize you’re not around all that much—”
“Aw, did you miss me?”
“I missed the quiet … which leads me to the reason I’m pounding on your door at close to midnight in my bath towel. Not everyone in the building needs—nor wants—to listen to your music. So if you’d be so kind as to turn it off, or at least way down, it would be greatly appreciated.”
He cocked a single dark eyebrow, the one with a pierced hoop. “Maybe I’m not kind.”
Addie copied his one-eyebrow lift, making his smirk broaden. “Maybe?”
“I’ll tell you what, sparkles.” His gaze momentarily dropped to her slippers. “I’ll stifle the music just for you, but since you’re asking me to give up my inspiration, I’ll need to find another. You up for the position?”
Addie rolled her eyes, unable to withhold her groan. “Do lines like that usually work for you? Tell me there aren’t people out there who fall for all your … bad-boy charm.”
“Bad-boy charm?” Mr. Sarcasm chuckled. The sound did funny things to her decommissioned lady bits.
“I’m sure there are others out there who have more game, but I don’t do too bad.
And I’m not trying to sound conceited or anything, but I usually don’t need to dish out lines.
People flock to me naturally … but something tells me you’re not the flocking type. ”
“That’s something you would be right about. Just please keep the noise down to a dull roar this time of night. Not everyone in the building keeps rock star hours.”
He nodded, amused by what she said. “I’ll do my best.”
She ignored his come-hither stare and headed back to her door, which she’d left open in her haste to achieve quiet.
“So, can I get a name for my new muse?” One broad shoulder leaning against his open door, he flashed a megawatt smile. “It feels like something I should know, considering I have this innate feeling that you—and those pretty eyes of yours—will be my best one yet.”
“Sorry, it wasn’t a job that I applied for, so no.”
“Ouch.” He clutched his chest. “You wound me, sparkles.”
She threw him one last glare and escaped back into her apartment. A few minutes later, the music came back on, this time dialed down to a faint hum.
Addie smiled, and that one split-second moment of weakness was all her mother needed to pop into existence.
Literally.
“Hello, daughter of mine.” The goddess smiled, the action lighting up the entire room.
“Dim the glow, Ma,” she pleaded, shielding her eyes.
“Oops. Sorry.” In a flash, Aphrodite’s light diminished and there stood Addie’s mother in all her goddess glory.
People everywhere had heard the Goddess of Love’s name, and many knew at least something about Greek mythology. Some gossip was true. Most wasn’t. Statues sculpted in Aphrodite’s image stood all over the world, but most depicted her wearing a signature white linen toga and floral crown.
This Aphrodite wore black skinny jeans, a cashmere sweater, and six-inch stilettos. An expensive pair of Jimmy Choo sunglasses sat propped on her head of curls despite it not being the least bit sunny.
“Before we talk about today’s little wedding mishap, tell me all about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Delicious next door? Whoever he is, whatever he does for a living, I approve. Wholeheartedly.”
Addie scoffed. “He could probably be a puppy unaliver and you’d still approve.”
At that comment, Do-Re-Mi picked their heads off their front paws, letting out a little trio of whines before settling back down.
“It’s my role as your mother to want to see you happy, healthy, and in love.” Aphrodite sat on the end of the couch.
“I’m not discussing what happened at the wedding—which apparently you’ve already heard about, and I’m definitely not talking about Mr. Sarcasm.”
Her mother smirked. “You gave him a nickname already? This is promising. Maybe Maxi is right and you’re finally starting to come around.”
“No.” Addie threw a finger at her life-giver. “No, I am not coming around, especially if to you that means me going on some great love quest. It’s not happening. Not now. Not ever. It’s not needed because it doesn’t truly exist.”
Love.
Sparkling unicorns had more chance of being real than that four-letter word that never ceased to send people into a tizzy.
Her mother’s face fell in sheer disappointment. “It’s not natural, Adalyn. My daughter is meant to love love. It’s quite literally in both yours and Maxine’s DNA.”
She shrugged. “Don’t know what to say except that she must have gotten the love gene, and I got the practical one. And my practical one is telling me that I’ve been up for way too long and this day from hell needs to come to an end. Thanks for checking in, but I’m good.”
Her mother sighed and stood. “Fine. Ignore me. But you won’t be able to do that forever. I’m quite literally everywhere. There is no escape.”
“That’s not as comforting as you think it may sound. It screams stalking kidnapper—which is, ironically, pretty on the mark.”
“My sweet Adalyn…”
“My overreaching mother…”
Her mother squeezed her hand. “I only want your happiness, sweetheart.”
“Then you’ve gotten what you want, Ma, because I’m very happy with my life right now,” Addie said adamantly.
And she meant it wholeheartedly.
Not only did Adalyn Whitlock own and run a business alongside her sister and cousin, but she lived in a building she’d loved since she was a child, and was seriously contemplating adding another plant to the little family on her windowsill.
She was also the daughter of Aphrodite … and Love was—most unfortunately—her middle name.