She bites at the inside of her cheek, and I catch a glimpse of an emotion I can’t quite decipher. If we were together I would ask her about it. Hell, if we were together I would kiss it right out of her.
“Look, you’ve been more than generous, but”—she points between us—”you don’t need to give me rides, or offer me your apartment. I’m a big girl. I’ll figure it out.”
“What are you so afraid of? I promise I am offering temporary room and board out of the goodness of my heart.” And the hardness of my cock. Though if she knew that she’d run for the hills. I need to be smart about this. I need to play my cards right. A good dealer knows when to bet and when to call.
She hums, but it’s a sound full of disbelief. Okay, so maybe my game face needs a little work.
“Just spend the night at my place tonight. See how you like it, and we’ll play the rest of the week by ear.” At the next stop in traffic I level her with my most sincere stare. “It’ll be easier.”
“Right. Easier for what? You to get in my pants?”
“Please.” I glance down at her exposed legs and grin. “You hardly ever wear pants.”
“Jude,” she warns.
“Come on, it’s just an apartment, Rachel. Unless you’re worried you won’t be able to keep your hands to yourself what with my overwhelming charm and good nature?” I sneak a glance at her and lift my brows in challenge.
She rolls her eyes. “Please. The only hands I am concerned about are your wandering ones.”
“I promise to be a perfect gentleman.” This earns another laugh from her lips, a sound I’m growing ever addicted to. “Look, I can’t stand the thought of you sleeping in the same apartment as those wenches you call roommates. Let me do this for you. I have a really big condo.”
“That’s what all the guys say.”
Did she just crack a sex joke? My lips twist with the hint of a smile. I almost have her consent, so I go in for the kill. “You’d have your own bathroom.”
She crosses her arms and releases a sigh. “Fine.”
“I should have led with the bathroom, then?”
She grins, her eyes rolling again at my teasing. “Does that bruise your ego?”
I make a show of pressing my fist against my sternum. “A little.” I bite back the impulse to ask her for a kiss to make it better. She’s going to make me work for it. My usual arsenal of playful banter and suggestive lines won’t work. It should bother me. Or at least be frustrating, but in fact it does the opposite. It’s been so long since I’ve had to really work for a woman’s affection that I’ve almost forgotten how addictive the thrill of a good chase is. When it comes to Rachel, I’m up for the challenge.
21
Rachel
“I’m coming in with you,” Jude says after snagging an open parking spot.
I’d like to argue, but the thought of Jude, my pseudo hunk of a bodyguard, may be the very thing to keep me from ripping into my corrupt roommates. “In and out.” I eye the door and blow out a breath. “Ten minutes. Tops.”
“Speedy.”
“Yeah, well. Let’s get this over with.” Sliding from Jude’s SUV, I shut the door with more force than necessary and march forward. Maybe to another altercation. Dear God, I hope not.
I trek up the path with more bravado than I feel. The truth is, I’ve been dreading this encounter all day. I’m still angry at my roommates, Crystal in particular. But over the course of the day, that indignation has bloomed into something darker, and sadder. I’m hurt. I am hurt that the people I live with don’t respect me or my things. It’s lonely being in this city, and even though I moved here of my own choice, the idea of how I expected it to be and the reality are so starkly different that part of me wants to give up. Quit. Move home.
Those thoughts only make me angrier. Because I’m not a quitter. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t give up on my dreams. Damn it. Today was the biggest, best day of my career and I should be celebrating.
Maybe that’s why I’m crazy enough to accept Jude’s offer.
Moving in with him is probably not the smartest decision, but I can’t imagine sleeping in this apartment tonight.
A light is on, shining through the cracks in the blinds, but that doesn’t mean much. No one turns lights off, and people come and go at all hours. I cautiously ease my key into the lock and twist.
“We doing this sometime today or what?”
I shoot him a glare over one shoulder, then push open the door. My footsteps falter at the sound of Kari Ann’s voice from down the hall. My stomach turns with apprehension, and a little hunger. As soon as this is over, I’m stuffing my face with the closest fast food burger.
“Hey, I’m right here,” Jude says. His words bolster my confidence and settle my nerves. “Whatever you need.”
I nod, then lead the way, thankful to find the other two bedroom doors open with the lights off. Everyone else must be out. “Just rip off the Band-Aid,” I mutter under my breath and then push open the door to the bedroom I share with Kari Ann.
Her gaze snaps up from where she’s sprawled on her bed. “Um, I’m going to need to call you back,” she says into the phone, her gaze wary.
Ignoring her, or at the very least attempting to, I drop to my knees at the foot of my bed and pull out my suitcase and duffel.
Kari Ann’s eyes widen as Jude braces himself in the open door frame. He looks entirely delicious, his suit looking impossibly better on him in the evening than this morning. Must be the loosened tie. His hair a little out of place and
