Neighbors (Twin Estates #1) (7 page)

When had she become so docile? Something about him, it was like he could snap his fingers, and she would bend over backwards. Without even a thought or a question. It was bizarre. She may have been a bit of a goody-two-shoes pushover in her day-to-day life, but she wasn't the type to just let a man strong arm her in any way, either.

“Realty is a good business,” she commented when he was behind the wheel and pulling them away from the building. He glanced at her, then watched while she slid her hand along the dash.

“
Very
good. A lot better than baking,” he replied, and it was her turn to laugh.

“I'm sure, though baking does alright by me.”

“I bet. Three month waiting list – was that bullshit? You seemed pissed off.”

“I was, but it wasn't bullshit. I'm 'in demand', as they say,” she laughed, doing air quotes.

“Nice. Address, please.”

She prattled it off to him, then got sucked into a conversation about school. They'd taken very different paths, with him attending a prestigious ivy league school on the east coast, and her attending a culinary school in California.

She moved in her seat to somewhat face him, her knees and head pointed in his direction while she animatedly talked about a cooking class that had gone very wrong. She hadn't noticed it happening, but sometime while telling him about the oven catching fire, his hand found its way onto her thigh. She was proud of herself that she was able to keep talking without any hint of surprise, but when he began rubbing back and forth, dipping between her legs, she stumbled over a couple words.

He illegally parked in front of her building and walked her into the lobby. He was on his phone most of the time, and only when she got onto her elevator did he stop talking long enough to notice her again.

“Thanks for being a good sport and meeting me,” he said. She smiled at him, not letting on that she was just a teensy bit disappointed. She wasn't entirely sure that she liked him at all, but it would've been nice if he'd asked for her number, or another date, or anything that showed he was interested in her.

“No problem. It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be,” she teased. There was one more tight lipped smile, then he started lifting his phone back to his ear.

“Cheers, Tocci.”

Then he was walking away and the elevator doors were sliding shut.

Katya dragged her feet down the hallway and clear through her front door. Tori hollered from the bathroom, and Katya dreaded telling her how the bizarre date had gone.

“Did you see his penis!?” the other girl yelled. Katya rolled her eyes and kicked off her heels.

“Jesus, I'm not some total slut, you know!” she yelled back, tossing her purse to the floor.

“Yes, you are!”

Katya went to respond, but was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. She groaned again and turned around, wondering who it could be at that hour. It was almost ten o'clock at night. She glanced through the peep hole and was shocked to see a very familiar looking tie. She scrambled to pull back the chain lock and yank open the door.

“Hi,” she breathed, staring up at Wulf. Without her heels and standing so close to him, she suddenly realized he was a lot taller that she'd thought. He stared down the length of his nose at her.

“I'm sorry, did you just say you weren't a slut?” he asked. She cringed.

“No. I mean, I'm not. My roommate, she said … we were just … I only mean ...” Katya babbled, not sure how to dig herself out of her hole.

Turned out, she didn't need to. While she fumbled around, waving her hands and searching for words, Wulf leaned down and kissed her, gently holding her chin between his thumb and forefinger.

It was simple, just his lips pressed against hers. No hint of tongue, or anything naughty, really. He kept her in place, tilted her head at the perfect angle, held her lips to his. Very chaste in comparison to what she'd experienced the night before.

And yet, her blood was on fire. She felt weak in the knees and leaned into him, gripping onto his lapels. It was driving her insane. Wulf was sex in a three piece suit, why wasn't he tearing into her? Was she ready for that? Did she even want him to tear her apart?

Oh yes, I most definitely fucking do.

“Hmmm,” he hummed when he finally pulled away. “Maybe we can explore that whole 'slut' thing another time.”

“Uhhh …” she responded eloquently. He smiled and she felt his hands on top of hers, gently pulling her away from his blazer.

“Good seeing you again, Tocci.”

He kissed her once more, this time resting his hand against the side of her neck. She felt the heat from his fingertips long after he walked away.

“Pssst,” Tori hissed from behind her, after Wulf had disappeared onto the elevator. “Was that the guy?”

“No, that was the guy from 4A downstairs,” Katya said.

“Seriously?”

“No! Of course that was him! Who else would I be kissing!?” Katya snapped, finally turning away and slamming their door shut.

“I don't know, Liam?”

Liam. Two simple kisses and Katya had already forgotten the man she'd slept with just twenty-four hours ago.

“No. I think Liam was just for fun,” she sighed.

“And Wulf isn't?”

“I don't know what the hell he is.”

“Did you at least have a good time?”

“Yeah … yeah, I think I actually did.”

“But no sexy time.”

“Trust me, that kiss was
definitely
sexy time.”

“Didn't look very sexy to me.”

But she wasn't listening to her roommate. She had her fingertips pressed against her lips, her mind going over the kiss once again.

*

Day one, Katya had made an in-the-moment decision to go out on a date with a random stranger and have sex with him in his sex club. Sex had evolved into first time anal sex, a huge step for her. It had been amazing, and eye opening, and such a change from her every day life, she couldn't believe it. She'd felt like a new woman.

Day two, Katya had gone on a kinda-sorta-date with a ghost from her past. She hadn't realized it was a date till it was almost over, and it had been a bad date, but also a good one, and a ten year old crush had gotten dusted off, and he'd kissed her, and she'd been pretty sure she'd seen the back of her own eyeballs. She'd felt like an amazing woman.

Day three, it all came crashing down. Oh god, oh god, what had she done!? Fucked a stranger, let him fuck her in the ass – which was
still
sore – and then she'd gone on a date with a man she didn't technically know, at least not anymore. A man who hadn't been nice to her ten years ago, and still wasn't very nice to her now.

She no longer felt new and amazing. She felt confused and upset. Caught between feeling bad about herself and trying to forget everything.

Katya Tocci simply didn't behave that way. Katya Tocci baked cakes and decorated desserts. Went on sensible dates, never kissing until at least the third date, and never having sex until she was at least semi-positive she actually liked the man and they had similar goals and ideals.

Katya Tocci did not take it up the back door and date assholes.

Oh god, I cannot believe I did all that.

She'd taken the morning off to collect herself. Recover some of her dignity and remember exactly who she was – not that girl from that stupid profile, which she'd already deactivated. She had goals. Plans. Her career was on a fast track to success, even possibly minor fame. Owning her own bakery wasn't too far off in the future. Acting crazy and reckless put all that in jeopardy. No matter how amazing the sex had been with Liam, and no matter how good Wulfric kissed, none of it was worth risking the future she was building for herself.

When I talk like that, I sound like my mother. I'm gonna start crying again.

After taking another skin scrubbing shower, Katya cleaned the apartment. Tori had stumbled out of her room around eleven, giving her a heart attack. Her roommate had decided to stay home after realizing Katya had stayed home, wanting to offer a comforting shoulder. Though when Katya explained why she was staying home, Tori called her an idiot, and then asked for Liam's phone number, jokingly offering to date him in Katya's place.

After pulling on a pair of cream colored chinos and buttoning up a soft, pink, cashmere cardigan, she felt more like herself. Less like the hussy from the crazy dating profile, more like the respectable young woman her parents had raised. She worked her hair into a thick braid that coiled around the back of her head, then topped the look off with a pair of pearl earrings. As she was heading out the door, she stopped and stared at her reflection in a mirror.

What had he said? Sunday school teacher. I look like some sort of bible study tutor.

She shook the thought free from her head, refusing to dwell on it anymore. Besides, neither Liam nor Wulf had bothered to get her phone number. It wasn't like she'd be seeing either of them again anytime soon.

She decided to keep that thought in the back of her mind. Neither of these men wanted to see her again, so her worrying about her behavior was a moot point. They wouldn't be popping up to share her secrets with anyone. Perfect. Everything was
perfectly fine
.

Katya took a deep breath as soon as she got out onto the sidewalk. The weather was lovely, with a slight breeze in the air to cool down the warm summer day. She smiled to herself as she went over her plans for the afternoon. She was going to finish up the day at the bakery – she had to go over a design with a client for a graduation cake. Then she was going to stop in at a floral shop and get some bouquets. Growing up, her parents' house had always been filled with fresh flowers, and when she'd cleaned that morning, she'd realized she missed the smell of flora and fauna. Hmmm, and maybe after the flower shop, she'd stop and grab some -

“Jesus, I thought the brown outfit was sexy, but this definitely has it beat. You've graduated from Sunday school teacher to virginal valedictorian.”

Katya gasped so hard, she started choking on the gum she'd been chewing. She stumbled into the wall next to her, desperately trying to catch her breath, then Liam started slapping her on the back. She finally hacked up the gum and waved him away.

“I”m fine!” she snapped, rubbing at her throat. “God, you scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry. I've been waiting out here forever for you to turn up,” he said.

“You've been stalking me!?”

“That makes it sound weird. Waiting sounds better.”

“Okay. Stop. Start from the beginning. What's going on?” Katya asked, finally standing upright to face him.

It had only been two days since she'd seen him, and Katya had only known Liam for about a grand total of twelve hours, but still. His image would be burned into her brain for the rest of her life. Also, and it sounded cliché, running into him sort of felt like running into an old friend. Someone comfortable and familiar.

Ummm, there was nothing familiar about the things he did to your naked body.

He smiled when she started blushing, and she hated herself a little.

“I never got your number,” he said. “I think I was still pretty drunk when you left. I was thinking we could go get some tacos, I know a great place downtown.”

Katya opened her mouth, automatically ready to say yes, but then she froze. She wasn't sure why. She felt so comfortable with Liam, yes could be the only answer to anything he asked. He was also stupid hot – those chocolate eyes wandering knowingly over her body, his big, goofy smile distracting from the fact that he was a very large, very built, very sexy man.

But she'd also just had a very long conversation with herself about not being with certain men, no matter how good looking they were, or how good they were in bed. Or how their hands had touched parts of her body she still couldn't think about without turning bright red.

FOCUS.

“Liam,” she sighed.

“Oh no. That tone isn't good,” he said, but his voice was teasing.

“Look. You're super … amazing. Hot and funny and all that stuff that makes girls fall at your feet. I pretty much did,” she told him. “But that night, that wasn't me. I mean, you were so good looking, and I wanted to be the kind of woman you're attracted to. I wanted to be dangerous and sexy and fun, and I'm just not. I'm not that woman. I'm a schoolmarm, who wears beige and cashmere and I'm just …
boring
. I'm boring, Liam. I'm really, really boring.”

She was rushing by the end of her speech, and wasn't entirely sure what all was pouring out of her mouth. It was pure word vomit, straight from the ether to the tip of her tongue, but at least it was out. She'd said it. Liam knew the truth. She let out a deep breath and stared up at him.

“You are so ridiculous. You know that, right?” he laughed. Katya blinked her eyes.

“Did you hear anything I said?” she asked.

“Of course I did. It was all bullshit. Boring? Lady, you walked into a sex club, slammed back a double tequila, then fucked my brains out. Does that sound boring to you? You were totally all those things – fun, sexy, and yeah, even a little dangerous. You just gotta chill out and stop spending so much time in that brain of yours,” Liam said, tapping a finger against her temple. She frowned at him.