Chapter 1
Shutting the door as quietly as possible, Alyssa turned for the stairs to complete her escape. The phone in her bag buzzed as her feet hammered down the familiar steps. Once outside her building, she breathed in a lungful of freedom and frowned at the humid heaviness of the air.
It was going to be a hot day in Manhattan. Her lips pulled up, remembering how hot the night before had been.
“Morning, sunshine.” She answered her friend’s call knowing Mia would be anything but sunny this morning.
“Shut up. I hate you.”
“Remember, it was your idea to go to ladies’ night on a Wednesday when you had to be at work this morning. I said it was stupid.”
“Are you outside already?” Mia brushed over her responsibility in their predicament.
“I’m going to the gym to shower. My apartment was…crowded this morning.”
“The guy stayed?”
Yes, the guy stayed.
Grayson Hollinger III had sat down next to Alyssa the night before and offered to buy her a drink immediately. When she politely refused, he let out a breath of defeat and explained that his friend had promised him hordes of desperate women. She found his honesty intriguing. Paired up with the sexy smile and haunting blue eyes, she was more than interested. While she hadn’t been desperate, she was willing to have a little fun on a Wednesday night.
Having nothing to lose but time, she proposed a simplified method to get them from point A to point B. She laughed now, remembering the shocked look on his face when she suggested they enjoy each other’s company for the evening with no expectations or bullshit afterward.
The sex had been phenomenal. He’d even managed to get her to point B—something that had been nearly impossible for the last few years. When he asked to stay longer, she agreed, greedy for another chance with him. She hadn’t been disappointed.
But now it was morning. Time to get back to reality.
Sure she wished she could have more with a man. Who truly wanted a life filled with strangers and uncertainty? Unfortunately, the option had been taken from her five years ago. These brief encounters for pleasure were all she was capable of now. She didn’t deserve a happily-ever-after.
“Yes, he stayed,” she answered Mia’s question. “Which is why I’m going to the gym, so I can shower without waking him.”
“So courteous,” Mia chuckled, knowing it was more cowardice than courtesy.
“I’ll see you at work.”
“Yeah, about that.”
“You’d better get your ass to work,” Alyssa threatened.
“Travis stayed too. He suggested we spend the day in bed together. I have to say, his offer sounds better than yours, so…I’m calling in.”
Mia was the opposite of Alyssa in most every way. From her short, black hair and chocolate eyes to her petite curvy stature. But the biggest difference was what they were looking for from men.
Mia was full of hope that one of the men she took home from a club would turn out to be Prince Charming.
Alyssa knew there was no such thing as Prince Charming. There were only short glimpses of happiness with strangers—and making sure her heart never got involved. That last part was fairly easy since her heart had frozen over.
“You remember what Millie said would happen if you called off again,” Liss reminded her.
“Damn.”
When their old boss, Ruth, had been fired, they thought they were home free. But Millicent wasn’t much of an improvement.
“Do you want to end up like Kenley?” Kenley had worked with them for years before she was falsely accused of sleeping with her boss’s husband and fired.
“Do I want to end up fired so I can get a new job with a dreamy guy who marries me?” Mia asked. “Yes. The answer is yes.”
Maybe Alyssa had asked the wrong question.
“Get to work. I don’t want to lose another work friend. I’ll only have Freddie left and he can’t sympathize on PMS issues.”
“Fine. I’ll see you soon.”
Alyssa dropped her phone in her bag and headed off toward the gym, only to see the devil striding toward her. Liss might have looked for a place to hide, or an alley into which she could duck, but it was obvious by the glare in Sasha’s eyes that she had already spotted her.
Better to get it over with.
“What the hell, Liss?” Sasha held up her phone. “You send me a text telling me I can’t come home?”
“You’ve sent me texts like that so many times that I’ve started carrying a change of clothes in my bag.” Alyssa held up her bag, grateful to have had it packed for her quick escape this morning.
“It’s my apartment. You can’t tell me not to come home to my own apartment.”
“I pay rent too. So it’s my apartment as much as yours.”
“Well the landlord won’t see it that way since my name is the only one on the lease.”
It was always like this.
In the beginning, Sasha had been her friend. But friends don’t always make the best roommates. Sasha had gotten the apartment in her name because Alyssa’s past had adversely affected her credit score. They’d agreed to take turns, one of them getting the tiny bed and the other sleeping on the loveseat a week at a time. But eventually, Sasha claimed the bed because her name was on the lease and Alyssa’s wasn’t. It just spiraled from there.
“I knew you were working until two, so what were a couple more hours?” Alyssa pointed out. She’d texted her roommate at ten, telling her she had a guest. That should have been plenty of time for Sasha to work her magic and find an alternate plan.
She had a feeling the issue was more a matter of sticking it to Alyssa than of not having a place to sleep the night before.
“I have to go now or I’ll be late for work. We’ll discuss it later, okay? Maybe we can make up a schedule or something.”
Without waiting for an answer, Alyssa hurried away knowing she was screwed and that pushing the discussion off until later probably wouldn’t change the outcome.
* * * *
Gray was shaken awake by an angry woman. For a second, he thought the vixen he’d slept with three times the night before had morphed into this harpy by the light of day—but then it spoke.
“Liss left. You need to get out.”
So this wasn’t the woman he’d slept with. Alyssa had simply run off, not changed into a nightmare.
The woman tossed a crumpled piece of paper toward him.
“Get out of my bed, and no you can’t shower here.”
“You must be Sasha,” he guessed.
“Yes. I’m Sasha. And this is my apartment.”
“Okay, okay. I’m gone. Can you give me a second to get dressed?” He was still naked under the sheet.
“Sure.” She flopped down on the sofa, six feet away, and crossed her arms as if waiting for a show.
Alyssa had warned him that her roommate might make a scene. She’d expected the other woman to show up at some point during the night and demand to be let in, which was why she had double-checked the chain on the lock to ensure their privacy.
Conflict wasn’t Gray’s thing, but he hadn’t been willing to walk away from Alyssa the night before. He was more than intrigued by her suggestion that they enjoy each other’s company and then go their separate ways in the morning without any pressure to continue the relationship.
The alarm on his phone went off, reminding him he had to be at work this morning. With a sigh of determination, he tossed the sheet aside and got up.
After getting dressed to a few impressed sounds from Alyssa’s roommate, he checked for his phone, keys, and wallet before rushing out of the apartment. It had been a great night, but it was over.
He hesitated as he opened the wrinkled note from Alyssa, wondering if she was hoping for more—or worse, that she wasn’t. He was new at this one-night thing. He knew he should want it to fade away in the light of day, but he couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by that thought.
Grayson,
I had a great time last night. Sorry there’s no food. You can help yourself to coffee. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime. Maybe not. No worries.
Liss
She hadn’t even given him her phone number.
Sure Alyssa had talked a good game, but he didn’t think it was really possible for people to have sex and walk away without any strings at all. He’d never encountered such a thing. He wanted some kind of string.
On the sidewalk, he pulled out his phone and made a note of her address, just in case.
He took a cab to his apartment across town and showered quickly so he’d have time to stop for real coffee on the way into work.
When he moved to the city, he’d promised himself he wouldn’t turn into a hipster coffee snob, but there he was in the immense line to order his double vanilla latte with foam.
The line shifted, and he looked up from his phone to notice a blonde woman in front of him. He tilted his head and studied her legs in the understated but sexy black pencil skirt. He knew those legs. They’d been wrapped around his waist for most of the night.
“Liss?” he said.
Her head instantly snapped up and she turned to face him. A look of confusion took over her subtly made-up face. With less makeup, she looked even prettier than she had the night before.
She allowed the patrons between them to go in front of her so she could stand next to him.
“What are you doing here? Are you following me?” she hissed, and tucked her damp hair behind her ear.
“No. This is where I get coffee.” He looked up at the sign above the counter. “Every morning for the last year and a half to be exact.”
“Really?” she said, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Yep.”
“I’ve never seen you here before.”
“Maybe neither of us was looking before.”
“Maybe.”
“Let me buy you coffee,” he offered. It seemed the least he could do since they’d been intimate.
“You don’t need to do that.” She pulled out her wallet as she ordered her double vanilla latte with foam.
His brows rose in surprise, and he quickly came up with a morning beverage alternative. She would surely think he was nuts if he ordered the same drink. Even if it was his normal drink. He wondered what the odds of that were as he ordered a mocha.
“Which way are you headed?” he asked.
“Up,” she answered, pointing in the direction he was going.
“Me, too. Are we allowed to walk together?”
“Sure. I’m not far.”
“I got your note and wanted to tell you I also had a really great time last night.” Great wasn’t the right word. From the ease of talking with her to the way they’d connected in bed, it had felt so different. Then she let him stay when he asked. Holding her while he slept felt right on so many levels.
“Great. We both had a great time.” He smiled at her overuse of the word he found lacking. “But now it’s the next day, and we agreed there would be no next day.” Alyssa had made it very clear she didn’t want anything from him but sex. Was there a reason? Had someone hurt her in the past? He swallowed down his urge to ask, knowing it would lead to him wanting to help.
If his past relationships had proven anything, it was that he couldn’t help everyone.
“We’re just two people walking up the sidewalk. Don’t panic.” He gave an easy shrug, at odds with how he felt. He wanted to see her again. Maybe they could have dinner and get to know each other better. Would that be so strange? People did it all the time.
“Suit yourself.”
“I’ve had sex on the first date before, and it’s generally kind of stressful because you don’t know what to expect from the other person. Last night wasn’t like that. I was completely relaxed. Maybe because I knew you weren’t expecting anything,” he shared.
“I was expecting one thing.” She laughed and licked foam from her upper lip. He wanted to do it for her. “You delivered, which is impressive because, like you, I’m usually not able to relax enough to get to point B.”
“Nice,” he said as she stopped walking at the same time he did. They were standing in front of his building.
“This is me,” she said.
“Seriously?” he choked.
“Yeah.”
“This is me too. Hasher Borne, twenty-ninth floor.”
“Hasher Borne, twenty-third,” she said, eyes wide.
“Oh, shit. Do you believe in fate?”
“No way,” she said firmly.
“Okay, good, because this could easily be misconstrued as fate interceding.”
She laughed.
“What department do you work in?” he asked.
“I’m an account rep, but I’ve been trying to move up for years.” She sounded irritated, but stopped herself from continuing what he was sure was going to be a rant. “What department do you work in?”
“Senior accountant.”
“Oh.” Her eyes flared and she looked away.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Have a great day.” She moved toward the front doors, but he stepped in front of her to keep her from getting away.
“There’s obviously something. Even if you don’t want to be friends, we are coworkers, and apparently, we both work for the number-crunching side of the business. What’s wrong?”
“Have you ever had any family members work here?”
“No. None.”
She seemed relieved, and explained.
“I’ve been passed over for a promotion to account manager three times because people up in your office have brought in their unqualified family members.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. I’m doing many of the account manager functions, but I’m not getting paid for it. And I don’t have the fancy office up on twenty-nine.”
“I think I might know who’s responsible for that.” Randy Taber had also filled their department with people from his large family. “It wasn’t me. My family is in Connecticut.”
“Why are you telling me about your family? You’re sharing personal information.” Yes, he was breaking the rules from the evening before. But in his defense, the rules should be null and void at this point.
“Are we really going back to the original plan now? We work together.”
“No more so than we did before and never saw each other.”
That might be true, but he’d be looking for her now. If for no other reason than to get a look at her in a pencil skirt. Wait. Should he be ogling someone who worked with him? She wasn’t his boss or anything. Surely it should be okay. In fact, this might be the in he needed.
“Can I get your phone number?” he pushed.
“Why?”
“Because I had a good time. We might like to do it again sometime.” Lots of times.
“I don’t think so.” She shook her head.
“Why not?”
“You don’t seem to understand the concept of a one-night stand.” This was true. The last time he attempted to have a casual fling, he ended up in a relationship. They’d been together for seven months when she told him it wasn’t working. Despite his desire to figure out why, she simply moved on. He was hoping to move on as well, thus the reason he’d taken Doug up on his offer to go out on a Wednesday for ladies’ night.
“I understand the concept, but if I meet someone I like sleeping with, why can’t I have another one-night stand with the same person?”
“Because that would be a two-night stand.” She laughed.
“Not if they’re not consecutive,” he reasoned.
This did make a little sense, but Liss shook her head. He followed her into the building and waited with her for the elevator.
“I think it’s best if you stay on your floor and I stay on mine. We can nod if we see each other, and leave it at that.”
He didn’t want to leave it at that, but he agreed for now.
“If that’s how you want to play it.”
“Yes. I think it’s for the best.” They stepped in the crowded elevator and a few seconds later, they arrived on twenty-third floor. She stepped off, leaving him smashed between a woman with too much perfume and a guy with a coffee stain on his tie.
“Have a nice day, Grayson.” She said his name in the same tone she’d used the night before. The tone that made his cock twitch. The door shut and she was gone.
“Damn it,” he muttered, causing the people on the elevator to look at him.
It was fine. He knew where she worked, where she went for coffee, what club she frequented, and where she lived.
Fate was on his side. Not that he believed in such a thing.
* * * *
Alyssa couldn’t help but smile as she walked to her cubicle.
“What’s all this?” Frederick asked while making a wide circle in the air in front of Alyssa’s body. “You look much too happy for a Thursday morning.”
“Last night was ladies’ night.” Her smile grew wider.
“And did the lady get everything she desired on her night?”
“Oh yes.” And more. Three orgasms were more than she expected from a one-night stand.
“I swear if I could give you my penis, we’d both be happier,” he said, making her laugh. “You’re such a guy when it comes to sex.”
Freddie had no idea how right he was. She didn’t want any of the emotions that women normally linked to sex. It was her experience that even if a man talked about marriage, family, and love, what it really came down to was sex. It had been a painful lesson indeed.
Now, her encounters were constant reminders that the only connection she was capable of having with a man was physical.
“I made it in before you?” Mia walked up, her brows crunched together.
“She got laid,” Freddie said, while pointing to Alyssa with his thumb.
“I could still be getting laid if she hadn’t forced me to come in this morning,” Mia said with a fake snarl before flipping her straight black hair out of her eyes and walking off.
“Glad you could be here. Have a great day!” Alyssa called after her with a laugh. She could still hear Mia grumbling the whole way to her cubicle. She was in too good of a mood to care.
“This guy must have rocked your world.” Freddie rolled his eyes and headed to his desk across the aisle from Alyssa.
Alyssa had to admit, the sex had been amazing. Gray had taken his time to make sure it was good for her. But how long could that last? She couldn’t give in to his two-night stand theory. It was best to let things go when they were good. Like knowing when to end a beloved sitcom before you make a mess of it.
She nodded in agreement with her decision and got to work.
Unfortunately, her job was not as gratifying as her evening with Grayson Hollinger III.
With her business degree from Syracuse and her ambitious drive, she should have been working her own accounts by now, but she wasn’t. For the most part, she was doing data entry.
But she would keep trying. Every time one of the family members got bored and left the company, it meant another chance for her to move up. Surely she would have her turn at some point. Until then, she would wait patiently.
Her bright outlook lasted only twenty minutes longer. Her phone lit up with a text from Sasha.
I don’t think this roommate thing is working out anymore.
“Son of a bitch.”