Chapter 13
Grayce
I mean, he really had some nerve, I thought as I drove to the office. Who just walked around naked like that? We were practically strangers. If I hadn’t already been pissed that he had brought some strange girl home in the middle of the night, I was definitely mad that he was strutting around our apartment bare-ass naked.
Holy shit, that body, though. Tyler had a handsome face and a killer smile. He was tall and had a muscular build. He had just the type of broad shoulders I had always loved on a man – the kind Carter wouldn’t have if he spent ten hours a day at the gym. But seeing Tyler naked—completely naked—was another proposition entirely.
If I thought it was hard to concentrate around him while imagining his lips on me after that kiss, it was definitely going to be worse after having seen that huge cock. The very thought of it made my mouth water.
When I walked into the office, Ella was on the phone, and her back was turned to me. “Uh-huh,” I heard her say with a smile in her voice. “Yes, I agree that’s a very good idea,” she continued.
It sounded like a social call, but I couldn’t think who she’d be talking to on the office line.
She saw me and spun around, sitting upright. “Yes, sir!” She was a little too enthusiastic in her tone, and I looked at her with confusion. “Yes, I’ll put you down for then. Thank you. We will see you then.”
“Who in the world was that?” I asked.
“Oh, that was Mr. Jensen. He’d like to see you this afternoon about some property acquisitions he’s considering. I put him down for three o’clock,” she replied with a forced smile.
I walked into my office to get started for the day. Ella came in a few minutes later and found me in a bit of a daze.
I hurriedly started typing on my keyboard. “Sorry, very busy – what is it?”
“Grayce, your laptop isn’t even docked,” she said, picking it up from the corner of my desk. “Try again.”
“I’ve had a very…confusing morning.” I replied.
“Okay, first, back up. Did you and Tyler make out last night?”
“No! Of course not! I set him straight on that. I told him that he shouldn’t have kissed me, and it couldn’t happen again.” As I said it, I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.
“Of course, you would say that,” she rolled her eyes at me. “You are allowed to have a life, you know? But oh, no! Queen of the buzzkills!”
I gave her an annoyed look.
She sighed. “Okay, so you blew your chance to fuck that delicious, godlike man. At least tell me the kiss was as amazing as it looked?”
“Shit,” I replied. “It was—I mean—” I couldn’t even finish my sentence thinking about it.
“Oh, girl! You are fucked!”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Ella, that kiss was better than any orgasm I ever had with Carter. And that’s not the half of it.”
“Go on.”
“Well, last night, he brought home some girl.” I shook my head, and my jaw clenched just thinking about it.
“Ooh, ouch! But to be fair, I mean, if you aren’t going to take advantage of what you’ve got right there under your own roof… I mean, he’s gorgeous and single. It was bound to happen.” She shrugged.
“I know. I know! It’s just that…I mean, having a stranger in my house, in the middle of the night…and that’s not the worst part.” I closed my eyes and steeled myself to deal with her schoolgirl reaction. “This morning, he walked into the kitchen, naked – as in, completely naked – while I was making my coffee.”
“Please, in the name of all that is holy, tell me you got a picture?”
“Be serious, Ella! I mean, I can’t have him just strutting around like that.”
“Right, right, terrible, awful, got it. So anyway, what was it like? You know, it?”
“It matched the rest of him. Spec-fucking-tacular.” I shook my head.
“Well, I know what you’re going to do, probably nothing. But I know what I’d do if it was me renting a room to a world-class bod like that.” She shook her head and walked out to answer the phone.
I spent the next few hours working on contracts for existing clients and sending out some marketing materials to a potential client distribution list I had compiled. By noon, I was bleary-eyed and starving.
I went to my commuter bag to grab my salad and it wasn’t there. Shit! I had left it on the counter when Tyler startled me this morning. I had to eat something and at this time of day, it would take an hour or more to get food in. I decided it would be faster to run back home.
“I forgot my lunch with all the distractions this morning. I’ll be back in a bit,” I told Ella as I headed out the door.
I was dismayed to see Tyler’s Escape in his parking space when I pulled in, but hoped he would be in his room, or out for a run. I opened the door and set my bag down beside the front table, then tossed my keys in the bowl where they clanked against Tyler’s.
“Hi, Grayce,” he called from the living room.
“Oh, hi,” I said.
As I turned the corner, he was sitting on the sofa watching television, and working on his computer, shirtless.
I paused, then stammered, “I forgot my lunch, so I came home to eat.”
“Really? I’m surprised to hear it. I pegged you for the kind of woman who doesn’t forget things.” He chuckled. “You can come sit in here and eat if you’d like. I’m just doing a little research and watching some TV.”
“Oh, okay,” I replied, going to the kitchen to grab my salad and a drink. We could still be friends. He got it – he knew we couldn’t complicate things. I put my suit jacket on the back of the kitchen stool and walked to the living room.
I sat down in the chair next to the sofa and put my bottled water on the coffee table. My gaze went from Tyler’s knees, to the throw pillow on his lap, on top of which was his laptop. Under the throw pillow, I could have sworn I saw exposed flesh.
“Tyler, are you…do you have shorts on?” I asked tentatively, suspecting this might be some sort of visual hallucination.
“Afraid not.” He chuckled. “But I’m clean – I already showered, and I swear, I really am doing research, see?” He turned his laptop where I could see it. He gave me one of those broad, easy smiles. “I promise I’m not watching porn.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Tyler! What am I going to do with you?”
“Well, I have a few ideas, but you keep shooting them down.” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“You can’t just be naked all the time. It’s not normal.” I protested.
“Oh, on the contrary, Grayce. Being naked is completely normal. The human form is an amazing and beautiful thing. Why be uptight about it? You, for example, have an amazing body.”
“Ugh, stop it,” I said, turning my eyes from him to my salad and taking a bite. I was already distracted. I didn’t need to pass out from lack of food.
“I’m serious. Look at your arms in that top – which looks amazing on you, by the way. Your biceps are sculpted but still feminine. Your shoulders are strong, even though they’re narrow and appropriate for your frame. And your ass? Hell, Grayce, ancient sculptors couldn’t have done a better job.” He smirked, leaning forward. “I, for one, appreciate a strong, beautiful woman when I see one. Some assholes, who shall remain nameless, but who are definitely your ex, aren’t as smart as I am.”
“You’re crazy. My arms are tiny, and my…well, we shouldn’t be talking about my other parts at all.” I dug my fork into my salad again.
“Grayce,” he said.
“Hmm?”
“Just say thank you. It’s okay to accept a compliment, you know.”
My shoulders relaxed a little, and I gave him a small smile. “Thank you, Tyler.”
I took a few more bites of my salad and got up to put the container in the kitchen. “Okay, back to work,” I said.
I grabbed my jacket and put it on, and when I turned around, Tyler was standing in front of me in all his glory. I wanted to drop to my knees right then and there and take his thick member in my mouth. I thought of him pinning me against the wall, me wrapping my legs around him, urging that huge cock deep inside me until I screamed his name.
“Oh, God!” I exclaimed with surprise.
“You called?” He chuckled.
“Seriously, you are – I don’t even know what. The next time I’m looking for a roommate, I have to remember to put ‘are you a nudist?’ on the application. I’ve got to get back to the office. I have a client this afternoon.”
“See you later, Grayce.” Tyler smirked as he stood naked in our kitchen.
I returned to the office and tried to ignore my aching pussy long enough to get some work done. I had dated some pretty hot guys when I was younger, before I met Carter. I didn’t remember ever having a guy consume my every waking thought, and my every desire, the way Tyler did, though.
Mr. Jensen came in for his afternoon appointment. He wanted me to look over some contracts on an investment property for his firm, and also an apartment he was considering for himself. As he sat in my office, he seemed a little nervous.
“Mr. Jensen, I can assure you that I will make sure your interests are protected in both of these deals. Please, don’t be nervous,” I said.
“Oh, yes, of course. I have every confidence, Mrs. Gladden, that you will handle things properly.” He gave me a little smile. Still, he kept fidgeting in his seat, and looking over his shoulder toward my door.
“Thank you.” I picked up my phone and buzzed Ella. “Ella, could you please bring Mr. Jensen a water, or soda?” I looked at him, expecting him to tell me which he preferred.
“Got it,” she said and abruptly hung up. A moment later, she was in my office with a Diet Coke for me, and a lemon San Pellegrino for him.
“Thank you very much, Ella,” he said, smiling up at her.
It wasn’t unusual for clients, especially male ones, to take notice of her. She was gorgeous, after all, with her olive complexion and blonde curls.
After Mr. Jensen left, Ella came back in and I told her about the lunchtime naked man show at my place.
“Girl, I know I said it before, and I know you don’t believe me, but I promise the best way to get over a guy—”
“Is to get under another one. I know.”
“Okay, so let’s go out tonight. I’ll get Mom to watch Noah. It’ll be a blast, and we haven’t had a real night out together in a while.” Her big, brown eyes were wide and pleading.
“Okay, okay. I give. Let’s do it,” I replied, knowing I didn’t really have much choice.
“Awesome! I’ll meet you back here at seven. We’ll go to a place near Times Square I heard about that I’ve been dying to check out. We’ll take the train so we can get slutty drunk!” She giggled with glee at the idea of my either being totally drunk, or hooking up with some guy, or both.
* * * * *
I had a black dress that I hadn’t yet worn, and it would be great for going out. It crossed in the front and the V-neck came down just low enough to show the perfect amount of cleavage. The skirt was short enough to show off a little leg, too. I pulled on the dress, touched up my make-up, and threw my phone, a couple of cards, and an ID in my favorite wristlet. Then I met Ella at the office.
“Hot damn, girl,” she said when I walked in. “I almost forgot how nice you clean up. If I wasn’t such a huge fan of the dicks, seeing you like that might be enough to make me switch teams.”
“Hey, you look pretty hot yourself,” I said, and it was true. She had on a pencil skirt that made her look even taller and slimmer, and a blousy red top that accentuated her ample curves.
The night club she wanted to go to was called Twist. She had heard there were some cute guys working the bar, and there had been some pretty solid socialite and B-list celeb sightings.
We grabbed a spot at the far end of the bar and ordered a couple of drinks. We downed out first round and checked out the beautiful people milling about. I had to admit, I felt a bit out of my element. I hadn’t been single in such a long time, I had almost forgotten how to act in this sort of scene.
“Okay, super-hot guy at twelve o’clock,” Ella said. “He’s walking this way. Promise me you’ll flirt. You don’t have to pick out bathroom tile with the guy.”
“Yeah, okay, flirt. Got it.” I turned to my side a little, taking the last sip of my drink as he walked up.
“Hi, there,” he said. “I saw your drink was almost empty, and thought I’d come offer to help. Can I buy you another?” He looked at me, then turned to Ella. “For each of you ladies, of course.”
Nice recovery. “Sure,” I said. “I’m having a Cuba Libre.” I gave him my best, flirty smile.
“Cuba Libre and”—he looked at Ella, who said she was drinking a margarita—“a margarita for these ladies, please,” he said to the bartender. “I’m Will, by the way.”
He had his body fully turned toward me. I knew a little about body language from my court training. It was a promising sign.
“I’m Grayce,” I replied, “and this is my friend Ella.”
“Well, two beautiful names for two beautiful ladies.” He stood and talked to us for a little longer than I really wanted him to. He was a nice-looking guy, but there was something about him that didn’t sit quite right with me.
“Sorry, Grayce,” Ella said, “I’ve gotta find the bathroom. I’ll be right back, though. Don’t leave.”
I shook my head at her. I set my drink down. “I’ll come with you.”
“Grayce, hold on,” Will said. “You just got your drink. We can wait for her right here.”
He gave me a smile. Maybe I was being too hard on him.
“Okay,” I replied, and we kept chatting. After a few minutes, though, the uneasy feeling returned. What is keeping Ella, I wondered.
“Listen, thanks for the drinks, but I’ve gotta check on my friend.” I smiled at Will.
“Whoa, not so fast,” he said, grabbing me by the top of my arm. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to grab you like that,” he said when I glared at him, and he put his hand up as if to show me he was unarmed. “Really, I’m sorry. I just, I mean, I never meet women as beautiful as you, and I’m really enjoying talking to you.”
“Well, I really need to go find my friend. It was nice meeting you, and thanks again for the drinks, but I’m going now.” I pushed past him and headed toward the back of the club where I thought the bathrooms might be.
I was a little tipsy. I had just had three cocktails, after all, and I hadn’t drunk that much in quite a while. I went down a hallway toward the back, looking for the ladies’ room. I quickly realized that the hallway led to the offices, not the bathrooms, and I started to backtrack.
“So, there you are,” a voice suddenly said in front of me.
Fuck! This guy, again. I put a blank expression on my face. “Hi, I’m sorry, Will, right? I just got turned around. I’m going to go find my friend.”
I started to push past him, but he grabbed my shoulders.
“Why are you in such a hurry? You clearly like me. You were flirting with me all night. Come on, Grayce, let yourself live a little.”
He pushed my shoulders and pinned me up against the wall, trying to kiss me. The alcohol was really starting to hit me, and I was having trouble focusing.
“I’m serious, get off of me.” I turned my head from him and tried to push him away, but he was too strong. A dull panic filled my chest.
He started kissing my neck and grabbed my hands, pinning them against the wall at either side of my head. “I’ve wanted to do this all night,” he said, moving down my neck toward my chest. “Come on, you said you liked me. Let yourself live a little.”
I tried to get enough coordination to knee him in the groin, but as he felt me struggling, he pinned my legs to the wall with his hip.
Come on, Grayce! Snap out of it! Get yourself together and do something!
Just then, I heard another male voice. It sounded vaguely familiar. “Leave her alone.”
When I turned my head in the direction of the words, I was stunned. It couldn’t really be him. “Tyler? Why are you here?” I asked.
“Fuck off, dude! Get your own,” Will said as he continued to grind against me.
“I said, leave her alone!” Tyler yelled, then shoved the guy’s shoulder.
“And I said, get your own piece of ass, and leave me the fuck alone,” Will growled in response.
“She’s not a piece of ass, she’s my girl, and if you don’t walk away, I’m going to make you extremely sorry.”
Will finally let go of me and lunged at Tyler. Tyler’s palms connected hard with Will’s chest, shoving him back. There was instantly a fury in Will’s eyes, but the same intensity was in Tyler’s. Will threw a punch, but Tyler blocked him and threw a single punch back, connecting with Will’s jaw. Will went down immediately, and I heard the thud as his head hit the concrete floor.
Tyler stepped over him and scooped me into his arms. He took my chin in his hand and scanned my face. “Holy shit, Grayce, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just—I just—” I was stammering, and my head felt foggy.
Tyler pulled me into his chest, enveloping me with his big, strong arms.
“I could’ve handled it. I can take care of myself.” My protests were muffled in his sculpted chest.
“Stop it, now. Just stop. You’re safe. I’ve got you. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was his fault.”
Tyler smoothed my hair, his voice deep, soft, and low in my ear. I didn’t know how to respond so I just tried breathing along with him. It helped calm my racing heartbeat.
“Hang on a second,” he said, pulling something from the back of his belt. “Hey Kelly, can you come back to the offices? I need a removal.”
“Got it,” came the reply.
Tyler was still holding me, when two of the biggest guys I ever saw walked over and picked the guy up off of the floor, spiriting him away to some back office.
Just then, Ella walked up. “What the hell happened? I went back to the bar, and you were gone. I’ve been looking everywhere…” She looked from me to Tyler, who still had one arm wrapped protectively around me. A smile grew on her face. “Well, hello again.”
“That guy was an asshole!” I said, still a little tipsy. “But I could’ve handled it, though.” I looked up at Tyler and pouted.
“Come on, let’s get you another drink and calm you down,” Ella said.
“No, I just want to go home. To my house,” I replied.
“Stay with her a sec?” Tyler said to Ella, then opened a door behind us. “Boss, I’m taking Grayce home. That guy was pretty rough on her,” I heard him say. “Yep, I will. Okay, thanks.”
He turned back to me and Ella. “Ella, I’ll take her home. Do you want me to call you a car?”
“No, I’ll get the train, thanks though,” she replied as she hugged me. “Call me if you need anything, okay? I’m so sorry, Grayce.”