Royal Tease
Synopsis
Roone… The plan was simple, go undercover, protect my best friend’s little sister. It should have been the easiest assignment of my life. But Jessa isn’t your usual princess. She’s feisty, and sexy, and stubborn, and gorgeous. Did I mention she hates me? From the moment I carried her over my shoulder out of a bar fight, I’ve been persona non grata. But the stakes are too high to mess this up. The monarchy is at risk. Jessa… I can’t stand Roone Ashcroft. There I said it. Shoot me. We go together like lightning and water. His annoying, steady obstinance is going to cost me my job. A job I have worked very hard to keep. No one is messing this up for me. I’ve had enough crazy in my life. But even if I wanted him—which I don’t, but if I did—I can’t ever have him. My life is not my own. I’ve known that since birth.
Royal Tease Free Chapters
Chapter 1 | Royal Tease
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Roone…
One rule. I would not shag my best friend’s sister. I felt that as rules went, that one bore repeating… over and over again. As the hip-hop grime music drummed around me, I watched her. She was no fairy princess. Lean but with curves in all the right places. Hair piled high in a ponytail with curls cascading down her back. Wide hazel eyes. Amber skin that gleamed.
She was beautiful. I probably should have expected that considering Sebastian and Lucas were both handsome little shits.
And it doesn't matter if she's beautiful. Because I would not shag my best friend’s little sister. That was a wanker thing to do.
No, it didn't matter. I had a job to do. Protect her. Keep her safe. Not ogle.
In my earpiece, I could hear Ariel clearly as if she were sitting right next to me. "You see her?"
"Yeah I got her."
"So, do you know how to make an approach, or do you need some coaching?" Ariel’s voice was sweet, but I heard the sarcasm laced between her words.
"I don't need coaching, thanks very much. I do know how to talk to women."
Ariel chortled at that. "If you say so."
Sure, women I normally chatted up weren’t royalty. They also weren't the little sister of my best mates either, so I needed to tread carefully but still get the job done.
"Any day now, Romeo."
"Would you shut it?"
"Is that any way to talk to your mission commander?"
Leave it to Ariel to remind me that, on this job, I reported to her. I was still smarting about that one. Yes, it made sense because she had had more undercover work experience. But generally speaking, I had seniority.
Focus, would you?
I lost Jessa for a moment in the crowd, which I didn’t think was possible. She had this way of marching, or maybe it was more of a strut, like no matter what she wanted to do, she was getting there quickly and with verve. There was no slow meandering for her. Everything about her was determined, deliberate. No mistakes. No wishy-washiness. Honest.
“If you keep staring at her like that, you're going to have a problem," Ariel muttered.
“I’m not staring. I’m waiting for my opportunity.”
She is not a potential date. She is the lost princess. Get your shit together.
The other thing that fascinated me, was that she was completely in charge of everything. No pampering here. When waiters had shift changes, she took up trays. She talked with the clients and worked the room. I had already seen her take on soothing someone whose date apparently hadn't shown up. And she managed client expectations.
From the file, I knew that this was a birthday party for Abena Nartey Chase, the famous photographer. She was married to Alexi Chase, the billionaire startup kid. And she was sister-in-law to Xander Chase, also a renowned photographer. I had studied all of their dossiers. I knew exactly who the players were. I knew exactly who was on her client roster, and who she was courting.
Currently, she was courting Emerson Poole. Poole had financial business interests all over the world. He also had an extensive gambling habit. But, what he lost at the tables, he made back with gambles on new companies. And thanks to Ariel, I knew that the princess's company, Evans PR, hid him on retainer as a client. And Jessa was laying it on thick, but not too thick. Professional, but attentive.
As a result, Poole couldn't take his eyes off of her. More like he couldn’t take his eyes off her ass. Twat.
As she left, she carried one of the trays toward the back where the staging area was. I stood up. "Show time."
"Okay. See if you can get close enough to tag her body. Bug in a jacket or something. If you can get close enough to her purse, do it."
I knew how to do my bloody job. "Yeah, I hear you."
Thanks to our partnership with Blake Security, we had some amazing state-of-the-art technology. Bugs so small, they'd be virtually undetectable. Under the collar of a jacket. Inside a purse. On a credit card. I just had to get close enough.
“You take any longer and you’re going to miss your opportunity.”
I rolled my eyes and very deliberately took out the tiny earpiece. I didn’t need Ariel in my head for this.
Timing was everything. I slid into the staging area right behind Jessa. Luckily a busboy was coming out right after she went in so there was a delay.
I knew exactly where the lockers were. Jessa and her colleagues apparently didn’t know enough to be worried about their safety and security and had left most of their belongings out. I saw her purse behind one of the benches and palmed her wallet before sliding into the shadows.
I pulled the pen light out of my pocket, then the bugs, gently peeling them off of their plastic contact sheet before applying one to her driver’s license and one to the inside of her wallet.
Ariel would handle the larger surveillance monitoring jobs like her flat and car. The finesse was my job. With a final deep breathe I stepped out of the shadows… right into the princess and the glass of champagne she was carrying.
She swore and teetered on her heels as she tried to recover the glass.
“Fuck.” My arms snapped around her, dragging her to me as champagne spilled down my jacket and the glass shattered.
Her scent wrapped around me like a delicate man-trapping orchid. Light, floral, and flirty. Wholly enticing. It made me want to lean in and breathe deep.
The next thing I registered were her curves. Lush curves… pressed up against my muscles. And finally, her hair. Her ponytail flipped up and several curls whipped me in the face.
Zaps of electric current fired all around me. What the fuck was that about?
Her hands pressed on my shoulders and reluctantly, I let her go. "Oh Jesus. I’m so sorry," she muttered.
I shoved her wallet into my pocket. “No, it’s my bloody fault. I got turned around. Someone told me I’d find the loo over here.”
Hazel eyes blinked up at me before she shook her head. “Oh, no. Actually, you’re in the staging area. The bathroom is on the other end of the club.”
“Bathroom? I sense a yank in my midst.” What the hell is wrong with my voice? I sounded like I’d suddenly swallowed a frog.
My dick twitched as if to say, if I have to tell you… then you’re a lost cause.
I ignored the flare of desire. She was beautiful, but she wasn’t the first beautiful girl I’d ever met in my life. I could ignore this. You have to ignore this.
Her grin flashed. “Canadian-Brit actually. Don't let my inaccurate colloquialisms and the accent fool you.”
Of course, I knew that after her father had gone off the map, he’d moved them to Toronto. "Since you’re Canadian, why don't you buy me a class of champagne to make up for spilling yours all over me? I know how nice your people are.”
She laughed then. Not just with her face but with her whole body, tipping back slightly, her head falling back. I couldn’t help but smile in return.
She stared at me for a moment then blinked rapidly. "Or you could buy me a drink to apologize for bumping into me because see, you're bigger than I am. You should make way."
I grinned and tilted my head. "All right, how about this… You buy me the first round while you apologize, then I buy you one?"
I’d started to walk and steer her away from the glass, consequently bringing us right back to where the staff had tossed their wallets and purses. I palmed her wallet again as we approached. “In the meantime, let’s have a look at you to make sure that you're not hurt by any of that glass.”
As she took a seat, I casually dropped her wallet back into her open purse behind the bench. I wished I had time to zip it, but that would be too risky.
"I have nothing to apologize for."
I clutched a hand to my heart and rocked back on my heels. "What? You were in such a hurry you nearly plowed me over. I have delicate sensibilities. I was almost hurt."
She giggled as her gaze roamed over my shoulders. “As if. Muscular as you are, I don't even think you felt it."
Score one for me, she’d noticed I was muscular. You will not fuck your best friend’s sister. I lifted a brow. "Oh, I felt it."
A light flush crept up her neck. "I wish I could get a drink, but I'm working. You know what, next time, you should probably watch where you're standing."
My job was done, so why the hell did I feel like I was losing her? "Nope, I do not concede. I request that the lady apologize with a drink. Or her phone number."
She laughed then. "Oh, slick. You're going to have to work a lot harder than that for my number."
“I’m willing to work harder.”
Her tongue peeked out to moisten her lips. Just the simple motion flooded me with heat. "I would love to. But I have to return to work."
"I understand. Are you at least going to tell me your name? That way, when we run into each other again, I can use it. We’ll seem like old friends, and then you can buy me the drink you owe me."
Her smile was slow. “Jessa McLean."
"Jessa McLean. You know I'll remember that, right? And since I assume you're working the event, I think it's a safe bet to guess that you work at Evans PR."
"Astute. And you are?"
“Roone Ainsley.” Lucky for me we were using my actual name. All Ariel had done was scrub out my military stint and change my job title in the islands. Anyone who wanted to look would find the truth… mostly.
I shrugged and helped her to her feet. "So, I'll be seeing you around, Jessa McLean. And whenever you're ready, you can buy me a drink."
I left her in the staging area and let myself back into the club. When I put my earpiece back in, Ariel was right there waiting for me. “Well done, Cassanova. The bugs are live. I might have to start calling you 007.”
I sighed. “You were listening?”
“Oh, you know it. Even I couldn’t have come up with a better meet cute. Who knew you were so smooth?”
I rolled my eyes as I posted back up at the bar. “Everyone.”
“Modest too,” she chuckled.
I’d barely had time to order a drink when Ariel’s voice came in loud and clear. “Looks like the princess has trouble. On your six.”
I whipped around. Sure enough, Jessa was stepping in the middle of a fight between Emerson Poole and Toby Adamson. Toby also worked at Evans and, from the looks of it, was a troublemaker. He’d been quietly supplying party drugs to a couple of the attendees. Not to the Chase’s or anyone in the inner circle, but to the periphery guests. So far it didn’t appear that Jessa knew what he was doing.
The two idiots seemed like they were getting into over Jessa.
“Come on, Romeo, do your thing, or this is going to get ugly.”
“Can you not be such a backseat driver, please?” I grumbled.
“Well, if you need me to show you how this works, I can.”
“Anyone ever told you that you’re a pain in the ass?”
“Nope. Never,” Ariel said as she laughed. “Go on, make a good impression.”
Something told me that Jessa was not the kind of girl to be at all impressed with a fight. Which meant I needed to diffuse and get her to safety.
I pushed my way through the crowd and tried to use low, calming tones. “All right? Do you need anything?”
My question was directed at Jessa, but Poole answered. “Piss off, mate. I was here first.”
Adamson added his two cents. “What are you, mad, Emerson? Clearly, she isn’t feeling your vibe. She can make her own decisions.” Toby shoved Emerson in the shoulder.
Emerson shoved back, but Toby, despite being smaller, apparently knew how to handle himself. He evaded the shove and came back with a punch. All the while, Jessa was trying to separate them. “Oh my God, Toby, get it together.”
Toby glowered mutinously. “You didn’t hear what he said, did you?”
I wasn’t sure which one landed a hit on her, but Jessa went flying.
With Ariel cursing in my ear, I dove for Jessa as adrenaline flooded my veins. I couldn’t remember the last time I had moved so quickly. I was going to fucking murder those idiots.
Toby, to his credit, did try and reach for Jessa, but he wasn’t fast enough. While what I wanted to do was stop and dismember them both, Jessa was more important.
I managed to catch her and drag her to my body just before she hit the ground. Startled, she whipped her head around, hair cascading behind her. “Jesus Christ, I swear to God you’re super human. Always there just in the nick of time.”
“Are you all right?” I asked through gritted teeth.
Behind us, I could hear the chaos. In my earpiece, Ariel was giving me the blow by blow. “Punches flying, remove the target.”
Jessa’s eyes were wide, pinned to some spot behind me, and she struggled in my hold. Was she trying to go back into it? I didn’t really have time for this shit. “Are you okay?” I repeated. She nodded absently and tried to scurry around me, heading right back for the fight. “Are you mad? Those two tossers are throwing blows, the rest of this place is about to go off like a powder keg, and you’re running back into the fight?”
She glared at me like I was crazy, her bright eyes flashing fire at me. “I need to diffuse this. They’ll listen to me.”
I laughed. “No, they won’t. Both of them are high, in case you missed that memo.”
Her mouth fell open. “That is Emerson Poole. I’ve put a lot of effort into that client. He’s not high. Now let me do my job.” Her Canadian accent was more pronounced when she was mad.
“No can do. You’re going to get hurt, princess.” I wasn’t sure why I used that particular endearment, but once it was out, it was too hard to recall.
She glowered at me, not intimidated by me in the least. I was six foot three and well aware that I looked intimidating. But it seemed Jessa McLean didn’t give two shits and thought she could handle herself.
“I have a job to do, and you are keeping me from doing it. If you don't move aside, you’ll find yourself missing your left nut.”
I forced myself to strip the aggression out of my voice. Remember the cover, you eejit. I couldn’t go caveman. “I understand, but you can’t go back into that fight.”
She laughed then crossed her arms. “Just how do you plan to stop me?”
Fuck it. I wrapped an arm around her waist and gently pulled her back when she tried to break free from me.
“Let me go. I have to stop this, or those idiots are going to undo my months of hard work with Emerson.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”
Jessa feinted to one side then scurried under my arm. But I was fast and caught her. She struggled as she yelled, “Let me go, you arrogant, overgrown oaf. “
She was so squirmy and slippery, I did the only thing I could think of in the moment. “Sorry, princess." Leaning down, I picked her up, fireman style, and headed for the door just as the bouncer started to weigh in on the fight.
Jessa, as it turned out, was a fighter. She was also an inventive curser. “You douchwaffle asshat. I’m not wearing any underwear! Put me down.”
Fucking hell. File that under things to examine later. But being chivalrous, I planted a hand on her ass to keep her skirt down.
All that did was make her scream and wiggle more, which made the skirt shift and adjust. Swear to God, it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t mean to have my hand on her bare ass, but when my hand came in contact with smooth, bare skin, I cursed under my breath.
She whacked me on the back several times as I carried her through the crowd, out the door, and into the parking lot. Some of her blows would have done damage if she’d had any leverage.
When I gently set her down back on her feet, she laid into me. “What in the world? Are you some kind of psycho with a super hero complex? I have a job to do.”
My temper, as it turned out, gave zero fucks. “You’ve lost the plot, princess. You could have been hurt. Those arseholes in there were brawling. You’ve already been hit once. I did you a favor.”
She blinked up at me. “Let’s get something straight; I am not a princess. I can handle myself, and I have everything under control.” She huffed. “Also, keep your hands off my ass.”
“Gladly. I want my hands nowhere near your ass.” OK not exactly the truth. “Does your job involve getting hurt because two assholes are too wasted to talk their shit out like normal people?”
“My job involves babysitting and keeping crises at bay. All you just did was make my job twenty times more difficult.”
She was ridiculous. “Then I’m sorry to say, you are very bad at your job.”
She whipped around on me then. “I will have you know, I am excellent at my job. I am the best publicist at Evans Public Relations. You just interrupted before I could stop those two idiots.”
I couldn’t help it, my lips twitched. She was spunky. And to be fair, I couldn’t be blamed, because her tits were legitimately bouncing right in front of me. I fought to keep my gaze on her eyes. “I admire your determination, but you have to know when you’re beaten.”
Her gaze narrowed. “You can feel free to go and self-fornicate.”
Oh shite. My cock twitched. I liked this one. I bit back the laugh. She was… something fantastic. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the bouncers escorting people out. And then I heard the blare of sirens, so she was safe for now. I had to let her by.
She strutted away, and I stared in disbelief. Woe be the kingdom with her as their princess.
After a moment, Ariel joined me in the parking lot. “Smooth. Real smooth. Remember the time I said to make a good impression?”
That was probably going to be easier said than done now.
Chapter 2 | Royal Tease
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Roone…
"So how do you want to play this?" Lucas asked over the speaker phone.
I was trying to hunt down one of my new work shirts. If I didn’t get a move on, I’d be late. I still had no idea what was in half the boxes. I’d unpacked my surveillance equipment but the clothes, not so much. I searched through another box and muttered, "Come again?"
"My sister. How are you going to do the whole undercover thing?"
Oh boy. "You have the mission brief. What's the problem?"
"Yeah, the mission brief says go undercover to protect her, but you're going to get close, right?"
I sighed. I wasn't sure which question Lucas was asking, so I tried to tread carefully. "Lucas, I've already moved in across the hall from her. I'm in place to have a job at her company. And you know Ariel. She'll have this place wired up tighter than Fort Knox. So she'll have cover."
"Dude, you know what I'm saying. I mean, are you gonna go in as the helpful neighbor like Penny did, or are you gonna go in and maybe make friends, or are you going to try and date her?"
Shit. I really wasn't having this conversation. "Look, mate, you just leave that to me and Ariel. I promise I will keep Jessa safe. It's my number one goal, and you know that. It’s literally the only reason I’m here."
There was a pause. "Dude, I know that. Besides being my best bro, you're really fucking good at your job. You know… and that's coming from someone who tried to give you the slip more than once."
"Too soon, mate. I thought we weren't going to talk about that anymore." I’d forgiven him for ditching me as his security detail… mostly.
"Yeah, sorry. But the whole point is I know how good you are. And I know you go all soldier-mode of protect and serve. But I know Ariel is a little faster and looser, so I'm trying to figure you how you guys have laid out the plans. Helpful neighbor? I mean that works. But there probably won’t be a lot of instances where she's going to need you."
"I'm aware of that. Which is why I'm also going to be with her at work. Rick Evans will pretty much do anything for status. So the fact that Sebastian called him personally means he's in. Whether she likes it or not, I’m going to be unavoidable. She might be ready to kill me by the end of it." Rick Evans and Evan Millston had started Evans PR ten years ago and had soon established themselves as the premier public relations agency to use in London. Everyone affectionately referred to them as “the Evans.”
"You really think antagonism is the way to go?"
"If it were you, what would you do?"
There was another pause on the line from Lucas. "I don't know, if I were you I’d probably date her. But that's weird because she's my sister. Though I have no real connection or feelings about you wanting to date her."
"Oh my God, I do not want to date her. I think the whole dating thing is sloppy. Messy. Blurred lines make the job much more difficult."
"There you go again. Sometimes you gotta play in the shades of gray, man."
"Let me just make sure I have this clear; You want me to play in the shades of gray with your sister. All right, I'll see where I put my flogger."
It took Lucas a moment to get the joke. "Oh, hardy har. That's funny. You know what I mean though."
"I do know what you mean. But I'm not a shades-of-gray kind of guy, so I'm going to keep this as clean and pristine as possible."
"Have you seen her yet?"
I could still feel the curve of her ass in my hand. Just thinking about the spark of fire that lit her gaze sent an electrical current zapping down my spine.
Yeah, but you're not gonna tell him that. Nope. I was not going to offer up that little tidbit of information. Because this was Lucas, and he'd give me shit for it. But also, she was his sister whether she knew him or not. Not to mention, that just wasn't how I did things.
Penny and Sebastian had crossed the line. And Lucas… Well, Lucas had crossed all the lines. I wasn't that guy. Sebastian had given me a mission, and I was going to complete it to the best of my ability without shagging his sister, because I was pretty sure that was the last thing he wanted.
"Look man, all I'm saying is what if Ariel gave you the precise instruction to date her? I mean, isn't that the whole point of the dating app?"
Ariel’s role was plan B. To come in as a client hoping to take her exclusive dating app to the next level. Everyone in the company would be required to use it. If I couldn’t get enough coverage on Jessa by working with her, Ariel would pair us via the app.
"The whole point of the dating app is plan B. We have several Royal Guards in the system, so she'll match with somebody. The whole point is I won't really be dating her. And Ariel's never going to give me the direct instruction to start shagging your sister."
"Whoa, who said anything about shagging?"
I laughed. "Mate, when was the last time you went on a date that did not involve shagging?"
A beat of silence. "Yeah, fair enough."
"Besides, Ariel might play fast and loose, but she knows what I’m here to do. She's giving me leeway to play it the way it’s most comfortable."
"Okay, if you say so man. I just, I don't know. I want you to be careful with her, I guess."
Oh boy, out comes the big brother conversation. "You don't need to worry about me mate. I'm not that guy. I'm just here to do my job, protect the princess, find out who's behind the conspiracy, and bring her home. Those are my directives, and that is the mission that I have chosen to accept, so don't worry about it. I'm not gonna shag your sister."
Yeah but you sure as hell thought about what it would be like to shag her last night. Yeah, I needed to get that thought the hell out of my head. Either that or bury it deep, behind locks and chains so it wouldn't come back out again. I wasn't that guy.
Jessa was gorgeous, with a pair of tits that could make a grown man cry. An ass worthy of worship. But she was a princess. So that meant hands-off for me. Unwanted sons of English Lords didn't end up with the prize. Hell, soldiers didn't end up with the prize.
So, I planned to do whatever was necessary to get the mission done, even if it meant telling her she was in danger, though I knew Ariel didn't want to go with that protocol.
"How's it going with Ariel, by the way? You okay with her being in charge?"
Nope. "Yeah, she's great."
Ariel was brash and flew by the seat of her pants half the time, always going with her gut instincts. I wasn't saying she wasn't good, because she was. She was a tech genius.
But in terms of being mission command, I didn't know about that. I'd assumed it would be me. But maybe after the whole Marcus thing, Sebastian had lost confidence in me. I'd been really surprised in that mission meeting when Ethan had named her as lead, but I thought I'd hid it well. “It’s fine.”
“Man, you're all zen about it. I feel like I would've lost my shit. But I mean she's cool, though. Smart. She's not going to do anything that's gonna put Jessa in danger."
The jury was still out about that, but what I said was, "Absolutely. Look, I gotta get going. But I'll check with you later. Give my love to Bryna."
Lucas groaned. "She's saying to send you kisses."
I chuckled. Yeah, that sounded like Bryna. "Well, if your fiancée is willing to give me kisses, I'll take them."
"You take a kiss from my fiancée and I swear to God I will kill you."
God it was fun fucking with Lucas. "You're welcome to try."
I hung up on him and tried the last box, still searching for a shirt.
Success. Now all I had to do was pull off the act of a lifetime.
***
Jessa…
I was late. Really late.
I’d been up since five trying to fix the debacle of last night. I'd started with the police, trying to work my contacts to make sure that Emerson's name never appeared on any reports. And then I went to work on Toby.
Last night I’d gotten him a solicitor, even though I was pretty sure he wouldn't need one. But still, because he was part of the company, I did what I needed to do. I hadn’t seen him with drugs, but better safe than sorry.
The police hadn't found any drugs on him so, it was mostly speculation. Unless they could get someone to corroborate, it wasn’t going to be a problem.
As soon as I woke up, I sent breakfast and I’m so sorry your party was busted by the cops flowers to Abbie Chase. I'd done more before seven a.m. than most people did all week.
And then I had a disaster morning. I spilled tea all over the front of my favorite blouse and followed that up with a broken heel. By the time I was running out the door, it was 8:15. And I always left at 8:00 and walked in the doors of the office at 8:30. Now, I'd be late. And I'd miss the morning status meeting.
I attempted to close my door, send a text Chloe to check her email for all the status notes she would need, and balance my to-go cup of coffee. It wasn't until I finally had my door locked and turned around that I noticed I had a new neighbor across the hall. My unit faced the street. Those inward units had their own gardens and faced the courtyard with direct access to the storage units.
A block of row houses was owed by Evans PR and served as corporate housing, but sometimes they leased their units out. That townhouse unit had been empty for about three months, but someone was running across the kitchen now. Someone tall, with very nice back muscles. It was only when he turned his head that I realized that first, I was staring, and second, I knew exactly who he was.
"You?"
He looked up as he shook out his shirt and unhooked it from the back of the chair at the kitchen island. "Me. Hello, neighbor. But then, we've met already. Jessa, right?"
No.
This was not happening to me. No, no, no, no. There was no way that guy could be my new flatmate. Okay, not exactly flatmate, but this was too close for comfort.
"Do you always get dressed with the door wide open?"
He flashed a grin that was almost as devastating as the rest of him. "No. I was running something to the garbage and spilled something on my other shirt. I flew back inside in a hurry, hence the open door. Now I’m late for work."
He was still shirtless. And yes, I was still drooling. Apparently eight pack abs were a thing. "Well, fine."
Shit, how was he my neighbor? This wasn’t even fair. I could still feel the imprint of his hand on my ass. My bare ass. FML.
Oh, there was nothing worse than being helpless, having someone else completely in control. If I could, I would kick him. I hustled to the lift when I heard him say, "Hold the lift for me, would you?"
The hell I would. If he thought it was okay to fondle my ass, then he had another think coming. He could take the stairs. Not that he fondled my ass exactly… You might have enjoyed that.
I heard his footfall in the hallway as he rushed toward the lift. I, in turn, frantically pushed at the Close button.
On a scale of one to petty, yes, this was Real Housewives level, but I didn't care. The idiot had manhandled me.
Well, you kind of liked it.
No. I did not like it.
Liar.
Also, he was trying to keep you from getting hurt and from flashing the world your snatch.
The doors to the lift finally slid closed with only an inch left as he skidded to a stop in front of me. Our gazes locked just before the doors closed completely.
I smiled to myself as the lift lowered to the ground floor. I’d pretty much just cemented the two of us not being the friendly, borrow-sugar kind of neighbors. But, I was okay with that.