“Thanks, guys,” I said, finally starting to feel better about this whole thing.
“We’re off to the restaurant now,” JJ said. “See you in the morning.” They both blew air kisses and left.
I walked onto the balcony and had a seat on the huge daybed. The apartment building was on top of a hill in the suburb of Killarney. I’d have never been able to live in such a place if I had saved my entire salary for a whole decade. With their successful restaurant and its cabaret and comedy shows, they’d done really well for themselves, and their penthouse suite, with its incredible view of Jo’Burg, was a testament to that. I sat there watching the flickering city lights until I felt tired. I knew I would really benefit from an early night.
Another shower finally rid me of the pesky glitter. It was winter, so I bundled myself up in my big pink fluffy gown with heart-shaped print—a gift from my “dads” for Valentine’s Day—and climbed into bed and closed my eyes. But, as soon as I did, the thoughts came pouring back. How was it possible to have such contradictory feelings about a guy? I was so physically attracted to him, yet repulsed at the same time. Well, repulsed might not be the right word, but downright pissed. He’d carried my panties around and then given them to me at work!At work! In an envelope? Who does that?
He’d been all sexy and seductive and pervy, something I decided I should dislike terribly about him—even if it had driven me wild. But he had saved me from possible death by choking. God, I hated him for turning me into such a pathetic puddle of hormones.
Vampira was right about him—she was seldom right about anything. She actually believed in real vampires and ran a Facebook fan page for them. But she was right about this.
He was so weird.
Which made him even more mysterious and sexy.
Aaaagggh!I was driving myself mental. I needed a good night’s sleep. I was sure the hangover and lack of sleep were contributing to my usually rational brain being nowhere to be found. I really just needed to stop obsessing.
Everything would be clearer and better in the morning . . .
8. I Was Just Thinking About You . . .
The next evening after work, I walked into his office. No, I strode in. I felt confident and sexy and in charge. I locked the door behind me and drew the blinds.
“Take off your clothes,” I said.
He looked up at me, his eyes going wide with shock.
“I said, take off your clothes.”
He smiled—a sexy, dark, broody, naughty, beastly smile.
“Sure thing, ma’am,” he said, peeling off his black suit. The jacket slipped to the floor, the tie was tossed to the other end of the room and he started unbuttoning his shirt, revealing the dark criss-crossing lines of his tattoos. His chest was now completely bare. He was muscular. Very. Not in a greasy body builder sort of way but in that definedI-want-to-trace-all-those-lines-with-my-tonguekind of way.
“Now your pants.” I pointed at his trousers as he unbuttoned, unzipped, de-belted and dropped them to the floor. Then he stepped out of them and walked closer to me.
“These too?” he asked as he stuck his fingers under the elastic of his underwear and pulled them open to give me a little peep. I inhaled sharply.
“Yes.”
He walked over to me.
“You take them off . . .” he said as he leaned towards me.
I swallowed hard. “Okay . . .”
My trembling fingers reached out and—
“AAAHHHHHH!” I woke up with a jolt covered in sweat and breathing rapidly. What the hell? What thehell?
I jumped out of bed, ran for the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. My mouth was horribly dry and I was actually shaking from the dream—that’s how real it felt. The clock on the wall said 2:30 a.m.—how ironic. That was the exact time last night that Ben and I had been at it.I had a sudden fearful vision of waking up at this exact time for the rest of my life, as if the memory of the encounter had somehow seeped into my cells, rewritten my DNA and was now altering my internal clock.
I paced up and down the lounge a few times in a state of exhaustion, confusion and agitation. I needed a cold shower!
But as soon as I turned on the tap, I came to my senses—it was the middle of winter for heaven’s sake. I didn’t need to send myself into hypothermic shock, I just needed sleep—Ben-free sleep. So I climbed back into bed and closed my eyes, but a sudden noise made me sit up again.
The noise was coming from the apartment next door and the wall separating us was right behind my bed. I knew that someone had just moved in next door. I put my ear to the wall. The noise started up again and was even louder this time. It sounded like someone was dragging furniture across the wooden floors. I turned on the light and stared at the wall, as if I could send hate beams directly to the inconsiderate ass disturbing my sleep at this ungodly hour. But I clearly had no such power because another noise soon cut through the silence. This time it was a loud bang, like a chair being knocked over.
I put my ear to the wall again and was almost instantly rendered deaf as someone started drilling into the wall—
