Page 7
“Are you joking?” Michael asked.
I shook my head. “If you’re trying to get rid of any apartment buildings, I’m your girl. I just need to live there for a year or two and your pesky building will be gone.”
“Well, fortunately I only own a floor of my building, so I think I’m safe.”
The server came and Michael and I ordered some food.
“Do you want another martini?” he asked, nodding at my empty glass.
“No thanks, two is my limit,” I said. “I’ll switch to water.”
“Fair enough. Do you need help moving on Saturday?”
I gave him a look of exasperation. “You’re already letting me move in with you, even though we’re practically strangers, you’ve done enough. But thank you.”
“I don’t mind helping,” he said mildly.
My phone beeped, and I read the message with a smirk.
“It’s okay, my brother-in-law’s brothers are in town next weekend and my sister already asked if I had something I needed help with so they don’t drive her crazy all weekend. I’m going to put them to work moving my stuff.” I pointed at my phone. “She just confirmed that they’re down to help me.”
“How many are there?” he asked.
“Well Jayden – that’s my brother-in-law – has three brothers, plus wherever the four of them go, their sister’s husband usually comes too because they’re all really tight, so I’ll have lots of manpower.”
“Okay then,” he said, sliding his phone out of his shirt pocket. “Let’s exchange phone numbers then so we can coordinate the details.”
Michael
Ilooked forward to seeing Olga again all week. We’d exchanged a few texts, but other than that I hadn’t talked to her since we said goodbye at Sweet Cocktails the other night. I knew it was ridiculous to be building this up in my head – we were going to be roommates not lovers – I still felt as nervous as a teenaged boy going on his first date.
The doorman called up around eleven, letting me know that Olga was coming up in the service elevator. I’d already put her on the approved list, but since I hadn’t given her a keycard yet, I told her to check in on the first floor whenever she and her sister’s brothers-in-law got there.
I waited by the front door, listening to the sound of the service elevator dinging in the far corner of the building. I heard a rumble of male voices and then a stream of guys came in, each larger than the last one, all of them loaded down with a stack of boxes. Olga was bringing up the rear, pulling a large suitcase in one hand and carrying a cat carrier in the other.
Judging by the high-pitched screeching coming from inside, her cat was less than thrilled with his current situation.
“Hey Olga,” I said, giving her a smile. “Welcome.”
She looked adorable in short cut-off denim shorts, running shoes, and a loose tank top that did little to hide her gorgeous curves.
“Hi there, thanks again for helping me out.”
I held up my hand. “Don’t mention it.”
“Where do we put this stuff?” the largest guy grunted, giving me a chin tilt of acknowledgement.
I showed them down the hallway to the bedroom Olga would be moving into, then moved aside to let them in. After they set down their boxes, Olga introduced them. It was obvious that four of them were brothers, each of them with similar coloring and the same eyes. They all appeared to be a few years older than me and Olga, probably in their early forties.
“This is my brother-in-law Jayden,” she said, pointing to one of the guys. “Those are Jayden’s brothers, Jim, Johnny, and Justin. And their sister’s husband, Nick.”
I studied the group. I could swear I’d seen the brothers before sometime. “You guys look kind of familiar, but I don’t know why.”
“They used to be in a band a long time ago,” Olga said almost dismissively. “Where’s the bathroom? I’m going to put Nutella in there until we’re done.”
“Next door down.”
The instant Olga stepped out of the room, the guys surrounded me, all of them suddenly vibrating with menace. Nick, the one who wasn’t a brother, puffed himself up and gave me a hard stare that made me want to step back in fear. I took half a step before I stopped myself.
