Sweet Spot by Stella Rhys
6
LIA
“I’m sorry, let me just get this straight – you don’t know your budget and you’re already shopping for leases?”
I could hear the irritation in my realtor’s voice as we stood in the empty shop space on Orchard Street. It was beautiful with brand new hardwood, floor-to-ceiling windows and a commercial kitchen ready to go in the back. It was everything I wanted and so absolutely perfect.
But I was a mess.
It’d been three nights since my kiss in the hallway and I hadn’t slept much. On the night itself, I’d tossed and turned till 4AM. I’d listened to the girls streaming out of Lukas’s apartment around that hour and tried desperately to eavesdrop for anyone giggling about him taking someone to bed. I was jealous. And envious. And I couldn’t stop thinking about how his lips alone were better than any sex I’d ever had in my life.
I also refused to leave my apartment in the morning till I’d gotten visual confirmation that he’d left the building. I even waited till I saw the car he climbed into drive off.
It was ridiculous. And distracting. And while I tried to tell myself the crazy brain would go away in a few days, it didn’t. The late-night tossing and turning continued every night since the one I’d felt Lukas’s body on mine with every, and I mean every rock-hard inch of him pressed up against me.
“Lia?”
“Yes!” I snapped back to life. “I’m so sorry, Abby. Um, so, the thing is, I have a potential investor and pending that deal, I’m projecting to afford a monthly rent between the ranges of, um – ” I tore through my purse looking for the notes I’d written up last night. “I have it somewhere. I apologize. And I’m never like this, I just – ”
“Relax. Have you even secured the investor yet?”
“No. Not officially.”
“And have you ever considered small business loans? Like everyone else does?”
“Yes, but it’s a complicated story with my credit ‘cause my ex – ” Nope. Wasn’t gonna go there. Abby rolled her eyes.
“We don’t need to talk about your personal issues. We’ll just meet another time, Miss Pope. Alright?” She left me no time to answer before walking ahead of me to the door. “But don’t expect this space to be available by the time you decide to figure your – ” She paused. “By the time you figure everything out.”
God, she was tempted to say figure your shit out, that was how much I’d just pissed her off.
“Of course,” I said in defeat, feeling like a dejected first grader as she held the door open for me to leave. “Thank you for your time, Abby. I promise I won’t waste it again.”
“Try not to make promises you can’t keep,” she said, flashing me that deliberately fake realtor smile before leaving me on a final insult. “Besides, there’s always Craigslist.”
On that, she turned on her red-heeled pumps and strutted up the street, already laughing on the phone within her first few steps away from me.
Wow. Red in the face, I gathered myself on the sidewalk, in awe of what a total shitshow that just was. And while Abby had certainly been ruder than necessary, the fault was solely mine because I couldn’t frickin’ focus. I couldn’t gather the pieces of my scattered brain because I couldn’t stop thinking about Lukas. I had to slam my thighs together every time I remembered him touching me. Sucking on me. I was sure Abby had actually caught me one time and I was still shuddering from the hot embarrassment.
“Fuck it,” I muttered to myself, fishing through my purse for my phone. Whatever was plaguing me, I couldn’t let this go on for another second. I had to nip it in the bud before it claimed another day or even another hour of productivity. So pacing fast up the block I made a call.
“Darling,” Sara answered on the first ring.
“I need help.”
“Talk to me.”
I pressed my finger against my ear as I turned on Houston, warding off the sounds of blaring traffic. “I need you to help me set an actual date with Dog Hater.”
“Ooh, okay. When?”
“Tonight.”
Sara paused. “Are you serious? I thought you said you needed time to mentally prepare for this night.”
“Yeah, well I think what I need more now is to clear my mind. I have to draft up a business proposal and pitch it to the investor this week and I need to frickin’ kill it. But I won’t if my brain is still trashed over Lukas.”
“Mm. Mine would be trashed too if he kissed me like that in the hall.”
“You’re not helping.”
“I know. But can I quickly say that I still think neighbor-with-benefits could be a great solution for you?”
“No! I lost three nights of sleep over a kiss from this guy – I can’t imagine how much I’d lose if I actually had sex with him,” I protested. “So please, pretty please, help me message Dog Hater. The app is in your phone and I’m desperate.”
“Fine. I’m letting him know you can only do today.”
“Thank you.”
“Seven o’clock work for you?”
“Works perfect,” I said, waiting around till I heard a little ping on her end. “Is that him confirming?”
“Sure is…” Sara trailed off, audibly trying to contain her excitement. But I could practically hear her bouncing all giddy in her chair. “You know what this means right?”
“Yes. Maybe.” I breathed out, letting the reality sink in.
“It means you’re breaking the dry spell tonight. Probably around the 9PM range,” Sara giggled. “You ready to finally have sexy tonight, baby girl?”
I hailed a cab as I gave my confident answer. “Nope,” I said, climbing in to get home and get ready.
* * *
It had beenages since I’d taken time out to get all dressed up – probably because the last remotely cool or sexy event I’d attended was a bachelorette party two years ago, for Sara’s sister. Since then, socializing was limited to a quick coffee in the afternoon or a single round of drinks at night. And of course there were Sundays – the official day of the week that Sara came over and drank wine all day while watching me make truffles, hawking the finished batches for the “ugly ones” that she was allowed to eat.
As far as time and money went, I couldn’t afford to have much more fun than that.
But tonight was different.
Tonight was practically a business investment because I needed this date to scratch an itch and clear out brain space. And in order to go through with it, I needed to feel a hundred percent. So I bought a couple new things and let myself have a few hours to get ready, trying on a dozen old dresses before eventually settling on the one I’d borrowed from Sara for the bachelorette. Setting my wine down, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking at myself for once dressed up and giving myself a twirl.
“Good Lord, Sara…” I murmured to myself. Considering my best friend towered over me, I wasn’t sure how she ever fit into this dress. It must’ve been a Band-Aid on her because it was already short on me. Then again, it might’ve just felt that way because of the heels. They were four, maybe four-and-a-half-inch black stilettos. Combined with the plunging V of the little white dress I had on, I felt myself veering into vixen territory – definitely a road less traveled for me, which was intimidating, but that was what the second glass of wine was for.
SARA: Hi. Something tells me you’re forgetting lipstick. Also if you’re wearing a bra with that dress, lose it.
I snortedat the surprise text that happened to be completely right.
ME:Fine. Can I wear a nude lip or does it have to be red?
SARA:Nude lip is perfect do it up now
SARA:But chill with the wine. No need to get shitfaced before meeting him.
ME:Are you WATCHING me?
SARA: Nope just got the BFF ESP. You still nervous?
ME:You know it.
SARA:Don’t be. You’ll be fine
SARA:And if not you know who to call to save you. I can be there in 20 min with crazy eyes and pepper spray.
I giggled, sending a reply before tossing my phone aside and busting out the fancy makeup bag full of good stuff I never used. Admittedly, I went the safe route and blended lip liner instead of using full-blown lipstick but I did lose the bra, so in that department I made Sara proud. Of course, I probably canceled it out by chugging another glass of wine before throwing on my coat and waltzing out the door.
I was surprisingly calm upon running into Lukas on the stairs.
“Lia,” he breathed out in surprise. I smiled, halfway down the steps as he stood frozen at the foot of them, eyes wide and gazing up at me. There was something delightful about the stunned look on his face. It made him feel for once unguarded – stripped of the usual swagger. And that in turn made me feel powerful.
Either that, or I was drunk.
“Hi,” I said, slowing my step down the stairs. I held onto the rail as I watched his blue-green eyes lock tight on my ankles then travel up my bare legs, stopping at the hem of my skirt. When I held my coat shut to hide my dress, he looked back up at me and shook his head.
“What are you trying to do to me right now?”
“Get past you so I can leave.”
Lukas watched me come down the stairs, walking backward with me to the door. “Let me take you on this date,” he said.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because someone’s expecting me.”
“Cancel on him.”
“He’s already there, Lukas. I’m not going to be rude.”
He dragged a hand along his jaw and groaned. “Fine. Where are you going?”
“Muse Room. Lower East Side.”
He laughed despite a quizzical frown. “Seriously?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Have you ever been there?”
“No, he picked the spot. He’s been arranging the date with my friend – it’s a long story,” I explained hastily off his perplexed look. “Why? What’s wrong with the place?”
Lukas shook his head. “Nothing. It’s great. It’s just not what I expected for you. They have beds instead of couches and the waitresses walk around in full-blown lingerie.”
I was surprised to hear that but I tried to bluff. “Okay. So? You think I’m some virginal thing that’s going to implode in any sexually charged environment? Just to let you know, I have had sex before. In fact, I’ve had a lot of it. Was it all with one guy? Yes. Does it still count? Yes. Was it any good?” I paused for several moments as I thought about my own question.
“Are you drunk?”
I blinked. “No.” I wobbled. “I’m just… in heels.”
“Trust me, I noticed,” he muttered, eyeing me up and down again before groaning. “Jesus Christ. You’re killing me, Lia.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to fuck this guy,” he said. “Plain ands simple. Aside from being pissed that it’s not me, I don’t want to be the reason you got yourself hammered so you could force enough attraction to sleep with some guy you just met. I haven’t known you long but I know that’s not you.”
“Just a reminder, you and I have known each other for less than a week, so cool it.”
“You’ve known Tess almost three years and you’ve heard her talking about her brother so let’s not act like I’m just some stranger off the street,” Lukas said, annoyed. Palming the back of his head, he exhaled. “Lia, I’m begging you,” he murmured, a handsome frown pinching his brows. “Stay in tonight,” he said gently. “I’ll keep my suit on, you’ll keep your dress on – it can still be a date but we can just order pizza or Chinese, and no one has to sleep with anyone. Alright? How’s that sound?”
Amazing. Adorable. Fucking everything I want. But I still resisted. Rather, I put off giving my answer because the one at the tip of my tongue was “okay” and I wanted to at least pretend I had a lick of self-control before giving in. But just as I started to answer, the ring of his phone interrupted. When he glanced down with an instant groan, I let myself peek at his call.
No. You have got to be kidding me. I fumed as I read the name “Useless Gold Digger Bitch” off his glowing screen. Oh. My. God. Un-fucking-believable
A part of me wanted to bend over and dramatically retch for Lukas, just to show him how phenomenally disgusting I found him at this very moment. Another part wanted to lay into him for thinking he could actually trick me into thinking he wasn’t the worst, but instead I swallowed my temptation and simply thanked the universe for reminding me that despite his occasional sweetness, Lukas Hendricks was in fact an asshole. Of the highest degree.
“Really nice thing to call a girl.” I shot a look of revulsion. “I’m gonna go ahead and pass on your takeout offer but I hope you have a great night,” I added tersely, shaking my head as I pushed past his broad frame and slid out the front door.
