Not Pretending Anymore by Vi Keeland
CHAPTER 8
Declan
The following night, Julia and I were working together in my living room. Once again we’d taken position together on the floor, using the coffee table as a makeshift desk. Wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but she seemed to be sitting closer to me than usual.
The plan was for Molly to come out at some point and flirt with me. It wasn’t going to be anything too crazy, just something to ruffle Julia’s feathers.
But the plan hadn’t been going according to schedule because Molly was taking her sweet-ass time. I didn’t know what the fuck she was doing in her room—masturbating to her Hulu show or what—but she hadn’t made an appearance yet.
I looked up from typing on my laptop to notice Julia looking at me. Caught in the act, she turned away. Perfect. Now if only Molly could get her act together so we could stir the pot.
“You said your roommate is home, right?”
“Yeah. You wouldn’t know it though, would ya? She’s pretty quiet.”
“True. I don’t hear a peep. You think she’s not happy that I’m here? Are we disturbing her?”
“No. I don’t think so. I think she might have fallen asleep.”
That was the only explanation that made sense.
I pretended to need something from the fridge, and instead texted Molly on the down-low.
Declan: Are you coming out sometime tonight?
The three dots moved around as she typed.
Molly: I’m having some technical difficulties.
Declan: What are you talking about?
Molly: I was trying out these new lashes, and I got glue stuck in my left eye. I can hardly open it.
Declan: What made you decide to do that tonight?
Molly: I wanted to sex it up…for our performance.
Declan: So you glued your eye shut? The one-eyed look is so damn sexy, Mollz. Truly.
Molly: Shut up. This is all your fault.
The funniest visual of Molly walking out of her room with a patch covering one eye popped into my head. But that quickly morphed into her wearing a wench’s costume—with one of those cinched-waist things that laced up and covered her rib cage. It would stop just below the swell of her breasts, making her tits practically spill over from her top.
I’d been staring at my phone, lost in some ridiculous fantasy, and hadn’t heard Julia walk into the kitchen.
“Who are you texting over there?” she asked. “You have the dirtiest smirk on your face.”
Shit. “I, uh, my sister.” I closed my eyes, silently cursing myself and my dumbass answer. Great, now she probably thinks I’m freaking creepy. “She was, uh…” I attempted to iron out the wrinkles. “She’s trying to fix me up with one of her friends.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, with four sisters, it’s a pretty common occurrence.”
“Are you…going to go out with the woman?”
I shook my head. “I learned my lesson a long time ago. Keep your love life as far away from your sisters as possible. The last time I let one of them set me up, I wound up on a date with a woman who loved cats.”
“So? Are you allergic or something?”
“No. But she picked me up in her car, and when I got in, I realized just how much she loved her cats. Six of them were in the backseat.”
“She brought her cats on your date?”
I nodded. “Said they got lonely at home, liked to go for car rides, and were a good judge of character.”
“That’s a little bizarre. Did the cats approve of your character, at least?”
“One leaped into the front seat while we were on our way to the restaurant and threw up all over my pants.”
Julia laughed. “Oh my God. You mean they weren’t even in carrying cages? What did you do?”
“She drove me back home so I could get changed, and I feigned a headache. But that’s not even the worst part.”
“It’s not?”
I shook my head. “My sister didn’t talk to me for a month because her friend told her I wasn’t nice to her cats. She was convinced I’d made them nervous, and that’s why one threw up on me.”
My phone buzzed in my hand. Julia looked down at it. “I’ll let you finish letting your sister down easy. I was just coming to ask if you had any wine.”
“I think Molly does. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if we had some. I’ll pour you a glass and be right in.”
After Julia went back to the living room, I texted Molly again.
Declan: Are you okay? Do you need me to get you an eyewash or something?
Molly: No, I’ll be fine. I just need a few minutes for the stinging to subside so I can try to glue these on again.
Declan: Forget the eyelashes. You don’t need ’em. Your eyes are pretty without any makeup at all.
Molly: That’s sweet. But I don’t have a choice at this point. I have one on, and I can’t get the damn thing off! I’ll be out soon.
I chuckled as I typed.
Declan: Aye, aye, Captain.
I didn’t think she’d get my humor, but she texted back right away.
Molly: Ha ha. I’ll be out to see ye wench shortly.
Ten minutes later, Molly finally emerged from her room. I’d decided to join Julia in a glass of wine and was mid-sip when I caught sight of my roomie. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been prepared for what she was going to look like. I swallowed down the wrong pipe and started coughing, and I inadvertently sprayed wine all over Julia.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” I grabbed the napkin from under my glass and started to blot the mess I’d made on her face.
Smooth, Declan…really smooth tonight.
Molly walked over to where Julia and I were seated on the floor next to the coffee table. She looked smoking hot in a short, black mini dress and sky-high silver strappy heels that wrapped around her ankles. Her hair was blown out into a mass of soft waves, and she had on way more makeup than she usually wore, including super long, thick, dark eyelashes. Damn, those things were worth a little glue in the eye. They really made the light blue color of her eyes pop.
“Hey, Moll.” I cleared my throat and tried to come off nonchalant, as if she walked around the apartment looking like that every day. I held up my wine glass. “I hope you don’t mind, we had some of your wine. I’ll replace the bottle for you tomorrow.”
Molly batted her lashes and smiled. Her lips were painted bright red and covered in a thick layer of gloss. I didn’t know where to look first—at her seductive eyes, full, shiny lips, or the mile of legs on display.
“No problem,” she said. “I don’t mind at all. Plus, I’m off tomorrow night, so maybe we can share the replacement bottle.” She held my eyes for a few extra seconds and then pretended to have just noticed Julia.
“Oh, hi…Jessica.”
Julia pursed her lips. “It’s Julia.”
Molly twirled her hair. “Sorry. Right. Julia…” She turned her attention back to me. “Are you almost done working, Dec?”
“Almost,” I said. “Why? Are we disturbing you?”
“No, not at all.” She lifted her hand and rubbed the back of her neck. “But that knot is back, and I was hoping you could work your magic fingers into it again—like you did the other night.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure…no problem.”
Molly looked over at Julia and practically cooed, “He’s got the strongest hands.”
Julia smiled, but I knew from watching her with difficult clients that it wasn’t her real smile. This one was more plastic and forced. The muscle in her jaw tightened. I watched as her eyes swept up and down Molly’s body for the second time. In all honesty, I couldn’t blame her… Mollz looked fucking amazing.
“Were you on a date tonight?” Julia asked. “You’re so dressed up.”
Molly laughed and waved off Julia’s comment. “No, I just threw this on because it was the only thing clean.”
Julia frowned. “Uh-huh.”
“Alright, well, I’ll let you two get back to work. I’m just going to get a glass of wine myself so I can relax a little before you help me with that massage. Let yourself into my bedroom whenever you’re done, Dec.” Molly blinked, and one of her eyes got stuck closed.
I almost lost it when she turned her head to try to hide it and had to use her fingers to pry it open. I guess she hadn’t figured out the glue situation after all.
Once Molly returned to her room, Julia downed the rest of her wine in one gulp. Her cheeks were a little flushed. “Could she be any more obvious?”
I pretended to have no clue what she meant, but a person would have to be blind and deaf to have missed Molly’s over-the-top flirting. “What do you mean?”
Julia snort laughed. “That dress, the full face of makeup—not to mention that she was winking at you when talking about her massage. She doesn’t even have a sore neck, Declan.”
Winking?Not exactly. But close! She thought Molly’s glued eyeball was a come-on.
I cleared my throat. “What do you mean, she doesn’t have a sore neck?”
Julia rolled her eyes. “She’s into you and wants your hands on her.”
“Oh, well… Is that a bad thing? I mean, we’re both single…”
“It would definitely be a mistake, Declan.”
My brows furrowed. For some inexplicable reason, I felt defensive. “Why is that? Molly’s really cool.”
“Well, for starters, she’s your roommate.”
“That seems like it would go on the plus side of the pros-and-cons analysis.” I shrugged. “Convenience.”
Julia’s face reddened. “Look, I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get into something you might not be able to come back from. I know from personal experience that once you go down that road, it’s difficult to go back to simpler times. Take Bryant and me, for example. We went into an exclusive relationship right away. At the time, I didn’t give any thought to the idea that it might not be a good idea since I travel so much for work. Recently, we’ve been having some difficulties, so I suggested we pull things back a little—keep our relationship more on the casual side.”
“I take it that conversation didn’t go too well, since you’re using your own situation to warn me off anything happening between me and my roommate.”
She shook her head. “No, it didn’t. Bryant doesn’t like the idea of a non-exclusive relationship because it’s hard to go backward once you’ve moved forward. That’s why I think you might want to give some serious thought to anything happening with your roommate. Once you go there, it would probably be hard to rewind.”
She’d said a whole lot of words, but the only part I heard was non-exclusive.
“So, where are things with you and Bryant now, if you don’t want the same thing?”
Julia sighed. “He told me to give what I really want some thought—basically an ultimatum. Either I’m with him and him alone, or I’m not with him at all.”
I nodded. “Wow. Okay. Sounds like you have a big decision to make.”
She surprised me by reaching out to touch my hand. I looked up, and our eyes met. “I do. I care about you, Declan. So maybe we should both take some time to think about what we really want, rather than making any rash decisions.”
Well, well, well. My eyes dropped to her lips, then raised to meet her eyes again. “Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.”
A half hour later, Julia hugged me goodbye—something we rarely did. As I shut the door behind her, I probably should have been elated at how shit had gone tonight, but instead, I felt a weird turmoil in the pit of my stomach.
Molly must’ve heard the front door, because she came out of her room a minute later.
“How did it go?”
She still had on that little black dress, and I couldn’t help but notice how much more shapely Molly was than Julia. Julia’s body type was more waif, whereas Molly had feminine curves. And tonight, in that dress, it was impossible not to notice how dangerous those curves were.
I forced my eyes to meet hers, though it wasn’t an easy feat.
“It went well. She said she told her boyfriend she wants to be in an open relationship.”
“Oh wow! Like our fake relationship!”
I chuckled. “Apparently Bryant gave her an ultimatum. It’s either exclusive or nothing. So she’s thinking about how to proceed.”
“Well, if she’s even considering that she wants to see other men, clearly the current guy isn’t the one.”
“Yeah.”
“So our diabolical plan seems to have worked.”
“Thanks to you. I can’t imagine any woman who wouldn’t be jealous of the way you look tonight. You went all out.”
Molly blushed. “Are you going to bed?”
“Nah, not yet. I’m not tired.”
“Would you want to take a walk and get some ice cream? I have such a craving for strawberry right now. There’s a place two blocks away that I love.”
“Sure. That sounds good.”
“Okay! I’ll throw on some jeans real quick and be right back.”
I felt a little disappointed that she was going to lose the sexy dress, but it only made sense. Plus, it wasn’t easy to keep my eyes off of her in that getup, and I didn’t want to get caught ogling.
She came back out wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a T-shirt, but honestly, she looked just as beautiful as she had all done up. I didn’t realize I was staring until she called me on it.
“What?” She wiped at her cheek. “Did my eyelashes come off again?”
I chuckled. “No. I was just looking at you. You don’t usually wear that much makeup.”
She pointed to her eye. “Yeah, now you know why. I’m not exactly a wizard with this type of stuff. Gluing my eye shut wasn’t the first complication I’ve had with cosmetics.”
“You don’t need all that crap anyway.”
She arched a brow. “Really? So you’re saying you didn’t notice me a little more with all the work I put in tonight?”
“Of course I did. I’m a man, and you made it hard not to notice. But sparkle only gets a person’s attention. It doesn’t keep it.”
Molly smirked and bumped shoulders with me. “I made it hard, did I?”
I opened the front door and extended my hand for her to walk through first. Damn…her ass looks fantastic in those jeans, too. Shaking my head, I blew out a deep breath.
My roommate was most definitely making things hard on me.
***
The next morning, I smiled, seeing my sister Catherine’s name flash on my cell phone. She was my favorite person to screw with, so I leaned back into my chair and tossed my pen on my desk before answering.
“Satan’s house of sins. We got porn, gambling, and prostitution. What can I do you for?”
“Ha ha. You know, when I became a nun, you were supposed to start being extra nice to me.”
“Who says?”
“It’s in the rule book.”
“What rule book?”
“The nun one.”
“I’m going to call BS on that, Sister-Sister. I’d like to see this rule book you constantly claim exists.”
“Well, you can’t. It’s strictly for nun eyes only.”
I chuckled. “How’ve you been, Cat? What’s new out in sunny California?”
“Well, I started taking a yoga class, so that’s new. I love it. Have you ever tried yoga?”
I pictured my sister in full nun garb reaching up into warrior position; even though I knew she actually rarely wore the whole outfit. “I gave it a whirl once,” I said. “But I found it hard to concentrate during the class.”
“Really? It does just the opposite for me. I find it completely conducive to focusing. Maybe you didn’t have a good instructor.”
“Nah. The instructor was fine. I probably just needed to be in the first row.”
“Oh, you mean you couldn’t see her from the back?”
“No. I could see her just fine. But how the heck was I supposed to concentrate with a room full of women bending over wearing those tight yoga pants?”
My sister laughed. “I should have known that’s what you meant, you horn dog.”
“Horn dog? Isn’t that a bad word you’re not supposed to use?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to check my nun manual.”
I chuckled. I really missed Catherine. She might be a nun, but she was funny as shit and had the best sense of humor out of all of my sisters. “So what else is going on out there in sunshine land? Have you been to see Mom and Dad lately?”
The tone of her voice changed. “Yeah, I saw them last week.”
“Not good?”
She sighed. “The usual.”
I knew what that meant, so I didn’t press. For the next fifteen minutes, we made small talk about the weather in Chicago, she told me about a quilting class she was teaching, and I told her a little about my new roommate and how things were going at work.
“So…how have you been?” she finally asked. “Are the medications still working?”
“I’m fine, Cat.”
“Have you talked to Dr. Spellman?”
“No, because I’m not supposed to talk to him unless I need to.”
“But you’re sure you’re feeling okay?”
I’d been waiting for these questions. My sister meant well, but she worried too much.
“Would I lie to a nun?”
She chuckled. “You absolutely would. But that’s beside the point. Seriously, Declan. I’m concerned about you. Six months is a long time to be away from the doctor.”
I didn’t mention that Dr. Spellman had expressed the same concern and given me some numbers for local people I could see here in Chicago. “Listen, if anything changes, I promise you’ll be the first to know. Okay?”
“Do you promise?”
“You can’t see me right now, but I’m crossing my heart.”
She sighed. “Okay. But do me a favor and keep in touch more.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too, Sister-Sister.”
After I hung up, I thought about what I’d told her. I hadn’t been lying when I said I’d felt really good lately. Coming to Chicago had turned out to be good for me on so many levels. The job gave me a lot of visibility with the higher-ups, and edged me closer to the promotion I’d been gunning for. Plus, things with Molly were going great.
Julia.
I meant Julia.
Things with Julia were going great.
Weren’t they?
