Love Thy Neighbor (Friend-Zoned)(10)

I can’t believe it but I’m blushing.

He chuckles, lets go of me, then offers his hand. “I’m Cole.”

Hawwwwt.

I’m suddenly a little shy. I put my hand in his and respond quietly, “I’m Nat.” I avoid his eyes.

Still holding my hand, he lowers his smiling face to look into mine and asks, “Would you like to get a drink with me, Nat?”

I bite my lip to stop my smile. He looks at my bottom lip and stops smiling. I quickly release my lip and reply softly, “Yes. I’d love that.”

A smile forms on his face as he pulls me closer and holds my hand as we walk down the stairs together.

That sure didn’t take long!

***

“So, you work at the clothing store across the street, you’re twenty-eight, you’re of a Croatian background and you’re very single?”

Sipping on my cosmopolitan, I nod my head. “Yep. That’s me in a nutshell.”

Cole smiles. “Well, me in a nutshell would be pretty short too. I’m thirty-two, all American. I live downtown. I’m a personal trainer and I’m also very single.”

Uncomplicated.

Just what I need.

I smile and lift my drink. “To being very single.” He smiles and touches his drink to mine. We sip and I feel a hand on my arm.

Still smiling, I look up to see Ghost looking blankly at me. “I need to talk to you.”

I stare at him in disbelief for a moment before I hiss, “Now? Right now?”

I look back at Cole and I’m not sure what happened to the guy I was sitting with a minute ago. Gone is the friendly smile and in its place is a glower. His brows have dropped; he looks terrifying. His grip on his glass is so tight I’m afraid he’ll break it. Cole’s voice is dead calm as he asks, “Is there a problem here?”

Before Ghost has a chance to answer, I respond, “No. Ash is my neighbor. He probably just got some of my mail again?” I look at Ghost with pleading eyes. “Right, Ash?”

Ghost’s face has softened slightly and he looks me in the eye when he replies, “Yeah. Sure.” He doesn’t sound convincing so I act up a bit. I put my hand on his arm and smile. “I’ll come by tomorrow and get it. Say hi to Tasha for me.”

As soon as I mention Tasha, Ghost’s eyes turn hard and he replies quietly, “Yeah, whatever.”

I watch as he walks away.

What did he need to talk to me about?

Cole breaks my thoughts. “So, he’s your neighbor?”

Looking up, I see he’s clearly confused. He toys with his drink and looks absently through his glass.

I smile and exaggerate my reply. “Oh yeah! We’ve known each other a while now. In fact, just the other night I had to go over there to tell him and his lady friend to keep the noise down. If you get what I mean?” I wink and smile.

Understanding dawns on his face. He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. “Oh, I thought he was coming on to you. I didn’t like that. I mean, I was sitting right here.” He looks sheepish.

I chuckle. “No. We aren’t like that.”

He takes my hand and plays with my fingers. “Good, because I was planning on asking you out.”

I smile then bite my lip. I clear my throat and admit, “Well, it’s a good thing I’d say yes.”

Cole smiles his brilliant smile and agrees, “Yeah. That is a good thing.”

***

When I get home from the club, I’m smiling like an idiot and feel so light, I practically float right through the door.

I ended up staying a little later than normal. I glance at my phone for the time. 3:17am.

Yikes!

Okay, a lot later than normal! But Cole is so dreamy! And I’m seeing him again Monday night.

Sigh.

Still smiling like a complete dork, I kick off my shoes and drop my purse on the counter. I walk over to my room, undress and walk to the bathroom buck-naked. I dress in my jammies, walk back to my room and flick on the lamp. And I squeal my freakin’ head off.

Ghost is lying on my bed with his hands crossed behind his head. And the ass is smirking.

He saw me naked!

I yell, “You saw me naked!”

He smiles wider, bites the tip of his tongue and nods.

God, I love when he does the tongue thing.

My blood boils.

I pick up a shoe and throw it at him. He moves to avoid it and rolls right off the bed. I burst out laughing. I laugh long and so hard I have tears streaming down my face. I open my eyes and spy Ghost on the floor rubbing his head. I walk over to him and still chuckling, ask, “Are you okay?”

He scowls but smiles. “Yeah.” Then he stands and says, “Now that you’re home, we can talk.”

Ghost breaking into my apartment doesn’t even worry me. He did the same to Tina, like, a gazillion times. He’s some big-shot security guy, so I guess he knows enough about locks and alarms to bypass them.

With a sigh, I flop onto my bed face-down and utter, “It’s so late, Ghost. Can’t we talk tomorrow?”

This comes out muffled.

My bed depresses. “No. We talk now. It’s important.”

I look up and Ghost is lying next to me with his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. His arms look perfectly delicious in the black uniform tee he wears and I inwardly curse him. I exhale loudly and give in. “Okay. What’s up?”