Page 58

“Anyway,” he said, “give me half-an-hour to blow your mind with my story.”

I surveyed him for a second. “Okay, fine,” I said. “But I’ve got company coming over later, so we have to hurry.”

“I’ll be quick.”

The look on his face made me uneasy, but I unlocked the door. We walked across the lobby to the elevators in middle of the building and I punched the button.

He looked around, shaking his head. “I hope you’re not paying too much to live here.”

“That’s none of your business,” I quipped. Quite suddenly, I got an overwhelming feeling that I was making a mistake.

Why am I bringing him upstairs? I thought.

The elevator door slid open. He stepped in before me. Right then and there, I considered asking him to leave.

“Come on,” he said. “What floor?”

“The eleventh,” I said hesitantly, a bad feeling in my gut.

“Ooh, nice views. You got a balcony?”

“No, not really. There’s some railing and about half-an-inch of space that they advertise as a balcony, but it’s not functional.”

“Damn, that’s messed up. We’re gonna have to get you out of here, aren’t we?”

I smiled nervously as the elevator door closed and we ascended.

I vowed to just ask him a few questions and then send him on his way. Easy as cake.

But cake really wasn’t that easy at all, as far as I was concerned. The last two I’d made had come out flat and tasteless.

“You okay?” he asked, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding my head a little too vigorously.

“Thanks again for this story. It’ll give the business some legitimacy, you know?”

Legitimacy? That’s an odd thing to want for a new business…

The elevator dinged right before the door slid open. He stepped out in front of me once again. Staring at him, all I could think about was how I should have been with Warren instead right now.

“Where you at?” he asked. “I never made it up to your apartment when we were dating.”

“This way. And we went on one date,” I reminded him as I walked toward my door.

“That’s still dating in my book.”

When we reached my apartment, I unlocked the door and slipped inside before him. He followed closely behind, looking around and whistling.

“Not as shabby as I thought.”

“Glad you approve,” I said sarcastically.

“Not really, but it’s okay for you, I guess.”

I shook my head and walked across the living room. At the couch, I sat down and opened the lid of my laptop. He wandered over and sat beside me, a little too close for comfort.

When I moved over, he did the same. I turned, ready to yell at him. But before I had the chance, he leaned over and kissed me on the lips, roughly sticking his tongue in my mouth.