Accidental Roommate Read online

  Down the road, I jockeyed for a parking spot. The area wasn’t too bad, but it also wasn’t too nice. Garbage was out here and there, and it looked like it hadn’t been picked up for a bit. I walked up four flights – no elevator– and knocked on the door.

  No one answered, but the big mutt on the other side terrified me. If I went by his bark, he must be ten feet tall. I was glad there was a door between us. I waited a few more minutes with Spot behind the door.

  I wasn’t opposed to someone having a dog because dogs are great. However, I didn’t want to lint brush hair off my suits, listen to howling at all hours of the night, or from the sound of Spot, the beast attacking me when I came home from work at three o’clock in the morning. Or better yet, “Please just take him for one walk,” then I end up being the one walking the dog for the rest of the time I’m there.

  I waited about ten minutes and cursed myself for not double-checking before I walked up the four flights. I texted a terse message back and went to the next apartment about thirty minutes away.

  Apartment number three was on the sixth floor, and once again, no elevator. I started to sense a pattern here. As I knocked, I heard about thirty locks being undone. A woman’s face peeked out.

  “You’re a man.”

  “Yes, yes, I am.”

  “I thought your name was Taylor.”

  “No, it’s Tyler.”

  “I don’t want a guy.”

  It didn’t matter how much money I made or the fact that I threw in free fitness sessions. She wasn’t budging.

  As I drove off, fuming, I kept getting pinged for other apartments. Some were bad neighborhoods, some had noisy neighbors, a couple were just too darn far away from any of my jobs.

  There were a couple of more memorable visits as well. One was small and dank and had a distinct tang of curry, so strong that it had seeped into the apartment I was visiting. When I asked about it, the man shrugged and said he didn’t notice anything. Some, like the first one, were one-bedrooms looking for someone to couch surf, but I wasn’t interested. Others were nice, but I didn’t feel it from either the area or from the people who I would be rooming with. Didn’t they know I was interviewing them as well?

  I was heading to my last house and Shane called. “We still on for tonight?”

  “Yes, it’s all set,” I replied.

  “How’s the apartment hunting going?” he asked hopefully.

  “It’s coming along nicely,” I lied. I wasn’t about to tell him it was sucking balls. “Looking forward to tonight? Last night as a single man?”

  “I don’t want to stay out too late.”

  I rolled my eyes, glad he couldn’t see. “It’s a strip club, Shane, we’ve been there many times.”

  I wanted to make sure as best man he would have a good time, but I could see he only had eyes for Becky. I was going to make this short and sweet for him, but well worth his while.

  “I’d like Becky to come, too,” he blurted.

  “You know, Shane, this is a guy’s night out. Doesn’t she have a bachelorette party she’d rather go to?”

  “She does. It’s at La Bare’s, next door. Afterwards, all the girls want to come over.”

  I thought about it and it wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe I could have an enjoyable evening as well. “Let her know I’d be happy to have her lady gang come over.”

  After I hung up with Shane, I received a call from Steven.

  “Tyler, sorry to ask on such a short notice, but I need to know if you can come in tonight.”

  I reminded him tonight was Shane’s bachelor party and I was all booked. “Kelly’s back from vacation so I’m sure he needs to make up the money he spent.”

  Steven was quiet for a second. “I could, but now that your picture is up in Time Square, and you’re the one everyone is asking for at the front door.”

  I sighed. I realized that from the previous night when all the girls, and some of the guys, kept touching me.

  “I just need you out front checking ID’s.”

  “Can’t. You got me from Friday on. Just not the next two days.”

  “Damn. Sure you don’t want twenty-one-year-old groupies hanging around?”

  I really did not need that type of drama in my life. I lived in a drama-free zone. I’d had too much of it over the past few years. “Not really, Steven.”

  “Twenty-one-year-olds are my bread and butter,” said Stephen. “Anyway, have a good time with Shane and give him my best.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Oh, one more thing.”

  “What’s up?”

  He snickered. “Can I have your autograph?”

  “Fuck off.” I hung up and continued the drive through the worst New York had to offer. I caught a glimmer of a lavender coat on the sidewalk and my mind went back to the woman I apparently had scared off. She hadn’t been back to the gym since. I would really have wanted to get to know her little better. I had no idea why my mind went back to those beautiful blue eyes, tight ass, and gorgeous brown hair. Beautiful girls were a dime a dozen in the city, but there was something about her that was different.

  At the stoplight, I looked down at my list. All of the apartments were crossed off. I didn’t want to fail at this and I didn’t like the prospect of living in a hotel for a week while I found someplace to live. I shrugged mentally. It might be where I would end up anyway.

  The traffic was horrible, New York at rush hour, by the time I maneuvered to the last place on my list. When I got closer, it seemed that the traffic had died away and the sound of the honking horns were miles off.

  As I got out, I noticed the quaint little park across the way filled with babies and moms. Due to the late hour, it seemed like they might be having a little mom and kid time before dinner.

  I looked up at the building. It seemed decent and the people at the park didn’t look like axe murderers – it had that going for it. It was my last apartment of the day. Do or die time. I was hoping that whoever was looking for a roomie or would at least be willing to do a short-term arrangement for a few months, just so I could get a place to live and figure where I was going from there.

  I got out and walked toward the building, looking around at how nicely landscaped it was. For the first time as I walked into the lobby, I worried that maybe this one was out of my league. The pricing was at the high end of what I wanted to pay, and I still didn’t know what I was getting for my rent.

  I took the elevator up to the third floor. As I got out, I noticed the clean carpet and nice warm paint job. My hands sweat just like they did before a big audition when I was nervous. I walked down the hallway to apartment 306. If it was any indication by the length from the doorway to the end of the hall, then the apartment was a pretty big place.

  I wiped my hands on my pants, ran them through my hair, and knocked on the door. I sent up a silent prayer that everything would work out right and this person would take pity on me and let me stay at least a week.

  When the door opened, I was speechless. Not only was it not what I expected, I felt the very air leave my body as my temperature spiked.

  “Hi, I’m Tyler Becker,” I said as the woman stared wide-eyed back at me.

  Chapter 7

  Grayce

  I closed the door on the next to last roommate application I had for the day. I had taken off the whole day, so I could interview the women I thought would be a good match. I sighed and picked up the phone and called Ella.

  She answered on the second ring. "How did it go? We missed you at work."

  I poured myself a cup of coffee, which by now had been sitting there since the morning. It tasted like old shoe, but it was better than nothing, and I felt like drinking the bitterness that coincided with my mood.

  "We? Ella, it's just you and me."

  "For now, it is. We will get more and more people as you grow. I'm talking about the future ‘we.’ Find any cool people to room with?"

  I sat heavily on the couch. "Not a single one. They all
had issues that I can’t get over. One was actually stoned. I just want someone clean, good work history, and I would settle for decent, not even, perfect background."

  I heard Ella snort. I loved her laugh. It was one of her quirks and I had always loved it.

  "You know they are all background checked. No one can be as perfect as you."

  "Stop. That's not what I mean. Just someone with goals in life, easy to get along with, and has a good sense of humor."

  "Sounds like a want ad on Tinder."

  "Shut up. It seems there is no one out there like that, and this is New York City for God's sake. There are seven million people living here. At least one of those women should have had at least one of those qualities, but none of them had any of them. One didn't even have a job. When I asked her how she was going to pay, she shrugged at me."

  "You're being too hard."

  "No, I'm not. I want someone who is of the same caliber as I am." I leaned back in the couch. "Maybe I am being too hard on them."

  She snorted again. "I didn't mean hard on them. I meant hard on yourself. You’ve always had such strict standards on who you are. It's almost as if you wanted to be someone different when you were with Carter, like you needed to be perfect in order to be with him."

  "That's not true." Was it?

  I heard the silence on the other end. Ella wasn't one to argue. She got along with everyone, except for most men. She didn’t let them get close to her. I could tell she really didn't want to get into my psychological issues.

  Then again, maybe she had something. I remembered that when I was with Carter, my friends had slowly dropped away, one by one until it was just Ella. Carter had something to say about most of them and I hadn't realized until just now how all my guy friends had left, even my gay friends, and then all my college girlfriends who went on to different law firms.

  Once Carter had caught my eye in college, I pursued him like a hunter went after a deer. He was smart, sophisticated, and had a wicked sense of humor. It wasn't until we broke up that I realized there was a subtle cruelty about him. A way of being that took everyone's feet out from under them. The times at parties where he would be making fun of a new employee to the laughs of his cronies. I didn't want him to do that to me, so I would sip on my wine quietly. Then I stopped going to those parties and worked, and worked, and worked to prove to him that I was worthy.

  Maybe it was to prove it to myself.

  I shook my head. "You have a point."

  "How many more people do you have to left interview today?"

  "Just one. Great background check and work history. Now, I just need to see if they have a good sense of humor."

  Ella was quiet for a moment. "I know you are going to tell me no, but just hear me out. "

  "What is it and why do I know I'm are not going to like it?"

  "Because you won't. However, I'm just going come out and say it. Start checking out some guys for your roommate."

  "No, no, and no."

  "Listen, having a guy as a roommate doesn't mean you’re going to hook up with him. Most guys are decent. You just ended up with a shitty one."

  I shook my head. "Am I hearing you correctly? Ella actually says guys are decent?"

  "There are some. Maybe not for me, but for you."

  I was sad that she didn't have someone. She had Noah, sure, but that didn’t mean she couldn't have a guy to make her happy. Maybe, someday, I could find someone to make me feel again. The unbidden thought of the guy from the gym crossed my mind. He had it in the looks department, most definitely. Just thinking about him caused sensations to pulse through my body.

  "...and they would be able to pay."

  "I'm sorry, I was distracted and zoned out after you said, 'guys are decent.'"

  "I said that you’re in a great area of town, so there are bound to be people interested in a good place who’ll be able to pay. Just be patient."

  "I don't want to be patient. What if they don't work out and then I'm stuck? I want to get a good roommate and I am not into waiting for someone at the same time my baby law practice is floundering."

  "We are not floundering," said Ella. "You lost one client on the same day we got a new one. It was just bad timing. You just want everything to happen all at once. It's going to take time and you will be able to do it. Maybe not all at the same time, but take little steps and you'll get there. Same with dating. You'll get back into it when you find that person who lights your fire."

  "As will you."

  She made a hmpf sound. "I'm talking about you, not me."

  Noah made noises in the background, then asked, “Can I talk?”

  "Not now, Noah,” Ella said. “Grayce will be by later this week. Ooh, Grayce, when do I get to come by?”

  “Let me get the roommate situation out of the way and go from there.”

  “Sounds good. Damn, he’s running around without a clothes on again. Gotta go,” Ella said as she hung up.

  I looked around my apartment. It was such a nice place and it would be nice to have a roommate to chat with after shitty days. I was starting to settle in and I felt myself becoming me, again, after having been lost for all those years.

  I brushed my hair out of my face. One more roommate interview to go, and then I could catch up on some Real Housewives.

  The knock on the door was right on time as I glanced at the clock on the microwave. I walked over to the door and looked through the peephole. I stepped back and shook my head. I grabbed my phone and looked at the next interview. In big letters, Taylor Bennett. But the person at the door was not a woman.

  I swung the door open and saw the man I hadn’t been able to get out of my dreams, or off my mind, since he’d spilled coffee all over me at the gym.

  Chapter 8

  Tyler

  “You’re not a woman,” she said, her eyes wide as they took me in.

  “Very observant,” I replied. “but most people start with ‘hello.’ Or by introducing themselves?” I mustered my best smile. If I had wanted desperately for this to be the right apartment before, I wanted it so much more when I saw the woman who opened the door.

  “What? Oh, I’m sorry, I…” She trailed off.

  I tried not to stare, but let my eyes quickly scan her form. Her cheeks were flushed, and I suspected I might be having the same effect on her that she was having on me.

  “I requested only women,” she said.

  My heart sank. “Sorry,” I said, “I think the website mixed up my name. I just…do I have to stand out here in the hall?”

  If I could get her to let me in, maybe I could charm her into giving me the room. Though I’d really like to charm her into letting me into far more than her guest room.

  “Sorry, yes, come in.” She opened the door wide enough to let me in. Her perfume wafted up at me as I passed her. Damn! She even smelled delicious.

  As I stepped inside, I noticed she was incredibly put together. Sleek jeans, a sexy red button-down blouse, and perfectly manicured nails and toes in a red that matched. You couldn’t always tell, in the gym, what someone’s everyday life was like. This woman was definitely polished and put together. I had to wonder if she was always so buttoned-up.

  She crossed her arms and shook her head. As she did, her gorgeous dark brown curls bounced around her shoulders. I had a fleeting mental picture of them bouncing up and down, grazing the skin across my abs, and I tried to push it out of my mind.

  “Look, I’m sorry – Tyler, was it? But I’m looking for a female roommate. I’m sorry you bothered to come, but this was a mistake.” She took a step toward the door.

  “Hey, listen.” I reached out and gently touched her arm. Her breath caught, but when she turned, and her eyes met mine, I knew she wasn’t afraid of me. That was a good thing, at least. “This is about the fifteenth place I’ve looked at today. Just out of curiosity, how many prospective roommates have you seen for the room?”

  Her shoulders dropped a little. “A dozen,” she replied. “You w
ere number thirteen.”

  “Hey, lucky thirteen! How do you like that?”

  She chuckled a little.

  Feeling heartened, I said, “I’ll tell you the worst place I saw if you tell me the worst roommate you interviewed. Deal?”

  She smiled. “Well, it would be a toss-up between the girl who was stoned out of her mind, and the one without a job.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “How about you?”

  “Well, the hipster in the one-bed studio who looked at me like I was a steak, and the tiny, dark place with the weird smells that I like to refer to as the curry closet.”

  I turned on the charm, flashing a big smile, and rubbed the back of my neck with my hand. “Can I at least see the room I’m missing out on?” I asked sheepishly.

  “Well, I guess you don’t seem too murder-y,” she said, looking me up and down. “Come on.”

  She walked ahead to give me the tour. I had to admit, following her through the apartment, the view of her as in jeans was almost as good as it had been in those lavender yoga pants. The apartment was amazing. It was pretty big, had a great kitchen, and the room I was there to look at had a huge walk-in shower with a bench at the back.

  “Yeah, it’s a shame, really,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. “I’ve got great references. I make a good living, too. I’m a personal trainer, among other things.”

  I caught her eyes scan my torso as I said the last phrase. When her gaze met mine, I raised an eyebrow.

  “I could certainly provide some free training sessions to my roommate,” I added with a smile.

  She tried to look annoyed, but I saw a little grin creeping up at the corner of her lips. That’s it, Lavender Girl. Let me in.

  As she showed me the bathroom, my mind flashed to what it would be like to bend her over that shower bench, that fine ass of hers in the air. My heart began to pound a little faster, and I had to make a quick adjustment to my pants, which were growing tighter across the front, while her back was turned.

  She took me up to the rooftop terrace to show me the view. “Wow it’s so…peaceful up here,” I said. “You don’t expect to get that in the city.”