Accidental Roommate Read online

  “Sounds like he was a smart guy, your dad. But seriously, I know break-ups are hard – must be a hell of a lot harder when you’ve made it legal. Still, you’re better off without that prick. I can just tell. He didn’t deserve you.” He smiled at me sweetly.

  If he keeps this up, he will definitely wear me down, I thought.

  “I’m going to grab a water. You want anything?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  A moment later, he was back beside me on the sofa, commenting on the show on TV. We spent the next couple of hours mostly watching TV and making a little conversation. I was surprised at how educated he was, and how much he enjoyed reading. I felt bad for having underestimated him just because of his looks.

  I wondered if that happened often. People underestimated me as a petite, young, female attorney. Maybe they did the same to him because he was a muscular, good-looking, male model. As we sat and talked, though, it became clear to me. Tyler Becker had determination and intelligence. He was definitely not someone to be underestimated.

  Chapter 12

  Tyler

  As soon as I had laid eyes on Grayce’s ex, I instantly wanted to kick his ass. First of all, he was just that kind of guy – the kind you know has had everything handed to him his whole fucking life, and who needs a good ass-kicking, just for general purposes. Second of all, he got Grayce really upset.

  I didn’t know who the assistant was that he had cheated on her with, but who in their right mind would cheat on her? I mean, somehow, that asshole actually got her to agree to marry him. He had that incredible woman in his bed, every night, and he fucks around on her? Unbelievable! Every time I thought about him, in his five-thousand-dollar suit and preppy haircut, I wanted to punch something, preferably him.

  At the same time, I had never been so grateful to have an asshole stop by my house in my life. If he hadn’t been there, and if her friend Ella hadn’t introduced me as the boyfriend, I might not have gotten to kiss Grayce yet.

  I’d been with a lot of women in my life. Models. Actresses. Professional dancers. That’s partly because of what I do for a living, and partly because I understand people. I know what makes them tick, so I usually know how to get them to do what I want. Grayce, though, was something else.

  I’d had some world-class beauties in my bed before, and I swear, not one of them had ever affected me like her. She was so buttoned-up, so put-together. Still, when my mouth was on hers and I had her in my arms, she melted into me. I could feel her body giving in. If we hadn’t had an audience, I was sure it would’ve gone much further than a kiss.

  At least that’s what I had wanted. I tried to shake the thought of Grayce from my mind while I focused on work.

  Stephanie was my next client, and I was glad to see her smiling when she walked up.

  “Good morning,” I said. “I’m glad to see that smile on your face. Is it a good day?” I’d seen good friends and lots of clients go through addiction. It didn’t matter if it was drugs, sex, self-harm…all recovery was based on where you were in that moment – on that day.

  “Hi, Tyler. Yes, it’s a pretty good day.”

  We went through a circuit. With Stephanie, I concentrated on building lean muscle strength. I knew if she started seeing bulk, she could spiral, and too much cardio could tip her back into addictive behaviors. I’d even talked to her psychologist, Joan, at her request a few times to make sure our training plan was on track.

  After we finished the session, I caught something I didn’t like. She was looking past me, at her reflection in the mirror.

  “How are you feeling about your work today?” I asked her.

  “Pretty good,” she said sheepishly.

  Damn. I wasn’t having this. She had worked too hard.

  “Okay, Stephanie, turn around,” I said, standing between her and the mirror. “We’re going to do a little exercise that has nothing to do with quads or biceps.”

  She nodded her head in agreement.

  “How do you feel about your work today?” I asked her again.

  “Pretty good,” she said, a little less tentative that time.

  “Close your eyes for me.” She did, and I put my hand lightly over her eyes for good measure. “Now, I want you to put your fists on your hips and stand with your feet just a little bit apart. That’s it. Now lift your chin a little. Hold that pose for a minute until I tell you.”

  She did as I instructed.

  This was a bit of a mind-fuck, but it was a positive one. This was known as the power pose, and it had proven positive psychological benefits.

  “Now, let me ask you again. How do you feel? Be totally honest with me.”

  “I feel…good. I feel strong.” A grin started to creep across her face. “I feel strong!”

  “That’s great, and why do you think that is?”

  “Because I am strong?”

  “Are you asking me, or telling me?” I said, a smile of my own starting to form.

  “I am strong,” she said, then she put her arms down and turned to face me. She had a little tear welling up in her eye. “I am strong!”

  “Hell yeah, you are!” I put my hand up and she gave me a high five. “I’m really proud of you, Stephanie. You’re doing so great! I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  It felt amazing to see her walk off, a bounce in her step, smiling. She wasn’t cured – not by a long shot. Every day would be hard. Still, I had made a difference, and that was so gratifying, I almost felt high.

  I picked up Timothy’s shift to help Steve out. I stopped by his office on my way out the door.

  “Thanks for your help, Tyler. It’s been a lifesaver,” Steve said.

  “No problem. Got any leads on a replacement for Timothy?” I asked.

  “I talked to a couple of guys today, and one girl. I should have somebody by the end of the week.” He looked me up and down. “Listen, what’s up with you?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You seem…I don’t know. Different. You got a new squeeze or something?” He chuckled, but I knew he was digging. He always said he lived half his sex life vicariously through my escapades.

  “No way, you know me. I don’t do much repeat business. Have a good one. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I nodded and headed out of the gym.

  My phone buzzed. It was Jeremy.

  JEREMY: Good seeing you this wknd. In the city. Beer?

  ME: Sure. The royal in 20?

  JEREMY: I’ll be there

  I didn’t especially feel like going out, but Jeremy’s job was in Jersey, and he lived there, too. I hadn’t seen him in months before the wedding.

  The place was pretty packed for a Tuesday night. A couple got up and left a high-top up front near a window, so I snagged it. Jeremy showed up and we ordered a couple of beers.

  “I was at our corporate offices today. It’s annual review time,” he said, taking a drink of his beer. “Dude, I still can’t believe you didn’t nail that blonde at the wedding.”

  “I know, I know. I can’t believe it either,” I said, shaking my head.

  “You’re not going soft on me, are you? Please say it ain’t so! First Shane – I can’t lose you to the dark side too.” He laughed.

  “No, nothing like that. I thought I might have something else going, but it’s proving more complicated than I thought.” It wasn’t entirely a lie.

  Jeremy was looking past me. I turned around and a couple of girls a few tables down had caught his attention. One was flirting with him pretty hard. She held up her glass, then wagged her finger back and forth between us and them, and he nodded.

  “Dude, they’re coming over!” he said.

  Jeremy was a decent looking guy, and had hooked up with some really pretty women, but he was still young enough to always be surprised when a woman was willing to talk to him.

  We talked to the girls for a while. I had another beer, and the girls had a couple more cocktails. The redhead was into Jeremy, and it was pretty clear she w
as trying to ditch her friend so she could go home with him.

  That left me with the dark-haired girl. She was pretty and exotic. She told me her name was Mela. Her friend gave her a nudge, and she slid her hand low around my back, and leaned in. “So, Tyler, do you have a place around here?”

  “Not too far,” I replied, playing it a little cool. I still wasn’t sure if I was up for it.

  She leaned in close to my ear, and whispered, “That’s cool. I thought you might want to get out of here and find out what your dick looks like in my mouth.”

  Sold! I grinned at her. “Sounds like a good time.”

  I went to the bathroom to wash the beer stench off my hands, and when I came back out, we all left the bar. I’d only had a couple, so I was good to drive. I took Mela, and Jeremy took the redhead.

  It was late when Mela and I got back to the apartment, and Grayce was already in bed. I had mixed feelings about that. I didn’t want to make things awkward with my new roommate, but part of me wanted her to know she was missing out.

  Walking into the building, Mela seemed a little sloppier than I had noticed at the bar. In the elevator, she had been hanging all over me, tugging at my shirt, kissing my neck, and rubbing my dick through my jeans.

  “Take it easy, sweetheart, we’re almost there,” I’d said.

  Once we were in my room, she sat on my bed and peeled off her blouse. She had a good body, and I was already hard from the groping in the elevator. I pulled my shirt off over my head.

  “Fuck, you’re hot!” She giggled.

  “So are you,” I responded.

  I sat on the bed and she straddled me, grinding against my throbbing cock. She wasn’t the kind of girl I’d go out with normally, but she was warm, and eager, and I needed this. We were making out, and when I kissed her neck, she let out a little shriek.

  “Keep it down, sweetheart, my roommate’s asleep,” I said.

  I my teeth across her nipple through the lacy fabric of her bra. “Oh, fuck yeah,” she moaned. “Fuck me, Tyler! I want you to fuck me!”

  She was still being louder than I wanted. I’d have to put her face-down so she could scream into the pillow.

  “Let me grab something.” I picked her up off of my lap and laid her down on the bed, walking into the bathroom for a condom. They were in one of the boxes I hadn’t yet unpacked and had shoved under the sink.

  When I returned with the condom, Mela was on her back, on my bed. I climbed in bed next to her and started to kiss her neck, then I realized she was out cold. Fuck, how much did she drink?

  I texted Jeremy.

  ME: Dude, is your girl still there

  JEREMY: Just about to leave

  ME: If I pay for an uber can she come get her friend?

  JEREMY: What’s up?

  ME: She passed out

  JEREMY: Must’ve been the shots

  ME: SHOTS?

  JEREMY: Yeah she had two while you were in bathroom

  ME: Fuck. Can red come?

  JEREMY: Yeah she says she’ll come

  I pulled up the app and sent the Uber to Jeremy’s. In about twenty-five minutes, it was pulling up. I had changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants, and I’d gotten Mela dressed. I couldn’t wake her up completely, so I ended up throwing her over my shoulder and taking her down to the car. She was small, but someone who has passed out is always a dead weight, so it was a good thing I was in shape.

  Her friend thanked me. I handed the driver a twenty and told him to take them on to the friend’s place.

  I took a shower when I got back to my room, and yanked one off. I let out a groan as I finished, partly from the release, and partly out of annoyance. I dried off and went to bed, more frustrated than I had been before the night had started.

  The next morning, I walked in the kitchen to find Grayce putting coffee in her travel mug. She had on a gray suit with a skirt, and a blue top that makes her eyes look supernatural. Fuck, she was stunning.

  “Good morning,” I said, grabbing a mug from the cabinet, and turning to the coffee machine.

  “Good morn—” She stopped as she looked up at me.

  I had sort of forgotten I wasn’t dressed, but I didn’t have anything to hide, and from the look on her face, I didn’t have anything to be ashamed of, either.

  “You’re naked,” she said.

  “Apparently so,” I said, taking a sip from my coffee as I stood opposite her at the kitchen island.

  “Y-you can’t be naked,” she stammered.

  “I think I am demonstrating that I can, in fact, be naked.”

  “You can’t walk around like that.” Her face and neck were bright red, and her eyes were blinking so fast it made her eyelashes flutter like butterfly wings. It was fucking adorable.

  “And if your friend is still here, she can’t be walking around naked, either. And I certainly won’t have you…you know…all over our apartment. I mean, we both live here. You can confine that sort of thing to your own room.” Her demeanor was shifting from embarrassed to pissed.

  “Sorry about that,” I said. “Didn’t mean to disturb you. But my friend is gone,” I replied, enjoying the idea that she was a little jealous. Maybe she was starting to reconsider what she was missing out on.

  I leaned back against the sink, so she could get the full view. I had never seen anyone try so hard to look and not look at something at the same time. “And don’t worry, I wouldn’t fuck someone in the kitchen. That’s unhygienic.” I smiled at her.

  She opened her mouth, but words seemed to fail her.

  “Unless you’re saying that’s a requirement for you? In which case, I can be flexible.” I circled the island and stepped around her. “For you, Grayce, I could be incredibly flexible.”

  I wasn’t touching her, but I could definitely tell she was turned on. Her breathing was hard, she was pursing her lips a little, and at the edges of her jacket, her nipples were straining against her bra through the thin fabric of her blouse.

  “Have a great day at work, gorgeous,” I said as I walked out of the kitchen. I could feel her eyes on my backside. I had Lavender Girl all hot and bothered. Good to know that she saw something she liked.

  Chapter 13

  Grayce

  I mean, he really had some nerve, I thought as I drove to the office. Who just walked around naked like that? We were practically strangers. If I hadn’t already been pissed that he had brought some strange girl home in the middle of the night, I was definitely mad that he was strutting around our apartment bare-ass naked.

  Holy shit, that body, though. Tyler had a handsome face and a killer smile. He was tall and had a muscular build. He had just the type of broad shoulders I had always loved on a man – the kind Carter wouldn’t have if he spent ten hours a day at the gym. But seeing Tyler naked—completely naked—was another proposition entirely.

  If I thought it was hard to concentrate around him while imagining his lips on me after that kiss, it was definitely going to be worse after having seen that huge cock. The very thought of it made my mouth water.

  When I walked into the office, Ella was on the phone, and her back was turned to me. “Uh-huh,” I heard her say with a smile in her voice. “Yes, I agree that’s a very good idea,” she continued.

  It sounded like a social call, but I couldn’t think who she’d be talking to on the office line.

  She saw me and spun around, sitting upright. “Yes, sir!” She was a little too enthusiastic in her tone, and I looked at her with confusion. “Yes, I’ll put you down for then. Thank you. We will see you then.”

  “Who in the world was that?” I asked.

  “Oh, that was Mr. Jensen. He’d like to see you this afternoon about some property acquisitions he’s considering. I put him down for three o’clock,” she replied with a forced smile.

  I walked into my office to get started for the day. Ella came in a few minutes later and found me in a bit of a daze.

  I hurriedly started typing on my keyboard. “Sorry, very b
usy – what is it?”

  “Grayce, your laptop isn’t even docked,” she said, picking it up from the corner of my desk. “Try again.”

  “I’ve had a very…confusing morning.” I replied.

  “Okay, first, back up. Did you and Tyler make out last night?”

  “No! Of course not! I set him straight on that. I told him that he shouldn’t have kissed me, and it couldn’t happen again.” As I said it, I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.

  “Of course, you would say that,” she rolled her eyes at me. “You are allowed to have a life, you know? But oh, no! Queen of the buzzkills!”

  I gave her an annoyed look.

  She sighed. “Okay, so you blew your chance to fuck that delicious, godlike man. At least tell me the kiss was as amazing as it looked?”

  “Shit,” I replied. “It was—I mean—” I couldn’t even finish my sentence thinking about it.

  “Oh, girl! You are fucked!”

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “Ella, that kiss was better than any orgasm I ever had with Carter. And that’s not the half of it.”

  “Go on.”

  “Well, last night, he brought home some girl.” I shook my head, and my jaw clenched just thinking about it.

  “Ooh, ouch! But to be fair, I mean, if you aren’t going to take advantage of what you’ve got right there under your own roof… I mean, he’s gorgeous and single. It was bound to happen.” She shrugged.

  “I know. I know! It’s just that…I mean, having a stranger in my house, in the middle of the night…and that’s not the worst part.” I closed my eyes and steeled myself to deal with her schoolgirl reaction. “This morning, he walked into the kitchen, naked – as in, completely naked – while I was making my coffee.”

  “Please, in the name of all that is holy, tell me you got a picture?”

  “Be serious, Ella! I mean, I can’t have him just strutting around like that.”

  “Right, right, terrible, awful, got it. So anyway, what was it like? You know, it?”

  “It matched the rest of him. Spec-fucking-tacular.” I shook my head.

  “Well, I know what you’re going to do, probably nothing. But I know what I’d do if it was me renting a room to a world-class bod like that.” She shook her head and walked out to answer the phone.