My heart was beating so hard that I could see my hand moving up and down on my chest.
Silently he reached for my arm and gently pulled it away from my chest, eyes trained on my lips as he pulled me out of bed and over to the pile of clothes that sat on the black trunk at the end of the bed. "You sleep too much." He laughed. "Let's eat some breakfast and run over to your apartment." Without waiting for a response, he walked out of the bedroom, leaving me alone in the confines of my muddled thoughts.
Batting my eyelids lazily, I sauntered down the hallway, stepping into the dim kitchen to see Jace standing in front of the stove with a spatula in his right hand. I knew that Jace cooked, but seeing him in action was quite sexy.
His taut muscles significantly relaxed as he peered over his left shoulder to find me standing in the doorway. I sighed heavily and looked over at the clock. "Why did…" I stopped when I noticed the time. "Oh shit," I squeaked. "It's already eleven o’clock."
He quickly set my cooked breakfast on a plate and turned around, walking over to the kitchen table and setting it down. He looked over at the clock and smirked. "Yeah, that's what it looks like." He pointed at the chair next to the food and then walked over to fix himself his own plate. "Did I wake you up too early? I would've let you sleep longer, but I don't think that your landlord is going to be so patient with you moving your stuff." He paused to grab a fork. "That's of course, if you agree to."
I sat down and forked my eggs while eyeing his back. The gray shirt he wore was snug and revealing. Suddenly, I found my eyes trailing further down his body. It was beginning to be a bad habit of mine.
Finally, I tore my eyes away and shook my head, clasping my clammy palms together. ”That's not it," I breathed. "It's just that I went to bed so early last night and I actually slept more than five hours." I looked up to see him striding over to the table and pulling out the chair next to me. "I haven't been able to sleep much for as long as I can remember..."
He looked up warily from his steaming plate of breakfast and leaned back in his chair. He looked cool and collected. "Maybe you just needed to have me close by to sleep." He smirked playfully before shoving his fork in his mouth and chewing slowly. "Seriously though," he whispered. "You're welcome to rent out my extra room. It's already yours if you ask me." His husky voice sent a shiver up my spine.
I nervously ran my hand through my mess of hair and looked down at my plate. I knew that if I looked into the emerald of his eyes again then I would lose control and agree to his crazy offer. "I can't. I don't even know you and I couldn't-"
"It's yours, Avery," he cut me off. "You can't live out on the streets. You saw what happened to you last night. I won't let that happen again." He shoved one last forkful of food into his mouth and walked over to the sink. "I'll go and get dressed and then meet you at the car in fifteen minutes."
I exhaled, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as his words sank in. Jace was right. It was either stay with him or
risk death out on the streets.
Fifteen minutes later, we were inside Jace's black Mercedes and heading over to my old apartment. His hands gripped the steering wheel as the car sailed through the empty streets, nearing my old home with each second that passed. The closer that we got, the more nervous that I became.
"I hope that we have enough room in here to grab what you need." He looked over at me as I played with my old ring nervously. "Nice ring."
I quickly slapped his leg and pointed at the road. "Do you mind watching the road?" I snapped, suddenly nervous that Jace would get us in a crash.
He looked down at his leg with narrowed eyes and let out an amused laugh. "What, don't you trust me?"
I hugged my arms to my chest and bit the bottom of my lip. "Please just watch the road," I said firmly. "I hardly even know you. Besides, I learned long ago never to trust anyone. Everyone will hurt you in the end..." My voice trailed off as I leaned further into my seat. The softness of the leather made me comfortable and suddenly tired again, as if I hadn't gotten much sleep.
The smile instantly faded from his face and his gaze set on the road. "That's not the way to live," he breathed. "We'll have to find a way to change that."
I sat in silence as I began to play with my old ring again, gently tugging it on and off as I held back the burst of emotions running through my mind. I felt torn. I knew that staying at my place wasn’t an option but yet I didn’t even know Jace. How could I be so stupid to agree to his offer?
"Are we close?" Jace questioned, snapping me out of my painful thoughts.
I jerked my head up just in time to see us passing my apartment. The building was old, rotted and covered in moss. I wrinkled my nose. "It's right there. Go back just a little bit and pull over in that parking lot." I pointed over to the tiny parking lot and leaned back into the plush leather of the seat.
Jace pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car as I pursed my lips. "Good luck with that," he murmured, narrowing his eyes as he peered through the windshield and over at the bedraggled man fisting the door.
My heartless landlord stood outside the apartment door, pounding on it as his nostrils flared. "I know you're in there, girl. Your ass doesn't get naked until at least ten o’clock!" he screamed in rage. “Don’t make me open it myself.” He was always very persistent. I hated that.
I smiled quickly, appreciative of Jace’s help, before opening the car door and running over to the apartment door, ignoring the random faces that watched me. "I'm just here to get my stuff and then I'll be gone," I said, breathless.
He looked over at me with a gleeful smirk creasing his features. A mop of brown curls fell around his greasy, fat face. The scar on his upper lip stretched as he smiled. I always wondered how he got that scar. My guess was by someone kicking the crap out of him. He was a horrid man, and the thought had even occurred to myself on numerous occasions. "I should keep all of your-"
"Be cool," Jace interrupted. "I'm helping her grab the stuff that she wants and then you'll never see her again." I didn’t realize he had come to help me and as I stared at his impressive frame towering over the stumpy old man, I felt my heartbeat soar. I’d never had someone stand up for me before. "We'll leave with no trouble. You have my word."
My old landlord crossed his eyes and sighed in frustration as he reached for his set of keys and opened the door. "You have one hour to get your shit out." His voice sneered as he addressed me with a lecherous smile before turning around and hobbling away.
I licked my lips before stepping inside with Jace following closely at my heel. He stood there silently taking in the surroundings of the small apartment. It smelled of sweet
vanilla. Just like Jace’s place had.
"I think that we can fit most of this stuff in my car." He paced the apartment while muttering under his breath. "You don't need your bed. You can have the one at my house. You don't need that TV, it's small and outdated." He stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room. "I have a dresser, TV and bed that you can have, so I guess all that you really need are just items that you can't live without."
I ran into his back as he stopped and peeked back into my room. "Is the floor your second dresser?" He looked down at the pile of clothes from the night we had first met and grinned. He was teasing me, but I had stuff that was more important on my mind.
I pushed him out of the room and back into the living room. "I can't just let you give me everything." I threw myself onto my
worn-out couch and looked up at him as I grunted. The couch was sunken in and hurt my back. "It's too much. Plus I’m not staying long."
He rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen, grabbing an empty box. "It's easier to do it this way for the both of us." He walked back to my bedroom with me trailing behind him. "It's really not a problem."
He emptied out my dresser clumsily, throwing all of my clothes into the huge box. I looked down next to him to see him surrounded by my panties. A cocky smirk sat on his face. "Nice panties,” he winked, cocking an eyebrow as he stared at the assortment of underwear. He looked rather happy.
I ran over and knocked him out of the way. "I think that I should just take care of this." I grabbed for my panties and pushed them under my legs to hide them as I sat on the ground. "You just take that other empty box and pack up all of the bathroom stuff."
He laughed and nodded his head in agreement, turning around and walking out of the door as I tried to calm my racing heartbeat.
This person was making me crazy.
Thirty minutes later, we were done packing and pulling back into Jace's driveway. I got out of the car and started reaching for the pile of boxes when suddenly I felt Jace's hand on mine.
He looked me in the eye with an intensity that made me shiver. "Do you mind?" he questioned. "I'm the guy so I'll grab all of this stuff. I'll bring it in and let you unpack it."
I backed away from his touch and took a deep breath. He had already touched me more than what I was comfortable with and it was making my insides summersault endlessly. I turned away and smiled as I walked into his house and into the spare bedroom. Jace followed behind, arms piled high with boxes, and set them down on the floor by the dresser. He was more helpful than I expected. It was nice.
He sat on the edge of the bed and watched me as I unpacked. "Can I help you with something?" I questioned. I couldn’t understand why he was hanging around so much. I wasn’t quite use to the company. I liked being alone.
He stood up lazily and smiled at me. "Take a shower in a bit and get dressed. We're going out tonight." He walked past me and grabbed the strap of the silver dress that was in my hand.
Then he looked me in the eye. "I like that dress. I’m sure it looks nice on you." He looked at me briefly before turning away.
I stood up and threw my arms in the air in frustration. Too confused by what he had just said, I didn’t even realize that he could be flirting with me. "What do you mean we're going out?" I wasn't in any kind of shape to go out and be social. I had too much on my mind. I stared at him with confusion written all over my face.
He calmly leaned into my door and ran his hands through his hair. He looked as if he hadn't a care in the world. "Some of my friends are picking us up in a few hours and we're going out for a few drinks." He smirked confidently. "It’ll be fun. I'm a lot of fun."
I felt my cheeks flush as he ran his tongue over his lip ring. "I don't know about that. I really need to work tonight. I have no money." My voice filled with adrenaline, as I tore my eyes away.
"Who said that you need money?"
I dropped the dress to the floor and pulled a tendril of hair out of my eye. "I don't expect anything from you, Jace."
He grinned and pushed himself away from the door. "Be ready in a few hours, beautiful." Then he was gone, his footsteps echoing down the hallway as I swallowed a lump in my throat.
My mind filled with confusion at the thought of Jace thinking I was beautiful. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I bent over and picked up the dress that Jace sai
d he liked.
An hour passed as I finished unpacking the rest of my baggage in an effort to make my new home feel as personal as possible. Finally, I finished, placing down a bottle of my favorite perfume on the bedside table before turning around and wiping a bead of moisture from my forehead. Unpacking everything had made me surprisingly tired, and I knew that I needed to freshen up especially if I was meeting Jace’s friends tonight. As much as I hated the idea, he seemed set on me going and after all of his help, I owed him.
Sighing, I walked out of my room and into the bathroom with a towel in my hand. The bathroom was small but very clean with a large shower in the corner.
Brushing a strand of hair out of my eye, I walked toward it and turned the water on before undressing and hanging my towel on a peg. The shower was hot and as I washed myself, I threw my head back and sniffed the air. It smelled of Jace, causing my mind to wander.
I stepped out of the shower and reached for the fuzzy black towel, clutching it between my fingertips as I brought it to my face and exhaled in contentment. I felt so much better after freshening up, however as I opened my eyes the sight that greeted me made me feel like I needed to shower all over again.
Jace stood calmly, toothbrush in hand, by the bathroom mirror, wearing nothing but a pair of tight white boxers. His taut abdominal muscles flexed as he turned around to face me.
Squealing, I grabbed the towel and covered myself up as his gaze set on mine. "Do you mind
?”
His eyebrow twitched before he turned around again and tossed his toothbrush to the side before dropping his boxers and stepping into the shower.
I wanted to run and hide.
"We don't have a lot of time to get ready." He poked his head out of the shower and pointed to the shelf. "Can you throw me that towel?"