Red Cheeks
IRUSHED INTO THEfoyer at my best friend’s mansion block, slipping through the front door as an older lady walked out. She stopped outside under the little roof barely covering the two steps leading to the door and admired the downpour. Me? I escaped the rain about five minutes too late.
Dripping my way over to the lift, I stabbed at the call button with more force than was necessary. It was plenty cold in my thin T-shirt, tucked into a short skirt that clung to my thighs like a second skin. The cotton bra I wore was clearly the wrong choice for the occasion, since it did absolutely nothing to hide my hardened nipples. Good thing I was almost there and nobody was around to see me in my obvious state of distress.
I squeezed at the edge of my skirt while I waited for my ride to arrive, and a stream of water trickled to the grey tiles of the hallway.
Glen better have spare clothes to borrow.
I wouldn’t say no to a hot shower in her bathroom either. The idea sounded absolutely amazing, in fact. Yup, her shower had my name on it. Her reasons for calling me over ‘right now! It’s an emergency!’ could wait another ten minutes, or thirty, while I made sure I wasn’t going to go home with a sore throat or, God forbid, cystitis.
The ding of the lift was music to my soul, and I hopped on with a wet squelch, repeatedly pushing on the twelfth floor button as if that would make the doors close quicker. I hadn’t even noticed I wasn’t the only one trying to get on, and while the doors didn’t particularly slide close fast, the man stepping in behind me wasn’t quite as nimble as I had been. Oh, no, he took his time getting on, unaware of my rush and the doors closing in on him as he fumbled with the strap of his umbrella.
His surprisedoomphmade me finally drop my hand from the buttons. His eyes shot up from the impossible project in his hands and landed on me, one eyebrow quirking up. The umbrella slid halfway open once more, but he’d given up on it anyway.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, hoping to God he wasn’t going to do one of those full body checkups men tend to do, but of course I was out of luck. His gaze slid over my face, taking in the chestnut-brown hair curling up more than usual, courtesy of the rain. Then travelled down my chest, stopping for an unnerving amount of time, then finally checked out my thighs, his lips forming a rather sexy smirk.
“Sure you are.” His deep and clearly American drawl brought goosebumps to my skin. No, that was the cool breeze called upon by his strong push against the metal doors sandwiching him to give him enough space to squeeze through.
I was so dumbstruck I stood frozen in my spot as he stalked a step closer and leaned over me to get access to the floor selection buttons. A whiff of manly cologne swept over me in his unwelcome nearness, and I told myself I didn’t like the scent of it. Yeah, that’s why I was gulping it in, as if trying to memorise every aspect of its distinct smell before it dispersed. Sandalwood and something spicy. It was out of my vicinity too soon. Or not soon enough. Definitely not soon enough.
Mr. Umbrella leaned against the opposite wall from my position after he’d selected his destination, lazily staring at me with half-lidded eyes. I pinned my own stare at the faded floorboards that held stains from heaven only knows what sort of atrocities. My heartbeat strummed in my neck, and any attempt I made to swallow it down only caused the lump in my throat to tighten.
Oh god, oh god, oh god...
Counting floors in my head to get my body under control was of no use when he hummed quietly from his position. My eyes flicked to him before I could stop myself, and he grinned victoriously.
He was comfortably dry, having been protected by the umbrella. Bright green eyes studied me with interest as his short-cropped hair did nothing to hide his gaze. Scruff on his jaw indicated he should shave soon. Or not. Maybe not, it looked rather hot. He held himself with the confidence a man surviving a downpour with dry buttocks should, but his smirk unnerved me nonetheless. As if from an unspoken joke, he chuckled to himself, and I hated the deep, raspy sound of it. Shit! I hated it, right?
Heat surged through my body, and I was surprised water didn’t evaporate from my clothes in one sizzling second. It would have been possible to fry an egg on my cheeks alone. I wasn’t only wet from the rain, but also sweating, and starting to smell significantly less pleasant than my lift mate, who had decided I was the main attraction for the duration of our short ride together.
I apologised, what more did he want? To chit-chat, apparently.
“Nice weather, am I right?” Mr Umbrella mused.
Fucking lovely.
I shrugged, uncertain if he was trying to make a joke or if he truly enjoyed rainy days. Perhaps he’d moved to England just to enjoy our many sunless weeks. Those people existed, I was sure, but I did not belong to that group.
My foot began tapping away impatiently as the lift made its slow ascent. Too slow. I pursed my lips and stared at the floor again until the saving ding almost made me jump out of my skin. I pushed toward the opening doors as if there were many more people in the lift than just the two of us, and I was the only one leaving on this floor. I probably took it a notch too far, elbowing invisible people out of the way because he chuckled behind me.
“I’m pretty sure this is my floor.”
My eyes flew to the floor selection buttons in time to see number ten flicker and stop shining, while twelve was still bright as a beacon. I hadn’t even checked which floor he was going to. Of course, it was lower than mine, this building only had fourteen floors and the chances of him living on the last two were slimmer than the odds of him leaving on, lets say, the tenth floor.
Shiiiiiiiiit.
Hot. I was so hot. My head swam and my stomach did somersaults as I gingerly stepped away from the doorway giving him space to exit. Once he was off, I let out a long breath only to find him looking back at me with a smug smile.
“Nice meeting you, Red Cheeks,” he called through the now closing doors.
Oh my freaking God. That did not just happen!
