Opposites Attract (The Locklaine Boys Book 2) (7 page)

“Devon!” Delilah yelled, but it didn’t have any effect on the woman beside me.

“Richard Locklaine,” I offered, shaking her hand. “
Not
to be confused with my brother…” I shot a look at Delilah. “You know, the one marrying Navie?”

She shuffled from foot to foot and pushed her glasses back up her nose. “Uh… I’ll just go get you that ice.”

Despite myself, the corner of my mouth curled up in a smirk. The woman was a total whack-job, but she was still cute, especially when she was flustered.

“Nice to meet you, Richard.”

I dropped her hand. “Nice to put a face to the women trying to kill me with sleep deprivation,” I said dryly. Delilah returned from the kitchen and smacked a bag of frozen peas down on my face. “Ow! Damn it, woman!”

“Sorry,” she shrugged, not looking sorry at all before turning to her friend. “Dev, can I talk to you for a second… in the kitchen?”

Devon stood from the couch. “Excuse me. We’re just going to go whisper about you where you can’t hear. Be right back.”

I would have laughed had I not been worried I was in the apartment of two women who had somehow managed to escape their padded cells at the psych hospital. As I tried to ignore the whispers coming from the kitchen, I stared around the living room, noticing it had a warm, cozy feel to it. It was the exact same floor plan as mine, but where my place felt cold and unlived in, theirs was to complete opposite. The built-ins on either side of the brick fire place were crammed with books and picture frames. The walls were covered in art work. The furniture, while not new, was still in good shape and had obviously been bought for the soul purpose of comfort. For two people from the loony bin, they’d managed to make the apartment feel pretty inviting. Maybe that was how they captured their prey, lulling them into a false sense of comfort before they attacked.

I was just starting to consider making a run for it when something from the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked down into black, beady little eyes and let out a curse.

“Fuck me!” I shouted, jumping from the couch and shaking the piss from my foot. As I glared down at the demon dog/rat, I could have sworn the little shit smiled, happy to have gotten me twice in one day.

There was no doubt about it.

I was officially having the day from hell.

I WASN’T GOING TO
think about his chest.

I wasn’t going to think about his… sexy, muscular, well-tanned, naked chest.

I
wasn’t
!

“For the love of Buddha, Del,” I whispered to myself as I paced the length of the kitchen, “stop picturing him naked.
Stop it
!”

“What have I told you about talking to yourself?” Devon said as she walked into the kitchen.

I pointed at her accusingly. “I know what you’re doing.”

Her eyebrows shot up as she innocently asked, “What did
I
do? All I’ve done is introduce myself to the guy!”

“I know that look on your face. It’s your I’m-gonna-meddle-in-shit-that-isn’t-my-business face.

She looked off to the side, unable to meet my eyes as she muttered, “I know not of what you speak.”

“Liar!” I smacked her in the arm. “You know
exactly
what I’m talking about. It’s the same face you got when you decided to tell Tyler Litner that I’d had a crush on him since the fifth grade. And you remember how well
that
worked out,” I finished sarcastically.

“How the hell was I supposed to know he was gay?” she whisper-yelled. “I was just trying to help you out! You’d been pining after the guy for five freaking years!”

I stared at her with wide, bewildered eyes, my mouth hanging open in shock. “You twisted his arm behind his back and refused to let go until he agreed to take me to the Homecoming dance! You basically forced the poor kid to come out of the closet in front of the entire lunch room. He was traumatized! He had to be homeschooled for the remainder of high school.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and shot me a killing glare. “And you’re
welcome
for that, by the way. Way I look at it, I saved you. What girl wants to tie herself to a guy who’s so weak a simple wrestling move has him almost pissing his pants in fear?”

Squeezing my eyes closed, I reached up to push my glasses up the bridge of my nose before rubbing at the pain forming in my temples. “I feel like we’ve gotten way off topic here.”

Devon’s head fell back on a groan. “Gah, why does that always happen with us?”

“Because we’re crazy,” I responded drily, then suddenly remembered why I’d dragged her into the kitchen in the first place. “Oh! I remember now,” I snapped before shoving my index finger in her face. “You’re not going to tell Richard that he and I had a one-night stand three months ago.”

“What? Why? Come on! Now that you know you’re not a harlot that slept with a soon-to-be-engaged man, you should totally get back on the horse… and ride it until you fall off in a sweaty mess,” she added with a lascivious grin.

“No!” I barked as quietly as I could before slapping her arm again. “And that’s for calling me a harlot.”

Devon stepped closer and lowered her voice even further. “I think you’re being ridiculous, Del. You said it yourself, that guy in there is a freaking sex God. And he just so happens to be your neighbor. How’s that for a coincidence? Shit like that doesn’t happen every day. I think you should jump at the chance of hooking up again. I mean… did you
see
his chest?”

My best friend was a horrible influence. A terrible, slutty, horrible influence.

“He doesn’t even remember me,” I hissed. “There’s no way in hell I’m sleeping with him again. Think about it, Dev. He obviously sleeps around so much we’ve all become nothing more than nameless, faceless vaginas to him. It’s Brant all over again, and I’m not doing it.”

“You’re not giving the guy a chance. You know as well as I do that the way you looked that night compared to
right now
… it’s night and day, babe.”

I gave my head a resolute shake. “Not happening. I’m a magnet for douchebags as it is, I’d be an idiot to go down that road. So just keep your mouth shut, okay?” When she didn’t respond, I pushed again. “
Okaaay?
”

She huffed out a curse. “Fine. I won’t say anything. But let the record show I think you’re a dumbass.”

“Duly noted. Now promise.”

“I already said I wouldn’t tell!” She stomped her foot.

“And I know you better than that. I want to hear you promise you’ll keep your mouth shut about it. Now say it.”

“I promise,” she said with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “I won’t say anything about all the hot, acrobatic sex you guys had that one night. Cross my heart and hope to die. Happy now?”

I smiled and patted her on the head. “Yep.” Then, before I could say another word, Richard bellowed a very angry “
Fuck me
!” from the living room, so we took off running.

“Slim Shady, no! Bad dog! Bad, bad dog!”

Shady, having finished emptying his bladder on Richard’s bare foot, simply sauntered back over to his doggy bed and laid back down.

A choking sound from behind me drew my attention away from my menace of a dog. I turned to find Devon with her hand over her mouth, trying and failing to hide her laughter at what had just happened.

I shot her a glare before turning back to Richard. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He’s totally housebroken.”

Richard balanced himself on the arm of the sofa, keeping the pee-covered foot raised in the air. “Can I get a towel or something?”

“On it!” Devon shouted as she scurried out of the room.

“You named your dog Slim Shady?” Richard asked.

I struggled to keep my eyes from trailing down past his neck. The man shouldn’t be allowed to leave his apartment without a shirt. It was seriously hazardous to women’s health.

“Uh… y-yeah,” I stuttered, suddenly very aware of the fact that we were alone in a room together — save for Shady who currently seemed to be staring Richard down and finding him lacking. I shifted from foot to foot and studied the rug on the floor, unable to shake the feeling of awkwardness. How were you supposed to act around someone you’d had sex with who didn’t remember he’d seen every inch of you naked? “I went through a… phase.”

His deep, raspy laugh was like melted chocolate, making my mouth water.
Stupid hormones
! “You’re not the type of woman I’d have expected to be an Eminem fan. But I guess that explains the early morning wakeup call I’ve been forced to live through this past week.”

“It’s a good song!” I declared with a frown, a bitter taste in my mouth at the fact he was making fun of me. “And exactly what type of woman do you think I am, huh?” I asked, my hands squeezing into tight fists as I propped them on my hips. “A nerd? A dork? A weirdo? So dorks aren’t allowed to like Eminem? Is that what you’re saying? Huh?”

“Whoa.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Easy, tiger. That’s not what I meant at all.”

I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest. “Oh yeah? Then what do you mean?”

“Uh…” Devon’s voice sound from the mouth of the hallway. “So, here’s a towel.” She tossed it in Richard’s general direction and began backing away. “I’ll just leave you two to… fight it out.” Then she was gone. The traitor.

“I meant,” Richard spoke, pulling my gaze back to him where he sat on the couch, wiping the dog pee from his foot, “I was just surprised that a woman who appreciated the Struts would also like Eminem. No offense, I swear.”

“Oh.” My hands lowered and my stiff posture sagged a bit as the fight drained out of me, leaving me feeling even more ridiculous than before. “Well… great. Okay then.”

Once he finished cleaning his foot, he dropped the towel onto the small puddle Shady had left on the floor and took a couple steps in my direction. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

I couldn’t help it, I really couldn’t. I snorted again. It was just a reflex I had whenever I was in awkward situations. “I’d say that’s a bit of an understatement.” He chuckled again and that warm, melty feeling hit me in the chest again.

“What do you say we start over, huh?” He closed the distance between us and extended his hand. “Hi. I’m Richard Locklaine. Not to be confused with my brother, Rowan. It’s nice to meet you.”

I stared at his outstretched palm and fought the smile that was tugging at my lips. His hand was warm against mine as his long fingers wrapped around my smaller ones. “Hi, Richard. I’m Delilah Northcutt.” One side of my mouth tilted up in a little smirk as I looked into those glacier blue eyes of his. “I believe I’m doing the flowers for your brother’s wedding.”

He grinned in return, and I felt that smile all the way too my bones. “What a coincidence!” he continued with a teasing tone. God, why did he have to be so good looking? And, for the love of baby kittens, why couldn’t he have remembered our night together?!

Silence stretched between us for several seconds before the heat of his hand and the intensity in his eyes became too much. I eventually pulled my hand from his, wrapping my fingers tightly together in front of me as I struggled to look anywhere but directly at him.

“Are you sure I don’t know you?” he asked, startling me. “I could’ve sworn I’ve met you before.”

My eyes went wide as I wrung my hands together. “Oh… uh… nope, never met before. I’m sure I would have remembered.” I let out a nervous laugh, followed by… you guessed it, another snort.
Buddha kill me, please
.

A loud choking cough sounded from the hallway, alerting us both to the fact that Devon had been eavesdropping on the whole conversation. I was going to murder her in her sleep. Or better yet, shave off her eyebrows.

“She okay?” Richard asked, humor laced through his words.

“Yep. She just never learned to chew her food properly. Been a choking hazard her whole life. It’s embarrassing to go to restaurants with her, really.”

Devon faked sneezed from the hallway, and I could have sworn I heard the word
bitch
in there.

“Well.” I clapped.
Why, sweet mother of sugar, did I just clap
? “Sorry for the… disruption.” I pointed in the direction of my bedroom. “I should… um… let you get back to your… screaming lady friend.”