Stay With Me (10 page)

With a gruff laugh, she replied, “Oh, yeah. She’s good at talking me out of stuff, even if I don’t need her to.” Her smile faded some as she continued. “She’s done a ton more stuff than I have. I envy her in a way.”

“How so?” I truly wanted to learn more about Kilyn. She had a bit of a mysterious air about her.

Stopping at a light, I looked over at her. She was staring straight ahead. “She’s been horseback riding. I haven’t, even though I’d love to. Oh, yeah, and she’s been on a Ferris wheel. That’s something I’ve never had a chance to do.”

“Really? You’ve never been on a Ferris wheel?”

“Nope,” she said with a chuckle. “I’ve never even been to a carnival, which really makes me sad.”

I clutched my chest and sucked in a breath of air. “How? That’s like a staple of every childhood.”

Her smile faded before she looked away. “Well, I didn’t have a normal childhood.”

The pain in her voice bothered me and I couldn’t explain why. “Do your parents live around here?”

Turning her head, she slowly blew out a deep breath. “No. They don’t.”

I wasn’t sure if I should push her for more of an answer or not. I quickly decided I should.

“Do you not talk to them anymore?”

Her chin trembled before she plastered on a fake-ass grin. “My parents died in an accident when I was fourteen.”

My heart dropped. “Shit. I’m so sorry, Kilyn. I wouldn’t have pushed if I had known.”

With a shrug, she gave me a wink. “How would you have known?” She looked straight ahead and pointed to a building. “That’s me. You can pull up and I’ll jump out.”

I was pissed at myself for feeling the way I was. A part of me was disappointed she wasn’t asking me up, but the other part of me was breathing a sigh of relief.

“Will you be okay walking up on your own?”

She narrowed her eyes and gave me a look I couldn’t read. “I mean, I can walk you up if you want?”

With a breathtaking smile, she opened the door and got out. “Nah, Dave the doorman will make sure I get in okay.”

The relief I felt knowing she would be okay surprised me. “Hey!” I shouted before she shut the door. “Are you off tomorrow?”

Leaning in, she flashed me a sultry look. “Why? You want to go salsa dancing? I bet you can do that as well.”

My cheeks almost burned, I was smiling so big. “I can, but that’s not what I was going to ask. There’s a storm blowing in later this weekend, but I thought maybe we could head up to the cabin earlier in the day so you can take a look at it.”

“That’s right, me going up to your bachelor pad in the mountains was part of the deal wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was. So what do you say?”

Pulling her lip between her teeth, she studied me for a few moments.

“I think tomorrow will work. What time?”

There was no way I could ignore the mixed emotions I was having. No doubt I was excited to spend more time with Kilyn, but I was also feeling tremendous guilt at the same time.

“Ten too early for you?”

Taking a step back, she scrunched her nose up in an adorable way. “Puh-lease. I’ll already be back from the gym and ready to go.”

Putting my car in drive, I nodded. “Ten it is then.”

I couldn’t really see those beautiful green eyes of hers, but I imagined they were sparkling like they always did when she was happy or excited. “Night, Thano.”

“Good night, Kilyn.”

She shut the car door and walked into her building, not once turning to look back at me.

I drove off trying to decide if I was bothered by that or not.

B
Y THE TIME
I walked out of my kickboxing class, I was covered in sweat. All I wanted to do was get home, shower, and get ready for this trip up into the mountains with Thano.

Pressing my lips together, I tried like hell to keep the stupid bubbly feelings of excitement down. This was new for me. This whole fluttering in my chest and my stomach dipping like I was driving fast down a road and hit a dip. Of course, I’d never met a guy like Thano either. The way he looked at me, talked to me, held me in his arms like I was something very special to him.

My fingers moved to my lips; I swore they still tingled from his kiss last night. After I had gone up to my apartment, I lay awake in bed and cursed myself for not inviting him up. I didn’t want this to be just another fuck buddy type of thing. If I was going to let my walls down, I wanted it to be different.

I shook my head and closed my eyes. Who was I kidding? I’d never fully let my walls down, but maybe, just maybe with Thano I could try.

“Jesus, that is the look of a girl in love.”

Snapping my head up, I stared at the girl standing in front of me. What was her name again? She didn’t have her nametag on and when I went to look, it appeared I was checking out her fake-ass boobs.

“No, it is not a look of someone in love,” I snapped back.

Wiggling her eyebrows, she replied, “You got lucky last night then?”

I let out a fake laugh. “I wish.”

Another girl ran up and practically attacked the nameless big-breasted receptionist. “Oh my God, Ann! There he is! The guy who left you that morning!”

“Where?” Ann looked as she lifted up on her toes. Her eyes widened as she gasped, “What is he doing here? Don’t tell me he is a member here now.”

Now I was intrigued. “What is who doing here?” I asked. If she was going to pry into my sex life, I was prying into hers.

“This dick I met awhile back. I guess to him I was nothing more than another woman to spend the night with.” Her eyes turned dark as if remembering that night. “Asshole has no idea what he missed out on.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. What did she expect to get from a guy who only hooked up with her for sex? “Actually, I only came up to get next week’s schedule. Do you have it?”

Ann kept her eyes focused on who I assumed was the dick who poked and ran. She reached for a schedule and handed it to me. “He’s coming this way.”

“Stay strong, Ann,” the other girl said.

Turning to leave, I ran smack into a familiar chest.

“Now I’m beginning to wonder if you’re not the one stalking me, ladybug.”

My eyes widened while I stood there frozen in place.

Thano.

My mouth went dry as I took him in. His white T-shirt was soaked with sweat and I could totally see every single line of his muscles beneath it.

Yummy.

This was insane. How many times were we going to run into each other? What was life trying to tell me?

“You work out here?”

He smiled that brilliant smile that melted my panties right off. How in the hell was I going to be able to survive this little trip with him when all I dreamt about was him on top of me. Or me on top of him. Oh, from behind I bet would be nice.

I shook my head to clear my wayward thoughts.

“Today is the first day I’ve tried out this new gym. Gus told me about it.”

He looked over my shoulder and frowned when he saw Ann.

My chest felt like a heavy weight was on it as I quickly figured out whom Ann was talking about. Shutting my eyes, I cursed.

Damn it. I knew he was too good to be true. He was a player. Hooking up with women at clubs and then having sex. I should have known.

“You probably don’t remember who I am, do you?” Ann said with sarcasm dripping off every single word.

Thano gave her a smile, not the kind he gave me though. “I do. Your name is Ann.”

“Wow, I’m impressed you took the time to remember.”

Clearing his throat, Thano looked back at me and pinched his brows together. “I need to take care of something really quickly here. I’ll still pick you up at ten, right?”

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. He was excusing me to talk to his little fuck buddy and making plans to pick me up.

Oh. Hell. No.

“Seriously? Why are all guys such dicks? Maybe you need to find someone else to decorate your fuck pad.”

Pushing past him, I headed toward the exit.

“Kilyn!” Thano called out as I picked up my pace. I would have run if I thought it wouldn’t make me look like an insane person.

If he thought I was going to be his next one-night stand, he had another think coming. And to think I let his stupid charming smile and sexy Greek words sneak in on me.

I was almost to my car when I breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t come after me.

Unlocking my car door, I opened it only to have it slammed shut again.

“Wait. Kilyn.”

Looking up at Thano, I placed my hands on my hips and shot him the dirtiest look I could muster up.

“Let me go, Thano.”

Shaking his head, he said, “No. Not until you let me explain something.”

“There’s nothing to explain. Ann managed to tell me about the dick who screwed her and left when he got what he wanted.”

His eyes narrowed and a look of anger washed over his face. “Is that so? Well, then maybe you should at least give me the same chance to tell my side of the story.”

I laughed. “Your side? You fucked her and left her the next morning. What else is there to say? I’m not that type of girl, so you’re wasting your goddamn time.”

Going to open my door, he blocked me. “Nice mouth, Kilyn. And I have plenty to say and you’re going to listen to me.”

My entire body began to shake. “I don’t do well with being told what to do, Thano.”

He pushed his hand through his still sweat-soaked hair. I hated that it made my insides pull with desire. And what I hated even more was how the authority in his voice turned me on. I vowed I’d never let another man have any sort of control over me, but something about when Thano did it was different.

“Kilyn, please let me tell you something, and if you’re still pissed at me, I’ll let you go and I’ll find someone else to decorate the cabin, I swear. But please give me a chance. I don’t want you to leave angry.”

The sadness in his eyes caused me to take a step away from my car. Crossing my arms over my chest, I let out a huff. “Fine. You have two minutes and then I’m out of here.”

He shook his head as if trying to figure out how to talk himself out of this.

“I lost someone very close to me, and for a long time I was fucked up. I hooked up with a few girls and had sex with them and it was all in fun. I always told them I wasn’t looking for anything but one night. It was the only way I could erase the pain for a bit. That and alcohol. I only did that with a few girls because the guilt drove me insane for weeks afterwards.”

My heart felt as if it were breaking, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I knew Thano loved someone so much it would break him, or if it was from knowing he had meaningless one-night stands with other women. Deep down I knew it was a little of both.

“I met Ann months ago at a club I went to with my brothers and Gus. Ann and a few of her friends ended up joining us at our table, and my brothers made sure I got pretty fucked up and kept pushing her on me. We danced a few times and I’m sure I said something that led her on. Ann offered to take me home. I was so fucked up I couldn’t even tell her my address. I had no intentions of sleeping with her; I promised myself I wasn’t going to get drunk and have sex with someone again. She ended up taking me back to her place and she said we slept together. I barely remembered it and I’m pretty sure I was so trashed I wouldn’t have been able to even have sex.”