Resisting the Billionaire Collection (57 page)

It was mortifying.

"What are you doing here, MJ?" He said
coldly.

"I'm, uh, your roommate--"

"Oh great, another one of his strays?" He
rolled his eyes.

Another one? Strays?

"Look, don't worry about it. Take whatever
you need for breakfast. I won't get in your way. I had a late night
last night, so I'm going to bed now. Lock the door on your way out
when you’re done." He turned and left.

Nice meeting you
too.
She thought.
Christ, I’d better tell him.
She
took a deep breath, bit the bullet, and followed him into the
living room. She could hear Blackjack meowing somewhere.

Terrific, she would have to explain him
too.

"Uh, excuse me. Sorry, I didn't get your
name." She said, still conscious of how inappropriately dressed she
was and how she must appear to Mr. High-Powered Roommate. No wonder
the place was so amazing; obviously, he was the one with the money
to afford it.

"What do you need my name for?" He said
sarcastically. "I think you got what you came for." He looked
derisively up and down at the t-shirt and her naked legs. She felt
as though he had stripped her naked. "Looking for seconds now as
well?"

Her jaw dropped.

"What? You asshole. I don't have to take
that from you."

"Why not?" He smirked at her. "You're in my
apartment fixing to make breakfast from my refrigerator. If you
don't like it, you don't have to be here."

"I'm a guest." she said indignantly, "Of
Adam's. He lives here too and you have no right to speak to me that
way."

"Adam lives here alright, but not for much
longer. The kid owes me money big time and he's late on his rent
again. If he can clear his debts tonight -- which I very much doubt
-- then you are welcome to stay. If he shows up broke -- a much
more likely scenario -- then you can help him pack and leave. Now
if you will excuse me."

MJ stood speechless as the arrogant,
well-dressed hottie turned and left, his smug grin still
intact.

Shit, shit, shit.
She thought.
The first
nice guy I meet in years and he has to be a loser. What is it about
me? I'm just a damn loser magnet.

"By the way," he called back, "do you know
anything about that damn cat?"

"Cat? You mean Blackjack?" The meowing had
kept up throughout their whole exchange.

"How the hell would I know what the furball
is called? If it's yours, can you damn well take care of it before
I call the pound to have it taken away?"

"Don't do that. Please. I'll take care of
him."

"Keep him in Adam's room. I don't want cat
hairs anywhere else in this apartment. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly."

She scooted across the living room to let
the cat in. When she opened the front door he came inside and she
stooped to pick him up. As she stood up again, she noticed that Mr.
High Powered, whatever his name was, had stopped to watch her. He
still had the smug grin on his face.

God damn this
t-shirt.
She had given him another
eyeful.

"Did you enjoy that?" She said.

"Very much. Keep the cat in his room." He
smiled and turned away.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

When Adam arrived home it was after 6:00. It had
been a day from hell trying to get everything done on his crappy
new bike and then explaining to people why their package was
missing or destroyed. Then at the end of it all, he had barely
enough money to buy takeout food, ask for some treats for his new
buddy Blackjack, and head home. His boss left it hanging over his
head as to whether he had a job next week or not. 

Who gives a damn? I've got the most
beautiful girl in the world waiting for me at home.

He hoped. He hadn't heard from her all
day.

Suddenly he was terrified that she might
have left without telling him. When he let himself in, he didn't
see her. He began to panic. He hurried to his bedroom and then
stopped. She might be in there, might be sleeping, or might be
changing clothes. The last thought made him gulp and then
smile. 

He knocked softly and then opened the
bedroom door. 

Thank you
God
. There she was, smiling and happy to
see him. 

MJ was filled with relief to see him, but
she tried to hide it. Even if he was just another charming loser,
he was the only smiling friendly face she knew in this huge city of
over eight million souls.

"You're still here." He said as he carefully
opened the door.

Her face changed and his
heart sank. He had said the wrong thing.
Idiot!

"I'm sorry, you're right," She said. "I said
only one day and--"

"No not at all. I'm glad, really. If you
weren't here, I would have to eat this all alone." He produced the
pile of takeaway food and could see that his pretty housemate was
starving. 

Looking at the food, MJ realized how hungry
she was. With nothing to do and nowhere to go and unable to leave
Blackjack alone with Adam's angry housemate, she had spent the
whole day in his room. She drifted in and out of sleep, just
running to the bathroom now and then or to the kitchen for
water.

Then he realized what she was wearing: one
of his big t-shirts and almost nothing else. He swallowed hard.
Having her around was going to be way better than he had
imagined.

And way harder too, particularly in the
trouser department.

"That t-shirt looks way better on you than
it ever did on me." He said.

She hadn't even changed out of his t-shirt
the whole day.

"I'm sorry." She said, "I just..." She had
nothing to say but in gentlemanly fashion he didn't let her go any
further.

"That's two apologies too many already. The
shirt is yours if you want it. I haven't come home to something as
beautiful as this since as long as I can remember. The takeout is
Thai and Chinese. Why don't we move to the living room and divide
this up before it gets cold. How about Blackjack? Has he eaten
today?"

He even remembered Blackjack. Oh my God, why
couldn't he just have a half-decent job?

"He's eaten a little but we were kind of
afraid to leave the room."

"Afraid to leave the room? Why?"

"Well, your roommate. I don't even know his
name--"

His heart nearly stopped. Had she already
met him? He was supposed to be in DC for another twenty-four
hours.

"Blake? What about him?"

"He didn't seem happy to see me and he said
he hates cat hair, so Blackjack had to stay here. I couldn't leave
him alone in here in this new environment all day, so that's why we
kind of didn't come out."

Hates cats? What the
hell?
Something was up here.

Adam laughed out loud. It was an easy, sexy
laugh that made MJ tingle just to hear it. She had to consciously
resist. It was everything that she wasn't but that she secretly
longed to have. She worried about everything, tried to control
everything in her life. If only she could just let go of things
like he did.

"Don't worry about old Blake; his bark is
worse than his bite -- way worse. He's a sweetheart deep down and
he loves cats. I know that for a fact. Come on, let's go."

He looked at her beautiful legs again. MJ
was petite but somehow they looked like the longest, sexiest legs
in the world. He had to take in a sharp breath to control
himself.

"Maybe you should put something on though,
much as it pains me to see those gorgeous legs covered up, I want
to be able to look you in the eyes while speaking to you."

MJ tried to brush past the compliments that
seemed to roll continuously off Adam’s tongue.

"What about the rent though? He says you're
behind and he wants it today, tonight, or..." 

Adam was genuinely surprised now. Sure, he
was behind in the rent but he always got it to him in the end and
it had never been an issue before. Was this all about him having MJ
here in the apartment?

"Or what?" He asked, concerned.

"Well, or you and me and Blackjack are all
out of here."

He laughed again. Blake was behaving like a
spoiled little bitch or a toddler throwing his toys out of the
crib. What was with all this secret admirer stuff anyway? Why not
just play the girl? Ask her out like a man for God's sake? It's
wasn’t like Blake was exactly shy or anything. Hell, the guy was
tall, confident, good-looking, and rich. If he wanted MJ, he was
welcome to make his play. Adam would take him on fair and
square.

"Come on." He said. "Don't worry about a
thing. You guys must be starving."

He watched MJ put pants on
in a dream. He never imagined that watching a girl put her
trousers
on
could
be so erotic, but he was glad when she was covered up. It would
help him to focus on the food instead of her sweet, sexy
ass. 

He led her to the kitchen and then set up to
chow down. He served the treats he had brought for his buddy
Blackjack onto some of Blake's fine bone china and
then settled down to eat. He suddenly realized how hungry he
was. He hadn't eaten since the day before. He had made MJ breakfast
but had not eaten himself. Then he had worked through lunch to
clear the backlog while he fantasized about his beautiful
red-haired angel all day long.

Now he had a hole in his stomach like the
Mid-Atlantic Trench. 

Nevertheless, he tried to slow down. He was
in the presence of a lady and couldn't help but to be captivated by
the quiet and delicate way she consumed her food. Sure she was
hungry, but he almost couldn't take his eyes off her sweet mouth as
she chewed her meal. God, she was hot. Even with every movement,
every tiny gesture, even when she ate takeout.

The muscles of his shoulders bunched and
rippled as he reached for noodles with his chopsticks. MJ watched
as he wolfed down large portions of chicken. He was definitely a
guy. Adam was probably out on his bike all day long, working up a
huge hunger. If the food had made MJ realize how hungry she was,
the proximity of Adam's toned, muscular body made her realize how
long it had been since she shared her bed with a man. She watched
him in silence, fascinated.

Adam lifted his gaze to her eyes and
suddenly he wanted to scatter everything off the table and take her
right then and there in the spectacular kitchen, the New York
skyline behind them. The way she was looking at him, maybe this was
the right time...

"That looks good." A husky male voice
said.

Shit. Right on time.

Blake was looking at them eat from doorway
to the kitchen. He was wearing just a dressing gown that was
loosely tied and opened down to his waist. MJ continued eating in
silence as she ogled his rippling, tanned chest and broad
shoulders. Finally her eyes rose to meet his.

"Did you enjoy that?" He said.

What the hell is he
talking about?
Adam was lost.

"It's delicious." She said, referring to her
Thai red curry. "Want some?"

Are they flirting?
A jolt of raw jealousy tore through Adam, his
coiled body bunched and flexed. He had never felt anything like it
before. He had never felt possessive about women. 

Blake ignored her response.

"Glad to see you got paid, Adam. Where's the
money you owe me and where's the rent for this month?"

Asshole. Come on.

"Sit down Blake. Come on, have some of this.
It's delicious."

"I don't want takeout food, Adam. I'm about
to go out for dinner. I want the money you owe me or I want you out
of here."

Adam but his chopsticks down.

"Blake, come on man. You know I'm good for
it, what is this? We have company tonight. Don't spoil the evening
just because you had a shitty day at the office. Let me introduce
you--"

"We already know each other. And you have
company, not me. Now answer me, do you have the $19,000 you owe me
or not?"

Adam looked down, shot a glance to MJ and
then back to Blake.

"You know I don't."

"Do you have any part of the $19,000 that
you can give me today?"

"No, I don't."

"How can you not... what the hell? Adam,
what the hell is wrong with you? Today is Friday, payday. You just
got home. It's..." he checked his watch, "..6:30? There’s no way
you could have blown your entire week’s wages already. Unless…don’t
tell me you got fired again."

"Don't worry Blake. Come on dude, I'll be
back out on the streets on Monday, hustling, making money, just
like always."

"No, not this time. I want you out of
here."

You arrogant prick. Come on, let's at least
fight fair here.

Adam turned to MJ and spoke in a low voice.
"MJ, would you mind just giving us a moment? I need to straighten
things out with Blake here."

"Of course not." She took a plate of
miniature spring rolls, gathered up Blackjack and headed to the
bedroom.

As soon as the door closed, Blake unleashed
his rage.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?
What the hell is she doing here and what the hell is she doing in
your bedroom? I want you and her out of here now."

"It's not what you think, buddy--"

"Don't ‘buddy’ me. The only reason you're
still standing there is because of who you are and because, goddamn
it, call me an idiot, but I still trust you. So spill it. What is
she doing here? You’ve got one minute to make some sense of this to
me or I’ll be serving you guys supper in the Mission house
tonight."

"She was evicted, so I offered her a place
to stay. What else could I do?"

Blake stared at him, wanting to pound him
into the floor.