Page 5 of Sweet Spot

“Why not though?” Sara asked.

“Is this a serious question?” I whispered furiously as I yanked on the brand new sweater and leggings taken from Tess’s guest room closet. I was relieved to hear that everything inside was set for donation – not so relieved to discover that nothing was bigger than a size four. “Shit, woman, you might need to come here and drop off a hoodie and sweats. I don’t have a bra or panties and I’m pretty sure I’m stretching everything see-through!”

“Good. Walk downstairs, do a twirl, ask him how you look. You’ll be having sex in minutes.”

“Sara – ” I snatched my phone up and jabbed it promptly off speaker. “Hi. Can I talk to my best friend, please? The one who knows that I don’t do that sort of thing? Like – ever?”

“Yes, hi, it’s me. I know you don’t do that sort of thing – in fact, I know for how long you haven’t done that sort of thing,” Sara mused. “But you said literally yesterday and the day before that you need to get back into the dating game at some point or you’ll never have a family.”

“I only said that because of the cute baby clothes at H&M!”

“And because you keep getting orders for weddings of brides who are several years younger than you.”

“Damn, woman. Take it easy.”

“I’m quoting you,” Sara laughed. “So all I’m saying is you gotta start somewhere and if there were any night to break the dry spell, wouldn’t it be tonight? You were literally dripping wet when you met this alleged babe and ten minutes later, you’re getting conveniently naked in his apartment. Also, in the three years that I’ve known you, I’ve heard you describe a man as ‘crazy hot’ like, three times tops and two of those times we were watching a movie.”

“Inception,” I murmured. “All those tailored suits.”

“Exactly. And that still averages to like, once a year,” Sara pointed out. “Yet in the past eight texts and two minutes of conversation with me you’ve dropped ‘crazy hot’ at least three times and there was also mention of…” She trailed off while undoubtedly scrolling through our texts. “‘Pecs the size of my face.’ So… maybe all this is a sign? I mean it really feels like God’s dropping some major hints tonight.”

I snorted as I went over to the mirror and stared at my reflection. “First off, leave God out of this mess. Second, getting back into the dating game and having sex with my womanizing prick of a neighbor are two very different things.”

“How do you know he’s a womanizer?”

“I looked at him, Sara. And then I heard him talk.”

“Maybe he’s not as bad as you think.”

“I think I’m going to spend the next month listening to him take a new girl home every night.”

“Because you’re a pessimist when it comes to men and relationships and all that jazz. But you are attracted to him, right?”

“Physically.” I trudged toward the bed and plopped myself down. “But I feel like I had no choice in the matter. He’s like… aggressively good-looking. I swear every single muscle on his body is an attention whore. They keep flexing and rippling when all he’s doing is standing there and crossing his arms. It’s stupid.”

“Well, it still counts,” Sara laughed. “So I say try and end this night on a positive note. I mean if he’s related to Tess, there’s gotta be a nice guy somewhere under there.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

“Well, I would. Matter of fact – I’ll bet you your cab ride that if you stick around and talk it out with him, you’ll find there’s actually a decent person under all that sexy muscle,” Sara said, ever the optimist. “It beats hating your home life for the next four weeks, right? You know I’m right.”

“Yeah, yeah, fair enough. I’m calling a car in about five, okay? See you soon,” I sighed before hanging up, taking in a deep breath and heading for the door.

But I was barely halfway down the stairs when I stifled a gasp and ducked behind the wall. Because standing at the front door with Lukas was a beautiful blonde – in a trench coat pulled open to show off her bright, red lingerie.

“What the fuck?” I whispered under my breath, stumbling backward and contorting my face over the fact that I was right. I was fucking right! I’d barely just hung up with Sara and I’d already proved the different-woman-a-night theory true.

Crouched at the top of the steps, I clasped a hand over my mouth, leaning against the wall to listen into the murmured conversation. I was expecting the filthiest of dirty talk but to my surprise, when I heard Lukas speak, his voice was steely – tinged with more than a hint of annoyance.

“I told you not to come.”

“You also told me you wouldn’t open the door if I did, yet here we are.”

“Noelle, go home.”

“But Nadia and I wanted to give you a housewarming gift. She’ll be here in a couple minutes – and she’ll be wearing your favorite little red thing. You always prefer us in matching colors, right?”

No fucking way.