Signed, Sealed... I'm Yours

Unexpected

I never imagined spending time with her beyond the physical, let alone falling asleep with her in my arms. As I slowly opened my eyes, I felt gentle taps on my cheek and was greeted by the bright morning light pouring in through the living room window. The weight of her body against mine prompted me to instinctively tighten my grip around her, but she began to pull away.

"Uh..." she cleared her throat tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes bounced everywhere until they cast a look to the side that had me wiping the sleep out of my eyes when I heard another voice speak up.

"Your life never fails to amuse me, Anita," the woman chuckled turning on her heels to take a seat across from us. Anita stood up and the loss of contact from her skin had me sitting up growing flush at the way her eyes observed me.

"If I had known you'd show up unannounced to my place, I wouldn't have given you that key, Brooke," Anita grumbled, crossing her arms with attitude. Her flaring nostrils and narrowed eyes were almost cute, but they weren't aimed at me. Yet Brooke, the woman in question, seemed unfazed. In fact, she appeared amused.

"And miss out on seeing this?" Brooke gestured between us. "I should do it more often. Nice meeting you, by the way." She smiled at me, and I awkwardly waved in return. Before I could say anything, Anita stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Brooke.

"Go to the kitchen," she ordered, pointing a manicured finger. Brooke groaned and obeyed, heading toward it.

"Fine, I'll let you have a private moment, but don't get carried away. We have to leave for the hospi— I mean, head out," she rushed out, her regret at the slip-up fleeting. I caught it, and though I couldn't see Anita's face, I sensed she'd given Brooke a warning look.

Once alone, Anita glanced at me and said, "You have to go." As she moved to walk past me, I grabbed her oversized shirt, causing her to look down at me questioningly.

I wanted to ask.

I really wanted to know why she had to go to the hospital, but I knew she wouldn't say even if I pressed. And frankly, the less I knew, the easier it would be.

Swallowing hard, I looked away and simply said, "Be careful not to put too much pressure on your foot."

A faint smile touched her lips, and her arms unfolded, grabbing one of my hands and tugging me to stand. Even though parting ways was inevitable, disappointment still lingered.

Last night had been unexpectedly enjoyable. The conversation flowed easily, and it was nice to have someone to vent about work to. The food was an added bonus, and I wasted no time finishing my plate, almost tempted to lick it clean.

Waiting by the door, I felt her eyes on me as I grabbed my keys and wallet, stuffing them into my pocket. Turning to face her, the question about the hospital still burned inside me. But she wasn't my woman.

"I'll see you soon," I said.

She nodded and opened the door, leaning against it. "Yeah, I'll be in touch."

Stepping outside, I paused and leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. Though small, it set me ablaze, but it wasn't the time for that. Reluctantly pulling away, she cupped the back of my head, drawing me into another kiss.

Groaning as she bit my bottom lip, her tongue danced with mine. Unfortunately, the kiss ended too soon, and I had to force myself out of her apartment, despite wanting to stay, especially feeling so well-rested.

***

"You seem less grumpy; did you and the stripper make up?" Neil lightly bumped my shoulder.

Glaring at him, I replied, "Her name's Anita."

"My bad, don't snap my head off."

Ignoring his comment my eyes moved around the area taking in the lush dark red colour and mirrors on some parts of the wall. I had been hesitant to leave Neil in charge of putting most things together considering his mother and I loaned him some of the money, but I was impressed at the work he had done.

Neil may make numerous blunders but when he really put his mind to it, he could get anything done. "I can tell you approve," he smirked.

"It looks good."

"I just hope anyone who comes in thinks so, but I promise you won't regret investing in me," his face suddenly grew serious, and I could only wonder what was going on in his mind. This club may be a side project for me, but for Neil this was the first step in emancipating himself.

"You okay?"

He shrugged looking down to shuffle lightly on his feet, "I'm okay on some days, others not so much... I just hope this will work out, I mean I'm used to fucking up but I don't want to affect my mom and especially you because I do often feel like a bad friend."

"Whoa..." I chuckled placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "it's normal to be scared. But no matter the outcome I'm proud of what you've done to this place and you're not a bad friend. You helped me a lot after what happened with Julianne and if it wasn't for you, I would have been pretty depressed."

He smiled, but I could see the corners of his mouth waver as he mumbled, "Yeah, you and Julianne... it was quite a situation, but I didn't do much.

"You did, trust me," I assured, "and as much as I don't like clubs I'm going to be there at the grand opening."

He studied me for a moment, I could sense he wanted to say something else. Looking away he ran a hand down his face and wore a bashful smile moving away from me to gesture to the upper level, "The VIP section will be up there of course and I decided to add poles in some of the VIP private rooms for that extra entertainment."

I shook my head wearing a grin as I followed closely behind him, "Why am I not surprised."