Dare Me (Dare Me Series Book 1)

Dare Me (Part 35 - Colby)

I lightly knock on the door to the girl's apartment and stand with my hands in my pockets as I wait for someone to answer. My mind races with thoughts of Sam and how Sam feels about me not telling Lexi. He's right. The door swings open, vanishing my thoughts, and I see a chipper Claire. "You sure do like to come late," she says with her hair thrown up and what looks to be little spots of cream on her face. "Alexis here?" "Yep," she says, opening the door wider so I can come in. She walks toward the kitchen, and I instantly smell cake. Music sounds loud from the living room. "That smells good," I say as she whisks the bowl in front of her. "Thanks. I'm making it for Brennen's birthday."  "You've got a little on your face," I say, touching my chin. She laughs. "That's not cake. It's pimple cream." "Oh," I reply. She grins and shakes her head. "Lexi's in the shower. You can wait for her in her room or chill with me. Your choice." She continues her work. "Down the hall on the right." I don't tell her I've already been here before. The door is slightly open, so I take a peek, seeing the room is empty. I hear water running, and I notice a closed door directly across the room. My eyes scan over the moderate space. I was pretty drunk the first time I came in here, so I didn't really look at the room she sleeps in. A queen-sized bed with no frame but several colorful pillows and a bohemian style bedspread. A rustic white chest of drawers rests directly across with a few clothes sticking out the tops, preventing the drawers to close all the way. There's a vanity to my left with girly shit on it and two windows, one with a small A/C unit and the other with opened blinds. I walk to the other side of the bed closer to the bathroom and take a seat, slightly feeling out of place.This room screams Lexi. I even smell her in here. As I look down at the pillows, I get a sense of jealousy that they get to sleep here beside her every night. I grab the back of my neck and roll it, trying to ease some of the stress from the past few weeks.Karen told me how badly Alexis tried to get a loan for Mugs and Books, and it only confirmed that's where she was coming from the day I picked her up in the rain and she seemed so bummed. I just couldn't let it go to a stranger. Plus, it's a great little investment. I know we don't know everything about each other just yet, but I do know I feel something strong for this girl. I'm going to have to play my cards right with this one and make her see this is a good thing. The water shuts off, and moments later the door opens. She sucks in a harsh breath of air. "Jesus, shit. You scared the hell out of me!" She holds her hand over the towel that's covering her heart and hardly anything else. "What are you doing in here?" A small smile tugs on my lips. I've never seen her like this. No makeup, soaked hair, and barely any clothes on.

Fuck. She's gorgeous.

"Claire let me in. Told me I could wait for you in here." "Well, that was nice of her," she says, slightly annoyed. I chuckle. "I thought so." She darts her eyes to me as she walks to her dresser. "You look tired. Where did you disappear to this afternoon?" I rub my face. "I had something I needed to take care of." "Care to explain?" "Not really." She looks back at me for a moment before opening her dresser drawer and then slamming it shut. Shit. "We're getting off to a great start. You and I." She holds her towel up with one hand and her clothes in the other. Water slides down her body, and I want to rip off the one thing covering her up. I look down. What am I supposed to tell her? "Wow," she says, and I look up. "You have nothing to say, huh?" "Can you just let it go?" She shakes her head. "Do I have a choice?" I swallow, and after a moment her eyes go to the ceiling. "You know you said this wasn't going to be easy, but damn. I thought we'd have a little normalcy before shit hit the fan. I mean, you bought Mugs & Books. What the fuck is that?" "Lex, you can't forget that I'm a businessman. I saw a good opportunity. That place is in a great part of town. It has good traffic, and it's made Karen a lot of money over the years." She huffs. "There's one big problem, though." "What?" "I work there," she says, like duh. She walks to the bathroom and shuts the door, but it bounces back from her shoes being in the way, leaving a small crack. I see her towel drop, and everything in me wants to keep watching, but out of respect I look away. Gage would have my balls. "Did you ever think for one second that buying the shop might make things really complicated?" she says, her voice echoing from the bathroom. "No," I respond, looking up at the ceiling fan. Jesus Christ, hurry up. "Well, you're a great businessman." Her voice is laced with sarcasm, and I can't help but roll my eyes. Typical Alexis. Smart ass and all. She continues, "I mean, if I were buying a business, I would think about things from all angles." I'm glad her mind is off of where I disappeared to this afternoon, but this isn't easy either. "I did," I reply. The door opens, and she walks out in a T-shirt and very short shorts. She's killing me. "So, you thought about everything and yet you still went through with it?" "Yes." She sighs. "Colby, I don't understand." She pulls her hair to one side and looks toward the window. A deep sadness settles on her pretty face."Lexi."Her eyes dart over to me. She studies my face, and then I see her chest fall. "I've worked hard these past few years trying to prove myself to Karen that I could maybe one day take over running Mugs and Books. Then she tells me she wants to sell it, so I think holy shit. This is my chance. I could live the American dream. Own my own business. But then you came along and stole it right from under me." I stand up. "That's not the way to look at it." "What other way is there?" I sigh and look down. This isn't how I wanted this to go. "I'd like you to run it." She shakes her head. "Do you have any idea how this all sounds? This is crazy." "Who cares," I say. "It's no one's fucking business." "I care." She points to herself and walks over to her vanity to grab a hair tie. She throws her hair up, leaving a wet mark on her shirt. Leaning against the vanity, she crosses her ankles and bites her bottom lip. I watch her closely, trying to figure out what she's thinking as her eyes go to the floor. I seriously didn't think this would go this way. "Let me buy you out," she says. I move my head back. No way. "I have half of the money already. Let me pay you the rest in payments." "No," I say, standing. She huffs and crosses her arms. "Come on, Colby. I've wanted that place for years now. And because of the sick fuck who raised me, I couldn't get a loan or else we wouldn't even be having this conversation." "Who?" I ask. She blanches. "What?" "The sick fuck who raised you. Who the hell is that?" She pushes away from the vanity and walks over to her bed to sit down. "My stepdad. He stole my social security number when I was eighteen. Got a whole bunch of credit cards and didn't pay the bill, so my credit is screwed." I feel my eyes narrow and my blood start to boil. "And why is he a sick fuck?" "He just was."  "You don't call your stepdad that for no reason. Tell me." "I'm not talking about that." I rub my chin and tilt my head as I look at her. How is this going to work? She stares back at me, clearly not backing down. She's not saying shit. One of us is going to have to give in here. Eventually. "So, what do you say?" she asks. "Are you going to let me buy you out?" I shake my head and exhale. "I think you're missing the point here. I bought the place because it was a good business deal." "I'll pay you more than what you paid. So, you'll make money." How am I supposed to tell her I like the idea of owning where she works? It keeps her close to me. If she owns it, then there are no ties. I watch as she stands up and walks close to me. My eyes move down her body, but I stay still. She gives me a look I've never seen before, and it goes straight to my cock. I jump slightly when her arms snake around my waist and she tilts her head back to gaze up at me. What the fuck is she doing? Her gray eyes shine bright, wearing down my willpower. "Pretty, please," she hardly whispers. What the hell is this? I feel her fingertips lightly rub my shirt. Her close proximity and innocent act make me forget why I'd deny her anything, and before I can think straight, I hear myself say, "Okay." I've never paid attention to anyone's smile before, but hers knocks the air from my lungs. Moving back, she stretches her arm out. I already miss her touch. "Let's shake on it." I smirk. "I'll get a contract written up, but I don't want to shake your hand." Her face falls.