Tonight I won’t be catching a glimpse of the beauty across the street. Restlessness eats at me. I won’t be able to sleep, so I head to my bedroom to change my clothes.
I’ll hit the gym to work off the tension I feel. Hopefully, by the time I come home, Dexie will be in her bed. Alone.
Chapter 18
Dexie
I see Rocco as soon as I round the corner.
He’s standing in front of the bodega that occupies the ground floor of his building. His attention is glued to the phone in his hand. He must respond to hundreds of texts and take dozens of calls a day from the people he’s partnered with.
The man has invested in several successful start-ups the past few years. He also knows how to play poker like a champ. That makes perfect sense since he held the title of world champion two years in a row.
My sudden wealth of knowledge about Rocco Jones is directly related to the fact that I spent last night at Sophia’s apartment. My air conditioner ground to a halt right after I got out of the bathtub.
I thought I could handle the heat, but that lasted all of an hour before I took Sophia up on her offer to bunk at her place.
Once she was tucked into her bed with her handsome husband, I searched out Rocco’s name on the browser on my phone.
I barely slept a wink.
I don’t see how I can get past Rocco without him noticing me, so I take a proactive approach and clear my throat. “Good morning.”
He turns at the sound of my voice and rakes me from head-to-toe.
We may both be dressed in white T-shirts and jeans, but he’d win the who wore it better battle between the two of us.
His shoulders are broad and his biceps are impressive.
I look down at the sidewalk to stop myself from staring.
“Dexie,” he growls my name out as he closes the short distance between us.
How can his voice send a jolt of desire through me?
“I tried calling you.” He waves his phone in the air. “It went straight to voicemail.”
That’s because I used up all its battery in my mission to learn everything I possibly could about him.
“The battery died.” I scratch the back of my head. “I didn’t want to wake my friend to ask for a charger.”
“Friend?” He cocks a dark brow. “You stayed over at a friend’s place last night?”
Considering the fact that it’s not even eight a.m. and I have a serious case of bedhead, he shouldn’t be surprised.
“My air conditioning wasn’t working,” I offer.
I don’t owe him any explanations. Besides, he must have noticed that I wasn’t in my apartment last night when he got home from having dinner with his cousin.
His gaze skims the front of my shirt, lingering on my breasts.
Shit. I’m not wearing a bra.
In my rush to get home, I stuffed my bra into my bag and raced out of Sophia’s apartment. My T-shirt isn’t see-through, but my nipples are hard at the moment, courtesy of Rocco’s muscular body and those blue eyes.
“It’s going to be another hot one today.” I follow those words with an awkward laugh and a fan of my hand in front of my face. “I need to get up to my place to get ready for work.”
“You work in marketing at Matiz Cosmetics.”