ChapterFourteen
Bianca’s headphones vibrated with an intensity that shook her whole body. She didn’t even know what she was listening to. She’d selected a playlist of the loudest, heaviest electronic music she could find and was letting it blast in her ears.
What was she trying to drown out? The emptiness of her apartment? Her frustration at being locked up and not knowing why?
Her feelings for Sam?
She was taking her sister’s advice. She was giving Sam space and respecting her boundaries. However, she was starting to wonder if Parker was the best person to take relationship advice from.
Maybe I should have asked Scarlett for advice instead.But considering her oldest sister spent years engaged to a man she didn’t love, she probably wasn’t the best option, either.
Spike settled by her feet, which were tucked up on the couch to one side of her. As she reached across to scratch him on the head, she noticed the light flashing above her door, indicating that someone had pressed the buzzer. She hadn’t heard it over her music.
She stretched her legs out and settled deeper into the couch. Anyone ringing her door at this time of night had to be related to her. And she wasn’t interested in talking to any of her family right now. Not her mother, not her sisters, not…
Her bodyguard?
Bianca yanked her headphones off, the beat of the music continuing to pound against the carpet as Sam stepped through the door. The sudden movement prompted Spike to spring from Bianca’s lap, claws digging into her legs as he made his escape to the safety of the guest bathroom.
“What the hell?” Bianca said. “Did you get a copy of my key?”
Sam crossed her arms, waiting for Bianca to gather herself. She turned the music off on her phone and grabbed the blanket off the back of her couch to cover herself up. She was wearing nothing but a thin tank top and baggy sweatpants. She’d been planning to crawl into bed. While it wasn’t yet late, she didn’t have much else to do.
Except get into bed and play with my vibrator. And here was the woman Bianca had planned to fantasize about while doing that. It didn’t help that Sam was wearing that sinfully sexy leather jacket of hers.
Sam brushed something off her collar, bringing more unneeded attention to how it cut her figure. “I don’t have a copy of your key. I picked the lock. Don’t worry, you’re getting new locks soon, because those are ridiculously easy to pick.”
“Why are you breaking into my apartment?” Bianca’s exasperation was tempered by the fact that a tall and sexy stranger had just let herself into her apartment. Wasn’t that the exact kind of thing she fantasized about while alone in her bed? It was hot as hell when it was only in her head. But in real life? When the ‘intruder’ was as hot and cold and crazy as Sam?
Not so much.
“We need to talk,” Sam said.
“Oh, great.” The blanket slipped from Bianca’s torso, but she didn’t bother replacing it. Did it matter if Sam could probably see her nipples through the white fabric? She already knows what my pussy feels like. “You want to talk. That’s why you broke into my apartment.”
“You weren’t answering the door,” Sam said. “For all I knew, you snuck out again.”
“How the hell am I supposed to sneak out when you post one of your big burly goons outside my door every time you leave me alone?”
Sam grabbed a chair from along the living room wall and set it in front of Bianca’s couch before taking a seat on it. “You’ve found a way before.”
“Well, I’m here. If you’re determined to wreck my night, you can’t, because I’m not doing anything anyway.”
Sam studied Bianca’s face, concern in her eyes. “Is everything all right with you? You’ve been acting strange lately.”
Bianca scoffed. “I’m acting strange? You’re the one who has been acting like a robot for the past week.” She crossed her arms and looked away with a huff. “Ever since you fingered me in the parking garage. Sheesh, you know how to make a girl feel special, don’t you?”
Was that a wince? “I’m sorry. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Bianca looked Sam up and down, but not to check her out. Okay, maybe a little. It was difficult to look at this prime example of womanhood and not drool.
“Look,” Sam began solemnly. “What happened last week can’t happen again.”
Bianca rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I get it.”
“I mean it, Bianca. I don’t think you understand how serious I am about this.”
“Oh, I understand. I got the message loud and clear. You’re not interested. You want to keep things professional? Be my guest. Treat me like a damned child you’re trying to keep in line, and I’ll treat you like a giant pain in my ass. It’s obviously the dynamic we excel at the most. You being my mom’s paranoid lackey and me, the damsel in constant distress.”