She hoped customer service would understand her mistake and maybe send her a new vibrator. How could they not have sympathy for her?
Casey groaned, then ended the call, and tossed the phone on the bed. Maybe J. Campbell hadn’t picked up his mail.
Maybe she could orchestrate a low-level mission impossible, break into his mailbox, and retrieve the parcel before he noticed it.
Casey rummaged through her closet for a black hoodie and beanie.
The pounding on her front door made her scream.
With no intention to answer the door, Casey ran to the peephole in her bra and panties. Her gasp was audible. The face in the peephole was a contorted, but still sexy version of J. Freaking. Campbell.
And he was smiling.
No.
He was smirking.
He got the package.
He had opened the package.
Illegal as it was, they both knew she wouldn’t call the FBI to make a report.
It was official. She was going to die of utter humiliation.
Chapter Five
Jason
“Casey?”
Jason knocked on the door again. He knew she was standing there. Her shadow moved in the gap under the door. He heard her breathing.
Goddamn, the walls in this place were pathetic considering the price of his rent.
“Yes.”
“Hey, babe. I have your mail.”
More silence. “Um. Can you just leave it in the hallway?”
He chuckled to himself. “I wouldn’t want someone to steal it.”
“Oh. That’s thoughtful, actually.”
He stared at the door. Still unopened. Wondered what she was thinking. If her face was bright pink. Brighter than her sex toy.
“I’m not a bad guy. Or a psycho. I’m a business owner. Illustrated Ink down on Fortieth and Main? I call my grandmother every Sunday. Help little old ladies across the street.”
He was near desperate to see those eyes. It had become an obsession over the last few weeks since she had first moved in. He was guessing light eyes with her sexy auburn hair and milky skin.
“Will you just wait until I dress?”
It took everything in Jason’s power not to groan at the image that flashed in his mind.
Jason cleared his throat, so he didn’t sound like a prepubescent boy. “Of course.” He didn’t work tonight. Yeah, the guys were going to ride, but he was willing to cancel for this. He could wait a few minutes for the woman to dress. It would make undressing her just that much sweeter.
The door swung open.
His idea of dressed differed vastly from hers. Jason noticed her legs first under the stretched-out hem of an oversized cable knit sweater. It just skimmed her thighs.
God, if she lifted her arms just slightly, he would be able to see her panties. If she was wearing any.
Her feet were bare, toes painted cherry red. All that blank canvas. His fingers itched at his sides to sketch something that would enhance her smooth skin. She was gorgeous as she was, but inked, damn, she would be perfect.
“Um. Hi?”
His eyes darted to hers. Pale green, almost clear, like sea glass, wide and locked onto his, behind those goddamn sexy glasses.
“Hi.” He winked. Gave her that sideways smirk he was famous for and her cheeks flamed brighter.
“May I?” Jason said the words, only as a formality, because he had already stepped inside the apartment.
He looked around, surprised at how spacious and airy it seemed. That could be attested to the open curtains as opposed to the black sheets he had all but nailed over his windows.
“I like your place.”
He would admit that was a cheesy line. But it worked as an icebreaker. He spent a lot of time in women’s apartments, and those were usually the only four words that made it out of his mouth before talking was eclipsed by incredible sex.
“Isn’t it the same as yours?” Casey tugged on the hem of her sweater.
“Mirrored. I think we share a bedroom wall.” He let that thought simmer as he walked around, looked for photos of boyfriends, swiped one of her business cards. He could do discreet. But then he saw her open laptop on the coffee table. Porn Place.
He chuckled to himself. That explained the orgies in her bedroom when he didn’t see anyone coming or going. There was a lot of coming, though.
The laptop slammed closed, and Casey set her hand on his shoulder. “Please leave.”
Jason held up both hands. “I’m sorry. I was snooping. You’re just so elusive. I want to get to know you.”
She shook her head, her soft hair swished around her shoulders. “No. Just, god, this is so embarrassing.” Her palms were pressed to his chest and she kept pushing him, so he walked backwards to the door. “Can we forget this ever happened?”
“Sorry, no.” Jason stepped back into the hallway. “You’re unforgettable.”
The door slammed in his face.
He chuckled. This girl was perfection.
He had to have her.
Chapter Six
Casey
“He still has my parcel,” Casey whined.
“Why didn’t you ask for it when he was in your living room?”
“He saw my laptop screen. Knows I watch more porn than a teenaged boy.” She sighed. “And because he is so sexy, I couldn’t think straight.”
Jessa snorted. “So…why didn’t you do anything about it? Forget the toy, you were mere inches away from the real thing.”
Casey paced back across the room for the twentieth time in the last five minutes. “This is all your fault, anyway, Jess.” She pitched her voice up high and nasal. “Get a vibrator. You’re a modern, independent woman in a big city. You deserve to have a little fun.”
Jessa could not seem to stop laughing. “I do not sound like that.”
“Jess. Not the point, here.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll order you a new one. My treat. Clearly, your neighbor wants to keep yours.” Jessa snickered. “Can you wait two days? Or should I pay extra for speedy delivery?”
There was a knock at the door. “Jess. I’m going to call you back. My food’s here.”
“Okay, Case. Hang in there. Orgasms are on the way.”
Casey groaned and then tossed the phone on the couch and grabbed her wallet. “Coming.”
Chinese food solved everything. If anyone deserved deep fried wontons, it was her.
But it wasn’t the delivery man at the door. Oh, no. It was Jason. Black t-shirt stretched over his broad chest, arms sleeved in beautiful tattoos. Hair like Elvis, lip curled up…like Elvis.
“Hi. I thought you were…”
“Johnny Anaconda from Porn Place? Nope. Sorry to disappoint. Just Jason from next door.”
He held out an empty measuring cup. “I actually came over to borrow a cup of sugar.”
Casey laughed. She knew she was blushing, but there was nothing she could do about that. “Sugar?”
“Sure.”
“I’m sorry about before. Shoving you out the door.”
He let himself inside. For the second time that night. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t make a good first impression.”
“So, you’re going to bake me a cake with my sugar? Apologize?”