No Strings Attached Read online

  I rose to my feet and dragged my barely moving body to the bathroom. Of course, my appearance left much to be desired, but I hardly cared. I took off my clothes, tossing them to the floor and turned the water in the bath on, hoping it would help me relax at least a little. The next couple of days promised to be damn busy…

  I don’t remember the last time I passed out that fast. The moment my head touched the pillow, my mind turned off and I fell asleep in no time. Thank God, the next morning, my alarm didn’t betray me. I woke up, looked at the clock on the wall and realized that I even had time to make breakfast. Then I remembered that the apartment had been empty for weeks, and made a mental note to do some grocery shopping after work.

  I put on one of Scarlett’s shirts and went to the kitchen, hoping I would find at least some coffee there. To my great relief, there was plenty of coffee in the cupboard, so I took a cup and added some sugar, waiting for the water to boil.

  Taking a remote, I turned the TV on and immediately found my favorite music channel. Apparently, Scarlett liked it too. Dancing to one of Justine’s songs, I made coffee and was just about to taste it, when a familiar voice said behind me, “Damn, if I knew I would see you first thing in the morning, I would have shaved at least.”

  Swallowing hard, I turned around and saw Oliver, standing in the middle of the kitchen, wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist, combined with the most delighted expression ever.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, thinking frantically about my outfit that hardly covered anything.

  “I could ask you the same question,” he said, taking a step closer.

  I backed off. “What do you think you are doing?”

  “Do you mind sharing your coffee with me? It smells like heaven.” He came closer and inhaled deeply, obviously thinking not about the smell of coffee.

  “Mmm… delicious.”

  “Okay, I’m sure it was some sick joke of my friend or your precious brother, but really… How did you get in here?” I took a step aside, praying for Oliver’s towel to stay where it was now. Because for me, it looked like it would slip off of him any second.

  “My apartment is being repaired at the moment, and Scarlett was kind enough to offer me staying here.”

  “What?” Oh, God, I couldn’t believe she forgot about Oliver living here.

  “Well, she probably didn’t know I was still here, since I said I needed her place only for one week, but I didn’t like the color of the walls in my kitchen, so I had to stay here longer.” He took another cup from the cupboard and poured some freshly-made coffee for himself.

  “Now it’s your turn to tell the story,” he said, leaning against the table. “Great shirt, by the way.”

  No shit?

  “I have some problems with my place, and apparently I need to find a new one, and until then, I was going to stay here. But now, I can see that’s not really a possibility.”

  “Why? We can live here together.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, why not? There are two bedrooms here, and I didn’t even hear you coming in last night. I’m sure we can find a way to-” Slowly, his eyes slipped down my shirt and all the way down my legs and to my bare feet. “Coexist,” finally he said, hiding his devilish grin behind the cup.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I muttered, going back to my bedroom and slamming the door shut behind me. If only it would stop Oliver from laughing so hard. Damn it…

  I tried to call Scarlett, but her phone was out of the coverage area, and I guess the only thing I could do now was to get dressed and go to work, since my unexpected ‘roommate’ obviously wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Hey, Jill, could you buy some milk on the way home? We are running out of groceries.”

  I stopped half-way to the door. “If you think I’m gonna come back while you are staying here, then I would highly recommend you getting your sexy ass off the couch and doing shopping. Otherwise, you are going to die of starvation.”

  “You won’t let that happen, will you? Especially if you think my ass is sexy.” He gave me his best smile. Damn my weakness, the guy was a yummy eye-candy, and I couldn’t believe I had to play my bitch part with him, because there was no way I would fall under his spell.

  I put my bag on the coffee table, came closer to where he was sitting, put my arms on both sides of his face, leaning over him and smiled sweetly, saying, “Of course, I would never let you die, Honey.” My eyes slipped down his face and stopped at his lips that I was dying to taste. Running one hand through his messy hair and bringing our faces closer than ever, I added in a whisper, “Too bad I’m not one of your obsessed-psycho-bitches who are ready to worship the ground you walk on, otherwise, I would gladly take advantage of our… coexisting.”

  In the blink of an eye, his arms were around me and I found myself locked in his embrace, with his heart beating fast against my chest. “You don’t play with me like that, lady. Remember that saying? Oh, how does it go? That’s right… Don’t bite off more than you can chew. You’ll do best to remember that.”

  “You don’t know me well enough to say that.” I must admit, thinking clearly with a man like Oliver Altier holding you like that, was not easy. My pulse accelerated.

  “Oh yeah? Prove it,” he said, his eyes locked with mine.

  “Prove what?”

  “That I am wrong,” he said slowly, his embrace tightening with every word.

  I don’t know where I got the strength to not lose the remnants of my mind, and self-control for that matter, all of a sudden his mouth is crushing mine with his hard cock rubbing against my most sensitive parts, then I snapped back to reality and said, “I don’t need to prove anything to you. But… if you want to prove that you know how to be something other an asshole, we can try to make it work.”

  So much for my self-control, I lost my thoughts there and had the most amazing daydream ever just a second ago, being that close to him. It only made my infatuation grow. It made me wonder what it would actually be like for that fantasy to come true, to just have him kiss me right now…

  He smiled, caressing my cheek with the back of his palm.

  “You are an irresistible challenge, Jillian. I’m in, actually, I’m all in. Let’s see how long it takes you to crumble.”

  Chapter 4

  Jillian

  What the hell were you thinking?

  I had been pacing Scarlett’s office for about ten minutes already, waiting for her to arrive. After taking Anna back to our parents’ house and listening to their complaints about me getting older with every passing second and them not having any grandchildren yet, I went straight to the office, cursing the whole way there.

  I couldn’t believe I had agreed to accept Oliver’s meaningful offer. Did I really think it was possible for us to live under the same roof and stay calm? How could I possibly see him every morning wearing nothing but a towel that would hardly stay firmly around his waist and stay calm at the same time? Ugh, I couldn’t believe I was that stupid! He obviously wanted nothing but to sleep with me, and I… Well, I obviously didn’t mind that, at all. Crap…

  “Morning, Sunshine! How was your night?” Scarlett asked, entering her office just before I thought I might faint from the stress of all the thoughts and worries that were tumbling in my head.

  I slammed the door as soon as she got all the way through it, and stared furiously at her. “Did you know that Oliver is still staying at your apartment?”

  “What? Oh, God, I totally forgot about that. I thought he had already moved out, and I just haven’t thought about it recently, with all of the wedding plans and everything else my mind has just been in other places.”

  “Well, he hasn’t moved out, just so you know.”

  Judging by that small smile curving the corners of her lips, she knew that more fire was about to burst from my lips. I bet I looked like a pissed-off, fire-breathing dragon.

  “I hope it didn’t cause an aw
kward situation for you guys?”

  “What kind of situation are you talking about?” I snapped, trying really hard to keep my anger reeled in so she wouldn’t notice just how mad I was with the whole situation.

  “Like bumping into each other naked in the morning or walking in on him while he was taking a shower or-?”

  I laughed humorlessly. “That’s pretty damn close to the truth.”

  She giggled. “I bet Oliver was more than happy to demonstrate his-”

  “Uh, please save me from your sarcasm. He was not totally naked, and neither was I.”

  “But it still felt like you guys might as well have been, right? Since neither one of you were prepared for the other to be there.”

  “Well, his eyes can strip the clothes off of a woman a hell of a lot faster than his hands can!”

  “How long is he going to stay there?”

  “Who the hell knows?” I sat on the couch, crossing my arms. “Now, I need to stay there and watch him walk around your living room totally buck-naked.”

  “Sounds like you two gonna have so much fun together.”

  “You are so not helping!” I gave her a murderous glare.

  “Is there anything else I should know?” She studied me for what felt like forever.

  “No,” I said, avoiding looking at her.

  “Bullshit. I can see right through you, you know?”

  I made a helpless gesture. “Okay, fine, all right… Yes, he’s damn sexy, and I’m definitely not ready to admit that, and every time I close my eyes, I see him tearing the fucking clothes off of me, and I, well, crap… I just want it to happen, I want my fantasies involving him to come true.” I almost started crying the moment the words fell out of my mouth, like I said, I wasn’t ready to admit that I wanted him, I just went through a pretty crappy break-up with a player just like Oliver; I didn’t need any more drama in my life.

  “So, you do like him then?”

  “What? Are you out of your mind, Scarlett? He fucks everything that moves. How can I like him? Liking his body, and sexy ass are not the same as liking him as a person!” I was nearly shouting by this point, I felt so frustrated.

  “Okay.” Scarlett took a seat next to me. “Tell me, Jillian, when was the last time that you actually wanted anyone as much as you want him?”

  “Wow, hold on there, my friend. I didn’t say that I want him.”

  “Yes, you did. About thirty seconds ago. So let’s get back to the question.”

  “I don’t know, why?”

  “What about Mark?”

  “Don’t you ever remind me of that piece of crap again!”

  “Okay, forget about Mark. What about the rest of your… dates?”

  “Now, you’re making me feel like a whore. I don’t sleep around, you know? Dating guys does not necessarily mean that I have sex with them.”

  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry if what I said made you feel dirty. But seriously, Jill… You go on a date every twenty four hours or so, and it’s almost always with a different man.”

  “Again, that doesn’t mean that I sleep with all of them! For the record, I have only had few different sex partners.”

  “I know. And I remember all of their names, because you made sure that I knew every small detail about every single one of them, starting from the size of their penises, to the aftershave they used. But all I’m saying is that you of all people know how meaningless a relationship can be.”

  “Well thanks, Scar. Now, I really do feel like a whore.”

  “God, you seem to be totally missing my point here!”

  “Why don’t you be more specific then?”

  “You have always said that the best way to handle a relationship that you are not sure about is to set the rules before the game even begins. So, why don’t you just follow your own advice with Oliver?” She gave me a meaningful stare, stating that I knew exactly what she was talking about and I better not pretend I didn’t. I did, I remembered saying exactly that to her, but giving advice and taking advice, even if it was your own, were two completely different things.

  I looked at her, swallowing. I didn’t know what to say. For the first time ever, I was speechless. I wasn’t ready for any games, not with Oliver or anyone else for that matter.

  “Because I’m sure that with Oliver, it wouldn’t be just a game, it would be a disaster,” I said and sighed heavily.

  “Why?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? He’s a fucking heart breaker! And I’m not thrilled with the idea of picking up the pieces of my heart once he is finished shattering it. I don’t even know what a broken heart is! You know I have never cried because of a man, not even when I found out the truth about Mark. Deep down, I was more than happy that I figured out the truth before my feelings for him turned into incurable obsession.”

  “It’s because you have never loved any of the men you have been with.”

  “What? Not true!”

  “It is true, Darling. Because if you loved any of them, you wouldn’t be changing them as much as one changes their underwear. You have always been the one who broke the boys’ hearts, maybe that’s why you are now so afraid of the karma that might come back your way?”

  Not that I didn’t appreciate Scarlett’s honesty, but somehow, her words made me think about a lot.

  “Maybe you are right,” I finally said, rising to my feet. “Anyway, it’s time to get to work.”

  “Hey, Jill, you are not offended because of what I said, are you?”

  “Of course, I’m not. I actually think I needed to hear that.”

  “Call me if you need me.”

  “Sure,” I smiled briefly at her, and went to my working place.

  The moment I was about to check on Dominick’s schedule for the day, my cell’s screen flashed with a new text message.

  “Some sugar and spices would be nice too.”

  What? The number was hidden, but I was still sure that I knew the name of the sender.

  “Fuck off, Oliver. I have work to do.”

  “I know, but I was talking about the grocery shopping that you promised to do.”

  “I didn’t promise you anything!”

  “We promised each other to be nice, so do me a favor and be a nice girl, and comply with my small wish. I’m making dinner and I need sugar and spices.”

  “Who would have thought that you knew what to do in the kitchen apart from using its table as your personal playground?”

  “My my… So you have thought about it too? And here I thought you were going to play that irresistible, Snow Queen part of yours a little longer than this.”

  What a pig…“Fine, will do!” I hit ‘sent’ and got back to my work, trying really hard not to think about the images his words made flash in my mind. The bastard obviously knew how to be not just a pain in the ass, but a distraction as well.

  About an hour later, I got a call from Human Resources, saying they had found a candidate for the post of Dominick’s secretary. They also told me that I could come and sign my new contract for the post of the Department of International Affairs manager.

  Oliver and his sick imagination were forgotten in no time. I couldn’t believe I was actually getting the job I had been dreaming about for ages! I even wanted to run and kiss Dominick for making that dream of mine come true, but then I changed my mind, thinking that our hard-to-be-called-friendship relationship didn’t include kissing or anything of the sort.

  I smiled happily and even thanked God for being so generous. Maybe he couldn’t remember all those Sundays I spent in bed and not at church? I had to wonder.

  But there was one more person who I definitely needed to thank. I rushed to Scarlett’s office, burst through the door without knocking and hugged her tight.

  “You are my bestest friend ever! Thank you for everything, I would have never got this job without you!”

  “Okay, okay, don’t kill me with your happiness.” She laughed. “Did you say thanks to Dom as well?”

  �
�I didn’t have time. Besides, he hasn’t come in yet.”

  “Oh, right. But don’t forget to do it. I’m sure he will be happy to hear that he has finally managed to make you smile, instead of just given you more reasons to sneer at him.”

  “I’m so excited now, I don’t even mind kissing his ass for one more day. But tomorrow-” I sat in a chair, closing my eyes dreamily. “Tomorrow I’m gonna have my own office and a secretary, and your beloved Dominick will be calling me asking if I have a minute to stop by his office. Isn’t it the best thing that could have ever happened to me?” We both laughed.

  “I’m glad you have finally managed to switch your thoughts from having sex with Oliver to your work.”

  And just like that, my happiness was gone. “Couldn’t you give me at least a few more seconds to enjoy my euphoria?” I looked accusingly at Scarlett.

  “Well, sooner or later, or to be exact tonight, you still have to come down to earth and admit that you want him.”

  “Oh, God, I am really beginning to hate you Scar. For real.”

  “Don’t be a scratch cat, go home and celebrate your promotion with one of the most gorgeous and irresistible bastards on this planet.”

  “I can’t believe you are serious.”

  “Well, believe it or not, I’m sure your resistance won’t last long. Knowing Oliver, I can even bet that by the end of this week at the most, you won’t be able to think about anything but fucking the hell out of him. Especially if he adds even more fuel to your already burning vagina and do his best teasing you.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “Since when have you started using my language to slap me in the face?”

  “Stop trying to fool yourself, Sweetie. Better go slap someone’s sexy ass instead.”

  “My goodness, dating Dominick has turned you into one sex-obsessed slut.”

  She bit her lower lip, looking mysteriously at me.

  “What?” I asked, trying to understand what was hidden behind that smirk of hers.