Whole Latte Love (The Jewells) Page 3
“No pressure, Dylan Jewell,” Carina taunted. “It’s only one night. I’ll pay for the limo and have you back before you turn into a pumpkin.”
His mouth went dry. Women were always finagling him for a date, but this one treated it like a business deal. She hadn’t fluttered a single eyelash, nor giggled inanely and she definitely hadn’t fallen at his feet, hoping he’d notice her.
She. Simply. Negotiated.
He cleared his throat. “Don’t you have a real boyfriend? Someone as attractive as you doesn’t need a fake date.”
“No time for niceties. Boyfriends require too much attention.” She scrolled through her smartphone. “Do we have a deal? I absolutely have to be moved in by tomorrow because work starts Monday.”
“Yeah, sure. But I’m not promising the date.” He couldn’t think of a worse way to spend an evening than with the stuffed shirts at an investment bank, although if she offered benefits …
She wagged the phone at him. “How about an incentive? No overnight guests until you agree to the date. It’s at the end of summer, so you’re going to be dry a long time. A win-win situation.”
He clucked his tongue. “Like I didn’t notice you win either way?”
“I always win.” She tucked her purse under her arm and turned toward the door. “I think we’re done. Thank you for the entertainment.”
Sweat bloomed over his forehead. He desperately needed a roommate, especially one who would pay. And he never allowed any woman to spend the night anyway, so her rules weren’t going to cramp his style one bit.
“Wait, you win. I accept your rules.” He sounded like an idiot, even to himself.
“Great. I’ll move in tonight. Better cancel your booty call before I return.” She sashayed to the door and opened it.
“Only if you take her place.”
Her smile, the type that could take a guy a lifetime to figure out, spread slowly across her face, then froze. “Better hide the family jewels, because I play for keeps.”
Chapter 3
“Thanks for picking me up from the hotel.” Carina dragged two heavy suitcases into the lobby. “I’m only moving in with Dylan because you know him and can vouch for him. What if we don’t get along?”
“It’ll be okay.” Sheila hit the ‘up’ button for the elevator. “You’ll love him.”
“I don’t know. He tried to hit on me, but I told him I don’t play that way.” The suitcases twisted and turned independently of each other. Carina wiggled one across the river rock floor, then returned to wrestle the one with the stuck wheel.
“He hits on anything with a pair of boobs,” Sheila said to the opening elevator doors. “Oh, look, here he is.”
Dylan tipped a nonexistent hat, his eyes twinkling, and reached for the bags.
“I can get them myself.” Carina yanked the closest suitcase and bounced it into the elevator.
Sheila rolled her eyes and handed the duffle she was carrying to Dylan. “Wouldn’t want to waste those muscles.”
He slung it effortlessly over his broad shoulders and held the door open. He seemed amused as Sheila and Carina pushed and pulled the remaining instrument of luggage torture into the elevator.
“Overweight charge?” Dylan fingered the luggage tag. “That’s almost the price of another ticket.”
“My company’s reimbursing me.” Carina caught a whiff of his sandalwood and soapy scent. If only he was less manly, more pencil-necked, maybe, just maybe, she’d survive this summer. Fixed-charge coverage ratio equals earnings before interest and taxes plus lease payments divided by …
Sheila laughed at a joke Dylan whispered in her ear. When Carina caught her eye, she gave an innocent baby face look as if they hadn’t been talking about her. Carina ran her tongue over her front teeth, checking for any residue from the salad she’d had for dinner.
The doors opened on the sixth floor. Dylan yanked the overweight suitcase out of the elevator and waited for Carina to exit with the remaining one.
Her luggage wheels ground to a stop in the gap between the doors’ floor tracks. She gave it a hard tug, freeing the stuck wheel and ran it over his sandaled foot.
Dylan’s breath sucked in and he hopped back, wiggling his toes.
“Sorry, sorry.” Carina fluttered her hands. “Is anything broken?”
“Don’t think so.” Dylan took a few limping steps with Sheila holding onto his arm.
Carina followed them after. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
Dylan flashed a lopsided grin. “It’s okay. Women run over me all the time.”
Ding. Pitter patter, splat. She’d better get her heart rate under control. Making people feel liked came naturally for a charming barista. It was part of his job. Didn’t mean he was flirting with her. Deep breath, deep breath.
Dylan picked up the two suitcases, the duffle bag still slung across his shoulders. “Want to go out for a drink after you’re settled?”
“Good idea,” Sheila squealed, bouncing on her heels. “Let’s meet the guys at the Muze.”
Maybe the two of them had something going on. Sheila’s parents were too strict to let her room with a guy. This scheme could be a way for someone to keep an eye on Dylan for her. Did she know about the cookie jar stuffed with condoms under the bathroom sink?
Carina followed them to the apartment door. “I’m not twenty-one. That’s the drinking age here, isn’t it?”
“I’m rooming with jailbait?” Dylan’s eyebrows rose as he unlocked the door and opened it. “Sheila, you didn’t tell me.”
“Ha, you promised you’d behave, so what does it matter?” Sheila sauntered through the doorway.
“Of course, cross my heart.” Dylan raised two fingers in a boy scout salute. “So Car, when’s your birthday?”
“It’s Carina and end of July.” Carina huffed to her room as Dylan put her duffle bag in front of the dresser.
“Thanks.” She opened the top drawer. “You guys go ahead and have fun. I have to unpack.”
“We’ll help,” Sheila said. “And then we’ll go somewhere. Dyl, you can get Carina into The Underground, right?”
“Yep, I know all the bouncers there. While you girls unpack, I’ll call the boys over.”
“No, please, I want to stay home and relax.” Carina wiped a hand across her brow. “It’s almost midnight Eastern time.”
“Then we’ll have a party here.” Dylan flashed his rock star grin and winked. “Hurry and unpack.”
What part of “peace and quiet” did he not get? And why did his confident smirk make her feel bubbly and unsettled?
Carina dragged Sheila into her room and shut the door. “This isn’t going to be some wild party, is it?”
“Relax, will ya? They’re just his friends.” Sheila unzipped the duffle and piled Carina’s underwear into the dresser.
“But I’m tired and have to be up early for a dry run into San Francisco. You know, time the trains and the walk?”
Sheila hip bumped the dresser drawer and wagged her finger. “Do you really think you’ll fit in at Mogul if you don’t drink, party, and schmooze?”
“I have so much to do. Make sure I’m prepared, set up my laptop, create shortcuts for my macros, read the history of Mogul Bank and the biographies of the founders.” Carina dragged her fingers through her hair. “These last few days have been super stressful.”
“Which is why you need to loosen up and have fun,” Sheila said. “It’s your first Saturday in California. Don’t worry, Dylan’s friends are really nice. You’ll love them.”
According to Sheila, she’d love everything, the apartment, Dylan, his friends.
“They’re rockers, right? There might be groupies, and … um … Does he have a girlfriend?” She dropped this as casually as she could, but Sheila’s sly smile made her stomach feel suddenly hollow.
“No one steady. He hates confrontation.”
“What does that mean?” Carina pulled the contents of her suitcase onto her bed.
“Humpf, he doesn’t do a thing for me. I don’t even like ice cream.” Carina zipped up her suitcases and shoved them into the closet.
Sheila plopped onto the bed, laughing. “For a girl who wanted to back out, you unpacked in record time.”
~ ~ ~
Dylan passed out shot glasses at the door. He could always count on his band mates for a celebration. Scoring a straight-A student as a roommate, even if it was only for the summer, called for a bash. Heck, everything was an excuse for a party.
“Is Sheila here?” Nico poured a shot of tequila. He’d been crushing on her since she started graduate school, but played too cool to ask her out.
“In there, helping my new roomie unpack.” Dylan cranked up Three Days Grace on the stereo. “She’s too young to go clubbing.”
“Never stopped anyone before,” Paul shouted while drumming the countertop.
Vic grabbed a shot glass. “I hear she’s a banker. Does she wear pinstripes all day?”
“Well, hell yeah, we need to get her out of her clothes.” Zeke pumped his fist. “Let’s play flip and strip.”
“I need the rent money. I don’t need you guys scaring her off.” Dylan took a stack of red Solo cups from the pantry and arranged them on both ends of the coffee table. “Beer pong. Me and my roomie against the rest of you dickwads.”
“Yeah, right. You’re going under the table, my man.” Nico tossed a beer can at Dylan who caught it one-handed. “Fill up the cups.”
The door to Carina’s room opened. Sheila stepped out with a wide smile, but Carina stayed behind and shut the door. The guys greeted Sheila, who was a fixture at their gigs, from busking at the BART station to lobby entertainment at the luxurious Claremont Hotel.
“What’s up with Carina? Is she going to miss her welcome party?” Dylan handed Sheila a longneck.
“She’s shy, so you’re going to have to ask nicely,” Sheila said. “Take it as your project to loosen her up. Bankers are some of the biggest partiers, and she’s got to fit in.”
Dylan popped his knuckles and swaggered to the door. “Watch the master of loosening up.”
He rap a tap tapped her door.
Carina opened it a crack. “Aren’t you having a party?”
“Yeah, it’s your welcome party.”
“For me?” Her eyes widened. “But … you don’t even know me.”
He slid into the room and shut the door. “Exactly, which is why we’re having a party.”
“I’m not sure. I’m kind of tired.”
“Hey, what happened to that confident banker chick I met this afternoon? It’ll be fun and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Why would anything happen to me?” She cocked her head. “I’m going to put on earplugs and try to get some sleep.”
“It’s not even ten. Don’t you want to meet my friends?”
She bit her lip, as if considering a tough decision between an iced mocha and a chocolate frappe.
“This isn’t going to be some wild party, is it?” Carina backed into the dresser. “I’m not sure I should stay here. True, we never agreed to the rules, but this isn’t going to work. I’m going to be so busy. It’ll be too hard worrying about whether you guys are going to make noise.”
Dylan held a finger close to her lip. “Say the word, and I’ll turn off the music and tell them to leave. It’ll be fun, unless you’d rather it be the two of us alone on the couch playing pass the remote.”
A smile crept to her lips and she looked below his waist. “No, not the remote.”
Whoa, what the heck was she hinting? He tugged at his collar and swallowed. “Right, so we’ll play some fun games and then you can go to sleep. Sound good?”
She nodded, and when he gave her his hand, she took it. Her tentative touch made him feel like he’d coaxed a lost puppy from its hiding place. His heart expanded and filled his chest. Where had this angel been hiding all his life?
She hadn’t complained about needing to fix her makeup or put on party clothes, nor had she fluttered her eyelids or ogled him like he was a piece of meat. Her beauty was genuine and fresh, hidden and discreet. And suddenly, Dylan wanted it to stay that way, tucked away for his eyes only.
~ ~ ~
Carina was aware of Dylan’s firm hand closing around hers, and somehow it was comforting. She’d be a lot more nervous walking into a club where she didn’t know anyone. But Sheila was here. She’d latched onto Sheila freshman year at U Penn where Sheila was the resident advisor on her floor. When her roommate had a boyfriend stay overnight on the lower bunk one night, it was Sheila who barged in and kicked the boy out after Carina texted her.
Dylan switched off the music and lifted Carina’s hand. “Everyone, welcome my gorgeously intelligent roomie, Carina Chen.”
Sheila brought a curly-haired man with a cropped beard to her side. “This is Nico. He plays bass guitar.”
Carina had already researched the band members on their website. “Nice to meet you, Nico.”
A sandy-haired guy wearing a tweed flat cap stood at his side. “I’m Paul, the drummer.”
“Thanks for the welcome.” Carina nodded, but kept her hand tucked in Dylan’s. He felt like the anchor in this sea of men. He guided her to the coffee table where two other guys were filling plastic cups with beer.
“They’re going to drink all that?” Carina asked Dylan. “I hope they won’t trash your … our place.”
“Oh, no, you’re going to drink that.” A man with shaggy blond hair slapped Carina’s shoulder, causing her to wince.
Dylan quickly positioned himself in front of her. “Carina’s on my team, so you losers will drink it all.” He turned to Carina. “Zeke’s the keyboardist and Vic over there plays the sax and trumpet.”
Vic tipped his baseball cap and pursed his lips in a mock kiss. “I’m the guy if you want some lip action.”
Everyone groaned, but Dylan held her closer, shielding her from Vic, and said, “He doesn’t mean anything. Want to play Beer Pong?”
The boys explained the rules about bouncing a ping-pong ball into a cup of beer and having to drink it.
“Isn’t that unsanitary?” Carina scrutinized the half-filled cups.
“Wait, wait.” Sheila held up her hand. “Let’s do an ice breaker like Never Have I.”
“Sounds good to me,” Dylan said. He was still holding her hand like he was staking his claim. A warm glow battled the butterflies in her belly as he steered her onto the couch.
“Here’s your beer.” Dylan grabbed a full cup and set it on the table. “Do you know the rules?”
She shook her head. “I’ll have some fruit juice.”
“Beer, beer, beer.” The others slapped their knees. “Everyone has to have beer.”
“If you play right,” Dylan said close to her ear, “you won’t have to drink any of it. You only have to drink if you’ve done what the person who’s it says they’ve never done. I’ll go first.”
“And what’s to say they’re telling the truth?” She poked his upper arm.
Sheila sat on the couch next to her. “We trust each other, right? Don’t worry, Dylan will take all your drinks.”
Dylan grinned. He still hadn’t let go of her hand. “I’m first. Never have I fallen in love with a roommate. Have you, Carina?”
“Nope.” She withdrew her hand and shoved it under her thigh. To be exact, she’d never fallen in love with anyone.
“I have!” Sheila lifted her beer and downed it.
She has? Carina couldn’t remember Sheila ever having a male roommate.
“Tell, tell, tell.” The guys drummed on the table.
“We’re playing the kiss or tell version,” Nico chimed in.
“Yeah, I forgot to men
tion that,” Dylan said. “If you take a drink, you have to tell, unless you kiss the person who’s it.”
“I’m not telling.” Sheila stood and walked toward the closet. “Dylan? I owe you a kiss.”
“Dang.” Nico punched a sofa pillow. “How come you never admit to any of my never haves?”
Dylan half-stood and pursed his lips. “Put it right here, Miss Sheila Weela.”
Carina swallowed. She hadn’t thought of this complication. If she asked a question, she’d better be sure none of them had ever done it before. Then no one would have the opportunity to kiss her. But then, what if they lied and said they’d done it. Hmm … It had to be something no one would admit to doing.
Sheila pulled Dylan from the sofa and pushed him into the closet. After five seconds, they emerged and Carina took a deep breath.
“You’re next.” Dylan refilled Sheila’s cup and handed it to her.
She looked around the room, her cheeks rosy, and cleared her throat. “Never have I sucked … um …”
“Go ahead, what have you never sucked?” Nico nudged her.
“Oh … Someone’s toe. What were you thinking?” Sheila batted his hand. “Have you?”
“Actually, I have.” Nico downed his drink and bowed to everyone’s clapping.
“Tell or kiss.”
“Come here, baby,” Nico said, wiggling his finger at Sheila. “Into the closet.”
Sheila crossed her arms. “Sorry, unless it’s my big toe you want to kiss.”
The guys howled with laughter. Nico shrugged and laid one on Sheila’s cheek.
The game went around the room. Whenever a guy admitted and took a drink, he’d brag and boast, avoiding the need to kiss another guy. Carina’s heart skipped when it was finally her turn. She had thought up and discarded a dozen questions. So far, no one had mentioned a situation someone in the room hadn’t admitted to.
Dylan leaned over and whispered. “This isn’t the GMAT or anything. Got a good one?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.” Carina felt like a high wattage spotlight was trained on her. “Never have I … Never have I ratted out a coworker for cheating on his timecard.”