Not Just Friends (Hot in the City #3) - T. Gephart Page 0,57

I hadn’t left anything and then after one final kiss, I walked out of Presley’s loft.

Not bothering to wait for the elevator, I ran down the stairs to the main front door, checking to see the coast was clear before punching open the glass and stepping onto the street. I jogged around back to where I’d left my car, tossing my bag in the trunk.

So far there’d been no sign of Tibbs, which meant I had time to go through the stupid charade of pretending I’d just arrived and was waiting for him. Shaking my head, I checked my phone, locking my car again and leaning against the hood. If I arrived at the front too early, he’d be wondering how I’d gotten there so fast. And since he had no idea where my mystery woman lived, I had to at least keep up the pretense that it had taken me the whole twenty-five minutes.

I waited thirty.

Chilling with my ride until half an hour had passed and then I slowly strolled back to the front of the building where surprise, surprise, Tibbs was waiting.

“Sorry, dude,” I apologized, not in any real hurry.

Tibbs shook his head. “It’s fine, thanks for meeting me. Things must be going pretty good with you and this girl if you were with her again last night. When are you going to introduce her to us?”

“Soon,” I coughed out, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible. “So should we go up?”

He hadn’t asked me for the assist, but like hell I was going to let him go up there alone. Last thing Presley needed was to deal with an overbearing Tibbs on her own, especially since I was partly to blame for his appearance anyway. Had to think if I hadn’t been around, wearing her out with our extracurricular activities, she’d have probably not switched off her phone. And even if I wasn’t feeling some residual guilt for his early morning visit, I wanted to know if there was any other information he hadn’t shared yet.

Tibbs hesitated, putting in the code for the external door. “You don’t have to, man, you can head back to your girl or home . . . I’ve probably asked more of you than I should.”

“Hey, fuck that, Tibbs. You know I’d do anything for Presley . . . and for you,” I quickly added. “Let’s head up there and let her yell at you for a bit.”

He nodded, heading to the elevator. “Right? I’m surprised she hasn’t taken a chunk out of you yet, that charm of yours must really be working.”

You have no idea.

“Must be.”

We took the ride to Presley’s loft in silence, the metal doors opening with a ping on her floor.

He knocked on her front door, giving her a chance to answer before he unlocked it with his reacquired key. I was probably going to have to get it back, the idea that he could drop by unannounced, not one that sat well with me.

“Who is it?” Presley sounded suitably annoyed, her voice coming from behind the door.

“It’s me and Leighton,” Tibbs responded, oblivious she already knew as I played along. “Open up or I’ll let myself in.”

We heard the lock disengage, followed by a few curse words and then the door opened.

She looked amazing, her mess of brown curls no tamer than the thirty minutes before I’d left, her fluffy bathrobe covering those amazing curves. Her eyes were wild, shooting her brother a murderous look while she played her part being annoyed.

God, I wanted to kiss her. Right there in front of Tibbs and not give a fuck what anyone thought.

“You were just going to burst into my apartment, uninvited?” She pointed to the key in his hand. “What if I’d had a date spend the night? You might’ve got an eyeful more than you bargained for.”

I raised my brow, trying to hide my smirk.

She was being naughty, and I loved it.

Tibbs rolled his eyes. “Well, were you? Because if you were and he’s already gone, not much of a man, is he?”

Ouch.

That fucking stung.

And he had a point.

I was just about to open my mouth and set Tibbs straight on exactly the kind of man Presley was with when she answered instead. “No, I was alone. But seriously, you can’t just come in anytime you want. Family or not, this is my place and I’ll control who has access to it.” She held out her hand, tipping her head to the key. “I want