shoulder while the white tank he wore clung to his skin with sweat. His arms were completely tattooed and I could tell his neck and back were covered in the same tribal décor as well. Under the tank top I could trace the outline of his abs and even manage the “V” that I loved so dearly on a man. I honestly didn’t know the exact term for it all; I just knew that if you’ve seen Ryan Reynolds bare stomach flex, then you’d know what I was talking about. His hair was jet black and had that spiked look. He had very strong arms and they tensed as he grabbed each box effortlessly. I was hoping he was on a totally different floor than me, because I saw a traffic jam in the near future. Someone this pretty was never a good sign—he was the male version of me and that made me smile just thinking about it. While smiling to myself, I hadn’t noticed he was walking towards me.
“Hi, can you get the door for me? My hands are a little full.” I couldn’t help but stare into his grey eyes.
“Um, sure.” Walking to the door, I dropped my keys that I had misleadingly pulled out of my purse and made sure I gracefully bent over to get them.
“Nice, tatt,” was all I heard as I opened the door for him. I watched him walk into the building and noticed he dropped the box down in front of the door across from mine. How great, I thought to myself.
Oh, well, it was certainly going to be interesting having him across the hall. I wondered what kind of crazies he would attract. Hopefully he would be smart enough to never let them know where he lived. That way we could all get some sleep and not have to worry about a psycho one-night-stand waiting with a gun somewhere. I was texting Shay to let her know I was on my way when I heard his voice over my shoulder.
“Boyfriend?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. And why the hell are you looking over my shoulder reading my text messages? Stalker much?”
“Well, I figured I’d return the favor.” He flashed me a small smile.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I was just thinking it was fifty seven degrees outside and here you are acting like it’s eighty or something.”
Smiling at me as if he knew something I didn’t, he walked back to the moving truck with the cockiest walk I’d ever seen. I was kind of baffled by his whole approach to me. Wow, that kind of turned me on, but that was something he’d never know.
“My name is Viktor. Maybe next time you’ll offer a hand instead of watching me struggle.”
“Well, if I wasn’t on my way to work I might’ve actually shown you how to move those boxes faster than you already are. But then again, I can’t give away all my secrets, now can I?”
“Oh, really, and with it being this time of night, what is it you actually do?”
He thought I was a stripper. How typical of him. Before he ruined any possible chance for the future, it was better to set him straight.
“Wow, before you say anything or insinuate something else, I am a bartender at the Xchange around the block. Maybe when you’re done sweating off those boxes you could stop by. I’ll leave your name at the door.” I quickly began to walk away, letting him appreciate the view. I heard him yell out one more time.
“Who do I ask for?”
Not turning around, I yelled, “Sloane!”
Smiling to myself, I could hardly wait to tell Shay about my new friend. She would be eager to see what he looked like as well and only because her approval was most important. Right as I got to the Cannon and pulled the door open, realization washed over me. He was living in the same building as me and that meant that there was no escape. At that moment, there was no use in telling Shay anything, because it was already a dead end road.
Walking through the crowd, I found Shay and took my seat across from her. She was with her new flavor and I was polite. I gave a smile and shook his hand and introduced myself.
“Hi, I’m Sloane. I’m practically Shay’s sister.”
“Rick. Nice to meet you.”
Smiling at Shay, I silently gave my approval. He looked the part, but something about him shouted he was a