Page 6 of Until You Came Along
“Hermes in love? If you knew him, you wouldn’t say such a ridiculous thing. My brother is completely closed off to love; he has no interest in being in love again. He’s one of those people who’s closed off to love and anything related to feelings—he despises them. He only has his ‘friends’ to accompany him to social events where he needs to bring someone, and for mutual satisfaction, or in other words, to take to bed,” he said, making air quotes with his fingers to indicate they were more than friends.
I didn’t miss that he said “being in love again,” which made me assume his brother must have suffered some kind of heartbreak. At that moment, his phone rang and he picked it up.
“Look, it’s ‘Mr. Cheerful’ calling right now,” he said, showing me the phone with his brother’s name on the screen, but he left it on the table and didn’t answer it.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?” I asked curiously.
“Right now I’m enjoying this moment with you. I don’t want him to ruin it with his lectures, demands, or orders. Shall we dance? The atmosphere here is great, and so is the food. I congratulate you on your choice—I hadn’t been here before,” he commented.
“I’ve been here several times and we’ve always left satisfied. Regarding your proposal, I accept, let’s go dance.”
We reached the dance floor and at that moment “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran was playing. Baco took my hand and began moving to the rhythm of the music; he was quite the dancer. When “My Universe” by Coldplay and BTS started, his movements became faster, but he danced impeccably—it was obvious he had vast experience. We danced a few more songs and decided to return to the table to refresh ourselves. We stayed a while longer, but when the place began to fill with people and you could barely talk, we decided to leave. We were walking along the promenade, relaxed and chatting about my work, our friends, and even our hobbies. He was passionate about soccer and played every week with his friends; I did a lot of gymnastics and swimming, and occasionally played tennis.
We arrived at our apartments convinced that we had thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.
“Thank you, beautiful, I had so much fun, truly it’s been a long time since I’ve had such a relaxed and cheerful night. We’ll do it again, right?”
“Of course, whenever you want.”
“Well, I’m going to my apartment... but don’t close the door because I’m going to get something I want to show you and I’ll be right back. I’m not inviting you to mine because it’s a mess,” he said.
“What do you want to show me?” I asked, curious.
“I want you to give me your opinion on one of my paintings.”
“Yesssss, I’d love to! I’ll wait for you here,” I said enthusiastically. “Would you like me to make coffee?”
“Yesssss,” he replied, mocking my effusiveness and heading toward the door.
I went to the kitchen, which had an American-style bar and was integrated with the living room, and while I was preparing the coffee maker, I heard Baco returning.
“I’m in the kitchen making coffee,” I called out.
“Who are you? And where is my brother supposed to be?” asked a voice that wasn’t Baco’s. This was a deep and serious voice, an authoritative voice that conveyed power, but was tremendously sensual. A voice that, without knowing it at that moment, would turn my world upside down and completely dismantle it.
Something inside me shuddered and, for a moment, I felt my heart stop. I turned slowly to face the stranger who had invaded my home, and I froze. Standing before me was the most attractive man I had ever seen in my life... wait a minute! Had I seen him before? This man was the one whose shirt I’d spilled the ‘Cosmopolitan’ on! If before I had thought he was attractive, now that I could see him in better light, I had to admit he was a God. He was obscenely handsome. Everything about him radiated elegance, sensuality, and his presence was imposing. He was dressed in a dark blue suit of impeccable cut, white shirt, and blue tie with fine white lines. He was slender and athletic, and the suit fit him like a glove—surely it had been tailored to measure, those measurements that were heart-stopping! His hair was cut in a modern and impeccable style, not a single hair out of place, and his green eyes illuminated an incredibly masculine and attractive face. He was sexy as hell!
His serious and penetrating gaze made a complete scan of my body and then stopped at my eyes. He seemed somewhat dazed, and I imagined it was because he had entered the wrong apartment and was surprised by my presence. It didn’t even occur to me that he might remember me, and I was better off if he didn’t.
“Who are you?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.
“That’s the same question I just asked you, so don’t answer me with another question and tell me who you are and what you’re doing in my brother’s apartment.”
“This is ‘my’ apartment and I have no idea who your brother is or who you are! So please do me a favor and leave immediately,” I ordered, pointing to the door with my outstretched arm.
“Are you raising your voice and giving me orders?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Are you kidding me?!” I exclaimed, indignant.
He approached slowly until he was just inches away from me. I didn’t step back an inch; if that man thought I was going to cower, he was very mistaken. His face lowered slightly because, although I was a tall woman, he was several inches taller than me, and he looked at me seriously in the eyes. I got lost in that emerald gaze, which at that moment looked at me with anger, though he also seemed surprised or disconcerted. For a few seconds he looked into my eyes, then lowered his gaze to my lips and returned to my eyes... and at that moment he had to open his mouth and break the spell, going from being Prince Charming to a frightening ogre.
“Do you know who you’re talking to? Don’t make me lose what little patience I have left or I’ll put you out on the street. For your information, this apartment...”
“Is hers,” said Baco.
We both turned toward the door where my friend had appeared. The ‘ogre’ looked at Baco and then at me. I returned a haughty and furious look.
“What do you mean it’s hers? You told me you had moved to apartment 1201,” he stated dryly, though I noticed he had lost some of his petulance upon realizing he was defeated.
