AlTonya Washington - Rival's Desire

Alex huffed. “Those deadbeats,” he muttered, referring to the other two top-floor apartment tenants.

“Are you locked out?”

“Hell yes.”

Viv smiled and pulled a long bobby pin from the ball atop her head. “Stand back,” she ordered, coming to kneel before the front door.

Alex crossed his arms over his wide chest and frowned. “What are you doin’?”

“Just hold on,” Vivian said as she jiggled the pin inside the brass lock. A few moments later she heard a soft click and twisted the knob. “There you go.”

“Where the hell did you learn to do that?” Alex asked, kneeling in front of his door to inspect the lock.

Viv chuckled and patted the top of Alex’s shiny bald head. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, stooping to pick up one of the boxes. “Dammit, boy, what do you have in here?”

A sneaky smirk crossed Alex’s dark face. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Funny,” Viv replied, though she was happy that she was able to calm her neighbor’s quick temper.

For the next fifteen minutes, Alex and Viv worked on getting the boxes inside. Viv discovered Alex had asked his long-time girlfriend to move in with him and she’d accepted. All the boxes belonged to her.

“How much more do you have?” Viv asked.

“A crapload.”

Viv laughed. The full, throaty sound filtered out into the hall as she opened the front door. It reached Caesar’s ears just as he stepped off the elevator. His sparkling, light brown eyes scanned the long carpeted hallway for any sign of Viv. He spotted her with a tall, dark man. They were laughing and had their arms around each other.

“Thank you, sweetheart. I really appreciate what you did,” Alex said, pressing a kiss to Viv’s cheek.

“Ah, no problem, hon.” Then, she turned toward her apartment just as the door closed behind Alex.

“Viv!”

Gasping, she turned at the sound of the booming voice. Her dark eyes widened at the sight of Caesar Morrison bolting down the hall.

“What the hell were you doing?”

Viv propped one hand on her hip and glared at Caesar. “Excuse me?”

Caesar had no idea how furious he appeared. “What the hell were you doing?” he repeated, his voice rising an octave as he frowned more fiercely.

Vivian only shook her head. “What are you doin’ here?”

“I asked you first,” he retorted, stepping closer until his huge frame towered over her.

Viv tossed a curl out of her face. “I was helping a friend.”

“That was obvious.”

“What are you trying to say?” she asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Caesar poked a finger against her shoulder and watched Viv move backward. “I didn’t know you were givin’ it up to the neighbors, Plum.”

Viv’s palm ached to slap the handsome face before her. “You dirty weasel, I’m not givin’ it up to anybody. Not that I have to explain a damn thing to you!”

“The hell you don’t! What were you doin’ in there with him?”

“None of your business!” she cried, uttering a silent prayer of thanks that Alex was playing his music loud and couldn’t hear the squabble in the hallway.

Of course, the hall’s other tenants finally peeked out of their doors. One of Viv’s neighbors was so bold as to walk out into the hall and approach the shouting duo.

“Excuse me?” the man interrupted.

“What?” Viv and Caesar simultaneously roared.

An uneasy smile crossed the man’s face and his blue eyes widened a little. In his hands, he held a small book, which he offered to Caesar. “Could I get your autograph?”

Caesar switched modes easily and grinned while taking the book from the sports fan. “No problem, man, you got a pen?”

Vivian rolled her eyes and headed back to her apartment. “To hell with this!”

“Don’t walk away from me, Viv,” Caesar warned, even as he signed the autograph. “Here you go, man,” he said, returning the book. He followed behind her once the fan had returned to his apartment.

Viv held her head in her hands as she stormed into the living room. “Caesar, please! I don’t want anything more to do with you. Can’t you just leave me be?”

Caesar massaged the bridge of his nose and thought about his grandmother’s suggestion to work things out with Viv. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen, Granny.” He took a seat on the arm of Viv’s green-suede love seat. A moment later, he heard a deafening scream.

“Viv!” Caesar called, bolting from the love seat and sprinting up the staircase. He followed her agonizing cries to the bathroom. When he peeked around the corner, a wide grin brightened his face.

“Dammit!” Viv groaned. She stood on a floor teeming with water and bubbles. The tub had overflowed while she’d done a good deed for a neighbor and then argued with her nemesis out in the hall. When she heard the low, male chuckle behind her, she whirled around. “Get the hell out!”

Caesar forced an innocent expression to his face and leaned against the doorjamb. “But, Plum,” he said, then chuckled again, “I want to help.”

“You can help me by leaving,” she said, gathering the drenched hem of her emerald robe. The low chuckles she heard turned into fullblown laughter.

“What happened in here?” Caesar managed to ask.

Viv blew a curl out of her face. “I’d say that’s pretty obvious, wouldn’t you? The damned tub overflowed while I was helping Alex.”

Caesar grimaced at the mention of Viv’s neighbor. “I guess you should’ve been paying more attention to your own house, hmm?”

“You know, Caesar, I really don’t need to hear this now, okay?” She felt around the bottom of the tub for the bottle of bubble bath.

Caesar knew his teasing was only making things worse, so he left her alone. The sight of Viv toiling around in the water and foamy bubbles was as amusing as it was arousing. “Can I help?”

“You can stop acting like a buffoon and help me find the bottle of bubble bath.”

Caesar pulled off the stylish beige loafers and socks he wore and rolled up his shirtsleeves and pant legs. He walked down the three steps leading to the sunken bathroom. “You know, finding it might be easier if we shut the water off.”

Viv ground her teeth as she watched Caesar push the water knob in. “Thank you,” she whispered, continuing her search for the bottle. When her fingers brushed the plastic container, located at the bottom of the deep tub, she uttered a victorious sigh.

“You better get dressed if you plan to be on time for dinner.”

Viv stood and shook the water from her hands. “I’ll probably be late anyway. I really need to take a shower after spending the afternoon in the studio.” She headed through the opposite door that connected to her bedroom and used the phone on the nightstand to call housekeeping. After the call, she set the phone back on the receiver, and found Caesar lying on her bed. “Get out,” she ordered.

“Where will you take your shower?” he asked. His head was cradled in his hands as he stared at the robe clinging to her damp body.

“Don’t worry about it,” she sweetly replied. Vivien then headed to her wardrobe and disappeared behind the tall glass doors.

Caesar’s long brown lashes closed over his eyes. “I don’t have a choice. The grannies want us to come to dinner together.”

“What? Why?” Viv asked as she tied a belt around the waist of the short pink robe and stepped from the huge closet. When Caesar shrugged, she tapped a nail against her cheek. “I wonder what they’re up to?”

“I guess they want to make sure the company’s in the best hands.”

“Humph. Yeah, emphasis on hands,” Viv noted, coming to stand in the middle of the room. “I just don’t get why they want both of us to run the place.”