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had to keep
reminding myself of that. She might be gorgeous, but she was a major
pain in the ass. And I did not need that right now.
    “Dude,”
Dakota said, slapping me in the shoulder and pulling me out of my
thoughts.
    “What?” I
had refilled my glass and was sipping the whisky, hoping to drink my
horniness away.
    “First of all,
you need to apologize to her at some point tomorrow.”
    “Why?” I
grabbed a clean shirt out of my dresser and pulled it on. I hadn’t
missed the way her eyes had widened when she saw me, which had given
my ego a little bit of a boost. Something that had been welcomed
after tonight’s bullshit customers. But it didn’t change
anything. “You were the one being loud,” I told Dakota.
    Her eyes narrowed. “You
will go apologize to her tomorrow,” she told me. “Your
neighbors have been ridiculously understanding of our occasional loud
late nights. The last thing you want is to upset the newest tenant.”
    I sighed. Yes, I would
go and apologize to Ella tomorrow for being loud. I glanced over at
the brownies cooling on the counter. A box of my baking usually did
the trick and clearly my “better-than-sex” brownies got
her motor going. Like my mom had always said, “No one can yell
at you if you give them something tasty to chew.” It was advice
that had served me well.
    I looked back at Dakota
who was doing her own taste test. Then I remembered what she had
said.
    “You said first
of all.” I leaned on the counter. “Was there something
else you wanted to say?”
    “Just that you’re
an idiot,” she told me.
    “I’m
pretty sure that’s not news to you.” I shrugged.
    “Yeah, but this
time you better be careful.” She took another batch of brownies
out of the oven.
    “What are you
talking about?”
    Dakota glanced up and
smiled. “You’re in trouble, my friend. Big, big trouble.”
     
    The next morning, I
woke up to the sound of classical music playing. I groaned, my
frustration starting up again, but then I glanced at my phone to
discover that it was almost one p.m. Shit, I thought, getting out of
bed. I never slept this late. Even though I had a few hours before I
had to be at the restaurant, there were new recipes I had wanted to
work on, not to mention the laundry I probably should be doing as
well. I glanced over at my brownie-batter-stained shirt and
remembered everything that had happened last night.
    “Fuck,” I
muttered to myself as the music floated up through the floorboards.
Dakota was right. Again. I needed to make things right with Ella. The
last thing I needed was trouble in the building. My head ached and I
winced at how lecherous I must have seemed last night, leaning
silently against the door, my shirt off, while Ella just wanted to
get some sleep. I really had been a jerk. What was with me lately? I
was an adult man with self-control, not a horny teen popping a boner
at his first glimpse of naked female flesh. Was I just that hard up
for sex? Or was it something else? Either way, I needed to get it
under control. Letting my fantasies run wild every time I saw Ella
was going to seriously derail my day, and I did not have time for
that. Not when so much was about to happen.
    And I needed to take a
break from alcohol for a while. Getting drunk two nights in a row was
not my usual style, but the stress of the new position had been
getting to me. I looked over at my bar and silently promised myself
to back off on the drinking. There were other, healthier ways to deal
with my frustrations. I thought back to Ella’s little satin
robe, but immediately vetoed that natural stress-reliever. Boyfriend,
remember? I told myself. Neighbor, remember? Pain in the ass,
remember?
    I took some Advil and
drank a big glass of water. I felt better, but I needed a shower and
shave. After that I might be presentable enough to make my apology.
     
    Freshly showered, a box
of neatly cut brownies under my arm, I went downstairs and was
surprised to find a kid sitting on