Page 1 of Let Me Say It Again

Chapter One

Jade

Please tell mehe’s still sleeping.

I lifted my body ever so gently to get a better look, since—what was his name again?—was facing the window. His blond hair was long and covering most of his face with the way he was laying, so I peered closer, andyep, he’s sleeping.

That was my cue to hightail it out of here faster than a burglar who triggered an alarm system. I’d had a nice time with John Doe, don’t get me wrong, but that had been last night, and this was a new day.

I got out of bed, finger-combed my shoulder-length brown hair as best as I could, and bit the corner of my lower lip as I scanned the room for my clothes.Oh, there we go.I walked over to where my panties had been tossed over the back of a chair.

Slipping them on, I almost fell and cursed under my breath. Then I covered my mouth and cringed, turning around ever so slightly, still afraid I’d woken him up. My heart was practically in my throat as it beat at a rapid pace. Why me? I could only assume the one thing I didn’t want to happen would.

Luck must have been on my side, though, because the lump of shit didn’t move at all. This was going to be a beautiful day, I could just tell.

You had to love a man who slept like the dead. It made it a hell of a lot easier to sneak out without having to go through the awkwardness. Ever experienced that? Let me give you some of the shit I’d heard.

Leaving so soon?

Want to stay for another round?

I’ll call you.

Let’s do this again. Tonight maybe?

I could make breakfast.

If we shower together, we’ll be conserving water.

I had fun last night.

Sorry, but I’m drawing a blank on your name.

Men were nothing if not outrageously predictable. At least, all the ones I’d ever been with had been that way. My childhood best friend, Jake, had begun calling them all Pig, said it made it easier that way. I preferred John Doe, or JD for short, but Pig worked, too.

I tiptoed out of his room and into the living room—if you could even call it that. He lived in a cramped apartment that smelled like dirty sweat socks and cheese. I sniffed the air and immediately gagged.

All right, don’t judge. It had been a one-night stand, that was all. A quick romp in the hay. It was healthy. For me, it was like going for a morning jog or getting on a treadmill—something you did to stay active and feel alive.

I didn’t have them frequently, by the way, but I was single, and your girl couldn’t fully employ her vibrator as her orgasm handler. I needed the real deal every now and again. So sue me. Not really, though, because I didn’t have a pot to piss in. Well, that wasn’t necessarily true. As of late, I had a job. A great one that was paying more than I thought I was owed, if we were being honest. Not that I was going to tell my boss that. That would just be stupid, and I liked to consider myself moderately intelligent.

My boss, Reddington (“Red”) Lyons, was my ex’s older brother and not exactly a man you disagreed with. Not that I cared. I disagreed with him a lot and had no qualms telling him that straight to his face. I could’ve sworn I’d heard him call me abrat once or twice under his breath, but oh well. The way I saw it—he could take his remarks and shove them so far up his ass he choked on them.

I wasn’t a bitch. Most days.

“Where are my clothes and shoes?” I asked to myself in a low whisper right before I stubbed my toe.Shit!There was so much crap on the floor it was a wonder neither of us had tripped and fallen flat on our faces before actually making it to his room to screw around. Hadn’t he ever heard of cleaning up after himself? I’d bet my next paycheck that he didn’t even own a vacuum, judging by the giant dust bunny behind his couch.

If you could have even called it a couch, since the entire surface was covered in a heap of clothes.Great, how am I supposed to find mine?

It actually wasn’t all that hard. My eyes immediately came across my white crop top tee with a bleeding heart and my ripped jeans. I got dressed and let my eyes scan the rest of the place for my—Oh, there they are. Right by the door. My shoes.And they were right beside my purse, so I called that a win.

A chill ran down my spine just thinking about how many creatures were dead underneath that pile of clothes or, better yet, the mountain of dirty dishes in the sink. That was where the cheese smell was probably coming from. Made sense, I supposed.

Ugh. I had to get out of here.

I slipped my ballerina flats on and didn’t look back as I opened the door and left. Finally, I could exhale and inhale again. I had held my breath at the last second for fear of asphyxiation.It’s been fun, JD.

Walking out to my car, all I could think about was how I had to get home, take a shower, get dressed (in new clothes), fix my hair and makeup, and hope like hell I wasn’t late to work. Because the last thing I needed was—

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