Page 2 of Blame It on the Bikini
The interior courtyard was alive with activity. A sparkling pool occupied the center of the space, surrounded by residents lounging on chairs. Laughter drifted from a group gathered around a barbecue area, where a man was flipping burgers while telling an animated story. At another table, two women were engaged in what appeared to be an intense card game, slapping down cards with dramatic flair.
Potted plants and string lights created an atmosphere of casual charm. The building formed a rectangular shape, with all doors facing the courtyard, creating an odd sense of intimacy. The coming and going of every resident would be visible to anyone in the common area, and that lack of privacy was not appealing to him, but no one in the courtyard appeared irritated; they looked happy.
As his gaze swept the area, he found some of the faces to be familiar from his brief visit months ago, although he couldn't remember many of their names.
Then he saw her, the beautiful and irritating Lexie Price, the manager's niece, the woman determined to convince him he shouldn't sell the building. She was the one person he hadn't forgotten.
As she emerged from the pool, her dark hair was slicked back from her face, highlighting her striking features—high cheekbones, full lips, and brown eyes that had challenged him the moment they'd met. But it was the hot pink bikini that temporarily short-circuited his thought process, revealing stunning curves he hadn't fully appreciated during their previous encounter.
He quickly looked down at his phone as it vibrated with a message, grateful for the distraction. But the business text couldn't prevent him from looking up again, looking for her…
Unfortunately, his view was blocked by a colorful beach ball hurtling directly at his face. He jerked back, but he was too late. The ball connected with his forehead, throwing him off-balance. His arms windmilled as he teetered on the pool's edge.
For one suspended moment, he thought he might regain his balance. Then gravity won, and he plunged into the water with a splash.
The shock of cold water enveloped him as he sank, his expensive suit immediately waterlogged. He surfaced, gasping and sputtering, to find the entire courtyard had fallen silent, all eyes fixed on him. Before he could haul himself out, he saw Lexie standing at the pool's edge, a mixture of surprise and amusement playing across her face.
"Well," she said, extending a hand to him, "you certainly arrived with a splash."
Nervous laughter rippled through the gathered residents. Grayson ignored her outstretched hand and pulled himself out of the pool, water cascading from his ruined suit.
"I'm so sorry!" A young boy ran up to him with a worried expression on his face. "I didn't mean to hit you."
"It's fine," Grayson managed, noting that the boy couldn't have been more than six or seven.
"I told you to be careful, Henry," a woman said, putting her arm around the boy's shoulders. Then she gave him a wary look. "I'm Paige Kendry, Henry's mother. "If you need to have that suit dry-cleaned or maybe get a new one, I can pay for it."
"Don't worry about it," he muttered, suddenly realizing he'd lost his phone. As he turned his head, he saw it at the bottom of the pool. "Damn. My phone."
"I'll get it," Lexie said, immediately going back into the pool to retrieve his phone.
He frowned as she came back to the surface and moved up the steps to hand it to him. His phone was definitely not designed for submersion in a swimming pool. "This is done."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I'm going to find my apartment."
"You're in 11B, at the top of the stairs in the corner," she added, tipping her head to the right. "You have keys, right? We sent them to someone named Helen."
"I have them." He picked up his briefcase, which he'd thankfully managed to drop on the ground before landing in the pool, and made his way toward the stairs, very aware of the attention he was drawing. He was dripping wet, and his shoes squelched with every step, offering a wonderfully humiliating soundtrack to his arrival.
When he got upstairs, he was happy to put the key in the door and step into his apartment, away from those far-too-interested eyes.
The apartment was modern in décor, with designer touches added to the gray couch and matching chairs, the glass coffee table, and the cabinet containing the television. A white dining room table with four chairs sat adjacent to the kitchen, which gleamed with shiny stainless-steel appliances.
Before he could make his way into the bedroom, a knock sounded at his door.
He opened it to find Lexie with a towel wrapped around her hips and a phone in her hands. "In case you need to make some calls before you can get another phone, you can use mine."
"That's not necessary. I can text from my computer until I get another phone."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Okay. If you change your mind, I'm downstairs in 2A, right next to Josie's apartment." She paused. "I don't know why you decided to stay here for a few weeks, but I hope you'll take the time to get to know the tenants, to understand that we have a community here. This might be a simple business decision for you, but for us, it's our home."
"I'm aware of your feelings on that matter," he said, noting the anger flaring in her pretty brown eyes. She really was a strikingly beautiful woman, even with wet hair and not a speck of makeup on her face.
