Page 6 of Beautiful Beast

“His name is Adam Townsend,” Ariel says, “and he is seriouslysodamn hot. Like I swear my panties melted looking at him, and I slid right off my chair.”

“I saw him earlier,” I reply. “I mean, I guess I didn’t actuallyseehim. I met him through a door.”

If Adam is as hot as Ariel claims, why would he go out of his way to hide from me? Unless he caught a glimpse of me and didn’t like what he saw – though that isn’t the usual reaction men have to me. Maybe he’s afraid of dogs, but that doesn’t sit right with me.

Nothing from our interaction makes sense.

“Through a… What? What are you talking about?” Ariel asks. “Okay, never mind, just hold that thought and check your phone. I sent pictures that youhaveto see. Like right now.”

Ariel is an online sleuth and can get dirt on anyone. As soon as she learned where I was moving – at least temporarily – she went on a recon mission to find out who would be sharing my space.

Anyone who lives here, except for me, is uber-rich and one of New York City’s very elite. So far, I’ve learned about actors, executives, investors, heirs, heiresses, and actual royalty as Ariel worked her way up the building researching people.

And I guess she’s now reached my neighbor.

I turn the phone on speaker so I can still talk to her while I look at photos of the apparent hot jerk.

“Even if he is hot,” I say as the two pictures she sent me start downloading, “he’s such an epic asshole that it doesn’t even matter. His looks will not redeem him, no matter how godlike he may be. Nothing could take away from… Okay, well, shit. Hello there, Adam.”

Buster raises his head, curious at the change in my tone, and I show him the screen. He huffs and puffs before settling back onto my lap, clearly not as impressed as I am.

Adam is… wow.

“Tell me what happened when you met him!” Ariel cries. “What is all this nonsense about a door?”

As I explain my earlier encounter, I can’t stop staring at the pictures. I have no idea how Ariel dug up a shirtless photo, but I’m sure glad that she did.

Adam must have seventeen abs, and tattoos dominate his upper body. His jacked arms, bulging shoulders, and strong neck are covered in ink, and he certainly doesn’t look like he would fit in at the cocktail parties and events I always imagined rich people frequented.

But I guess a well-cut suit hides a whole lot of sins.

“Maybe you just caught him at a bad time,” Ariel suggests. “And youweretrespassing.”

“Oh, sure, side with Mr. Personality.”

“Who cares about his personality anyway? You’d only have to say sex words.”

“The dude wouldn’t even look at me, let alone bang me,” I say with an eye roll.

“You need to try again,” she insists. “Stage bumping into him until you wear him down. Clearly, he didn’t get a good enough look at you, Miss Movie Star.”

“I don’t know his schedule,” I explain patiently. Ariel always gets so excited about her new ideas that she gets ahead of herself. “I’m not about to start stalking the guy to find out.”

“Hell, I’ll stalk him.”

She launches into a spiel about the date she went on last night, and I’m only half-listening while I scrutinize the pictures of Adam.

He’s grinning in the shirtless one, a beer in hand, while he stands on the beach. In another, he’s stoic in military fatigues and it’s… Well, like Ariel said, panty-melting, even though I’m not a uniform chaser.

“How does Adam even live in this building?” I demand.

It’s not like the military pays enough money to afford a pad like he has, so something suspicious is going on.

“Were you listening to me?” Ariel complains, but there’s a smile in her voice.

“Kinda, but mostly not,” I admit.

It’s Adam’s bright blue eyes set against bronzed skin in the candid photo that draw my attention even more than his cut muscles.

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