Page 8 of The Rules of Dating My One-Night Stand

“That you’re sorry.”

“I’m…” She hesitated. “Jesus, I almost just said it again.” She swallowed. “I’m nervous.”

She’snervous?

“Don’t be,” I told her, attempting to sound confident. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. I’m figuring this situation out by the second—just like you are. When you came to the door earlier, I was shocked. You seemed upset before you slammed the door in my face, so I didn’t knock again. But I knew I needed to come back. I have official business here, so I couldn’t just leave things like that.” I sighed. “Can I come in for a moment?”

She nodded and moved aside. I entered to find the apartment cluttered, with loads of unfolded laundry on the couch and piles of books stacked up on the floor.

As we stood across from each other in the living room, our chemistry still felt tangible. It hadn’t waned a single bit—for me at least—since the other night, despite the difference in circumstances. I wanted to tell her how amazing our time together was, and how happy I was to see her again. But nothing came out. And I continued to hold it all in because her body language told me she wasn’t going to be open to hearing any of that. Her stance was rigid, her breathing labored. This woman was guarded—layers upon layers of virtual armor.

“As I was saying…” I cleared my throat. “I came here because we’ve been receiving noise complaints about this apartment from other tenants. The two teenagers who live here have been problematic around the building for a while. But as of late, it’s gotten to the point where we need to do something about it. Where is the woman who lives here…Vera Marks?”

“She’s not here.”

“Where is she?”

“I actually don’t know,” Devyn muttered. “She took off.”

“You’re looking after those kids? How much is she paying you? It better be a shitload.”

“She’s not paying me.”

“Nothing?” My brows furrowed. “How is that possible?”

Devyn stared off for a moment. “Heath and Hannah are my brother and sister.”

I felt my eyes widen. “Vera Marks is your mother?”

“If you want to call her that…” She rolled her eyes. “She gave birth to me, yeah. That’s about it.”

I remembered Devyn’s friend, Mia, telling me Devyn’s mom was a piece of shit. So understandably, there was some bad blood there—probably a long story I wouldn’t be hearing today, or maybe ever. I didn’t want to bombard her with questions while she was still getting over the shock of me showing up out of the blue. My curiosity was endless, though.

What had brought her to the bar the other night?

Why did she run off from the hotel?

What did her mother do to her?

Did she live here in New York?

How long had she been here in this apartment?

Before I could contemplate what to say next, the door burst open and in walked Frick and Frack. The brother and sister were in their early teens, and the boy looked a bit older than the girl. Maybe fifteen. I couldn’t believe these infamous kids, whom I now knew as Heath and Hannah, were Devyn’s siblings.

“There’s a strange woman in the elevator who was bothering us just now,” the boy said. He had long, shaggy brown hair that practically covered his eyes, and he wore a vintage Def Leppard T-shirt.

“She was scary and asking us for money,” his sister added. “We don’t think she lives in the building. We’ve never seen her before.”

Heath pointed out to the hallway. “You’d better go check it out.”

I ran down the hall to the elevator. When the doors opened, I panicked at the sight of a woman with long blond hair, lying lifeless on the ground.

My heart raced.Fuck!

When I bent to touch her, I realized the body was plastic, and her hair had shifted off her head.

It’s a mannequin.

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