Chapter 2

It was my beautiful neighbor, Bella Hart!

I was surprised and couldn’t help looking at her a few more times—not because she was crouching in front of my apartment, but because of what she was wearing.

It was late at night, yet she was dressed in a short white dress. The tight fabric showed off every curve of her body. She looked flustered, innocent, and incredibly sexy all at once.

Maybe I had startled her, because she quickly stood and moved aside to let me pass. Her fingers twisted together nervously, and she looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how.

I pretended not to notice.

If Evan found out and got the wrong idea, a few punches from him would probably put me in the hospital.

She stood behind me while I struggled with my key. Maybe I was nervous, because I couldn’t seem to get it into the lock.

Suddenly, she grabbed the hem of my shirt.

I froze and turned around.

Her eyes were red, and she looked at me timidly. No man could handle that kind of expression without feeling something.

“I accidentally locked myself out,” she said softly. “I don’t have my keys or my phone. Could I… could I stay at your place for a little while?”

I didn’t really believe her excuse. Who went outside this late at night dressed like that without bringing a phone?

“Where’s your boyfriend?” I asked. “Isn’t he home?”

She shook her head.

I sighed. “You can use my phone to call him. He can come back and bring you the key.”

Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

“He… he went out of town for work.”

“Oh.”

She had only just arrived in the city and probably didn’t know anyone. And it wasn’t like she could just go check into a hotel dressed that way.

In the end, I softened and let her inside.

Bella looked at me gratefully and kept telling me what a good person I was.

I asked her to sit on the couch. My apartment was a mess, and I felt embarrassed.

I had just put down my toolbox when I turned around and saw her holding a bundle of red fabric.

What was that?

My brain stopped working.

It looked like the red underwear I had taken off the night before.

Before I could think, my body moved on its own. I snatched the fabric from her hand and shoved it into the washing machine.

I was thirty years old, but I was still a virgin. At most, I had held hands and kissed my ex-girlfriend. We had never slept together.

After we broke up, I hadn’t been with another woman. The women I liked didn’t like me, and the women who liked me weren’t my type.

Bella seemed to realize what she had been holding. Her face turned bright red, and she looked everywhere except at me.

Our eyes met.

We stared at each other in awkward silence.

Suddenly, she said, “Jason, could I borrow your phone? I need to make a call.”

I didn’t think anything of it and handed it over.

The next second, a phone began ringing from the apartment next door.

Bella froze.

Her face turned scarlet, and she immediately hung up.

What was that about? Why was she blushing so hard? I wondered.

“Jason…” She lowered her eyes shyly. “Every night, when Evan and I… you can hear us, can’t you?”

I stared at her blankly.

So she only realized it now?

The subject was too embarrassing to discuss. Remembering what I had done the night before, I nodded awkwardly.

Bella became even more embarrassed. She apologized over and over, promising that she would keep the noise down in the future.

Then she called Evan and explained the situation.

“Why don’t you just stay at Jason’s tonight?” Evan said through the phone. “I wouldn’t feel safe leaving you outside.”

“Jason, this is Evan. I’m sorry to trouble you. Please take care of Bella.”

I listened to him and felt a little speechless.

Apparently, my opinion didn’t matter.

Seriously, what kind of man was this? He had such a beautiful girlfriend, yet he was perfectly comfortable leaving her in another man’s apartment.

Still, given the circumstances, there didn’t seem to be another option.

But…