Was it bad that the first thing he noticed about her was her ass? Chance blushed and turned away from the woman who was bent over, ass in the air, face in the trunk of her car. He wondered what she looked like. From the back, he knew she was curvy, a true coke bottle. And thanks to the short jean shorts that hugged her plump ass, he caught a lot of her flesh in his eyes. Her legs, long for her medium height, were the color of roasted almonds. Chance shook his head, all of a sudden in the mood for almonds. He walked from the window, feeling like a peaking tom and sought out his girlfriend, Jen. They had been together for three years and had moved in together a year ago. Things were great and couldn't be better. He was expecting his first child and he could honestly see himself married to Jen for the rest of his life.

Chance found Jen looking out the kitchen window at the same mystery woman he was staring at from out of the living room. Jen's view gave off a profile of the woman. Her hair was long and dark with honey colored hints throughout. He couldn't really see her face but could tell she was attractive. "New neighbor," he mused, walking up behind Jen.

"She looks as if she needs help," Jen said, distractedly. "Let's go and welcome her and help her out."

Chance couldn't even voice his concerns about Jen going out to help lift things that could possibly be too heavy. Jen was already at the front door, making him sprint after her. For a woman who is four months pregnant, Jen moved quickly. She was striding up on the black woman with Chance hot on her heels so when the mystery woman heard them coming to her, she turned with wide eyes. It had to look as if he and Jen were running up on her.

Jen stopped in front of the woman. "Hi," she said, waving. "I'm Jen and this is my boyfriend, Chance. We wanted to  welcome you to the complex and help you get settled in."

The woman nodded. Up close now, Chance could see she was drop dead gorgeous. Her eyes were this greenish-light brown color, surrounded by long thick lashes. She had full lips with a cute little beauty mark in the corner. "Hi," she said, voice even and airy. "I'm Angelina, nice to meet you both."

"Which apartment are you in, Angelina?" Jen questioned.

Angelina looked past them and up the stairs. "8B," she answered, eyes on the two story apartment complex. There were only ten of them here.

"Directly upstairs from us," Jen said. "We're in the B building and the A building is over there." She pointed to the other side of the road. "There are four townhouses over there. Can we help you with carrying anything up, Angelina?"

She looked behind her into the trunk again. "Ah, no," she said, shaking her head. "I think I got everything handled. The movers did all the hard work. It was nice meeting you two again."

"We'll be seeing you," Jen promised.

Chance, who was studying Angelina, noticed a ghost of a smile flit across her lips at Jen's enthusiasm. He gave her a nod in farewell, not wanting to appear as if some weird staring guy. The woman was beautiful. Leading Jen back to their apartment, he turned and caught sight of Angelina reaching up to close her trunk. The shirt she wore was modest but did nothing to hid her generous curves. His mouth went dry and something rose up inside of him and he was shocked at what it was: attraction. He wanted her but that was impossible. He has a girlfriend he loves and they have a baby on the way. Closing the door behind him, he zoned out of Jen's rambling, and made a vow to himself to stay away from Angelina from 8B.

***

It was a week later and Chance was on his way in to work when he saw Angelina again. She was dressed in workout clothes. His mouth dried and dick hardened. Her clothes, the tiny shorts and tank, were drenched in sweat and sticking to her body, leaving nothing to his imagination. She had her honey tinted hair pulled back and braided down her back. In her ears were small, zebra printed ear buds. When she saw him, she gave him a small smile in greeting and kept on her way up to her apartment. She left Chance standing on the sidewalk, staring after her like some creeper.

Shaking himself, he continued on to his car and drove to work. Chance worked under his grandfather as an executive. His grandfather's grandfather had started this business but it wasn't until Chance's grandfather had it become a growing success. Generations of Gyllenborgh's had owned Castle & Co and they meant to keep it that way. As soon as he stepped into his office, passing his assistant, his phone rang. Chance shook his head. His very efficient assistant, Gail Roberts, would not put any calls through to him without his express consent. The caller had to have his personal line to be able to reach him without going through Gail and only three people had that number. His grandfather, of course. His father and Jen.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Come to my office," his grandfather  ordered and then hung up.

When Erik Gyllenborgh summons you, you go. Chance put his briefcase down and went directly down the hall to his grandfather's office. He nodded at his grandfather's assistant, a harried young woman, and went inside without knocking. The old man knew he was coming so why bother knocking. His grandfather looked up at him, their green eyes catching. It was a trait that was bought down their Scandinavian line along with their red hair. Erik motioned to a chair in front of his desk and Chance took the seat.

"Where's father?" he questioned.

Erik shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "Somewhere probably licking his wounds."

Chance raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm retiring," he said. "And Colburn knows he's not second in line."

Chance was confused. The company passed down from first born male to first born male. Yeah it was a little archaic but that was the way. Chance's father, Colburn, was the first born male to Erik. Erik's other son is a priest and had no interest in the company. His daughter has always been a stay at home mom, preferring to let her husband work here at Castle & Co. Chance knew the only other person to inherit the company was his father. Colburn Gyllenborgh served as the face of the company. He didn't really do much work for the day to day but he did travel around the world, putting his family on the back burner, for the sake of his job.

At Chance's silence, Erik continued on. "Your father knows next to nothing on how to run our company," he said. "Colburn decided to gallivant around the world instead of coming here to work at my side. He's happy doing that and I'm much more comfortable with handing over the reins to you than to your father or uncle." Erik spat out that last part. To this day, he was still put off that Asger Gyllenborgh had decided to answer to the Call and serve God.

Chance loved his Uncle Asger and went to mass, faithfully. He felt a wave of heat pass over him. His grandfather wanted him to take over the company. Chance loved his job and working as the CEO had always been his dream. He knew it would one day come to him but not this soon. He strove to be the best but knew his father was next in line. Erik was right about Colburn. His father was much happier globe-trotting than coming home to work here. He slept with a different woman, sometimes multiple, each night. What man wouldn't enjoy that? Colburn was in his fifties and looks as if he wasn't slowing down any time soon.

An image of Angelina from 8B with the tiny shorts on popped into his head. A man would slow down for her, he mused to himself. He pushed the image of her slick body to the back of his mind, a wave of guilt  coming over him. He shouldn't be thinking about her. He was all but a married man. "I'm happy to take over, fadir," Chance finally said upon realizing his grandfather was waiting for an answer. "Thank you."

***

Knock-knock-knock!

"Hello? Angelina?"

Angelina's head popped up from her e-reader. She turned to the door and frowned. Who was it coming to her new home? She was on sabbatical and only a handful of people knew. Well, she wasn't quite on sabbatical. She still checked her email and did a little work from home. Putting aside her electronic device, she went to open the door and paused at the tall woman standing in her doorway. The woman from downstairs.

"Jen?"

She nodded, long straight blonde hair flowing. "Yes," she said smiling. "I just wanted to check in on you to see how you were settling in."

"Would you like to come in?" Angelina asked. The woman walked in and waiting for her to lead the way. She led her to the kitchen, a spacious kitchen which was why she chose the apartment as opposed to the townhouse across the road. "Would you like some tea?"

"Thank you," Jen said. "That's so kind of you, Angelina."

"Call me Angel," Angelina said. "Or Angie...just not Angelina." She shuddered. "It's my great-grandmother's name and she's a cantankerous, senile, tough cookie."

Jen laughed. "Sure," she said. "Have you met any of the other tenants?"

Angelina nodded, putting the water on the stove. "I have," she nodded. "Everyone seems so nice. There is Ralph and his girlfriend on the first floor, across from you."

"They fight all the time," Jen commented, quietly.

Angelina chose not to rise to that little bit of gossip. Jen was a chatty sort and Angelina wasn't sure if the woman was the lead gossip or not. So, she continued. "There's Dionne behind you," she said. "She seems sweet."

"She's a slut," came Jen's reply.

"Harsh," Angelina said, turning to the other woman.

Jen shrugged. "It's true," she said. "She has a different man in her bed each night. If I listen hard enough, I can hear her fucking them."

Angelina's eyes widened. She turned back to the cabinet and took out mugs. The woman is the big gossip, she shook her head, muffling her chuckle. She pulled out her own tea blend and turned to Jen. "Chamomile?"

"Yes, please," Jen said. "What do you do for a living, Angie?"

Angelina smirked, her back still to the nosy woman. She turned to her, placing the mugs on the island that separated them, tea bags in them at the ready. "I'm a restaurateur," she said. "I own a few restaurants along the coast and various other places. I started out as a line cook and worked my way to executive chef. I saved up and bought the restaurant when it was going out of business and I turned it around and now I own a few."

"That's good," Jen said just as the pot started to whistle. "How many restaurants do you own?"

"Three," Angelina lied. She didn't need this woman spreading gossip about her. She wasn't sure if the woman was nice to the rest of the tenants just to get gossip to spread or not. In actuality, Angelina owned three chains of fine dining restaurants. The first was her first job, a steakhouse. She has a few of those spread out. The seafood chain was on each coast and in Vegas, of course. Her newest chain was for authentic Cajun food. She had a few in the South but mainly in the North where the selection of Cajun was scarce. Business was booming. It seemed as if she went from being a cook to a heavy hitting businesswoman overnight.

"Are you from here?"

Angelina smiled, pouring the scalding water. "No," she said. "Miami. I travel a lot so I decided to move here to North Carolina." She shrugged. "Just seemed right. My mother and grandmother are moving up here soon. I came first."

"That's nice," Jen said, blowing her tea. She took a sip. "This tastes excellent. Never had Chamomile taste so nice."

Angelina nodded. "It's my own blend," she said, head tilted. "I can give you the recipe. It should help you if you start to feel uncomfortable." Jen's blue eyes widened, confused. Angelina nodded to her barely-there baby bump. "You're having a baby."

"Oh!" Jen exclaimed. "Yes. It was a surprise. Chance is excited. I'm pretty nervous but he's a good guy."

Angelina nodded again. "Congratulations," she said, smiling.

"Do you have kids?" Jen asked. "Your body is to die for, by the way. If so, you have to tell me your workout regimen!"

"I don't," Angelina answered. "But, I jog every morning. It helps me. I eat a lot so the jogging keeps me in shape."

Jen laughed at Angelina's quiet joke. "As a restaurateur, I can see that you'd eat a lot," she took another sip. "I'd love that recipe, thanks so much. I came here to see how you were settling in and to invite you to the block party we're having at the end of the week. The whole A and B buildings will be there. It'll be in our parking lot so you won't have far to go."

"That sounds good," Angelina said, projecting assurance but on the inside, she was frantic. She had never been to a block party or invited to one for that matter. "May I help?"

Jen waved a hand. "No," she said. "Everything is set, ready for the day. It's Saturday, at noon. I have a DJ coming and people coming to put up blowup tents for the kids. Wear your bathing suit. It's going to be a water day. Temperature has been too high. If you want to bring anything, you can bring something to eat on."

"Great," Angelina said, fighting to keep a relieved tone from her voice. She was happy Jen had explained what a block party was.  "I can't wait! I haven't met all of the neighbors from across the street yet."

Jen smiled, a brightness making her already beautiful face even more gorgeous. "Great! I'd love to introduce you to them," she finished her tea. "This works out great!"

Angelina nodded and finished her tea. "Let me write the recipe down for you to make your own tea blend," she said, picking up the pad and pen on the counter next to the refrigerator.

***