AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For the restof the party, I managed to successfully avoid that man, though at odd times I’d feel this presence, as if someone was watching my every move. But when I’d look around, there was only a sea of party-goers. I was motivated to circulate. I needed to impress my boss and was determined to do so, staying until the very end of the event. I declined an offered ride home in one of the hired cars, something in my gut telling me it was inappropriate for an intern to accept. And then my gut got outside into the freezing October air, and I kicked myself. My MetroCard balance was too low to make it home and then to work the next day, and a taxi fare might as well have been a payment on a Rolls Royce.
I huddled in my sweater, tugging it tightly to me as a shield against the wind. It was useless. My internal thermostat was set to Texas swelter, so it felt like I might as well be in Antarctica. My mother had emailed me a picture from their outdoor patio only a few days before of her in a halter dress, her note complaining about the heat. I’d been surprised that she’d responded to my email at all, certain it was the gin constantly in her hand that had prompted it. Right about now, I’d take a shot of that heat—and a pair of tennis shoes or bedroom slippers or anything besides these damned high heels. It was a long walk back to my apartment, and in the morning, I’d just have to make the trek all over again.
I opted for the office. I could spend the night on the sofa in the breakroom, and I had a red cardigan to put on over my dress so I wouldn’t look like I was wearing the same outfit as the night before. It would be warm there, so I had a good chance of avoiding hypothermia.
There were enough people around that I wasn’t too nervous being on the streets at night. I was still young enough to think I was invincible, but I kept my guard up, aware of my surroundings. When a car so dark it almost blended into the night slowed beside me, I kept moving at a steady pace. If I sped up, whoever was behind those tinted windows would know I was nervous. I lifted my chin, putting on an air of confidence even though my heart rate had accelerated exponentially.
“It’s cold.”
I’d only heard that voice once, yet it was branded on my memory. “No shit,” I replied without turning toward him, the angel warrior. I kept moving. He laughed, and I nearly tripped, but I held it together despite feeling every note of his laughter all over my body. I’d never heard a laugh like that, and I got the feeling he didn’t let it out all that often. It was deceptively alluring, and it was dangerous. I already felt myself warming toward him when I didn’t want to.
“Get in. You shouldn’t be out here on your own.” Just like I hadn’t asked for that tape to seal the envelope, he wasn’t asking me if I needed a lift. He was commanding me. It both turned me on and pissed me off at the same time.
“I’ll take my chances,” I tossed back, continuing toward the office without looking at him. If I saw that face again, I’d be in trouble, and it was taking a valiant effort to avoid temptation.
“Don’t be foolish just to prove a point.” His accurate assessment sent a shiver through me. The car continued to creep along beside me, all other traffic be damned. I didn’t give in. It was far less dangerous out on the street than it would have been in there with him.
“Go away.”
He laughed again, and I had to keep myself from walking faster. “That’s something I’ve never had a woman say to me before.”
“There’s a first time for everything. Even at your age,” I added, hoping the little dig would insult him. He couldn’t have been older than his early thirties, but I was grasping at straws to get him to leave me alone. I didn’t like people who made me nervous, and this man made me quake like no one ever had.
“Don’t make me get out of this car.”
I hated threats, but coming out of his mouth, the warning was sexy.What will you do if I make you get out?I dared him in my mind.
A group of six people approached, laughing as they strolled. I seized the opportunity to join them when they veered off into a discreet club. I made a beeline through glow-sticks and black lights directly to the back door, where I exited into a dingy alley. Most of the floodlights overhead didn’t work, and I all but ran back to the main street, peering around the corner to make sure that damn black car was gone. The coast was clear, and my walk was brisker than the wind for the remaining few blocks to the building where the Hamerstein and Associates offices were housed.
Once I was inside stretched out on the breakroom sofa, I didn’t sleep a wink. All I could think about were those eyes and that laugh that was still rumbling through me. He wasn’t like the boys at school or even the men who were friends of my father. I couldn’t put my finger on it, struggled to find a single word in the English language to adequately describe him.
Sex wasn’t something I had time for. Johnny Caldwell was a mistake I had no intention of repeating with just anyone. But I knew the man with the seductive laugh would have left me with a different outlook if he’d had me first. He drew out this desire in me I hadn’t known was there, a potent yearning for his hands and that mouth to touch me anywhere they could. I now regretted wasting myself with Johnny in a way I hadn’t before, yet I knew if I let that raven-haired god touch me, there would be no coming back from it. How could there be, when he’d left me breathless after the briefest of encounters?
I stared at the ceiling, my eyes adjusted to the dark, every so often checking the time on the green digital display of the microwave clock. My heart wouldn’t settle into a normal rhythm as I worked over why a stranger had had such a profound effect on me. I was smart, but I was at a loss, this sort of thing beyond my realm of knowledge. So I did the only thing I could. I got up, put on a pot of coffee, and focused on something that would actually benefit me…work.
Chapter Four
Daniel
Present
I couldn’t sayno to her. It was like a chronic symptom of a problem I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to fix. That was the reason why, instead of Vivian in the back of the car headed to her new apartment,Iwas. She had demanded a week, one I desperately didn’t want to give her, couldn’t afford to, yet I’d caved.
There was no way I could stay in our home with her. Hell, I’d nearly changed my mind when she’d growled in that stubborn voice to “fuck fond.” I couldn’t have agreed more with that sentiment. It didn’t even scratch the surface of what we had between us.
I scrubbed my forehead a few times. The battle had started. I’d completed my task, yet I felt no better for it. In fact, I was worried. Vivian hadn’t made leaving her easy, but I’d expected to still be arguing, likely until the sun came up.
But she hadn’t cursed me out or screamed at me. Overall, she’d remained relatively calm. I’d come out unscathed, at least from the standpoint of her reaction, and that was a bad sign. It was impossible to guess what her next move would be, but there would be one.
What if there isn’t?I’d told her to move on with her life, in essence given her my blessing and a parting gift. Vivian didn’t realize it, but she’d been wrong when she said I couldn’t cut my heart out. I had, but I hadn’t thrown it away. I’d given it to her.
I hated that it had come to this. That the past and the future had finally collided, no matter how I’d tried to keep them apart. But there was nothing to be done for it. This was to spare her what lay ahead. Letting her go was the best thing for her. So why didn’t it feel that way?
My phone vibrated in the pocket of my pants. A pit formed in my stomach when I saw the caller ID, but I couldn’t ignore the other woman in my life. “Muriella.” My voice sounded strained and raw.
“Did you do it?” she demanded in a tone I couldn’t recall ever hearing from her. Anger. Hurt. All rolled into one statement.
“Yes.” It was all I could say. It was all I would get the chance to. Dead air in my ear, I looked at the screen. She’d hung up on me. In over twenty years, that was a first.
