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Call me
Don’t play hard to get
I need to talk to you
I yanked them down, bunching them in my hand before unlocking the door. Shaking, I threw the papers into the kitchen trash bin. I put down the box that held the ice cream before pouring myself a glass of water. I drank it in huge gulps, trying to calm myself.
The man didn’t know how to take a hint. I was toying with the idea of calling the police, but I didn’t have a case. He’d sent me a letter, text messages, and came to my damn door to put Post-its on it. God, I didn’t want to let him ruin this evening too. I took in a few more deep breaths.
Vince was contacting me more now than after we’d broken up, but he’d never been this aggressive before. Then again, maybe I was blowing this all out of proportion and letting my nerves get the best of me.
It’s going to be an amazing evening, Natalie. Now, forget Vince even exists and pick out a killer outfit.
Usually I would simply dress in jeans and a polo shirt for a lazy evening out, but guess who was putting in a lot of effort in her appearance? Yup, this girl here. I put on a summery yellow dress with butterflies along the waistline and lace straps also in the shape of butterflies. Twisting my hair into a careless ponytail, I applied minimal mascara as well as lip gloss. I looked fresh-faced and not overly made-up.
I took a step back, looking at myself in the mirror. It was a casual outfit. Oh heavens, was I trying too hard to be nonchalant so he didn't think I wanted to, what, seduce him?
I was being ridiculous.Hekissedme. I wasn't doing any seducing here.
Half an hour later, my doorbell rang. I grabbed my purse and slid on flat shoes before opening the front door and stepping right outside.
"Hey," I said. Did I sound breathless? I certainly felt that way.
He was wearing jeans and a dress shirt. I would've teased him about wearing one on a Sunday, but he looked so delicious that I remained silent, simply drinking him in.
"Right on time," I said as I locked the door behind me.
"As you pointed out, I like keeping to a schedule."
Warmth coursed through me as I went down the steps along with him. I felt his nearness. It was impossible to ignore his cologne. He smelled fresh, like the woods early in the morning.
"What were you supposed to do before you called me?" I asked. I was genuinely curious. The more I found out about him, the more a mystery he seemed to be.
"I planned to read up on the memos for tomorrow morning's meeting."
I burst out laughing. "Now tell me what you were really up to."
He frowned. "That was the plan."
I stared at him. "This is what you do on Sunday evenings?"
"If it's necessary, yes."
"I feel bad now. I've never had such a work ethic. Not that it would have helped."
“What do you mean?”
“My boss fired me because he couldn’t stand how much my ex and I were fighting.”
“He just showed up at work?”
“No, worse. We worked together. That’s how we met. It actually took us a while until we started dating. Three years, to be exact. Then I was promoted to the senior position over him, and he didn’t take it well at all. He started putting me down and yelling a lot. I broke up with him, but that only made the fighting worse. Eventually our boss was fed up and fired us both.”
“That’s fucked-up. Why the hell wasn’t he proud of you?”
“Thought he deserved it more, I guess. I don’t know. He was a very angry person, almost controlling, and that side of him showed up more after I got promoted. I was very good at my job. But because of how things ended, my boss refuses to give me a recommendation, which makes the search that much harder.”
“That’s not right. I can fix it.”
