Pursued by Him (Wanted Series #4) Read online

  “I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt that they would check that,” I said. “But it’s a good question. I might ask just to be sure.”

  “Might as well, especially if you’ve already developed a reputation.”

  I laughed and crumpled the second hash brown wrapper. “I know. I think I’m actually making it worse because I keep insisting that I’m not usually such a worry wart and that I don’t usually try to be so controlling.”

  “I’m sure they never hear that.”

  “I know, right?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “Maybe you should get out of here for a few hours.”

  “And do what?” I asked. “Is this about the job I’m supposed to be doing for you? Cause I’m good for it, Austin. You know I am-”

  “It’s not about the job.”

  “Well, if you don’t mind, I’m a little too exhausted to read between the lines.”

  “I’m saying maybe you should go see about a girl.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Where is this coming from?”

  He shrugged. “Apparently Mom and Karen and Gigi all really liked her.”

  “What? I thought they only spent two seconds with her before she left.”

  “Time is weird in hospitals. Maybe it was longer.”

  “What about the pine needles?”

  He shrugged. “I guess they aren’t bothered.”

  I squinted at him. “What exactly did Karen say?”

  “That she was glad you were finally spending time with a woman who actually had a brain.”

  “That’s weird.” I tilted my head. “Cause she wouldn’t know shit about any of the other women I’ve gone out with except for whatever you’ve told her.”

  “I think her words were, ‘better than your usual Einstein’.”

  I shook my head. “And Mom?”

  “Mom liked her hair, said you always had a thing for redheads.”

  “Was this before or after you told them Sophie woke up?”

  “Way after.”

  I cocked my head. “And you’re telling me they all think I should leave the hospital where Sophie is to go see a woman I’ve only just met.”

  “Well, when you say it like that, maybe not.”

  I sighed.

  “But if she’s important to you, maybe you should.” He crossed his ankle over his knee. “It’ll keep you from getting cabin fever at the very least. And you can’t see Sophie till the afternoon anyway.”

  “And you’re happy to stay here while I do that?”

  He pulled his coffee from the cardboard drinks tray between his feet. “You’d do it for me.”

  I nodded. “I suppose I would,” I said, unwrapping my breakfast biscuit. “Though if I remember correctly, it was Karen that pursued you so you didn’t have to lift a finger.”

  “Talk all the shit you want, but my wife has extremely high standards.”

  “You don’t have to tell me. I know better than to question Karen’s taste in anything.”

  “Remember that time you told her what you thought of the tiles she picked for the backsplash? When we redid the kitchen?”

  “Hey, she asked,” I said. “And you know those tiles are an eyesore.”

  He lifted his coffee to his lips. “The only thing I know is that anything that keeps my wife happy in the kitchen is money well spent.”

  I shook my head. “The only thing that color looks good on is an avocado.”

  “Are you going or not?”

  I ran my hand over my head.

  “At least go get her fucking number so you have the option of seeing her again if you want.”

  “Yeah?”

  He crumpled his McGriddle wrapper. “What have you got to lose?”

  My mind reeled with images of Addison batting her eyelashes and licking her strawberry lips. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”

  “Not at all,” he said. “It was my idea.”

  “Or Karen’s.”

  “Let’s decide whose idea it was after we see how it goes.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “I’ll be really quick.” I stuffed the rest of my sandwich in my mouth.

  “How long do you think it will it take you to swing by there?”

  I swallowed my bite. “At this time of day? No time at all. If I leave now, I’ll be back by eleven.”

  “Sounds pretty optimistic,” he said. “I didn’t think you could last that long.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Thanks,” I said, standing up. “I owe you one.”

  He nodded.

  And with that, I was on my way, counting down the minutes until I’d get to see her again.

  Chapter 6: Addison

  The waiter brought the bread basket with my second glass of wine.

  Holly arrived moments later. Her hair was black and shiny as it swung behind her while she made her way through the restaurant, her two piece suit giving away the fact that she’d come straight from work. “Sorry I’m late.”

  I stood up and gave her a hug. She smelled like vanilla. “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’m glad you could come on such short notice.”

  “Well, after the message you left me earlier, I wasn’t going to leave you hanging.”

  “Thanks,” I said, trying to remember what I’d said as she sat down across from me. The whole day was such an emotional blur from having to leave the cabin to swinging by the hospital to finding myself back in the office over a stack of papers and an email inbox with over fifty new messages marked as urgent.

  “I was kind of surprised you even had time to get together tonight.”

  “I don’t,” I said. “But at this point, I can’t be as prepared as I want for tomorrow anyway so I figure the best thing for me is a few drinks and a good night’s sleep.”

  “Fair enough,” she said. “It’s good to see you.”

  “You, too,” I said, laying my napkin across my lap. “You wouldn’t believe the week I had.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “You mean the man you had?”

  I smiled, thinking of the way Wyatt’s jeans were hugging his ass wherever he was. “Did I mention him in the message I left?”

  “You did,” she said. “And if you don’t mind my saying, I’m much more interested in hearing what happened with him than I am about your bitch of a boss and her sick puppeteering.”

  I sighed. I was usually first on the scene to defend Deborah, but her Indian giving in terms of my vacation days had left me a bit salty.

  “Do you know what you’d like to drink?” the waiter asked Holly, appearing at our sides and clasping his hands high in front of him like only an openly gay man would.

  Holly raised her eyebrows and turned to me. “What are you having?”

  “The house red,” I said. “I think it’s a cab sav.”

  She nodded and turned back to the waiter. “Can you bring us a bottle?”

  “Will a carafe suit?” the waiter asked, hinging forward at the hips.

  Holly nodded and smiled, the whites of her eyes out twinkling her teeth for a moment. “Can we have some calamari, too?” she said. “To nibble on while we look at the menu?”

  “Certainly,” the waiter said, turning on his heels.

  I reached for a piece of bread and tore it in half. “It was nice of you to blow off Nick to make time for me during my period of personal crisis.”

  “You mean blow off my personal crisis to hear about yours?”

  “Is he still your biggest crisis?”

  She shook her head. “To be honest, I think he might be someone else’s.”

  I cocked my head. “Oh?”

  “Yeah,” she said, reaching for the other half of my bread. “I think he’s seeing someone else.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “I don’t know. He’s been really vague about his plans lately, and the other day I was at his apartment and I found a half empty bottle of peach schnapps in his drinks cabinet.”

  “Did you ask him about it?” I asked, sl
iding the butter dish towards her.

  “No. It’s not like we’re exclusive.” She spread a curl of butter on her bread. “If anything, lately it feels like we both know we shouldn’t even be spending time together.”

  “Weird.”

  “I think that’s the only reason we’re still hanging out.”

  “Cause it feels weird?”

  “No, cause it feels naughty. To be honest, I’m actually happier with the non-exclusivity agreement we have now than I ever was when he was all mine.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.”

  I knew better than to argue with her. I also knew from experience that the more Holly insisted she was happy, the farther from the truth that tended to be.

  “And our sex life has never been better.”

  “Oh?” I asked. “How so?”

  “Like I’m up for kinkier stuff now that he’s not my boyfriend.”

  Is that why I let a strange man have me in a strange house? Why I let him fuck me on a picnic blanket? Cause I thought I might never see him again? “Like what?”

  “Like the other night I let him stick his finger in my butt while I was riding him, which I would never do if I thought we had a future.”

  I took a sip of my ice water.

  She squinted at me. “Too much information?”

  “I’m the one that asked,” I said, looking around to make sure no one was dropping in on our conversation at the wrong time. “Did you like it?”

  “Meh. It was okay. It’s not, like, my new favorite thing or anything.”

  I nodded and pushed my bread away. Something about the finger in the butt story made the little bowl of black olive pesto lose its appeal.

  “But we aren’t here to talk about the kinky sex I shouldn’t be having because my ex and I are obviously totally incompatible-”

  “Especially if he would entertain a woman who drinks peach schnapps.”

  “Right?” she asked. “I mean, how juvenile is that?”

  “It’s only juvenile if you drink it straight.”

  “Whatever. Tell me about this guy that has totally turned your world upside down.”

  “Without ever sticking his finger in my butt for the record.”

  “Are you going to see him again?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I think I want to-”

  “Which is huge for you.”

  “Right?”

  She nodded.

  “But I don’t know.” I shook my head. “It’s complicated.”

  She pinched a piece of buttered bread off between her coral manicured fingers. “How is it complicated?”

  I took a deep breath. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Start anywhere.”

  “Well, first of all, he doesn’t live in the city.”

  “Yeah, well, neither does Johnny Depp, but I don’t consider that a deal breaker.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Also, he’s got a kid.”

  Her eyes went wide. “Like a kid kid or a baby goat?”

  “A kid kid, Jesus. He’s not that rural.”

  She shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”

  “I’m pretty sure he has all his original teeth, too, to save you asking.”

  “Good, cause I bet missing chompers would really ruin his Thor vibe.”

  I nodded. “I should think so.”

  “So how old is the kid?”

  “Sophie,” I said. “She’s nine.”

  “Is her mom in the picture?”

  “She’s dead.”

  “Shit.”

  “I know,” I said, lifting my glass of wine. “So I feel like it’s kind of unfair for me to even consider pursuing it.”

  “Why?”

  “Cause I can’t be someone’s mom.” I took a sip.

  “She’s probably old enough now that she’d never really consider you her mother.”

  I set my glass down. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “I guess not.”

  “Regardless, you know how much I’ve never wanted to be a parent.”

  “I do.”

  “I’m not even sure what the rules are for dating guys with kids in the first place. I mean, if I never want to be a mom, are they totally off limits? I kind of feel like they should be.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” Holly said. “Seems to me like you’re into him.”

  “Does it?”

  “Well, the last guy that you mentioned this many times was the creepy night guard that worked in your old building.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That was for totally different reasons.”

  “How was the sex?”

  I let my head fall back for a second before righting it again. “Promise you won’t make fun of me?”

  She nodded. “I promise.”

  “I had no idea it could be so good.”

  “Wow.”

  “Do you understand my predicament?”

  “I guess so, but I’m not really sure it’s a predicament.”

  “You’re not?”

  “No. I think you should keep seeing him.”

  “What about his little girl?”

  “It’s his job to protect her and tell her what he thinks she needs to hear. Not yours.”

  “Maybe.”

  “And why should you walk away from the first worthwhile sex you’ve had in years?”

  “You may have a point there,” I said, thinking maybe it would be wise to at least try dating before I threw in the towel and settled for a fancy vibrator with a lifetime guarantee.

  “What’s the worst that could happen if you keep seeing him?”

  I pursed my lips. “It works out or it doesn’t, I guess.”

  “And at the very least, you have something else to think about besides work all the time.”

  “And you and Nick’s dysfunctional relationship.”

  “Functionality is subjective.”

  I pushed some hair out of my face. “Whatever.”

  “So it’s settled,” she said. “We’ll enjoy a few drinks tonight, and you’ll see him again this weekend after you nail your meeting tomorrow.”

  I nodded. “I like that plan.”

  “Great! I’m so relieved I could be helpful.”

  “There’s only one problem,” I said.

  She furrowed her brow. “What’s that?”

  “I have no idea how to get ahold of him.”

  Chapter 7: Wyatt

  My chest was swollen with anticipation by the time I pulled into the driveway. I couldn’t wait to scoop Addison up, to tell her my little girl was going to be okay after all, to apologize for all the craziness.

  I wanted to kiss her and wrap my hands around her waist, wanted to pull her close and swear up and down that my life wasn’t normally so exciting.

  But she wasn’t there.

  I couldn’t believe it.

  I knocked on the door until my hand hurt. I peaked in every window like a complete stalker. I even walked down to the water to see if she was there. Then I sat on the porch for a few minutes, but it wasn’t long before a woodpecker started pecking a nearby tree so hard I felt like it was drilling a hole in my brain.

  So I left.

  I considered leaving a note, but there was no sign of life in the house that gave me any reason to think she was coming back. And I looked around for anything she might’ve left behind that may have given me a clue for how to find her- a card, a receipt, a glass slipper.

  But the place was deserted.

  And the visit left my heart hanging low in my chest.

  When I got back to the hospital, Austin did his best to give me a hearty pat on the back, but it did little to comfort me.

  Which was confusing.

  I didn’t normally need any consoling when a woman dropped out of my life. Sure, I was usually the one performing the disappearing act, but something about how upset I was unsettled me.

  Naturally, I was eager to meet
up with Addison again because we had an undeniable chemistry, and she infuriated me in a way that made her positively magnetic. But I couldn’t help but feel that maybe there was more to my desire for her than physical attraction based on how disappointed I was that she’d slipped through my fingers.

  And when Austin started going on about how things happen for a reason, channeling my mother in the hospital waiting room, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to hear any bullshit reasons why not seeing her again was for the best. I refused to believe the first woman I liked with a brain between her ears was supposed to get away that easily.

  What about everything we’d done over the last few days?

  Surely it meant something to her? It had to. All those firsts? All those orgasms?

  Austin went for a walk soon after I returned so he could check in with Karen before his very short leash got yanked. As a result, I had a few minutes to myself before Sophie returned from her last scan of the day.

  So as soon as the chubby nurse led me to my usual chair, which was sitting next to the empty space in which Sophie’s bed would be wheeled any minute, I decided to take action before I lost my nerve.

  Lucky for me, the wifi connection in the hospital was decent, and I figured if I knew Addison like I thought I did, she was probably active on LinkedIn. Turns out it was a good guess. She came up on the first page of results for consultants in the greater New York area.

  I smiled as soon as her picture popped up. Her hair was thick and striking in her headshot. I was sort of surprised she hadn’t pulled it back. Her makeup was minimal and the lighting washed out her freckles, but it was still her, no question about it.

  Her resume was impressive and full of lots of power words and resume fodder I was glad I didn’t have to trade in. In the time it took me to read her page, two different people endorsed her for different skills. I might have made it three people, except I was pretty sure the skills of hers I would’ve liked to endorse weren’t available choices.

  Much to my disappointment, I couldn’t contact her directly. The best I could do was sign up for an account and invite her to join my “professional network,” which seemed really lame, but at least I got to put in a personal message.

  I must’ve changed the default at least twenty times.