Chased by a Stranger (Craved Series #3) Read online

  “Are you okay for me to go, Jack?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “You go ahead and get checked out. I’ll see you at the hospital.”

  She nodded while the paramedic dabbed at the blood on her face and escorted her back to the ambulance.

  “You need to go, sir,” one of the stony faced officers said to me.

  “I’m a doctor,” I said. “And this is my Dad.”

  “You cannot compromise the-”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I said, rising to my feet and staring down at him.

  He looked down at my Dad.

  “I’ll help you move him.”

  The cops seemed satisfied with this after exchanging a few brusque words amongst themselves.

  One of them grabbed the back end of the bike and I grabbed the front while the paramedics held my Dad still.

  The sound he made when we moved the bike was so loud and angry that I was both relieved and afraid for him.

  But at least he wasn’t paralyzed. Not yet anyway, and I had every confidence in the Thai medical services to take good care of him, especially since I intended to supervise them closely.

  I watched as they lifted him onto the stretcher. “Don’t worry, Dad,” I said, walking beside him on the way to the ambulance. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said again. “This is all my fault.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And your bike I-”

  “Forget about the bike. Let’s just make sure you’re okay.”

  He tried to smile at me, but it was more of a pained grimace.

  I could see he was trying to be brave, but I was in no mood to be impressed.

  As far as I was concerned, he got lucky. Again. It was just another close call and at this point there had been too many. Plus, not only had he essentially stolen from me this time since I never even joked about letting him take my bike out, but he made a mistake that led to more people getting hurt than just himself.

  And I couldn’t abide by that.

  He could’ve killed himself.

  Or someone else.

  I crawled in the back of the ambulance beside him and watched as the paramedics poked and prodded him, checking his vitals and cleaning his wounds in a flurry of automatic, highly trained movements.

  I would make sure he was okay.

  That was my duty.

  But as far as enabling him going forward, well, his luck with me had officially run out.

  Chapter 8: Audrey

  I didn’t feel any better after cleaning out the mini bar. I was positive that some overpriced, travel sized shots of liquor would be just what I needed to take the edge off, but it was no use.

  Fortunately, I wasn’t quite low enough to eat the overpriced Pringles and the chilled M&Ms, though it did occur to me that room service might be able to bring me some of the sorbet Megan mentioned. But after some careful consideration, I decided that eating my feelings was something I could look forward to doing in Seattle and not the way I wanted to spend my last night in paradise.

  Plus, it would be a shame to spoil the good buzz I had going.

  Since the last thing I wanted to do was think about my life, I decided to channel my energy into packing. In fact, I figured that instead of my usual strategy of stuffing my suitcase like a toddler, I would go to great lengths to fold and roll everything so my laundry was sorted and at least one tiny corner of my life was perfectly controlled, admirable even.

  So, naturally, I was still wide awake and packing when Megan got back to the room just after midnight.

  “Hey,” I said, looking over my shoulder when I heard her come in.

  “Hey,” she said, closing the door behind her. “Have you been crying?”

  “No,” I said, going back to folding with purpose.

  She walked up beside me. “Are you sure? Because your nose is red and your eyes are puffy.”

  I shrugged. “It’s my allergies acting up.”

  “You don’t have allergies.”

  “Maybe I’m allergic to Thailand and I’m only just realizing it.”

  “Or maybe you’re allergic to feeling rejected?”

  “Ouch.”

  “Like everybody else,” she added.

  “It’s a theory anyway,” I said, bending down to roll a skirt against the bed.

  “Seriously, though.” She sat on the edge of her bed and looked up at me, wedging her hands between her knees. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Really?” she asked. “Cause it’s okay if you’re not.”

  “Really. I’m fine.”

  She nodded and hung her head, deciding not to push me, but her silence was unbearable.

  “I mean, I’ve been better,” I said, laying the rolled skirt in my suitcase.

  “Maybe there was some sort of emergency,” she said. “He could have been in an accident or something?”

  I tilted my head at her.

  “It’s possible.”

  “It’s also possible that I just have terrible taste in men and am an appalling judge of character.”

  “I really don’t think his absence tonight is a reflection on you.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “That’s a relief.”

  “Good.”

  I raised a knee to rest it on the edge of the bed and folded my arms. “Cause I was totally myself with him, ya know? Maybe even a version of myself I liked better than normal.”

  “That’s silly.”

  “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

  “Everyone likes themselves better when they’re on vacation.”

  “What?”

  “That’s why it’s called a vacation,” she said. “It’s not just a break from your life at home, it’s an escape from the things you don’t like about yourself, too.”

  “I see your point. But one of the things I like least about myself is my shitty knack for falling for the wrong guys, and it seems I forgot to leave that at home.”

  She shrugged. “Old habits.”

  “He did seem excited when he accepted the invitation though. Didn’t you think?” I asked. “You were there. Didn’t it seem like he was looking forward to going to dinner?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Megan said. “But I never really got to know him that well, and regardless of what went down between you guys, you probably didn’t either.”

  I pursed my lips.

  “I mean, how much personal stuff did you really tell him about yourself?”

  I shrugged. “Some.”

  “Yeah, but after three days, it’s not like you really know the guy. For all we know, he’s not even a real doctor.”

  “I’m pretty sure he’s a real doctor. That’s, like, public knowledge. If he weren’t, Oprah would’ve ruined him publicly and we’d all know about it.”

  “Okay, so what? That doesn’t mean he’s not a douche.”

  “I know. That’s what I’ve been telling myself.”

  “At least you had a good time together.”

  “Yeah, when he bothered to show up.”

  “He blew you off that first night, too. Remember? I mean, maybe he’s just shady.”

  “Yeah,” I said, plopping a pile of unfolded tops on the bed. “He didn’t seem shady though. He seemed honest and decent and kind.”

  “Maybe you were just seeing what you wanted to see?”

  I swallowed. Was I? Had I invented him? Was my relationship with him no more real than the one I had with Emmett? I mean, that one was definitely fabricated. His feelings for me were only ever real in my imagination.

  “I blatantly did that with Matteo,” she said. “Like he’s obviously not perfect, but I just focused on the parts of him that could meet my needs this week and did my best to ignore the rest.”

  “When you say parts, do you mean-”

  She raised her eyebrows. “His dick and his accent and his hair?”

  I laughed.

  “Yes,” she said. “And maybe you shou
ld do the same. Just focus on what was good about Jack and forget tonight even happened.”

  “I know.”

  “It was going to be over after tonight anyway, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Of course, but part of me believed-”

  “What?”

  “That maybe we would keep in touch or something?”

  Megan smiled at me.

  “Does that sound totally stupid and naïve?”

  “No.”

  “Yes it does. I know it does. Clearly, I got carried away in the last few days because he was so… and the sex was so…”

  “I know,” she said. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out differently.”

  “Me, too,” I said, meaning it more than she would ever know. “I guess the fantasy of the situation just seduced me.”

  “Like he did.”

  “Pretty much.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Did you at least have a nice night with Matteo after I left?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “We just finished dinner and then went for a walk.”

  “To his apartment?”

  “Basically.”

  “I’m glad,” I said. “At least one of our nights wasn’t a total wash.”

  “Audrey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m all for letting you feel your feelings and everything, but there is a bright side you could be looking at, too.”

  I lifted my eyes towards Megan and cocked my head.

  “No really,” she said. “It was just supposed to be a bit of fun anyway, remember? No strings attached. That was the whole point.”

  “Yeah, well. I’m an idiot.”

  “You’re not an idiot. You still had great sex with a celebrity doctor in an exotic location. It’s a great story!”

  “Well, when you say it like that I feel a little better.”

  “Good.”

  “But I still don’t like the ending.”

  She pursed her lips as the air conditioner roared to life in the corner of the room. “Well,” she said. “At least the ball’s in your court.”

  “Is it?”

  “Sure.” She leaned back on the bed. “You could always sell your story to expose him and go on another holiday with your winnings.”

  “Not helpful.” I shook my head. “I would never do that.”

  “Never say never,” Megan said.

  “Never.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I was just trying to make you feel better.”

  “Leave it,” I said, placing some folded t-shirts in my suitcase. “Just leave it.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Megan open her mouth to speak, but she closed it a moment later.

  I knew she meant well, that she was only trying to help, but there was nothing she could say that would change the fact that I got stood up by the first guy I liked who had more than just a dick going for him.

  And even though Jack was long gone, my feelings for him weren’t.

  So for the first time since we arrived, I couldn’t wait to go home.

  Chapter 9: Jack

  It was midnight before my Dad was stable enough for me to leave the hospital.

  Fortunately, the doctors decided they were going to keep him through the night to monitor him in case he had a delayed stress reaction or complications arose.

  Which was great. It meant he didn’t have to spend the night in jail- or rather- I didn’t have to decide whether I would let him.

  Tip was okay. She was sitting on a chair in my Dad’s curtained off section of the room. And despite needing stitches across her forehead, she seemed pleased that her superficial injuries could be almost entirely hidden by her hair.

  I stood with my arms folded next to the bed, watching his vitals, strangely at home among the beeping sounds and the white noise of the florescent hospital lights.

  “You should go home and rest,” I told her.

  “No,” she said. “I will stay. This is my fault.”

  “It’s not your fault, Tip.”

  She shrugged. “I knew it was your bike. I should have said no.”

  “Yeah, but you didn’t know he was drunk.”

  She dropped her head and stared at her clasped hands. “He told me he was fine to drive. I thought he would be mad if I questioned him.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “God forbid he drove away angry. He might’ve crashed.”

  She smiled a pained smile that made her small frame look heavy with guilt.

  “He has to stop drinking,” I said. “This could’ve been much worse.”

  She nodded. “I know, but he needs help. He can’t do it on his own, and he doesn’t listen to me.”

  “Or me. But at least he won’t be driving again anytime soon.”

  “How long do you think?”

  “If the breaks were clean it would be one thing, but his leg was badly crushed. I imagine he’ll need the guts of a year to recover.”

  She nodded, her eyes watery.

  Tip was the closest thing my Dad had to a girlfriend- or any kind of friend for that matter. She put up with a lot of his shit and her Thai had kept him out of a lot of trouble. What she saw in him I had no idea, but like me, she knew him before he got so bad.

  I think that was part of the problem.

  After all, it was a gamble deciding who to give your heart to. Once you committed to someone, it was hard to walk away, especially when they suddenly needed you more than ever. Personally, I was amazed at my own ability to cope with his illness and forgive his transgressions.

  And I had no doubt that Tip was probably equally shocked at how often she found herself in trouble because of her loyalty to a man who wasn’t even himself half the time.

  “Let me take you home to rest,” I said. “You’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

  “What if he wakes up?” she asked. “Won’t he be upset if we’re not here?”

  I shook my head. “He’s on so many painkillers right now, Tip. We can tell him tomorrow we stayed all night.”

  She furrowed her brow with obvious disapproval.

  “Honestly, I wouldn’t tell you to leave if I wasn’t absolutely sure he was going to be okay.”

  “I’m worried they won’t let me see him later because I’m not family.”

  “I’ll come in with you in the morning,” I said. “It’ll be fine.”

  She sighed, put her hands on her knees, and stood up. Then she walked over to the opposite side of the bed and dragged her small fingers along the side of my Dad’s face.

  I could see the affection in her eyes, and I was grateful for her. She was a true friend, and one of the only people in the country who saw my Dad for more than just the drunkard he was so much of the time.

  “Come on,” I said. “It’s better for him if we’re fresh in the morning.”

  She pursed her lips and nodded.

  “I’ll pick you up first thing,” I said, watching her look at him from the end of the bed one last time.

  She turned to look at me and shook her head. “No, I’ll pick you up,” she said, walking into the hall where I was waiting. “I still have wheels.”

  I winced at the thought. The bike meant nothing to me. It could be replaced, but it was a heavy bike and the thought of what it must have felt like to crash it, the fear that must have gone through him knowing Tip was on the back and there was no way to avoid the mango cart must have been a scary one.

  If only it were enough to scare him sober.

  Tip and I shared a tuk-tuk back into town and I made sure to give the driver enough money to take her all the way home after I jumped out at The Dolphin.

  I was desperate to tell Audrey what happened, and I wasn’t sure how soon she was leaving. All I knew was that it was that morning.

  I walked through the hotel restaurant. It was closed, but there were still a dozen people drinking at the bar. Unfortunately, none of them were her or Megan. I checked again, scouring the lobby, too. But it was in vain.

  I knew better than
to be surprised. The last thing most people did when they got stood up was hang around and feel bad for themselves.

  Plus, it was her last night so there was a good chance that she was out with Megan. And even if she were in, it didn’t seem right to bang on her door in the middle of the night.

  I approached the front desk. There was only one guy manning it at that hour, and he didn’t exactly look happy to see me which was odd since most Thai people prided themselves on their friendliness.

  “Hi,” I said. “I was wondering if I could make a phone call to one of your rooms.”

  “What is the name, sir?”

  “Audrey.”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  “And Megan,” I added, knowing full well it wasn’t the information he was looking for.

  He put his hands together on the counter. “I’m sorry, sir. Do you have a last name?”

  I shook my head.

  He glanced down at my shirt.