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

  "Why was he riding your mo-"

  "Cause he took it without asking."

  "Jesus, Jack."

  "I don't want you to worry," I said, knowing I was asking the impossible. "Everything is going to be fine."

  "Do you want me to come out there?"

  I smiled for the first time all morning, grateful for the offer even if she didn't really mean it. "No," I said. "There's no need. You stay put."

  "Are you sure?" she asked. "I really don't mind."

  "I’m sure. Everything's under control."

  "It's actually better if I kill him, Jack. I've lived a good life, but you're still a young man. I'd rather they threw me behind bars and-"

  "I appreciate the offer, Mom, but seeing as how he’s just barely managed to avoid killing himself this time, I'm going to give him one more chance to turn things around."

  "That's what you always say."

  "I know," I said, Audrey's face flashing through my mind. "But this time I mean it."

  "Are you sure you don't want me to come out there?" she asked. "Then we could have a proper family intervention."

  "Yeah… As much fun as that sounds, I'd really rather handle this myself."

  "Okay."

  "What else is new with you?"

  Jin pulled up as if on cue, his face so full of worry he looked like he’d been listening in.

  "I can't talk now, Mom. I just wanted to fill you in."

  "When can you talk?"

  "I don't know. Soon. I'll call you."

  "You always say that and then you nev-"

  "I promise," I said.

  "Okay,” she said. “Thanks for calling.”

  I hung up and approached Jin's bike, shaking my head the whole time.

  "You okay?" he asked. "You look like someone just died."

  "It's Audrey," I said. "I let her get away."

  Chapter 12: Audrey

  I knew I had no right to pout.

  I just went on a glorious holiday to a gorgeous part of the world where I'd seen and done some amazing things. My muscles felt relaxed, my skin had a refreshing tightness brought on by my days in the sun, and I even managed to lose a few pounds despite drinking every day and stuffing my face every night.

  And yet, as the air hostess passed me an uninspiring packet of "baked snack crackers" in a bag so small I don't know why they even bothered packaging up the contents, I couldn't help but feel like the trip could've been more.

  Or more accurately, that more could've happened between me and Jack.

  Not that I could complain about it. I was the one that hadn't let him in, thereby ensuring that the whole ordeal- whatever it was- lacked any closure it might've had.

  And I didn’t regret it. I just wished he'd shown up the night before like he said he would.

  Perhaps that was why I had a sour taste in my mouth. Because the whole trip had been pleasantly surprising up to that point. And then, suddenly, I was let down, humiliated, and severely underwhelmed. It seemed like such a pathetic climax to an otherwise happy story, and the only way to describe how I felt on the plane was “blah.”

  And to make matters worse, I was flying back home to a place where my job and dating prospects were as grim as the weather.

  Still, I was doing my best to put on a brave face. After all, in many ways, it was the holiday of a lifetime and one I would never forget. So who did I think I was feeling sorry for myself?

  Plus, I didn't want Megan to feel bad. Then again, how could she? She was too busy watching Frozen on her personal TV monitor and was the biggest Elsa fan over age twelve.

  Meanwhile there I was, not letting it go.

  I opened my baked snack crackers and ate half the package- or more specifically- three of them. Then I scrolled through the movies on offer.

  Rom Com's were out. I was in no mood to watch something that was guaranteed to have a happy ending when I was sulking over the absence of my own. And I hated horror films. My life had been scary enough lately without going out of my way to feel disturbed.

  I didn't want to watch anything with Matthew McConaughey either, which ruled out half the films on offer. I don't know why. Normally I liked him, but something about his shade of tan and his blue eyes made me feel… sick.

  Megan reached up and paused her screen, pushing her headphones back on her head as she turned to me. "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah," I lied. "Fine. Why?"

  "Is it Jack?"

  "No. What are you talking about?"

  "You haven't picked a movie yet."

  "So. There are a lot of choices. Maybe too many."

  "I know," she said. "That's exactly my point."

  "What is?"

  "You're always indecisive when you're depressed."

  "What? No I'm not."

  "Yes you are," she said. "It's why you overbuy ice cream when you're sad. Cause you never know what flavor you want when you don't feel like anything."

  "I'm not indecisive."

  "Whatever," she said. "I know better than to try and talk you out of your allowable sulking time, but before you pout for the next fifteen hours, maybe you should consider changing your perspective."

  "I'm listening," I said. My eyes darted around to see if anyone was listening, but apparently we were surrounded by very decisive people who knew exactly what they wanted to watch.

  "Well, let's say he had shown up last night."

  "Yeah."

  "How would this moment be any different?"

  "Well, I would be sexually satisfied instead of frustrated for one."

  "You'll be home to your vibrator soon enough."

  My eyes flashed wide. Were you even allowed to say that word on planes? "And I wouldn't feel like a hideous reject."

  She laughed in my face. "First of all, you're not a hideous reject. If you recall, despite what happened last night, he came crawling back this morning. Have you forgotten that?"

  "No."

  "That means you won."

  I let my head fall back against my seat. "I don't feel like a winner."

  "That's because your emotions aren’t rational. If I were you, I'd be delighted just knowing that I got under his skin enough to leave an impression."

  "I don't know."

  "Seriously, in a way I envy you."

  It was my turn to laugh. "For what?"

  "A week from now, Matteo won't even remember my name, much less what I look like."

  "That's not true."

  "Trust me, it is," she said. "But I don't mind cause I was using him, too."

  "Maybe."

  "No I was," she insisted. "But that's okay because even love that isn't true gives you something fun to do."

  "I suppose."

  "And didn't you have fun with Jack?"

  "Yeah."

  "And wasn't the whole point of the trip to get away and do something fun- or someone- if we were really lucky?"

  "I suppose."

  "So why can't you just be happy that you had a fling with a sexy millionaire in a beautiful place and that the relationship ended before you ever had to see his skid marks."

  "I don't think Jack's the kind of guy who has skid marks."

  "Don't be ridiculous. Of course he does. And it's just an analogy, Audrey. I'm not accusing him of leaving shit stains-"

  I winced.

  "-in his boxers," she said, lowering her voice when the woman in front of us turned and looked through the seats at us. "All I'm saying is he's not perfect. And if you keep putting him up on this pedestal like he's the one that got away, you're going to make yourself crazy."

  I nodded.

  "Everything happens for a reason," she said. "You need to believe that and not question it."

  "I do believe it.”

  "Good. Cause how you met him was totally fortuitous, right?"

  "It was, yeah."

  "So just trust that things ended the way they were supposed to as well."

  "Maybe you’re right."

  "Like I know we're at that ag
e where we're supposedly wasting our time if we spend it with a man who isn't potentially going to put a ring on it, but that doesn't apply to what happens on vacation."

  I pursed my lips.

  "You met a guy. You had a great time. The end," she said. "You know yourself there's rarely a happily ever after. The fact that you were happy during your time together is a gift. You should cherish it, not regret it."

  "I know."

  "Besides, what's done is done. It's too late to change anything now so just smile because it happened and all that."

  "I suppose it is better to have loved and lost."

  "There you go. That's the spirit."

  "Thanks," I said, forcing a pitiful smile.

  "Did that not help at all? Do you really not feel any better?"

  "No," I lied. "I do. You're right. I should forget about it. It was fun while it lasted, and that was the whole point. If anything, it was probably the most successful relationship I've had in years."

  "It wasn't a relationship, Audrey. It was three dates. It was a fling. Who knows? Maybe the whole reason Jack came into your life was to keep you from getting blood poisoning from that coral and the rest was just an awesome bonus."

  I nodded.

  "Plus, he got your mind off Emmett for a few days, right? So that's something."

  "It's something alright," I said. "Now I just need something to take my mind of Jack."

  "Exactly," she said. "Like a movie."

  I tilted my head at her. If she thought a movie was going to do it, she really didn’t have a clue how I was feeling.

  Chapter 13: Jack

  Jin didn't ask any questions after I got on his bike which was fine by me. I was happy to join him in silent preparation for our boxing session.

  When we arrived, I borrowed some of Jin's equipment, including shorts that were a little too small and high-waisted for my taste, and got into it as best I could.

  I knew jabbing and jogging around with a bunch of guys couldn’t fix my problems, but breaking a good sweat certainly burned up the nervous energy that had been pooling in me since I first saw my Dad sticking out of that mango cart.

  Plus, nothing takes your mind off affairs of the heart like an angry looking guy with zero percent body fat trying to punch you on the chin.

  After an hour and a half of trying not to disgrace myself, I grabbed a cool shower, got changed, and went outside to wait for Jin while he said his goodbyes to the other guys.

  "Thanks for letting me tag along," I said when he came through the doors. "I needed that more than I realized."

  He nodded and pulled his keys from his back pocket. "You've improved a lot."

  I shrugged. "Does that mean I didn't embarrass you?"

  "Only by the way you looked in my shorts."

  I smiled. "You hungry?"

  "Yeah," he said. "Starving."

  "Let’s get something. My treat," I said, waiting for him to get on the bike first.

  We went to a small, outdoor restaurant whose seating area was in a gravely parking lot shaded by a cheap blue tarp. Everything was metal- the chairs, the tables, the cups- but the smells coming out of the kitchen gave me a good feeling about the place.

  And from the way Jin greeted the owner, I got the sense that it was his go to spot after a training session, and I figured the less I interfered with his routine, the better.

  "So what happened?" he asked, taking a seat across from me.

  "With Audrey or my Dad?"

  "Both," he said. "Or whichever you want to talk about."

  "Well, there's nothing to say about my Dad except for the fact that he's getting worse, and I need to have a serious conversation with him."

  "Nothing new then."

  "I know, but he crossed a line taking my bike. He could've really hurt himself or someone else this time. I don't give a shit if he wants to stumble around town pissed out of his brains, but getting behind the wheel like that is unforgivabl-"

  "He was drunk?"

  I shrugged. "Drinking- drunk. I don't know if there's really a difference anymore."

  He nodded.

  "And unfortunately, there's not much to say about Audrey either because she left without saying goodbye."

  His eyebrows came together, meeting in the middle of his boyish face. "She did?"

  "It's my fault though. I was supposed to meet her last night, but I couldn’t because of my Dad’s crash. And when I went to see her this morning to explain, she was already gone."

  "Shit."

  "I know." I shook my head. "I just hope she didn’t think it was personal, ya know?"

  "You really liked her."

  I nodded. "Yeah, I did." And I wasn't quite sure I was prepared to relegate liking her to the past tense either.

  "So she didn't give you her number or anything? An email address?"

  "No." I shrugged. "I thought I had plenty of time to get that stuff, and then all of a sudden I was too late."

  "Facebook?"

  "I don't know her last name."

  "What?!" he asked. "How do you not know her last name? How did you make sure you aren't cousins?"

  I laughed. "We're not cousins, Jin. Still, I feel like an idiot. You should've seen the look on the guy's face at The Dolphin when I asked him to call her room and didn't know her last name. He thought I was nuts."

  "You have to find her."

  "You think so?" I asked, realizing that was exactly what I wanted to hear. I needed someone to tell me I wasn't crazy for wanting to find a girl who lived on the other side of the world and had only gone out with me twice.

  "What else are you doing?"

  He had a point there.

  "You want to know what I really think?" he asked.

  "Of course."

  "I think you should at least try. I think she really liked you."

  "Yeah?"

  He nodded. "And it’s bad karma to let her go around with hurt feelings if you don't have to."

  I linked my fingers behind my neck.

  "And what is the worst that could happen?" he asked, raising his palms in the air. "Either you track her down and she says thank you for telling me the truth or she says she likes you, too. Then you can bring her back here with some of her sexy American friends."

  I laughed. "You make it sound so simple."

  "It is simple," he said. "There is nothing as simple as love."

  I rolled my eyes.

  "People make it complicated, but it shouldn’t be that way in the beginning."

  I crossed my arms.

  "For now, just try and get the girl. Don't over think it."

  "You must have liked her to encourage me to go on a wild goose chase."

  "Not goose," he said. "Girl."

  I smiled.

  "And I did like her, but all that matters is that I can tell you do, and I want you to be happy."

  I leaned forward to rest my elbows on the table and looked at Jin. "So now what?"

  "Now you have to find her."

  I laughed. "That’s where it gets complicated."

  He shrugged. "What do you have to lose by trying?"

  And in that moment I knew.

  I had nothing to lose and everything at the same time.

  Either she didn't want anything to do with me or she had feelings for me, too.

  Either way, I knew Jin was right. I had to find her.

  Cause I had to know.

  Besides, I had money and time on my hands.

  What better way to use them than to find the one that got away?

  Chapter 14: Audrey

  Even though I knew I'd be useless and jetlagged for days, I headed straight for the answering machine when I got home.

  I figured if there was anything pressing, I might as well find out about it sooner rather than later. Like if I had a message from Jack. Though I knew better than to hope for a miracle.