Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
SIMON
A bigail Walker. Really?
For ten years, I’d been wondering if I’d ever see her again and she’d been nowhere. Now, suddenly, she was turning up everywhere .
Gorgeous, light brown hair loose and shiny under the midday sun, she stepped out of one of my favorite coffee shops and slammed to a stop when she saw me. Those blues that literally haunted my dreams narrowed as she stared up into my eyes, looking like she was cussing out the universe for putting me on her path again.
My attention, however, was instantly diverted to the buff dude she was with. Who is this Ken doll lookalike and what the fuck is he doing with my girl?
Okay, so she wasn’t my girl, but still. I already knew he wasn’t her boyfriend. She never would’ve hooked up with me in LA if she had been in a relationship and it’d only been a couple days.
I brought my gaze back to hers. “Abi? What are you doing here? I come to Starburst pretty often and I’ve never seen you around before.”
“I usually get lucky like that,” she said, sighing as her arms crossed over her chest. “It’s good to know you come here often, though. Now I know I should avoid the place as much as possible.”
The Ken Doll glanced between us, his jaw and his eyes hardening until Abigail touched his arm. He dropped his gaze to hers, his throat working before he heaved out a breath through his nostrils. “Yeah, I’ll just go grab the car.”
The guy turned and marched away, and a tiny smile ghosted across Abi’s lips as she gave her head a shake and watched him leave. Once he was gone, I jerked my head in his direction. “Are you two together?”
Her eyebrows jumped up, but she shook her head and an undue amount of relief spiraled through me.
“Funny,” she mused, smiling properly now as she held my gaze. “I almost hear jealousy in your voice, which would have been odd if it was true, but I’m sure I’m imagining things. Austin and I are not a couple, though. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Can I take you to dinner?” I asked. “For real, this time. I’m taking it seriously. Our clothes will stay on and all I ask is that you hear me out.”
She blinked way too many times, her eyes widening like a deer in headlights. As soon as I noticed it, my inner alpha male reared to the surface. “Look, Abi, I know you don’t owe me anything. If after this dinner, you want nothing to do with me, I won’t speak to you again. Just say yes.”
“You asked for a minute the other night and I gave it to you. Why do you need a whole dinner?”
“Because you still haven’t heard me out.”
She tilted her head, eyes slowly growing curious on mine. “How are you never going to speak to me if we’re going to be working together for ninety days?”
“It won’t be easy, but I don’t mind doing things the hard way, if that’s what needs to be done.”
Abigail still seemed hesitant and I saw the Ken Doll in the corner of my eye, climbing out of a car and holding the back door open for her. Sensing that she was about to use him as an excuse to make a run for it, I threw a Hail Mary pass.
“I’ll tell you everything I know about Fit Gal if you agree to a one-hour dinner with me,” I said, hoping I still knew how to get to her.
Her gaze sharpened on mine and I almost grinned. Thank. Fuck.
“Okay, Simon,” she said finally. “One hour, but it’s not a date.”
I frowned. “Okay.”
“I’m serious.” She looked directly into my eyes. “I’ll be driving myself and you have one single hour. Also, this information about Fit Gal better be good or I’m letting London make her shiv.”
“What?” I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “London wants to make a shiv to… stab me?”
Abi shrugged. “I’d stay away from her if I was you.”
“Noted.” I smiled and grabbed the door behind her. “Our spot. Friday. Eight.”
“We don’t have a spot, Simon.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “We don’t have an anything, actually, because we’re nothing to each other now. No more than complete strangers.”
“I know you know what I’m talking about.” I pulled the door open and Abi let out an exasperated huff but finally nodded.
“Remember what I said about the shiv.” She strode past me then, walking toward the Ken Doll as if he was her salvation—the same way she used to walk toward me.
Without looking back, she climbed into the car and he got in beside her. The door slammed shut and the driver eased away, but not before the Ken Doll, Austin, I thought was what she’d called him, shot me another murderous glare.
I didn’t know what he was to her, but she’d said they weren’t together and he never would’ve left her alone with me if that was what he was angling for with her. Clearly though, he cared about her. A lot.
Judging by the warnings in his glower before he turned away from me, he knew who I was and he didn’t like that she’d seen me. My own eyes narrowed in response. While I didn’t know what she’d told him about me, I could guess and I hated that I’d given her a reason to say those kinds of things.
I also hated that I had become the person causing her distress and he was the one who obviously brought her comfort. Irrational jealousy raced through me as the car pulled away from the curb, taking her away from me while another man got to go with her.
It burned through my veins when I watched him slide an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. Just before I lost sight of them, she smiled up at him in that brilliantly open, trusting way she used to smile at me and then rested her head against his shoulder.
I nearly vomited right on the spot. I knew I had screwed up with her. Shit, do I know.
But now that I’d seen her again, I didn’t feel like anything had changed between us. That draw was still there, the magnetic force that had always pulled me to her like a moth to a flame. That same thing that had made me consider giving it all up for her at the tender age of eighteen.
Of course, it hadn’t felt like such a tender age back then. The weight of that responsibility on my shoulders to keep myself in check, to stick with the plan to save my family, it’d made me feel like I’d been eighty instead.
I closed my eyes and rammed a hand through my hair, drawing in a deep breath before forcing myself to keep moving. Abigail had left with another man today, but on Friday night, she was having dinner with me. It would be my one shot to explain myself and I’d been waiting a decade for the opportunity.
I wasn’t going to screw up again.
Surely, she still felt this thing between us too. She had to. It couldn’t only be me. She wouldn’t even have been giving me the time of day if she didn’t feel it, but at the same time, this was going to be the most important dinner I’d ever have.
Regardless of whether she felt it, I wasn’t sure she’d ever believe me when I told her the truth, nor was I sure whether my reasoning would mean anything to her after all this time. I’d hurt her. I knew that.
I owed her the truth and I would give it to her, but what then? Would she ever be able to trust me again? Did I want her to?
I’d been a committed bachelor since my last relationship with her. Did I really want to change that status? Would Abi even be interested in trying again?
Feeling like I was going to either faint or punch someone if my brain kept whirring like this, I yanked open the door again and finally went into Starburst. After grabbing an espresso and a bagel for lunch, I headed back to my office just down the road and deliberately steered clear of thoughts of Abi, our past, our future, Austin, and everything else having to do with her.
I was walking into our lobby when I got a call from Josh. I grinned as I took it. “Thank you. Distract me. Go. What have you got for me?”
He chuckled. “Abi again?”
“Fuck, I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s crazy. I just ran into her at Starburst with some dude.”
“Starburst?” he echoed after me. “ Our Starburst? What the hell was she doing there? I’ve never seen her there before. Who was the dude?”
“Yep, that Starburst, but I can’t answer any of those other questions because I don’t know what she was doing there. I think the dude is a friend. She said they weren’t together, but… I don’t really know what her deal is with him either.”
I swiped my tongue across my lips, refusing to give voice to the rest of my thoughts about him. “Let’s just leave it at that. He’s someone to her, though. For sure. Anyway, what’s up?”
“Guys’ night,” he said. “My house. Tonight. You in?”
“I’m going to be late, but sure. I’m in. I’ve just got some things I need to finish up at the office, but I’ll come over after.”
“Sounds good, man.” He paused. “You okay, Si?”
No . “Yep. I’m fine. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Bring beer!” he called just before I hung up and I chuckled, dropping my phone into the inside pocket of my jacket before I headed up to my office.
It turned out that the more things changed, the more they really did stay the same. Here I was, obsessing about Abigail Walker all over again, while planning a night out with the same guys I used to while driving myself nuts because some other guy had looked at her. London wanting to shiv me was new, but she always had been protective.
It was all so familiar that in a weird way, it felt pretty damn good. I’d shoved down many different parts of myself when I’d walked away from her back in the day. Taking them out again was painful, but also a relief.
Piece by piece, I was unlocking the person I used to be and reconciling him with who I was today, and while it wasn’t altogether pleasant or comfortable, it felt right. It felt like maybe, Abigail and I would both finally have the opportunity to heal.