11. Nick
11
NICK
“ A lright, Clint. Thanks so much.” I hung the phone up and leaned back in my chair. The loan came through. I would be able to pay the IRS off in less than a week, right before Christmas. The weight I’d been carrying since I got the news about the IRS lightened a little, and I rocked forward, placing my head into my hand.
If I could feel this relaxed with just a small bit of news to perk me up, did I even really want to make Kendra pay me back for it? Wouldn’t that just bring more tension and stress that I wanted to be clear of? That was why I divorced her. That was why I wanted to have the restaurant and I gave her everything else.
For the last two years, all I’d wanted to do was to be free from her lies, manipulations, and the pain that came with it all because I was a damn fool for letting it go on for so long. That was something I was going to have to look into. I wouldn’t make that decision quickly.
Fifty thousand dollars was a lot of money. But wasn’t my happiness and clarity worth more than that?
My cell rang. It was Kendra.
That twisted up the knot between my shoulders right back to where it was only a few minutes ago.
Of course, she knew I was thinking about trying to get rid of her.
I answered the phone reluctantly. “This is going to be one of the last times I answer a phone call from you. I hope you know that.” I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of knowing how fucking pissed I was that she screwed me. She already knew she’d screwed me, and starting a fight with her was exactly what she wanted.
“Nick…” I could hear the hiss on the edge of her words. She was up to something. Yay.
I released a long sigh. “What do you have to tell me now?” Seeing Julia’s kindness and concern for others was making me see the world in a bit of a different light. I really just wanted to be done with Kendra. Although I hadn’t forgotten how she treated Julia the other day, either.
“I just got off the phone with the high school. They’ve decided to go with someone else for their staff luncheon this year. I just wanted to let you know.”
Anger shot through my veins. My teeth ground into each other, and my fingers clenched the cell phone so tightly I thought I was going to crack it in half.
“Fucking hell, Kendra. Your games don’t affect me anymore. You are not the end all, be all of the information from the school. Don’t contact me again.”
“Don’t you want to know where they’re going?” she purred.
“No. I’m not interested in any lies you have to say or any information you may or may not have to give. You should probably move on with your life. We’re no longer legally obligated to each other. Go find someone else to fuck with.” I punched the call button and hung up before she could say another word. “Fuck!” I pounded onto my desk and stood. Shit like this would just keep happening as long as I let her get to me. She’d been doing it for months now, waving her nasty little power trip in my face. I needed to get out of here.
“John,” I called as I rushed out into the kitchen. “Take the lead. I need a break.”
“Heard,” he shouted, and I slammed the door on my way out the back. My blood was boiling. The loss of that business would hit us really hard. Why would Kendra do something like that? I knew she was behind it.
I got into my car and huffed.
There was no sense in calling the school, even though Kendra was a liar. She and the principal had been friends for longer than I’d known either of them. I just wanted her to stop fucking with me. I knew she pulled strings to make this happen.
I started the car, having no idea where I was going, but I knew I had to drive.
Driving always made me feel better. There was something about the way the tires rolled over the road that calmed me. Aside from throwing her something shiny in the opposite direction from where I was, I had no idea how to get her off my back. When we were married, she’d pulled shit all the time on me.
And I’d react.
It was our cycle.
But once I stepped off the hamster wheel, I thought I’d be out of it.
As I weaved in and out of town, driving down one street through the next, I stopped at a stoplight and looked over.
The light for Julia’s office was on. I didn't see her through the store front, but I wish I could've.
Things didn’t end well the last time I saw her, but there was something calming about her when she was around. She was very much the antithesis of Kendra. She had very much the opposite effect on me.
I pulled the car over to the curb and saw that her Open light was still on. I didn’t want to sit here like a creeper, and when I looked through the bay window more closely, I saw that she was, in fact, sitting at a desk with a black-haired woman.
I took the keys out of the ignition and dropped them in my pocket. I got out the door and locked it. When I walked up to the storefront, I could see both women turn their heads toward me.
A slight smile perked over my lips as Julia’s smile widened.
I opened the door and waved and saw the black-haired woman glare.
I knew Julia said her best friend was also her assistant in her business, so it was nice to see that she was also protective of Julia. “Hello,” I said, holding out my hand to the dark-haired woman. “You must be Mia.”
She looked at my hand as though she were unsure where it had been and reluctantly took it. “Nick,” she said. I gave her a firm nod and didn’t let her colder demeanor bother me. I understood what she was doing.
“It’s really nice of you to protect your friend.” I patted the back of her hand as a warm sense of excitement settled over me. If Mia was protecting Julia, that meant she’d talked to Mia about me. That was something nice to know. I wondered what she shared.
Mia gave me the side eye and dropped my hand. She spun around and sat at her desk, crossing one leg over another and pulling out a nail file. She started filing her nails and gave me a heated look.
“Ah, I didn’t mean to interrupt...” I turned my attention to Julia, whose smile seemed to have grown wider. It was accentuated today by ruby lipstick, and I wondered what her mouth would look like wrapped around my dick.
I snapped my eyes shut and laughed the image away, trying not to make too big of an ass out of myself.
“You weren’t interrupting,” Julia said. “This is a business and you are a client, after all.” She emphasized the words, rolling her gaze to Mia.
Mia cleared her throat, and I bit back laughter as Julia rolled her eyes. “Mia was just leaving for lunch,” she said.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“You said you’re going to the deli, that you needed to get out and wanted to walk through the snowy air.”
“I changed my mind.” Mia's deadpan seemed to upset Julia, but I restrained my smirk.
“It’s okay, I just wanted to stop and say hi. Obviously, I did interrupt something,” I started and took a few steps back. “I didn’t need anything else work-related.”
Mia groaned and rolled her eyes. “No, fine. I’ll go.”
“There’s no reason for you to be so excited about it.” Julia crossed her arms, highlighting her cleavage as it lifted. My cock twitched. I rubbed my eye, trying to focus on what Julia and Mia were saying, trying to stop the images of our saucy encounter in my office from beating into my mind. The excitement that we’d get a chance to spend a little time alone started to rise in my chest.
Mia grabbed her coat and gave me a dirty "don’t you hurt her” look that I appreciated more than I could say. When the tiny bell went off along with the sound of a door closing, I chuckled. “She’s lively,” I said, taking my gloves off.
Julia sat behind her desk and smiled. “That’s one word for it.”
“Nah,” I said and walked to the chair across from her. “She’s just being a good friend, that's all.” I sat and leaned back. “I kind of liked it that you told her about me, though.”
Julia’s blush went from her cheeks down to her neck, and my eyes landed on her cleavage again. I dragged my gaze back up because I didn’t come here for sex. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“I should be asking you that question.” I stuffed my gloves into my pocket and propped my chin on my fingers.
“Why me?” she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Well, the last time we saw each other…” Her cheeks brightened, and I let my sentence die away, unsure which direction I should go. Maybe I was reading more into it. I was probably out of my depth for any relationship and was still reeling from my call with Kendra. “I’m sorry about my ex-wife.”
Julia stood. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. You can’t control the actions of someone else, especially someone who’s so angry.” She took a few steps around the desk, and I stood up too.
It took all I had not to yank her to me and kiss her. My gaze cast a long glance on the desk, remembering what we did on mine. I cleared my throat. Suddenly, I felt awkward about just showing up here with no good excuse. I felt like a foolish teenager with a crush. “Ah, you said it was lunchtime. I guess I should get going.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “Are you hungry? You can come up to my apartment.”
I wasn’t hungry, but I wasn’t going to miss a chance to be alone with her longer. “Sure, that sounds good." Julia grinned and waved at me to follow her, and I watched her ass sway with each step as she led me through the office toward a narrow white door. My God, my dick was swelling and I was going to be alone with her. A bad combination after what happened the other night.
But I wasn't saying no, and I wasn’t backing away. I was following her lead and hoping it went somewhere better than my stressful office, an IRS agent, and an encounter with Kendra.