Sinner
I was seated with Sawyer and Sharlena at Lustz.
They were a brother and sister who had become a part of my friend circle through Carver and his wife, Alexandra, or Lexi, as we called her.
Lexi had been in the grocery store when she needed to get away from someone bothering her.
She went up to Sharlena, a stranger at that moment, and asked her to pretend they knew each other.
Sharlena had done it, and they left the store and ended up going to a house that belonged to Sawyer.
From there, they became friends and eventually members of Lustz.
We got here half an hour ago. They had been the ones to strong-arm me into dinner and then to come here. They said I’d been staying home too much. I knew they were right, so I agreed.
We’d gone to dinner first. I made an effort to be in the moment with them and was doing great until I noticed Anastasia Shah seated across the way. She was seated with a man, and they appeared to be getting along well.
I immediately scanned him. My gaze went to the man’s left hand first—no wedding band. A tiny easement in my tension bit, but it didn’t last.
He was a handsome man, sharing her ethnic background by the looks of him.
He was around my age, as far as I could tell.
They chatted, laughed, and even touched hands.
I’d held myself back until they finished their entrees.
That was when I broke down and said a hasty “Excuse me” to Sharlena and Sawyer, then went over to Anastasia and her date.
Nothing in that short conversation had settled me. After I returned to my seat to field questions, I couldn’t fully settle. Sawyer leaned forward, over the tabletop.
“Mind telling us who that is?”
I tried to present as nonchalant when I answered him.
“Sorry, that’s my chiropractor. I wanted to say hello.”
“The guy is your chiropractor? What’s his name? I’ve been feeling the need for an adjustment, and my old one retired.” Sawyer asked.
“She’s my chiropractor, not him. Her name is Anastasia Shah. I can give you her information,” I offered, though something inside of me was reluctant to do it.
“Please do. Who is the man? Her husband?” Sawyer asked. Sharlena sat there with her hand on my arm, listening to us.
“No, she didn’t introduce him as such. His name is Sam.” I answered.
“I bet he’s her boyfriend. They give off a comfortable vibe,” Sharlena stated.
My mouth tightened, though I kept my body from doing the same. Sawyer was studying me. I smiled.
“Maybe. Alright, what were we talking about when I left you? Sorry for that. It won’t happen again,” I said smoothly.
Sawyer’s watchfulness didn’t change, but he did change the topic.
We’d gotten our food and were most of the way through it when Anastasia and her date passed by our table on their way out.
They both nodded and gave slight smiles.
I gave a chin lift. As their backs were presented to us, I noticed Sam’s hand was on her lower back.
It shouted possession. It took everything in me not to go after them and tear his hand off her. Jesus Christ, I was losing it.
It had been even harder for me to get through the rest of dinner.
When it was over, both of my friends suggested Lustz.
I tried to say no, but they refused to hear it, so I gave in.
The reason wasn’t them so much as the knowledge I needed to find someone.
The lack of play and sex had clearly caused this unshakable fascination and desire for Anastasia.
And if she were available, I’d pursue it.
However, tonight proved she wasn’t. And I wasn’t a guy who tried to interfere in couples’ relationships, even if they weren’t married.
Or was I? The question kept circulating in my head.
“There will be no playing tonight,” Sawyer told his sister gruffly.
Sharlena rolled her eyes. “As if. And the same goes for you, brother dear. If I can’t play, neither can you.”
They had an agreement never to be there at the same time if they intended to play. I understood. If I had a sister, I wouldn’t want to see her getting it on with someone. Hell, the thought of it being Rowan would turn me off.
Rowan, God, he was still trying to convince me that he should be made VP and be my successor.
I explained to him again why that wasn’t happening, but he kept saying he knew I would change my mind.
I didn’t know what else to do to prove to him I wasn’t kidding.
The Littleton acquisition was slowly progressing.
I watched and checked whether Rowan had actually started to step up in his current position. Maybe he had heard that part of my explanation and taken it to heart. Wrong. He was doing the same shit he had always done.
While I could have terminated without cause, I wanted to make things airtight.
I wasn’t his direct supervisor, so I spoke to her.
I knew Carla had been dying to counsel Rowan and then issue him write-ups, but hadn’t because he was my brother.
I apologized to her for it and made sure she knew she was clear to do so and that we would be working to finalize the termination.
Her facial expression told me she was shocked, but she did it anyway.
So far, he’d had a verbal warning. The written one was due any day.
Fuck, if it wasn’t Anastasia, it was my brother. I needed to forget them and relax. I refocused on the conversation happening around me.
“He’s back,” Sawyer said dryly.
“Sorry, man, it won’t happen again. I’ve got things on my mind that I can’t seem to shake. What did I miss?” I asked, leaning toward them. They were seated across from me.
“Maybe if you talked about what’s bothering you, other than your brother, it would help. You already told us how he’s been acting. I don’t blame you a bit for what you’re doing with him. But clearly, he’s not the only thing, or even the main one, occupying your mind,” Sawyer added.
I hesitated. While I thought of them as friends, I was still a man who kept things close to his chest. However, I’d seen enough of the core group I counted as friends from Lustz to know they wouldn’t judge or talk about it.
“Okay, I’ve been consumed with Anastasia,” I confessed.
“Ha, I knew it. I saw the way you looked at her. You hated that she was with another man. Tell us,” Sharlena exclaimed happily.
“I don’t know what to say. I met her two weeks ago.
You know why I went to a chiropractor. When I saw her, it was as if no one else mattered.
I’ve had four treatments. We talk, but it’s about superficial things.
She’s sweet and polite, and she puts me at ease.
But the thing is, I can’t stop thinking about her.
“I can be in the middle of the workday, and she’ll pop into my head, and I’m off thinking of her again.
When I’m home alone, it’s worse. She even invades my goddamn sleep.
I try to make my brain realize she’s nothing more than my chiropractor, but the damn thing refuses to stop.
And you’re right. I hated seeing her with Sam, even though I have no reason to feel that way. She’s not mine,” I growled.
“Logic doesn’t always play into it when attraction, serious attraction, is at play,” Sawyer stated.
“Oh yeah, how would you know? Is there someone you feel that way about?” His sister asked.
“We’re not discussing me. Let’s focus on Sinner. And keep your nibby nose to yourself,” he responded.
Sharlena harrumphed, then sniped back, “Fine, as long as you do the same with me. No telling me what I can do or who I can see. Okay, continue, Sinner. Sorry for the detour,” Sharlena stated sweetly. Her hand was across the table, lying on mine.
I’d learned as we became friends that Sharlena was often uncomfortable in a variety of settings. She needed touch to ground her. Those of us who were her friends knew that and gave it to her.
“You two kill me. Okay. What else do you want me to say?” I asked.
“Tell us what you felt the first time you met her,” Sharlena prodded.
I went through it. The shock of discovering my chiropractor was female. For some reason, I never considered the possibility, which sounded so sexist. The tingling when we shook hands. Her facial beauty and her body blew me away.
“I know, that sounds so superficial,” I admitted when I finished.
“It does, if that’s all you’re thinking about,” Sawyer stated.
“No, it’s not only that. She’s sweet, funny, and caring.
I can tell by the way she talks about people.
Her patients adore her, and from what I’ve seen, so do her staff.
She has a complicated family situation, as I do.
Her family is very old-fashioned and constantly after her to marry, give up her career, and have kids. It’s what her sisters have done.
“I did some online stalking to see what I could find on her. Anastasia volunteers at events and offers her skills at fundraisers. She supports various organizations financially and with her time. If she has a big social media presence, I haven’t found it.
Most of what I did find was based on others’ posts about her.
Jesse at work recommended her to me. His aunt is a longtime patient who dotes on Anastasia.
I almost snapped Jesse’s head off the other day when he confessed that his aunt Irma keeps pushing him to meet Anastasia and ask her on a date. ”
I stopped there. That conversation had almost led me to hurt Jesse. It took restraint not to warn him that if he ever so much as glanced at Anastasia in a non-platonic way, I’d put him in the hospital.
“You didn’t like her with Sam tonight. What about other men you’ve seen her with? There have been some, right? Or if not, what do you feel about the fact that she works on other guys?” Sawyer asked.
As soon as he did, a growl rumbled up out of me before I could cut it off.
“Well, I think that is clear,” Sharlena said, grinning.