8. Jareth
Ifired off a few emails and texts before pushing away from my desk. It was going to be another long night. A slight rustling outside my office door indicated that Hazel was likely about to knock. It was perfect timing since I hadn’t had a chance to tell her we wouldn’t be able to leave for at least another hour, maybe two.
She opened my door, only to rear back when she realized I was standing only a few feet from her. A startled laugh left her mouth as she clutched a hand to her chest. She laid her other hand on my forearm. “Geez, warn a girl before you give her a heart attack.”
We’d always had an easy rapport, but since she’d moved in a week and a half ago, our relationship had become something else. Something more. Those light, easy touches were more common than they used to be. I craved them, along with her easygoing smile.
Hazel was under the impression her extended stay was due to a problem with acquiring the necessary permits to fix her house. And while part of that was true it was also because I’d asked David and his crew to upgrade various parts of her home. As altruistic as it looked from the outside, it wasn’t. I could afford to do that for her and not miss the money. The reality was that I knew I was on borrowed time with Hazel and wanted to extend it for as long as possible.
“I was about to come talk to you.” I forced my eyes to linger on her face instead of moving down to where I wanted them to be. Not acknowledging my attraction to her was becoming harder and harder each day.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“We need to stay late tonight. I have a deal I’m working to close. It’s the same one from this morning. They’re not sure if they want to sell. The audacity.” I walked back to my desk, knowing she’d follow. “Why don’t you order something for us to eat?”
“Oh, I already ate.” Her voice had a strange hesitancy in it. I narrowed my gaze, and my muscles tensed.
Something wasn’t right.
I stopped abruptly and spun to face her. “When?”
She frowned at my question. “I don’t know, maybe a half hour ago. I brought enough of the leftovers from last night for lunch and dinner.”
At her mention of last night, heat shot through my body. Our time together had become the best and worst of my life. Each moment with her reminded me of what we could never have. Yet it didn’t matter. I wanted to hoard them all for later. “Order something just for me then.”
“I would Jareth, but I need to run.” It was then that I noticed her turquoise winter coat and purse draped over her arm.
“I really need you here tonight, Hazel.” She never said no to me. Whenever I stayed late she did too.
“I’m sorry but I have plans I can’t break.” She shrugged on her coat. It was then that I noticed she’d changed into a form fitting dress that cascaded over her sexy hips and thighs. I had to clench my hands into a fist when I noticed the high heels.
Fuck.
“You have a date.” The words burst out of my mouth before I could stop them or the harsh tone I said them with.
“A date?” she asked, her face growing pale. “Why would you ask that?”
My hands fisted tighter and I forced them to release. She could date anyone she wanted. I had no claim over her. Yet that fucking burn searing my chest tried to prove me wrong. I wanted to demand to know who she had plans with.
She let out a nervous giggle. “No, not a date.”
I didn’t believe her. She seemed too nervous and Hazel could never lie well. “Reschedule. You need to be here,” I demanded.
“I’m sorry that you need me here tonight, Jareth, but I’m leaving.” Her fingers tightened around the purse she clenched within her grasp. Interesting that she wasn’t backing down. Wherever she was going or whoever she was meeting must be important.
“Then tell me where you’re going, and if I need to reach you, I can find you there.” The insane words fell from my mouth, and I couldn’t get myself to shut up. I’d never been this pushy about needing to know her whereabouts.
Yet I’d never seen Hazel dressed for a date either.
My collar felt too tight and I had to stop myself from unbuttoning the sleeves of my dress shirt and rolling them up my forearms. Someone must have turned up the heat. Any moment I expected sweat to bead my brow.
She shook her head. “If you need me, email, and I’ll take care of it when I get home tonight.”
Her use of the word home made my chest squeeze tight. “I need to know so I can tell Elias where to drive you.” I was pleased with myself. Even if she didn’t want to give me the information she had no choice now.
A faint smile graced her lips. “It’s okay. I already called an Uber.”
What the actual fuck was happening right now? “An Uber?” I repeated like an idiot. Why would she do that when she had my car at her disposal.
She shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “I didn’t want to bother either of you, so I called for one a few minutes ago.” She checked her phone. “It’s almost here. I really need to run, Jareth.”
Hazel didn’t even wait for my reply before she hurried out the door.
I palmed my cell, barking instructions into it the second the door shut. “Elias, you have two minutes to pull up front. If I don’t get there in time, follow Hazel to wherever she’s going. I’ll find a way to get to you.” This irrational need to follow her wouldn’t leave me. As I strode out the door setting it to lock behind me, I dialed the man I’d been working on convincing to sell me his company.
“Jareth.” His smooth voice grated on my nerves. Clearly he thought that me calling put him at an advantage.
“Simon, I’m out. You can find someone else to sell to.” I hung up on his sputtered gasp. It didn’t matter that after I’d implemented the necessary changes, his company was projected to make me billions in the next two years.
Part of me railed at the incredibly asinine decision I was making. I only needed a little more time and I would have convinced Simon to sell. Made him think that it was the most logical choice even though he had no thoughts of selling until I approached him this morning.
The other part didn’t give a rat’s ass about anything except knowing who Hazel was meeting. The world could catch fire around me—nothing would stop me from finding out that information. At the back of my mind, that semi-rational voice tried to pipe up again, to remind me I could’ve called the PI I had on retainer to find her or even messaged Jess who likely knew where she was going.
I ran a hand through my hair. What was I going to do when I found her? I already knew I wanted to pound her date into the ground. For him to know without a shred of a doubt that this was his first and last date with Hazel.
I inhaled, the fury in my mind clearing. Maybe it was for the best. I wasn’t good enough for her. Maybe this guy was.
She climbed into a waiting car with the blue Uber sign lit up in the window just as I cleared the front door. Fuck that! She was mine. And I’d kill the bastard if he touched her. I ran to my own vehicle and threw myself inside. “Go!” I yelled.
Elias quickly swerved into oncoming traffic in order to keep Hazel’s departing car in sight. Horns blared around us as the city buildings whipped by. The Uber driver was fast and had gotten through the next light just before it turned red on us. If I didn’t know any better I’d wonder if Hazel had seen me and ordered the driver to take evasive measures. But I was fairly certain she hadn’t.
Now I wished I’d engaged the tracker on her phone. It was too late for me to do anything about it, but I knew someone who could help. I dialed the employee who handled my IT needs in addition to any hacking I requested.
“Amelia, access Hazel’s phone and engage the tracker.”
“On it,” she responded. There wasn’t a request I could give her at this point that she’d bat an eye at.
“Go through the light,” I demanded, irritated that my driver was following the law. “I pay you good money to get me to where I need to go.”
He laughed and pointed. “Not when there’s a cop on the other side of the intersection.”
“Fuck,” I growled. “Amelia, work faster.”
“Give me a second. I’m sending the information to your phone so you can access where she is. Everything alright?”
“Everything is fucking fine,” I ground out.
She laughed along with my driver who I was going to fucking fire if he didn’t catch up to Hazel soon. It didn’t matter that he’d worked for me for the last fifteen years. My phone buzzed with the incoming information.
“You just need to?—”
“I know what the fuck to do.” I hung up on her. She was fired too for taking so long.
Immediately a light blipped on the map attached to the link she sent me. “Turn onto Estes Road,” I shouted.
She was only a few minutes away and since the dot had stopped either Amelia was fucking with me or Hazel had reached her destination. I frowned as the name of the establishment flashed across my screen. The Wooden Nickel.
“What the hell?” They weren’t in direct competition with the bar I owned downtown, Luminosity, but if Hazel was going to meet anyone why did she choose this place? And why would she accept a date here? While it was taken care of, it was old and rundown. Didn’t this dipshit know she deserved better? Didn’t Hazel know she deserved more?
Elias pulled in front of the building. He knew better than to question the mad dash across town. Not that I’d be able to explain why I’d followed Hazel anyway. I had no fucking idea. But seeing her in that dress, the thought of another man touching the sexy dip of her hips… I couldn’t handle it.
“Stay close. We’ll both be out soon,” I snapped.
He nodded, ignoring my behavior.
I wasn’t giving Hazel a choice of whether she was coming home. Willingly or not I wasn’t leaving alone. A gust of cold wind whipped through my thin dress shirt and undershirt, reminding me that in my haste I’d forgotten my coat. I tucked my chin low as I drew closer to the door. December was such a mixed bag in Rhode Island. Some days felt warm and the others like tonight felt like my fucking balls were going to freeze right off.
The door swung out as I got closer. A large man, with the physique of a WWE wrestler, who must be the bouncer lifted his chin in acknowledgement. I responded with one of my own as I shifted past him, looking into the main room.
A large bar sat in the middle with small tables to my right and then a stage just beyond that. I held back a shudder as I took in the decor. It looked like Christmas threw up in a dive bar. Multi-colored strings of lights decorated each wall, faux poinsettias were placed in the middle of each table, and there were at least three evergreen trees decorated garishly to various themes like Christmas clowns, the Grinch, and trains. Not a single thing coordinated or matched.
I didn’t see Hazel anywhere. I turned to the bouncer. “I’m looking for a friend of mine.”
“Can’t help you with that, buddy,” his deep baritone and dry delivery told me he could care less.
I straightened. This man was clearly mistaking who the alpha was in this conversation. “She would’ve just arrived. Blue-green peacoat. Blonde hair.”
He shook his head no and narrowed his eyes. “Doesn’t sound familiar.”
I clenched my teeth, fighting back a growl of frustration. “Forget it, I’ll find her myself.”
He shrugged.
There was no way this Randy Orton look alike didn’t see Hazel. I was intrigued as I tried to puzzle out why he’d lie. I strode to the bar, not bothering to take a seat as I continued to peer into the crowd.
Where the hell was she?
“What can I get you?” a sultry voice asked from behind.
I didn’t turn around. “Macallan neat,” I snapped, without pausing my search of the small crowd. She had to be here somewhere.
A handful of people sat at the tables, sipping drinks and eating appetizers. The bar was only half full. I held back my sneer. It was either a slow night or as good as this place got. Not like my restaurants and bars that had a waitlist to get inside.
My gaze bounced between the tables as though Hazel would magically appear and the subpar decorating would disappear.
The slap of a glass hitting the bar with a loud clunk sounded behind me. I turned and picked it up. “Thanks.”
“Anything else I can get you?” The bartender gave me a sexy half smile and pushed the ridiculous Santa hat she wore higher on her forehead. While she was attractive enough, the long-legged brunette did nothing for me. My dick didn’t even twitch. Which was a damn shame. She was gorgeous.
I blamed Hazel for my current problem. Ever since I’d seen that dating profile it was like a switch flipped. It didn’t matter how gorgeous they were, no one else—but my curvy assistant—appealed to me.
“I’m good,” I answered.
“You sure, handsome? You seem to be looking awfully hard for something.”
I flicked my gaze back to her, wishing for even a twitch of attraction. Nothing. Damn it. “I’m looking for a friend. She just ran in here a few seconds before I arrived.”
The bartender leaned on top of the shellacked wooden bar top and gave a throaty chuckle. “You’ll need to give me more than that.”
“She’s wearing a green dress and turquoise coat.” It seemed appropriate to leave out the ‘fuck me’ heels she had on.
The bartender’s face lit up with a huge smile stretched across her lips. “Ah, you must be talking about Hazel. She’ll be right out. I’m Niki by the way.”
Now I wondered how often my assistant came here if she was on a first name basis with the bartender. I didn’t like the unease that crept through me and made me question what else I didn’t know about her.
Niki looked at me expectantly. “You don’t seem the type Hazel would be friends with.” The chatty bartender continued when I didn’t respond.
“I see.” If I didn’t need information about what the hell was going on here I would’ve waved her off already. I wasn’t here to make friends.
She laughed and started swiping at the bar with a rag. “And Hazel usually tells us when she’s invited a guest.”
I threw back the rest of my drink.
“Another?” she asked, already getting the bottle ready to pour.
I gave her a stiff nod. “It was a last minute thing.” So many questions shot through my head, ones that if I asked would clearly tell Niki that Hazel did not invite me tonight.
“She was running a little behind when she got here. Once she drops her stuff off in the back she’ll be right out.” She moved off to the other end of the bar to help another customer.
Ice slid through my veins. Hazel wasn’t on a date. She must work here. If she needed money that badly why didn’t she come to me?
The lights dimmed, and a spotlight shone down on the middle of the stage. It was then I noticed the microphone.
“There’s your girl.” My body tensed at her description. My new friend clearly had more time on her hands than she needed if she could keep conversing with me. My head shifted to the ‘employees only’ doors to the left by the stage. I didn’t see her.
A faint voice echoed in the microphone. “Hey, everyone. Thanks for being here tonight.”
My head whipped around so fast I was surprised I didn’t pull a muscle. “Hazel?”
I didn’t realize I’d spoken out loud until the bartender added, “Well, shit. Was this supposed to be a surprise?”
The ice that had filled my veins quickly melted as fire replaced it. Holy fuck. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. “Apparently so.”
My eyes hungrily swept over Hazel’s luscious body. I’d been too distracted earlier and only gave this dress a cursory glance. That had been a mistake. Under the lights it sparkled and showed off every dip and curve of her body making me want to go up there and throw a blanket on her. There was no way others weren’t seeing the beauty before them, and I didn’t want to share.
A cat-call erupted in the audience.
Hazel’s cheeks grew pink as she laughed nervously into the microphone. My gaze narrowed as I sought the person out. He was only a few tables away from me. Clearly, I needed to teach him about boundaries and being appropriate. No one made my girl uncomfortable. Ever.
I pushed away from the bar ready to make sure he was taken care of. A slight hand wrapped around my shoulder. “She would not appreciate this well-intentioned gesture on her behalf.”
I yanked my shoulder from Niki’s grip. “She doesn’t need to know.”
Niki tsked. “You’ll embarrass her. She can take care of herself and if she can’t? That’s why we have Mike.” She pointed to the bouncer that had let me in.
He sent another glare my way. At the very least these two knew and were protective of Hazel. But I was the one who should keep her safe. Not that I wanted to look too close at that fucking feeling.
Hazel cleared her throat, drawing my attention to her bright green eyes and the way she bit her bottom lip. “I decided to sing Olivia Rodrigo’s song, “All I Want” tonight to start. Sometimes songs can help us feel the things we’re burying deep down inside. I want to find a love like this but sometimes it seems impossible.” The audience quieted at her sincere confession and shy smile.
I noticed the sadness that chased across her face before she took a deep calming breath in. As she let it out the instrumental part of the song began by a guy on the piano off to the side. I hadn’t even seen him. I was so fixated on Hazel. She nodded to him to indicate she was ready and when she opened her mouth it was like hearing an angel sing.
“Doesn’t she just light your soul on fire with that voice,” Niki commented. Her gaze glued to Hazel. “You feel it all with every word.”
Niki wasn’t wrong. The hope, the sorrow, the worry all sung by the sweetest voice shone a spotlight on who the song was intended for. Me. The words sliced through me as they left her lips and laid her heart out on the line in front of us all. Her desire to find a lasting love was like knives along the edge of my skin. I hated that she wondered why her love wasn’t reciprocated.
My breathing grew erratic and my palm rubbed a hard circle on my chest. The pain that radiated from that site would have been concerning if I didn’t know better. It wasn’t due to a physical problem. It was emotional. Something I’d avoided at all cost for the greater part of my adulthood. But hearing Hazel question if something was wrong with her, hit me harder than I expected.
Hazel was more than worthy of a good man’s love. A good man’s love. Not mine. She deserved the greatest love of all time. One for the ages. The kind poets wrote sonnets about.
It destroyed me to hear her question her self-worth because I was a fucking bastard. I despised myself for all the times I pushed her away. Yet even knowing all this I wouldn’t have changed any of my actions.
She was better off without me.
“Hey, you okay?” I heard Niki through the slight buzzing in my ears.
I threw up a hand, not sure if I was trying to tell her to leave me alone, or that I was fine. Either way it didn’t matter. I needed to get out of here.