Indigo Nights: A Sexy, Contemporary Romance (19 page)

“He took me to a meeting the next day and waited outside. I think he thought I was going to skip town if he left me.” I smiled. “But I didn’t. I didn’t want to escape. I wanted to be happy. And that’s what keeps me sober. I want to be happy.”

He trailed his knuckles between my breasts and over my stomach. “I think you’re very brave.”

“I think I’m very lucky. Lucky to have Jake and lucky that my life never got to the point of no return. Nothing happened that I couldn’t fix. I see some people come in to meetings and they’ve lost everything—their families, their jobs, their homes. I was saved before I ever got that far.”

“And the asshole that you dated, what happened to him?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure he’s still an asshole. Actually, Jake’s wife dated him. They went out twice. It’s a long story. But Jake ended up punching him in front of her.” I laughed. “He’d been waiting for an opportunity to do that for a while.”

“Double win.” He smiled.

“Right.”

“And he broke your heart?” he asked.

I thought about it. “Looking back, it’s hard to tell. I would have said yes, definitely, if you’d asked me straight after it happened. But I’m not sure he did break my heart. After him, I stopped trusting people, stopped trusting myself to know what was best for me. He took my power away. I think I’m still getting that back.”

He stroked my fingers splayed across his chest.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could make it better.” His brow furrowed.

I trailed my fingers over his lips. “You’re used to solving problems.”

“I guess.”

“I don’t want you to fix me. Just be with me. Be real with me.”

He nodded. “Should I put my boxing gloves on when I meet your brother?”

My stomach flipped in the most delicious way. I wasn’t sure how Jake would react to meeting Dylan, but it sounded like Dylan wanted to find out. He was thinking about our future. Part of me shone with excitement, but there was still a part that wasn’t quite ready to let Dylan into my life in London.

Dylan

My days had become longer since Beth had left for London. I wanted to get as much done as possible so we could spend the time she had away from the studio together.

My phone vibrated on the desk in my office; the number wasn’t familiar.

“James,” I answered.

“Dylan, it’s me.” I froze. “Alicia.”

I hadn’t thought about the email she’d sent me since I’d deleted it, so I was shocked to hear from her. I hadn’t heard her voice in years, not since I caught her cheating on me with her now husband.

“It’s been so long since we spoke. How are you?”

I took a deep breath; was she attempting to make small talk with me? “What do you want, Alicia?”

“Hey, is that the way you greet an old friend?”

Was she serious?

I’d always found her so charming. However much she did things that would burn and sting, she was always able to talk her way out of it, convince me that I’d misunderstood her intentions.

“I wondered if I could buy you lunch? Or dinner?”

I winced. What was she plotting? With my cell tucked under my chin, I Googled her husband—a wealthy, not to mention elderly, Chicago entrepreneur. They had married shortly after I’d discovered their affair—good business, she’d called it. Perhaps he had died.

“How did you get this number?”

From time to time, I wondered if she’d kept track of my career. My wealth now far exceeded her husband’s.

“Oh, Dylan, I have my ways. You must remember that I can be very persuasive if I set my mind to it.”

I ended the call. I didn’t need her bullshit.

She called back and I put my phone on silent, turning it face down so I wouldn’t even have the distraction of the flashing screen.

What the hell was Alicia calling for? I glanced back at my search results and scrolled down. It looked like her husband was having some financial difficulties—maybe she was looking to trade up again. The recession had been brutal. Raf and I were cautious investors, careful to ensure that we never got pulled into bidding wars with investors, but the economy had taken a lot of casualties.

Raf crashed into the office. “We just got regulatory approval on the Redux transaction.” He was panting.

“Fucking great.” We’d never done anything in the sector before so we’d been told that approval was by no means a certainty. “I knew we’d get it.”

Raf stalked over to my desk and held out his hand. “You were right, my friend.”

“As usual.” I winked at him.

“Okay, don’t be an asshole about it.” Raf slunk into one of the chairs opposite my desk.

I chuckled. “Guess who just called me,” I said. “Alicia.”

“Are you fucking serious, dude? Have you spoken to her since that shit went down when you split?”

I shook my head. “Nope, never even laid eyes on her. She emailed me a week or so back, but I just deleted it.”

“What did she want?”

“No idea. I hung up on her.”

“Wow. I mean, you were cut up about her. I’m not sure you’ve ever been the same. Would you go back there?”

Beth’s beautiful smile came to mind. I still hadn’t told Raf—or anyone else—about her. I liked that we were wrapped up in a bubble, just the two of us, but perhaps it was time. “Not if my dick depended on it. And anyway, I’m seeing someone.”

“You mean you’re fucking someone.”

“Well, we’re definitely doing that, but we’re also dating. In fact, she’s coming to the gala on Friday.” The corners of my mouth twitched. I couldn’t wait to have her on my arm.

“And why am I just hearing about this now?”

“Because, unlike you, I don’t like to over share. Which unfortunate girl are you bringing to the gala?”

He rolled his eyes. “Christ, I hate the drama. Christie threw a vase at me last night. I didn’t even know I owned a vase.”

“Christie’s the Art History major?”

Raf looked at me as if I was stupid. “No, that was Tasha, and weeks ago. Do you listen to anything I tell you?”

“I try not to.”

Raf ignored me. “Christie’s the one who looks like Gisele ten years ago.” I shrugged. “Anyway, she’s a maniac. I think I’m going stag on Friday. I’m getting too old for this shit.”

I chuckled. “You were too old to be chasing girls five years ago. You need to try a woman. Someone who has her shit together.”

“Are you really giving me relationship advice? You haven’t gotten laid for a decade before this mystery chick came along.”

“Her name’s Beth—and if you call her a chick I’ll miscalculate your quarterly dividend on purpose—and I was having plenty of fun before her, but I never chased. I never had to.”

Raf pushed his hands onto the chair arms and stood. “You’re an asshole. I hope you marry her, then she divorces you and takes all your money.”

“Love you, bro.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

I picked up my phone. Four missed calls, all from the same number. I also had five texts. Hoping they were from Beth and not Alicia, I opened the first one.

Alicia: Seriously Dylan, I have a business proposition for you. I think we should talk.

Business? She’d probably suggest marriage. That was how she approached relationships.

Alicia: I’m just suggesting lunch. If you don’t like what I have to say then you never have to see me again.

Alicia: I really miss what we had. It was so simple and you were so good to me.

Jesus, did she think I’d fall for this shit? What we’d had was anything but simple. Looking back, everything had seemed strategic where Alicia was concerned.

Alicia: I really need your help. Please. You’re the only one I can turn to.

There were plenty of rich men in Chicago, others who would be taken in by her.

Alicia: I’ll email you my proposal.

I took a deep breath, deleted her texts and dialed Beth.

“Hey,” she answered. “How come you’re calling me in the middle of the day?”

My MO was to call Beth before work, and then after if it wasn’t too late. We spoke most days and I’d gotten to know her routine. We were four thousand miles apart, but somehow I felt closer to her than ever.

“I just needed to hear your voice.” I wanted to neutralize Alicia’s poison by talking to Beth. “Am I interrupting?”

“No. It’s always good to hear from you, and I’m just baking.”

“Of course you are.”

She laughed. “Yes, I suppose I do it a lot. How’s your day.”

“Good and bad. Weird.”

“That sounds intriguing.” The scrape of utensils against metal clattered down the phone. “Tell me.”

“Well, we got regulatory approval on Redux.”

“Congratulations. That’s the pharma company in England, right?”

“Yeah.” I grinned. Our worlds had begun to mix together as I got to hear about her day and I shared mine. I’d forgotten how comforting it could be. “And then my ex called, which was the bad and the weird.”

“Alicia? I didn’t realize you were in touch.”

“We’re not. I haven’t spoken to her since we split.”

The clattering at the other end of the phone went silent. “What did she want?”

“She suggested lunch. I hung up.”

“You hung up?”

“Yes, I don’t want to speak to her. I have nothing to say, and I’m sure she’s got nothing I want to hear.”

“Perhaps she wanted to apologize, set things right? Maybe she was offering you both closure.”

“I’m pretty sure whatever she was doing, it was entirely to benefit Alicia. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about her. I want to talk about you. What are you making?” Images of Beth naked except for high heels and an apron sprung to mind.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure I should say.”

“Hey, I thought we said no secrets.”

“Chocolate mousse. It’s a current favorite of mine,” she confessed.

“Is that right? I’m quite fond of that dessert myself.” I grinned. “What are you wearing?”

She laughed. “I always bake naked. Apart from my heels and a short, frilly apron, of course.”

I groaned and palmed my twitching cock through my pants. “I wish I was there.”

“I’m going to see you tomorrow; we can make up for some lost time. Unless you’re busy?”

“I’ll make time for you. Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay at my place?”

“I’m not saying never, Dylan, just not this time. We’ll see plenty of each other. I’m staying a week this time.”

“I hope to see all of you.”

She laughed. I was serious. If I thought she’d let me, I’d keep her naked for her entire trip.

“Perhaps I should cancel the gala,” I said. I didn’t want to share her.

“You can’t do that. You’re a patron. Unless . . .”

“Unless what?”

“Well, we’ve just started dating. Maybe it’s too early to—”

“It’s not too early to anything. I told Raf that you were coming with me.”

“You did?” I didn’t understand why she was surprised but she sounded happy, which made me happy.

“Sure, we’re exclusively dating; why wouldn’t I tell people?”

I ran my finger round the inside of my collar. “Okay, you’re not saying anything. What are you thinking?”

“Ummm, I’m thinking I’m glad we’re exclusively dating.”

I grinned. “Well I’m pleased that you are.”

She laughed. “Perhaps I should tell my brother.”

“You’ve not told him?” This conversation was long overdue. We needed to be on the same page with stuff like this.

“I’ve talked to Haven and Ash.”

Well, that was something. Her sister-in-law and her kinda sister-in-law seemed to be her closest girlfriends, so at least she’d told them.

“What’s stopping you from telling Jake?” She wasn’t dating anyone else and neither was I, but she hadn’t told her brother despite the fact that they were close. Was she having doubts?

“Nothing. He’s been telling me to date for a while now, so the general concept isn’t a problem. I guess I don’t want him to worry, and I think he’ll want to meet you when I tell him and I don’t know—”