Chapter Three
Chase
It had been a few days since I’d heard from Jamie. I’d sent several texts and made a few calls, but nothing. I replayed the night at my house in my head over and over and everything seemed to have been perfect.
Now, I guessed not.
I took a sip of my drink and pulled out my phone, making one last effort.
Hope everything is okay. Thinking of you.
I hit send to dropped my phone on the bar.
“Would you like another?” Curtis asked from behind the bar. I had decided to catch a late lunch at The Fox Hole before heading into the office. Saturdays were usually quiet and I needed to get some work done.
I also hoped to run into Jamie.
“Sure,” I said, sucking down the last few drops of bourbon. “Is Jamie working today?”
“I think she might be in later. I’ll have to check the schedule.”
Curtis refilled my glass and then ducked into the kitchen and left the empty bar unattended.
“Jamie’s off today,” a voice said from behind me. I spun to see one of the regular waitresses standing a few barstools away. “I’m surprised, she’s usually picking up extra shifts, but I guess with the new jobs, she has less time to work here.”
I nodded my head in agreement. “I could see that—classes, working at the university…”
“That and whatever she’s doing with that other guy.”
“What other guy?” I asked. “You mean Grant?”
“Grant was the guy you were with the other day?”
I hesitated a bit before answering. “Um, yes. Do you make it a habit of watching customers and remembering what they do and who they’re with?”
“Only the regulars.” She smiled, showing her dimples. “All of the waitresses know the regulars, whether we wait on them or not. You, Grant, Mr. Rolland, Whitford. You’re all regulars.”
“So, Jamie knew who Grant and I were?”
“Probably,” she answered. “I can’t see how she wouldn’t. And no, I’m not talking about Grant. It was some short, bald guy. He’s been in a few times. He met with her one night. He pointed to you and Grant.”
The waitress wiped down the bar counter, pretending to look busy. “He’s the one that left her an envelope a week or so ago.”
A million things ran through my mind. Why would Jamie pretend to not know Grant that first day of classes, or that night we met? Who else was she working for? Why wouldn’t she mention that to me?
“Has he been here since?”
“One other time that I remember. He left her another envelope.” She wiped down the bar again in the same place and then whispered to me, “I’m not sure if the last one had money in it too.”
Something didn’t seem right about all of this.
“Well, if you see her, tell her I said hello. Maybe I’ll run into her at school,” I said, wanting to cut the conversation short and deal with everything in my head.
A moment later, Curtis returned. “Nope, she’s working tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” I took a big swallow of my drink as my phone buzzed, sending a vibration across the bar top. I flipped the phone over to see a message from Jamie.
I’m ok. Just been feeling under the weather. Can we meet up today?
For a moment, my stomach flipped like it used to before I’d walk into a big meeting where there was money on the line. I wanted to meet up, but I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I’m headed to my office. I’ll be there the rest of the afternoon. I’ll leave the door unlocked. Stop by whenever.
I hit send.
Everything with Jamie had seemed so natural and perfect. The way we had met, our interaction at school. The way things had gone between us the other night.
Maybe it had been too perfect. I replayed our first meeting in my head, but it was a blur. A mixture of tequila and bourbon had clouded my head, and probably my judgement.
I now wondered exactly how Jamie had ended up as the assistant for my class just days after we had slept together. Days after she had hit on me at the very bar where I was sitting. I tried to think of every person I knew that matched the description the waitress had described. A short, older, bald guy.
It was too vague of a description. Every old professor at the university looked that way.
I finished my drink and put some cash on the bar that would more than cover the bill, keeping one of the larger bills in my hand. “Thanks Curtis,” I said, giving a wave.
As I walked by the other waitress I smiled and approached, placing the fifty on the table she had started wiping down. “I appreciate the conversation. Let’s just keep that between us, okay?”
“Sure thing, hon,” she said, quickly grabbing the bill and tucking it into her bra. “Won’t say a word.”
* * * * *
The Fox Hole wasn’t too far from the office of Velocity Capital. That was both a blessing and a curse. It was one of the reasons I spent so much time there.
I knew the office would be quiet. The staff usually worked late during week so they could enjoy their weekends. Most of the people I hired were weekend warriors—playing or drinking hard in their downtime. Day-to-day business at the office was always intense and busy, so I didn’t blame them.
I tried to keep my mind off of the conversation from earlier, but it was difficult. Jamie had been on my mind nonstop for the last two days for all of the right reasons. Now she was on it for all of the wrong ones.
History had a way of repeating itself and once again, I was in the middle of it. I’d always been blinded by beauty and let my cock lead the way.
This time, I thought it would be different.
Maybe I had just wanted it to be different. A way to forget the past, forget Summer. A way to move on. Maybe I was so distracted by what I wanted that I didn’t see the signs. I shook my head as I stared out the window behind the couch—the couch where Jamie had seduced me and we’d been caught by Alyssa.
I felt my adrenaline begin to pump as I replayed everything in my mind from the last week. I carefully laid out in my mind exactly what I was going to say to her the moment she arrived.