Chapter Twenty
Trace
Three days later
I looked over and picked up my buzzing phone from the bedside table. As soon as I saw who it was, I dumped it straight back down again. Nope, I didn’t want a damn thing to do with Kelsey. Not a chance. And why the fuck is she calling me? Maybe Cierra had put her up to it to find out why I hadn’t called her.
Me being an asshole had never been up for debate. I wasn’t proud of some of the things I’d done with the women I’d hooked up with over the years, but I’d always made it clear that I was in it for the fun. But I hadn’t told Cierra that, and after she’d left my place three days before, I fucking freaked out. She was doing all sorts of things to my head, and I didn’t need any of that in my life at that moment.
But spending time with her had been more than I could’ve ever imagined. By spending two nights with her, I allowed an intimacy I had never felt with any woman to grab hold of me. And then I did the asshole thing—didn’t call her. I didn’t know what was going on with me; I just needed some distance from whatever was happening between us. I wasn’t supposed to feel this way with a chick. When the time came, I’d settle down with a woman who was attractive, looked good on paper, could handle the charity circuit, and threw elegant parties. But, much to my grandmother’s chagrin, I was a ways away from taking a bride and having children who one day would take over Velocity.
Cierra was complicating everything, not to mention the no-fucking-the-employees policy my grandfather kept reminding me about. I guess he knew me too well. If the people at work found out that Cierra and I had fucked like rabbits over the weekend, the respect and confidence I had with most of the employees would be in the trash. I’d lose all credibility.
The phone buzzed on the nightstand again. Dreading what I’d read, I swiped.
Kelsey: I’ve wanted to say I was sorry 4 so long!
Okay, so Kelsey wasn’t contacting me on behalf of Cierra. I should’ve known she was only in it for herself. I scanned over the five previous texts and they were all the same: apologies, promises, and demands to meet whenever I was available. I tossed my phone across the bed. She was the last thing I needed. I thought she’d have taken the hint, given how dismissive I’d been of her after I caught her fucking Jason, but I guess she just couldn’t take no for an answer.
I didn’t need another complication in my life. Before the launch, I’d promised myself I would stay in control around Cierra no matter what, but one look at her that night and I had broken that promise with fucking aplomb. But what red-blooded man could’ve kept away after seeing her in that sexy dress with her hair swept up, revealing the ink scrolling down the back of her neck?
Even thinking about it, my cock grew hard beneath the covers. I’d banged a lot of women over the years, but nothing had come close to being as hot as it had been with Cierra. Damn. The attraction we’d been fighting came together for the hottest fucking I’d had. The way she’d arched her back that night in front of her building, her eyes squeezed shut, her body grinding back against mine—it was more than anything I could’ve imagined for us, and I’d dedicated a hell of a lot of time to imagining being with Cierra.
I ignored my hard-on and climbed out of bed to head to the shower. As the hot water cascaded over me, I pushed all thoughts of Cierra to the back of my mind. I had a company to run and employees who depended on me. I didn’t have time to have a fling with the hottest girl I’d ever known. And I had to figure out what to do about DTG before things got out of control.
I made a mental note to call Ivan, and to pass by Cierra’s building after work. I’d been doing that since the past Monday. That creep in the black Lexus was stalking her, and I wanted to make sure she was safe. It was nothing more than that. I’d do it for any employee.
Yeah, I’m not buying my own crock of shit either. She didn’t know I was watching out for her, and I hoped I could get up close and personal to this bastard. I’d teach him not to mess with my girl.
My girl? Fuck. No. I meant mess with any woman.
I climbed out of the shower and let Cierra fill my thoughts. The truth was she was always there, kicking around at the back of my brain like a sweet promise. When I thought of her, it felt as though the ground shifted underneath me in the best way possible. It was like the world twisted around me: my heart beating fast, my brain rushing with thoughts, and my heart swelling with something I didn’t want to put a name to yet. There was something between us, and it was intense. I’d thought I would’ve worked it out of my system since we’d hooked up over the weekend, but fucking her had only dragged me further into my feelings. And if sex didn’t get her out of my head, then what the hell would?
Ivan scooped a large handful of M&Ms and popped them into his mouth. As I looked over the reports, he crunched and checked his phone a hundred times.
“Doug Raley and Gwen St. Martin are in the clear. I’m glad. I sort of suspected they were in cahoots with DTG.”
“I’ll have more reports next week. I’ve eliminated the majority of your employees. There are only a few left. Do you have any more candy?”
“No. You pretty much ate the whole bag. Did you find anything on the partial license plate numbers I gave you?”
“There’re a lot of black Lexuses in the city. It’ll take me some time to eliminate people. How old did he look?”
“I never got a clear look at him. He was a little under six feet, and maybe late thirties or early forties? Not real sure about that.”
“I’ll narrow it down. It’ll just take a little time.”
A knock on the door had Ivan turning and looking toward it. “Come in,” I said.
Chandra Pierce sashayed in and smiled broadly at me, then threw a coy smile at Ivan. His eyeballs almost popped out of his head as he watched my curvy secretary come next to me and bend down low. He was definitely getting the early afternoon peep show. I could always count on Ms. Pierce for that.
After I signed the letters I’d dictated to her, she slowly walked out of the room, very aware of the effect she had on Ivan—I was sure of that.
“Wow. How do you get any work done with a secretary like her? Is she single?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers. “I think so. I think we’re done here. Let’s meet next week and see what you’ve got. Put a priority on the black Lexus.”
“Will do.” He sauntered out and I saw him stop at Ms. Pierce’s desk. I wondered if he secured a date with her.
My cell vibrated in the top desk drawer and I pulled it out. Kelsey. Only she was calling me instead of texting. I debated whether I should answer, but decided to in order for her to stop communicating with me.
When I’d spoken to Sheila on my drive in to work that morning, she told me she’d heard through the grapevine that Jason had dumped Kelsey a couple of weeks before. Rumor had it she wanted to get back together with me. A suspicion that she knew about my and Cierra’s hookup niggled at the back of my mind. After a moment’s hesitation, I hovered my finger over the button to take the call and then pressed it, pulling the phone to my ear.
“Hello?” I took out an account file and thumbed through it.
“Trace?” She sounded stunned that I’d actually answered. “I hope you’re not in the middle of something.”
“Actually, I am. What do you want?”
She giggled nervously. “Not even a ‘how are you’? Do you hate me that much?”
I really didn’t have time for this. “I don’t hate you. What do you want?”
“I….” She sniveled and took a long, shuddering breath. “I’ve been trying to get hold of you all morning.”
“Yeah, what for? I don’t have a lot of time. Can you get to it, whatever it is?”
“I just wanted to call to say that I’m sorry.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“I want to find some way to make it up to you.” Her voice dropped from the tearful into the seductive. “We could meet up. I could be over at your place after work and we—”
“I’m really not interested in any of that.”
“What can I do, Trace? Please, tell me. Anything.”
“Anything?” I took a deep breath. Anything was a lot. I could work with anything.
“Anything at all,” she said, her voice growing warm and full as though she’d finally gotten me where she wanted me.
“Tell Ms. Duncan what happened between us,” I replied.
She fell silent.
“Are you still there?” I swiveled around in my chair and faced the cityscape.
“Why the fuck would you want me to tell Cierra?”
“You said you’d do anything, and it seems like she has a skewed viewpoint of me thanks to you.”
“Why don’t you tell her?” I could hear the pout in her voice. It was the same one she’d pulled on me whenever she’d wanted to try out some fancy new restaurant and I’d wanted to stay home and order takeout. Hearing it at that moment made me bristle with irritation.
“Because she needs to hear it from you. Think you can do that?” I asked.
“But it’s none of her business,” Kelsey argued, and I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“That’s what I’m offering. Take it or leave it.”
“You can be such an asshole sometimes.” Her voice took on a hard edge.
“Yeah. What’s your point?”
“I should go,” she mumbled. “Thanks for talking to me again.”
I put the phone down. The chance of her telling Cierra the truth was slim to none. I wasn’t even sure why I’d said it. It didn’t really matter; I didn’t plan on taking any more of Kelsey’s phone calls.
When I left work, I was the only one there except for the cleaning crew. I swung by Cierra’s place and camped out for a bit to make sure the black Lexus jerk didn’t show up. Her windows were dark except for a dim light in the small kitchen. She wasn’t home, and knowing that pissed me off. It was stupid, of course; Cierra had every right to be out having a good time with friends. I should’ve been doing the same, but I didn’t want to.
I took one more glance around the quiet street, then headed to my place, putting some distance between us.