CHAPTER 13
It was Tuesday in Manhattan, and although it was the middle of the work week the streets were teeming with people. Rushing home, rushing to parties or running towards the park for a little exercise. Garret had always enjoyed the brisk pace that came with living in Manhattan, but ever since he returned on Sunday he looked at the city through Skye’s eyes and could understand why she left. For someone with anxiety, a taxi rushing by and a business man bumping you out of the way on the sidewalk would be much more disturbing than for someone who didn’t.
He had spent the most of yesterday working through the new contract he had landed with Headlinger and had to push thoughts of Skye away. This morning when he woke, she was the first thing he thought of and couldn’t push her from his mind since. He thought of the fragile look in her eyes when she had told him her biggest secret. That explained her running, the way she could run hot and cold and for some unknown reason Garret found himself even more attracted to her, even somewhat protective.
After Vanessa, he had never thought he would feel this way over a woman again, and yet he had a strong desire to make Skye his. To claim her for himself, the only problem was if something ever happened between them Garret wasn’t so sure he would be able to let her go as easily as he did Vanessa. Even though it had hurt like hell at the time, the sight of her revolted him after walking into that room. If it had been Skye, Garret wasn’t so sure he would’ve walked out. He would’ve probably killed the man with his bare hands.
The pull towards Skye confused him. Yes there was the basic attraction, the desire between two attractive people, but there was also more. There was something in the way she could be shy and innocent the one moment and the next be a teasing wildcat in the bedroom. Garret loved both parts of her. He stopped on the street, letting the people pass him as he realized what word he had just used. Loved? He couldn’t be in love with Skye. They barely knew each other.
Pushing the thought aside to pick apart later, he hailed a cab and gave them the name of the bar where he was meeting Cole.
“Roth! Thanks for meeting me.” Cole Matthewson stood and held out his hand.
Garret smiled at Cole’s formality. He was a few inches shorter than Garret but had broader shoulders and a smile that made the girls crazy. Just enough cute in his face to drive them crazy with his naughty smile. “Only a pleasure Mr. Matthewson.”
They shook hands briefly before Cole pulled Garret in for a hug and slapped his back. “It’s good to see you man.”
“Yeah you too. When did you get in?” They sat down at the bar, and Cole waved over the barman who already held two glasses of single malt scotch ready for them.
“This afternoon, I’ve got a few meetings in the morning before I can head back to the Hamptons.”
“Right, well I’m glad you came through tonight. I’d almost forgotten what you looked like.”
“Bullshit! You’re just pissed since I haven’t been by to check out your mansion.”
“Maybe.” Garret laughed. Even though he was close with Cayden, Seth, Stefan and Cole, sometimes life interfered and a month went by without seeing each other.
“Don’t worry Roth, the guys assured me it would be great for parties, the view is amazing, would be better if you invite a couple of bikini clad girls and that you made them proud with good quality booze.”
Garret laughed at Cole’s description. “It’s not a bachelor pad for parties’ man.”
“Well it could be.” Cole winked at someone sitting behind Garret.
“Yes it could be. Anyway how are you, more importantly where’ve you been?”
“Actually I’ve been working. I’ve gotten a few big corporate clients I’m investing for, and since I don’t have an empire of staff like you, yet.” Cole cocked his brow. “I still need to do a lot of the work myself.”
“That’s great man; I really never thought I’d actually consider investing with you. I was actually at a meeting the other day and someone mentioned your name.” Cole was a few years younger than Garret and had always valued partying above work. A symptom often found among the rich kids in the Hamptons. Over the last couple of years Cole had steadily started building a name for himself in investing.
“That’s good to hear.” Cole said losing interest in the conversation as he started checking out a blonde a few seats down the bar.
Knowing he was losing Cole, Garret decided to shock him back to their conversation. “So I’ve been having great sex recently.”
Cole’s eyes flashed towards Garret before he burst out laughing. “If you wanted me to talk to you and not flirt with the blonde, you could’ve asked. It wasn’t necessary to lie.”
Garret smiled like the cat that caught the mouse. “I’m not.”
“What? With who? When? Do I know her?” Cole turned his back ignoring the blonde that held his attention for a few seconds.
“Yes, her name is Skye, over the past few weeks, and no. In that order.”
“Skye? Nice name. Where did you meet her?”
“Actually at that house party Cayden forced on me two weeks ago. The one you said you were too busy for.”
“Oh right, I was busy that night. Very important meeting… Red head if I remember correctly.”
“Cole you can’t screw your clients. That’s just bad business.” Garret admonished him.
“She wasn’t a client.” Cole said easily shaking the ice in his glass indicating to the barman he wanted a refill. “That was just the only way I could think of to get Cayden to let me off the hook.”
Garret laughed, his friend had always been a bit of a playboy and even though Garret did not approve of actions he couldn’t help but feel warm affection for his friend. Cole came from money but refused to work in his father’s firm. Pretty much the same as Garret. He had started his own investing firm out in the Hamptons after college. He worked from a home office and gave his clients the extra benefit of home visits in the Hamptons. A service that appealed to clients that didn’t want to travel to the city to do business. Cole would meet them in the comfort of their own homes and advise them on what options were best. His attention to detail and service had soon made him a household name in the Hamptons.
“So Roth spill! Tell me about it.” Cole said curiously.
“She’s great. She’s funny and smart, daring and fragile at the same time. Shit!”
“What?” Cole said as he took the first sip of his second drink.
“I sound like a lovesick puppy.”
“Yeah you kind of do. What happened to that wall of frost Cayden’s always ripping you about?”
Garret grinned before he answered. “I’m guessing she’s starting to melt it.”
“Does she know about Vanessa?” Cole’s tone had turned serious.
“What?”
“You know your ex. Man you can’t start dating a woman and not tell her that you’ve been celibate for two years and have hated all women ever since Vanessa cheated on you.”
“You make it sound really bad.” Garret said shocked. Is that what his friends had thought over the past few years? That he hated women? He loved women. Their bodies, their scent, their soft ministrations. It was trust he had a problem with.
“Well it hasn’t exactly been a picnic. You need to tell her if this is going anywhere. The Hamptons is a small place, tell her before she finds out from someone else.”
Garret nodded, he needed to tell Skye. Besides she trusted him enough to tell him about her problems. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and excused himself before stepping outside to answer. He had several missed calls from a private number. Twelve to be exact. Just to be sure, he checked that he had Skye’s number programmed. Frowning, he switched the phone off and returned to Cole.
Wednesday morning Garret all but begged his assistant to get him an extra strong coffee. Someone was pounding inside his head with a hammer, suddenly the four scotches he had with Cole didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. It had been great to catch up with Cole, but the headache he was nursing wasn’t. He had thought about Skye all night in his slightly buzzed state and had decided he needed to get to the Hamptons to find out what was going on between them. Was it just passing flirtations, a rebound as Cole had called it last night, or was there something more?
He clicked open his schedule for the week and noticed that he had no meetings that couldn’t be moved or handled by his staff. He had quite a bit to do today and the headache wasn’t helping. He took two aspirin from the cabinet in his bathroom and started working. If everything went according to plan, he could be heading to the Hamptons just after lunch.
A couple of hours had passed, including the headache and Garret was making good progress when his phone rang. Just as he answered he heard the call being dropped. He scrolled through his call log only to find it listed as a private number again.
Setting the phone aside he turned his focus back to work. He wanted to get to the Hamptons. He needed to figure out how he felt about Skye and if he wanted to tell her about Vanessa. For some reason he was starting to feel guilty that he didn’t.