Chapter Four
Bethany
My alarm went off, and I knew it was another night of no sleep. My eyes were itching, unfocused, and open, as the insistent sound dragged me from my static thought.
Had I dreamed about him again?
I groaned and kicked the tangled sheets into submission. Then I slapped the alarm clock and dragged myself up to sitting so I could glare out the early morning window.
How dare he smile at me and get me all distracted! Right when the biggest case of my life was finally heating up!
It would have been easier if his green eyes had just slid right by me and kept on going. I couldn't see anything around me without the overlay of his smiling eyes glaring out of my subconscious.
I stood up and paced. How many days had my mind surprised me with glimpses of Dylan? We'd only met once but he was on heavy rotation in my head. How did I get him out of my mind?
Running. Work.
I started running in junior high school and kept it as my mantra ever since: hit the ground running.
I tossed off my nightgown and dragged on the running shorts, sports bra, and tank top that lay on the foot of my bed. I stretched and tied on my shoes. It felt good to go out the door and not care which way I was going.
Dylan Wylde had dark green eyes.
My pace faltered, and I picked it up faster than before. I'd probably never see him again. My heart raced as I ran the numbers. I knew what kind of clubs he liked now.
I sprinted around the corner and slowly reined in my pace. So what if I'd run into an attractive man? Plenty of women got sideswiped by that every day. I wasn't a mewling teenage girl. I had work to do.
The second mile settled my mind, and I stared at the memory of the night we met before finally letting it go.
Dylan looked too good to be true; like a fantasy come to life. That dark, messy hair and a wide-open smile. My stomach flopped again, always the same when I thought about him. And then he came over to talk to me! I had forgotten about my legs, my feet, the floor. I just floated up to those eerily familiar jade green eyes.
Ugh. I pounded down a side street.
Dylan was attractive. It was a pleasant surprise that he talked to me. I stuck to just the facts no matter how uncomfortable they were.
I liked when he flirted with me.
Then he flirted with that bouncy little blonde in the tight dress.
I jolted to a stop at a red light and scowled at the traffic. Just like that, Dylan had moved past me. How could men do that? Just drop a girl and move on?
I turned around and headed home. On the way, I forced myself to think about nothing but my pace, my breathing, and the work day ahead.
It had only been a week since I was assigned First Assistant District Attorney to the new case. The briefings had been mind-numbingly boring and unnecessarily long. I had memorized the files the first two nights.
Work was what I did best.
I leaped up my steps two at a time and headed straight in for a quick shower. Just long enough for a strong cup of coffee to brew. Within twenty minutes, I was out the door and early to work.
This case was my big chance. If I could prove my worth, then I would stay in the DA's inner circle. From there, my career could sky-rocket.
I could afford one of Dylan's fancy cars.
I bit my lip and paced down the hall to the break room to heat up my coffee. I'd stayed up late reading all sorts of car websites, from huge flashy brand names to little foreign publications, Dylan had quite the reputation.
And he was often in the tabloids on the arm of some model or actress.
"Hey, Bethany. How've you been? How are things with Jacob?" My colleague, Anise, headed straight to the coffee pot. She loved to gossip and never minced words. Our breaks were too short.
"Jacob?" I stammered.
Anise flashed a smile. "I saw Annie at court the other day. She told me she'd tried setting you up with Jacob."
I ground my teeth but smiled. "She did, last week. It didn't work out. The club was too loud and crowded for us to really talk."
It was the excuse I had been telling everyone, including Jacob and Annie. She was dead-set on setting us up again but I had kept her at bay.
"Yeah, he's too quiet for you. You need someone who can shake you up." Anise winked and headed back to her office.
I dragged myself back to my office and refused to pace. So what if it had been a week and Dylan Wylde was still on my mind?
It's not every day you run into a man who makes you dizzy.
I curled my fingers into fists then forced myself to release them one at a time. I was being stupid. Dylan was nothing more than a childlike crush. I didn't love him. I didn't know what love was.
I only knew what getting left felt like.
I snatched up my phone as soon as it rang, desperate to be distracted. It was a video-chat from Annie, yawning at her bus-stop.
"Good morning!" I said.
She squinted at me. "Is it? Are you okay?"
I rolled my eyes. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"Too bad I know that just means you stayed up working. You really are no fun, you know?" Annie yawned again. "Speaking of fun, what are you doing tonight?"
"Briefing at the police station," I said.
"Oh, yeah, the big case. Good excuse for not having a life," Annie said.
I laughed. "I still have time for you. Late night take-out in the lobby?"
"You got it. Go work it!" Annie waved as her bus arrived.
I set my phone back down and stared at my desk instead of the case files. Not having time for a relationship had always made things easier.
A text message arrived from Annie: You're not sleeping anyway; why not late-nightclub night?
I wrote back: no thanks.
Dance your blues away! Annie's response was almost instant.
I gripped my phone and typed: Not falling for it. Not stalking him.
Annie sent: no fun.
I waited for her to call. Annie had given me at least five romance pep talks that always included an elaborate plan to track down Dylan.
It didn't matter that I had a career instead. Annie was determined to set me up with someone and, ever since she saw how I looked at Dylan, she was laser-focused.
Her text message almost read my mind: what if he's the one for you?
I responded: this case is the one for me
Her bus stop must have arrived because I didn't hear from Annie again that morning.
Instead, I reviewed all the files, organized a list of research needed, and prepared my notes for our next briefing. The new case was part of a larger organized crime investigation. The ring of thieves, sellers, fronts, and possible buyers was enormous, and many departments had a file on the criminals.
By the time I realized I had missed lunch, it was 4 p.m. I thought the break room would be empty, so I grabbed a few dollars and headed for the vending machine.
Jacob was making a fresh pot of coffee. "Bethany, hi! How are you?"
"Uh, good. Thanks. Busy. How are you?" I asked.
He leaned on the counter to wait for the coffee to brew. I stood in the doorway, wishing I could turn around and disappear. We hadn't spoken since the night at the club. The night I had run into Dylan.
"Things going well with your friend?" Jacob asked.
"What friend?" I inched toward the vending machine. Any excuse to turn my embarrassed cheeks from him.
"Annie said that guy was a friend of yours. That's why you kept chatting. I just assumed you were dating," Jacob said. His tone was light but probing.
I jabbed blindly at the vending machine buttons and then faced him. "We're not dating. He probably thought I was someone else. Kept saying I looked familiar."
"So, you're not dating him?" Jacob asked.
I was so relieved he'd changed the subject from Dylan that I walked right into his train of thought. "No. I'm not seeing anyone."
"Then would you like to go out tonight?" Jacob stood up and took a step toward me.
I swiped my candy bar out of the vending machine and didn't even care it was the gross kind with the dried fruit. I waved it at Jacob like a warding. "Tonight's no good. I'm working late."
His smiled faded a bit and he nodded toward the coffee maker. "Me, too. We could order in?"
I backed out the break room door. "I'd love to, but Annie's already got this whole dinner plan. Sorry!"
Jacob waved. "Another night then!"
I'd been too nice, too emphatic when I said that I would love to but… I should have just told Jacob that I was dating Dylan. It was a harmless lie considering I would never see Dylan again.
Despite the pure logic of my thoughts, my stomach started an excited sizzle. What if I saw Dylan again?
I sent out emails, made phone calls, met with the rest of the team and reported directly to the District Attorney herself. Nothing helped. Dylan was still on my mind.
By the time I had reluctantly left the new evidence on my desk and headed down to meet Annie in the lobby, my head was already fuzzy. That's why I didn't think twice about her insistence that I come with her to pick up our order.
"Delivery would have taken way too long and you need the fresh air. Look at you! Want to borrow my comb?" Annie asked.
She gave the cab driver some circuitous route, and I didn't realize what she was doing until we'd cruised by our second dance club.
"Are you hoping we'll run into Dylan?" I asked Annie.
She giggled. "Are you?"
I groaned. "I just want to eat some chow fun and get back to work."
Annie squinted out the cab window and finally gave in. She told the driver to head straight to our normal Chinese food place; only four blocks from my office high rise.
"Shit. Everyone said he was driving a yellow Lamborghini tonight. I figured that couldn't be too hard to spot," Annie confessed.
"And how exactly were you going to con me into entering the club?" I asked.
Annie grinned at me. "Big talker. I bet you'd give in right away. Remember I saw how you looked at him."
I shoved her out of the cab to pick up our Chinese food. It was good she wasn't there to see me flinch at every bright sports car that roared by. A yellow cab pulled in behind us and my heart almost stopped.
"Your guy drives a yellow Lamborghini?" the cab driver asked. "Pretty flashy."
"It's probably a client's," I explained. "Dylan's not really that flashy. I mean, I don't think he is…"
I trailed off miserably, and the cab driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror. "Got a crush? That's good. Gets your heart pumping."
I smiled and felt like my heart was going to fail from embarrassment. Annie jumped back into the car with an enormous brown bag of food.
She tossed me a fortune cookie. "Hope it's a good one."
I tore into it and promptly threw the paper fortune out the window.
"That good, huh?" Annie laughed.
I scowled. "I am following my heart. Straight back to work. You know this case is a career maker."
"I know," Annie soothed. "You can tell me everything you're allowed to say while we eat wontons."
I tried to relax but it wasn't easy. Annie and I had known each other long enough that she could read me. Annie could tell I was disappointed and I knew she'd keep searching out Dylan with her dogged determination. If anyone could work the magic of making Dylan reappear, it would be Annie.
We didn't talk about it, but my stomach sizzled with excitement all through dinner. The odds were definitely up on me seeing Dylan again.