Two

 

CRYSTAL

One year ago . . .

Kansas City, Missouri

 

The bartender slides my margarita in front of me with a nod. Smiling my thanks, I hand him a ten. “Keep the change,” I murmur then glance again toward the door.

Brittany’s supposed to be arriving any moment. Britt is my friend from my college days. When she called and said she was in the same town as me currently, excitement rushed me and I was looking forward to spending time with her. With both of our jobs, it’s difficult at times to meet up. However, today's been a day from hell.

What started out as a fantastic day at an author signing event I was attending turned to chaos in a blink of an eye. Two women were kidnapped from the hallway restroom. Britt was working undercover with the FBI and was part of the sting that was set up to protect Len and Sara. Thankfully, they were able to find them quickly and nothing major happened. Well, other than one of the women, Len, went into labor with her twins.

After Brittany left the hospital, she called asking me to meet her at the PBR Big Sky bar, which is in the Power and Light district, in a few hours. She had to fill out some paperwork, but she needed a drink. And honestly, I agreed with her.

Something brushes my back and a bolt of electricity hits me, traveling up my spine.

“A shot of patron and a Corona, please,” a sexy voice drawls out behind me, causing my body to tighten with desire.

Turning, I look over my shoulder. I now wish I didn’t, because my panties are officially ruined. My breath catches in my throat at what I’m seeing and my body screams, Fuck me, now!

Breathtakingly handsome doesn’t even begin to describe the God behind me.

Light brown hair, deep green eyes, at least six feet three inches tall and muscles . . . lots of muscles.

“Hey, C,” Brittany says my nickname from my left tearing my gaze away from the sexy man. The man had me so drawn in that I didn’t even notice her arrival. “Make it a double, please. Great minds and all that huh, Conti?”

Who the fuck is Conti?

“Fuck, this day has been shit. I need a drink to unwind,” that sexy voice replies.

The moment our eyes meet I begin to second guess my thoughts on insta love. Yeah, I may write it from time to time, but never in a million years did I believe it was true.

Until this moment.

“Britt, why don’t you introduce me to this beautiful woman in front of me?” His eyes never leave mine as he speaks to her.

“Conti, this is a good friend of mine, Crystal. C, this gentleman is a co-worker turned friend, Conti.” Britt reaches over me and grabs one of the shots the bartender put in front of Conti.

“Nice to meet you.” He picks up my hand and brings it to his lips.

Right then and there, the exact moment his lips touch my skin, I know my life has changed for the better.

 

 

“Shit. Mari,” Conti’s voice startles me out of my sleep. “What’s wrong with Mads? Let me talk to her.”

He carefully slides out from behind me and I hold my breath; listening as he moves across the hotel room.

“Hey, my special, sweet girl. What’s wrong?”

The door to the bathroom closes and I quickly rise out of bed, rushing around as he attempts to calm down the girl on the phone. This isn’t what I thought would happen when I thought of a future with him. There's one thing I know for certain; I’ll never be the other woman in a man's life.

The night before rushes to me and tears start to sting the back of my eyes. Especially since I told him that he made me feel things that nobody has ever made me feel before. Hell, I even told him I’ve never slept with a guy I just met, but there was just something about him. Now, I’m heartbroken over the fact that the guy I felt so much for, must have a family.

Realization that I’m now an adulteress has the tears coming even faster. Glancing back at the bathroom door, I hurry to get out of the room because there’s no way I can ever face him again.

 

CONTI

Eleven months after Kansas City . . .

Angela and Curt's Wedding

 

Shaking my head at my friend Curt, and his antics with his new wife, I slowly twist my head to the right to make sure Crystal hasn’t left yet. I’ve been trying to contact her for eleven fucking months now.

Walking out of that hotel bathroom to an empty room confused the fuck out of me. At first, I thought she went to grab us some breakfast. No way did I think she walked away after having the night we did. When she turned to me in that bar, my breath caught in my throat. She was breathtaking. Dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, olive tan skin and a smile that would stop traffic. Her body was curvy in the right places and caused my dick to jump in my pants. He wanted to pound the fuck out of her. And I was right there agreeing with him.

The feeling that she was mine and that one day she would be my wife rushed my veins. I knew that there would never be anyone else again that would measure up to her. When she told me that she never did things like that and that something about me drew her to me . . . I knew then that we were on the same page. The way her breath picked up and her eyes dilated when she took me in over her shoulder at the bar, had me wanting to drag her back to my hotel. The need to own all of her was so damn strong that it took me by surprise. My mind knew that by the end of the night she would be mine and there was no fucking going back to the life I had before.

After two drinks, we both switched to water while Brittany drank. About midnight, we were both ripping each other’s clothes off in my hotel room after we put Brittany in hers. There was no stopping the need that consumed us. When three in the morning finally hit, we knocked out, with talk of spending the day together before she had to head back home.

So imagine my surprise when I found her gone. For two days she ignored not only my attempts to contact her, but Brittany’s too. Then I got a call from the FBI that there was a huge case I was needed on. A media shit storm that Curt, Fisher and myself were ready to kill the news stations over for dragging us in front of the world.

If I never see a news crew again, it’ll be too soon.

Since I was mixed up with that until recently, coming to Nebraska to confront her wasn’t possible. When Curt said she would be at the wedding, as she was Angela’s maid of honor, it was my chance to finally confront her about what happened that morning.

Watching as she gives her toast and then embraces the bride and groom, my mind starts to plan how I’m going to speak with her in private. The clinking of the ice in my drink as I slowly sip is the only thing that breaks my thoughts for a second. My lips start to tip up into a smile; I’ll catch her before she leaves.

For now, I’ll just bide my time and watch her from afar.

 

 

“Crystal, we need to talk.” My footsteps echo on the tile as I quickly follow her out of the reception. Angela and Curt left an hour ago and I waited while she finished her ‘M.O.H.’ duties.

“No, we do not need to talk, Conti,”. She walks out of the double doors. “My best friend just got married and left for her honeymoon. I have things to get done so they can enjoy their time together, without worrying if items will be returned so they can get their deposits.” She rushes to her car parked in the parking lot.

“I want to know why you left the hotel without at least a goodbye. I thought—” Her outburst cuts me off.

“You thought what? That I would be okay with you, Mari and your, special, sweet girl?” she says the word "special" with disgust. Hearing her say that has me stopping in my tracks. She must have talked to Brittany about Maddison and found out she has Autism, and that I use the word special to play down the meaning behind it.

She climbs in her car and the pain of watching her is like a knife stabbing deep into my chest. Those words coming from her mouth the way they did . . . well, they just changed everything.