Chapter Two
I hung around my apartment and played video games and watched TV. I had no intention of getting a job when I had enough in my real estate investments to get me by. My father gave my brother and me a great deal of money when we were younger. My brother pissed his away, and I put my cash to good use.
So I didn’t feel bad about it.
Rae left me a message the other night, but I still hadn’t listened to it. I did my best not to think about her because anytime I did, I felt like shit. I had the perfect woman wrapped around my finger until I blew it by being the biggest asshole in the world. She told me she loved me, and I left her.
I got exactly what I deserved.
I wasn’t jealous of Zeke. I wasn’t angry at Rae. The only person I despised was myself.
It was all my fault.
My phone rang on the coffee table, but I didn’t look at it right away. I expected to see Rae’s name on the screen, the one person I didn’t want to talk to but also desperately wanted to talk to.
I dragged my hands down my face then looked at the screen. It was a number I didn’t recognize, and the area code wasn’t from New York but it wasn’t Washington either. So I answered. “Hey, it’s Ryker.”
“Hey, Ryker.” A beautiful voice came over the phone, hypnotic and sexy. “It’s Austen.”
My heart immediately picked up its pace, and I felt my cock twitch in my sweatpants. I hadn’t thought about her since I saw her in the bar the other night, but now that she was on my mind, I was hard. “What’s up?” I kept my cool and leaned back against the couch.
“I got your number from Liam. Hope that’s okay.”
“Of course. I love it when beautiful women stalk me.”
She chuckled. “Hope that doesn’t happen too often.”
“Not as much as I would like it to.” I smiled and hit the mute button on the TV remote. “What can I do for you, Austen?” Was she calling about our bowling plans?
“I wanted to see if you were free tonight. I’d like to take you out.”
My heart froze in my chest as my stomach tightened. Her confidence was insanely sexy. Not too many women would have the balls to call up a guy and ask him out like this. I preferred strong women who didn’t care what anyone thought of them. I hadn’t met too many like that. Austen seemed to fit in that category. “I’m flattered.”
“And I’d be flattered if you said yes. We can go to a bar and watch the game.”
I grinned. “That sounds like a pretty nice date, actually.”
“I know. We can share a plate of garlic fries. So romantic.”
I chuckled, feeling my chest loosen at her playful banter. As much as I wanted to say yes, Liam popped into my head. He was one of my closest friends and dating his sister would really piss him off. The last time I did that, I lost a friend altogether. I wasn’t looking for a relationship anyway, so it wasn’t worth going down this road. “I would love to say yes, but I can’t.”
“Damn. I knew you had a girlfriend…”
“Actually, I don’t. But…I don’t think it would be a good idea. Liam is my friend, and I have to honor the code.”
“Fuck the code.”
My eyes widened as the smile stretched my lips.
“Just come down and have a beer. Don’t be a drama queen about it.”
I laughed. “A drama queen?”
“Yeah. Liam doesn’t need to know about it.”
I wasn’t really the kind of guy to sneak around. My life was an open book, so I had nothing to hide. When Rae and I kept our relationship a secret from Rex, I wasn’t too thrilled about it.
“I’m not taking no for an answer. I’ll meet you at the Frog’s Tooth in an hour.”
“Austen—”
“You better show up. Otherwise, I’m gonna eat all those garlic fries solo.” Click.
I listened to the line go dead with the same smile on my lips. I didn’t call her back because I had every intention of going.
I wasn’t the kind of guy to stand up a lady.
***
After Rae went back to Zeke, I slept around for a while. I picked up women all over Seattle and brought them back to my place. Some of them were cool. Some were just pretty. But none of them meant anything to me.
I couldn’t even remember their names.
I couldn’t add Austen to the pile because that would be a dick move. But I was back in Manhattan, and I needed to get on with my life. I needed to have new relationships and new experiences so Rae would leave my thoughts forever. I didn’t want to have to force myself not to think about her.
I wanted it to be natural.
I entered the bar a few blocks from my apartment and found Austen sitting at the counter on one of the stools. She wore a purple dress with matching heels on her feet. Her hair was straight today, and it was pulled over one shoulder. Even from behind, I could discern her luscious curves. She had a petite, hourglass frame. If I wrapped my hands around her waist, I suspected my fingers would meet. Her skin was fair like she didn’t spend much time in the sun, but I liked its flawless appearance. She reminded me of a Barbie doll—supersexy.
I moved onto the stool beside her. “Hope all the fries aren’t gone.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t wait. But I ordered another basket.”
I couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not, but either way, it didn’t matter. “I’ll catch up.”
She had a beer in front of her, a lighter brew than I liked. It was halfway empty with her lipstick stained on the glass. It was red and vibrant, and I suddenly imagined that color stained around the base of my cock. “Are you a Knicks fan?”
It took me a moment to understand her question because I was picturing her on her knees in my bedroom. “Forever and always.”
“Me too. The thing I love most about basketball is the camaraderie. Sometimes they make these incredible plays that are spontaneous and they can’t be planned. And they work so well because all the players are so in tune with each other. It’s fascinating to see that type of connection.”
I stared at the dark makeup around her eyes and the way the blue color of her irises stood out. “That’s a good observation. But I think other sports have that same kind of camaraderie.”
“Some,” she said in agreement. “I don’t see it as much as in baseball. Honestly, I hate the sport.”
My jaw nearly dropped. “You hate baseball? That’s a crime against America.”
She was about to drink her beer but chose to laugh instead. “It just takes too long to set up the action, you know? With basketball, you gotta watch every second. Otherwise, you might miss something. But with baseball…you could take a thirty-minute nap and still not miss anything.”
“You’ve obviously never been to a game.”
“I have,” she said. “Big snoozefest.”
“Wow.” I shook my head in disappointment. “Just when I thought you were the full package. I guess everyone has an Achilles’ heel.”
“Full package, huh?” She smiled as she looked at me, her eyelashes thick. “I just ate a full basket of fries before you got here. I’m rude, and I’m a pig.”
“This isn’t a date, so you weren’t rude. And if you’re a pig, you’re the sexiest pig I’ve ever seen.”
She chuckled as her eyes lit up like stadium lights. “That’s the nicest and strangest compliment I’ve ever received. And this is a date because I asked you out and you came. Boom, it’s a date.”
Her playful confidence only made me fonder of her. “Alright, it’s a date. But I’m buying.”
“Nope. You’re dealing with a feminist. You’ve been warned.”
“You’re dealing with a gentleman. So you’ve been warned.”
“My card is already on file, so that’s too bad.” She stuck out her tongue like a child, and while the action was juvenile, she still looked cute.
I shook my head in disappointment. “I guess I’ll have to get you back some other time.”
“And I hope you do.”
I held her gaze as my cock came to life. I loved her playfulness. I hardly knew her, but she already felt like someone I’d known for a long time. Like she was one of the guys, I was watching a game with her at the bar. It was hard to believe she was truly a stranger. “Liam told me you graduated from MIT.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “What else did he tell you about me?”
“That’s you’re a nerd.”
She shook her head and whispered under her breath. “I’m gonna kick his ass.”
I chuckled. “I think nerds are cute.” I immediately thought of Rae, a chemical analyst at my family’s company. Her intelligence was one of the attributes that attracted me in the beginning—besides her smokin’ body. I pushed her out of my mind, doing my best to forget her and move on.
“Yeah?” Austen asked. “That bodes well for me.”
“You don’t look a nerd though. More like a supermodel.”
She laughed as if I’d made a joke. “You’re way too sweet. But I like that.”
“I’m serious.” I turned on my stool and leaned close to her, feeling my heart thump in my chest. She smelled like summer roses that had been freshly picked from the bush. “That’s the first thing that popped into my head when I saw you.”
“You thought I was a supermodel?” she asked incredulously.
“I definitely didn’t think you were a nerd.” My face was just inches from hers, and I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to feel her tongue in my mouth as she panted for me. I wanted to feel her up in the bar then get her back to my place. My sheets needed to be drenched in her smell so I could pretend she was still there long after she was gone.
But when Liam popped into my head, I found the strength to pull away. I couldn’t fool around with his sister, especially when she was just a rebound. That would piss off Liam, and I wouldn’t blame him.
Disappointment filled her gaze when I pulled away, but she quickly covered it up by taking a drink of her beer. “What do you do for a living?”
“Liam didn’t tell you?”
“No. I didn’t ask.”
“In Seattle, I ran my family’s garbage and recycling company. My brother took it over, so I came back here. I went to school at NYU.”
“Oh, cool. So New York is your home?”
Seattle felt like home for a short while. “For the most part. Now I live off my investments and relax.”
“So you’re retired?”
“You could say that.”
“Wow. You must be smart with your money to pull that off before you’re thirty.”
“I’m thirty-one.”
“Liam is thirty, so I just assumed.” The waiter dropped off another basket of fries, and she didn’t hesitate to grab one and pop it in her mouth. She had plump lips and perfect teeth. I pictured myself sucking that bottom lip into my mouth and tasting the garlic on my tongue.
I needed to chill. “You’re twenty-two?”
“Twenty-three.”
She was a little young for me, but then again, I wasn’t going to fuck her, so it didn’t matter. “How are you liking Nicol?”
“I love it. Their software is so advanced it boggles my mind. There are so many implications with it and so many ways to reach everyone around the world. They’re a humanitarian company, creating jobs only in America and making large donations to people in need overseas. It’s a remarkable company, and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
“That’s good to hear. If you love your job, you never have to work a day in your life.”
“Exactly.” She tossed another fry into her mouth. “You aren’t going to make me eat all of this by myself, right?”
I grabbed a fry and dropped it into my mouth. “Of course not.”
Her hand moved to my thigh, and she gave me a firm squeeze, her sharp nails digging into me slightly. “Looks like you are a gentleman, after all.” She pulled her hand away and turned back to the TV like she didn’t just cause my dick to twitch.
I turned to the TV and tried to keep my pulse under control. I wasn’t used to holding back and stopping myself from having what I wanted. If I wanted a woman, I just took her. But this woman was off-limits and untouchable. I wondered if that made me want her more, but I suspected that wasn’t a factor.
The only reason why I wanted her was simple—because she was amazing.