Hornet's Nest (7 page)

THIS HAD BEEN the week from hell. Had the Joshua Black situation happened last week, I’d be floored, but with Lance waltzing back into my life, I didn’t know how to think or feel. The only solution was to just tuck myself away in my office the past few days. Josh asked me out on a date tonight. I should be excited to have a Friday night date for the first time in almost two years, but it was hard to get excited when Lance loomed around. There was also the notion that Josh wasn’t making me swoon as I had once thought. I had swooned plenty until Lance came back around. Lance made this big scene about me and my walls, as well as seeing Josh, but then he has some blonde chick hanging all over him outside the bar. I knew that he would never change. I hadn’t draped myself all over him like the country girls were, so he went somewhere else.

I avoided Lance at every turn for the rest of the week and stayed within the four walls of my office. When my computer read 4:45, I decided I had enough of this week. I gathered my things and left for home. While rummaging through my purse for my keys, I smacked right into a hard chiseled chest. A pile of papers fell around us as my eyes rose up to a sea of emerald I drowned in every time I saw them. His hands rested on my hips as we shared one silent moment. In that moment, everything was forgotten. I leaned into him briefly, his heart thumping underneath my palm. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to speak. I didn’t want to breathe. I just wanted to be in his arms.

“Where are you running off to?”

The moment was gone. I pushed myself away and tore my eyes from his. Papers covered the floor around us, and I bent down to scoop them up.

Lance followed my lead and asked, “Are you going home for the day?”

I gathered a fist full of papers and answered, “Yes, I have a date.”

His hands slowed as he picked up his documents and looked back up into my eyes. I should have never said I was going on a date. And I shouldn’t have looked into his eyes.

“With him?”

I nodded. He sighed softly as he gently took the paper from my grasp and stood. I got up as well.

“Well, be careful,” he whispered and then moved around me. I turned back to watch him go. My heart clenched like it always did every time he left.

• • •

I didn’t have a clue what to wear tonight, but I figured a sleeveless dress and my painful stiletto boots would work. Josh didn’t seem like the type to walk around at night, so hopefully my feet would be spared. I drained my glass of wine just as a text beeped on my phone.

I’m downstairs.

Did that mean he wasn’t coming to meet me at my door? Was it too much to expect a gentleman? I shook my head as I grabbed my clutch and then left my apartment. As I waited for the elevator, my phone beeped with another text. Was he telling me to hurry up now? I slid open the screen.

It helps when I type in the right number – Lance

My jaw dropped. He had the wrong number the whole time? The elevator doors opened. I stepped inside, allowing the doors to close behind me. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of the situation.

It helps to know numbers since you’re in accounting.

I turned my phone on vibrate as the elevator doors opened. I walked outside to find Josh leaning against a sleek, black sports car, wearing tailored gray slacks and a black button down shirt. A smile grazed my face as I caught his chocolate brown eyes.

“Hey beautiful,” he said as I approached his car. After leaning down to kiss my cheek, he opened the passenger side door, allowing me to slide in before he closed the door behind me. I sighed. He was amazingly gorgeous. I just wished that little nugget in the back of my brain would shut up… the one that kept throwing the red flags around, warning me away from dangerous territory. It was just a date, and there was nothing wrong with a gorgeous man wanting to take me out.

As Josh maneuvered his way around the city, he asked, “Have you and Lance started the trust check project yet?”

The mention of his name sent my heart fluttering again.

“Um, no, we haven’t yet, but we plan on starting Monday.” There would really be no avoiding Lance next week. As if on cue, my phone vibrated in my purse. I waited until we arrived at the valet stand to pull out my phone.

Well now that I know how to count, you call me if you ever need anything.

I shook my head and slid my phone back into my purse. Josh’s hand extended toward me, and I grabbed it as he led me into a classic Mediterranean restaurant. Inside the hostess led us to a table near the bar. I ordered a dirty martini and Josh ordered a beer.

“So, Katherine, tell me about your family.”

I tried to hide the confusion that I was sure was showing on my face. Either he was playing like he didn’t know or he truly didn’t. After being in the same social scene, I would have figured he would have known. Since he didn’t act like he did, I went with what I was most comfortable with.

“My dad works in banking and my mom is a tutor.” That was what I told most people. Most people didn’t realize that my mother was not a tutor. My father, though, was in banking. He just did it at a very high level… like CFO level… at the highest grossing bank in the country. Besides family, the only person in my life that knew what my father did for a living was Jordan. I always preferred to keep it that way, especially when I didn’t know if the people asking were my friends or, at least, acquaintances for the right reasons.

“That is very interesting. What kind of banking does he do?”

I stared at him for a moment while I sipped my martini.
Why are you so concerned about my father
?  “The normal banking things like mortgage loans and all of that boring stuff.”

I looked up at Josh who had a knowing smile on his face. It seemed like he might really know what my father did. There weren’t very many Klein’s in this area. My grandparents were from New York. We continued our normal flirtatious banter throughout our meal, and I could easily flirt with him. It all just seemed somewhat odd, like it was almost forced or fake. I wasn’t sure.

After a few glasses of wine, we decided to leave. Josh handed his ticket to the valet attendant and then stood behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist. This was the issue I came to realize. I had a god of a man with his arms wrapped around me, obviously wanting to be with me judging by the rigid lump poking my lower back. But there were no tingles. Not a single flutter.

After the short drive back to my apartment, I hopped out of the car as he followed me to the front of my complex. As he pulled open the door, I turned and stood in the way, blocking him from entering. “Thank you so much for dinner, Josh.”

He cocked his eyebrow and asked, “Aren’t you going to invite me up?”

“Not tonight, okay?”

He looked dejected, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t happening. He stepped forward and wormed his tongue inside my mouth. I guess he assumed I would swoon over a flick of his tongue. Boy, he was surely mistaken. Breaking away from the kiss, I looked up at him, pushing my hand gently against his chest.

“Thank you again, Josh. Good night.” I turned away and walked into the lobby. By the time I got back to my apartment, it was only around eleven thirty. I wasn’t extremely tired. After changing into one of many NC State Wolfpack T-Shirts, I grabbed my e-reader and settled into my plush chair to read a little and wind down. Just as I was getting to the good part, I heard my phone vibrate in my purse. Throwing off my blanket, I pranced over to my kitchen to grab it. I ran back and huddled back under my blanket. It was cold wearing only a T-Shirt and panties. I slid my finger across the screen to unlock my phone and saw the text from Lance.

Did you have a good date?

I sighed once again. I sigh a lot over this man. Damn my weak heart.

It was okay.

Just okay?

Yep.

Bet I could do better.

How was I supposed to respond to that?  He was impossible! If he was so impossible, though, why was I grinning from ear to ear?

I’m glad you think so. Goodnight, Lance.

Goodnight, Katherine ;-)

• • •

What a fucking douchebag!
I definitely knew I could do better than that creep since he was about twenty feet away from me grinding against some tall, fake-boobed brunette. I sat in the back corner of the bar with Heather. She was just about crushed. She knew all about this guy, but I guess seeing it made it that much worse. I reached out for her hand and squeezed it. I hoped I had never made a girl feel like that, but I was afraid I had.

“You’re better than that. You don’t need a guy like that.”

She smiled at me, kissed my cheek and stood up while saying, “Trust me. Katherine will figure it out soon enough.”

Undetected, she snuck out of the bar with her now ex-boyfriend still all over Fake Boobs. After Joshua left with his arms all over Fake Boobs, I decided to leave as well. I knew that he would hurt Katherine, and there wasn’t much I could do without looking like a man in a fit of jealousy.

How could I not be jealous over a woman like her? The way her forehead did that little crinkle when she scowled at me. The way her face felt in between my hands. The way our eyes met together as I thrust myself inside her. The way she let out a moan when I kissed her neck, under her ear. The way our bodies melted together as if we were the only ones that could ever perfect the act of making love, because that was what it was. It wasn’t sex… all five times. It was never sex. It was love.
God, I sound obsessed. I think I am
. No man could ever resist her. I decided I wasn’t going to give up on her. That was all I needed… just one more day with her. This weekend, the plan was being put into motion. I knew it was late, but I had to call in the reserves.

The phone rang as I walked into my apartment. I hoped he wasn’t mad at the hour.

“Lance! How the hell are you, man?” Tom asked as soon as he answered. It was so good to hear my friend, but I needed to get down to business.

“I’m doing good. The city is pretty awesome, but I need to cut to the chase here. Can you get Jordan on speaker? I need to talk to both of y’all.”

So I told them everything… the flirts, the sex, the phone number mix up, the baby, the miscarriage, the douchebag attorney… and the fact that I wanted Jordan’s best friend.

“Ok, Lance,” Jordan said. “What’s the first move?”

“Well, that’s easy. Y’all want to pack up the kids and come have a sleep over in the big bad city?”