Blended (Redemption #1) (12 page)

“I’m not someone who is interested in more than sex, Wade.”

“You are. I saw it this evening when the storm hit. I’ll fight to get to know you because I know that there is more to the current that surrounds us than the physical act of sex.”

The line grows quiet when I don’t respond to him. How has he essentially figured me out in one evening? He doesn’t feel like a stranger anymore either. It’s as if I’ve known this man for years.

“Sleep well, Rye.”

“Goodbye,” I say because I’m dumbfounded. I don’t understand how I made it so easy for him to see right through me.

Do I loathe the thought of love? No.

Do I loathe the thought of my being in love? Without question.

I know that I’m frightened to let anyone in and that it’s hindered me in more ways than one in my life, but it’s shaped who I am. I’m content with my life. Why would I shed light on my hiding place when there is no need to? I know that once I show my cards, there will be no going back to my dark and safe, albeit claustrophobic, hiding spot.

It’s what he wants, though. Why do I want to be with him when he’s forcing me out of my safe zone?

Not only am I competing with an addiction to rid Hadley of some sort of history, but now there is also another man—if not multiple men—involved. How do I allow myself to go after a woman who is going to let me lure her in, but then use that energy on another man in the same night? Is it something that I will be able to handle time and time again? I don’t know the answer to that.

Is she worth it, though? Without a doubt.

I hardly know the woman, but I’m drawn to her like a madman. This attraction bullshit is going to ruin me, and I’m going to dive willingly into the rough sea to try and save her from herself. To save her for me.

It’s been a solid week since I’ve seen her and I can still taste her lips on mine. I know that she’s been into Blended three times since our date because I’ve asked Isla to inform me of when she’s there. Aside from the phone call we had when some asshole had just left her room, I have not spoken to her.

If I want her as much as I believe that I do, then I need to man the fuck up and find out what is holding her back. Yes, it was just one date, but I’m willing to make an effort and figure out if there is more behind her mask.

I’ve left my office early—yet another rule I’ve broken for her—to head into Blended. Isla just called the office to let me know that Hadley is there on her own. Isla has been the manager of Blended since before we opened the doors to it, and she’s been a friend of mine since college. She’s someone I have learned to trust in this world of scheming and lying assholes.

I walk in through the front door and scan my preferred spot for a gorgeous and damaged platinum blonde. When I see her, my entire body reacts and fights itself at once. I want to run to her and sweep her into my arms before kissing the life out of her while the other half of me wants to retreat. She’s sitting in a nook at the back of the venue with her knees drawn up and a book resting against her thighs. She’s lost in the words, and I can see the sentiment roll over her face; it’s the only time she allows the slightest bit of her emotion to show, and I do not think that she realizes it.

Isla greets me as I walk behind the bar and stretch my arms up to grab a bottle of Dalmore 62 Single Highland Malt Scotch Matheson. It’s the only 62 of the Dalmore that I own, but I’m not concerned.

“So are you going to tell me why you have a thing up your ass for this woman? She kind of reminds me of a twenty-five-cent whore, regardless of how put-together she appears to be.”

I glance at her once I’ve gotten the bottle and exhale. “I would tell you if I knew the answer to that, but Isla?”

“Mmm-hmm?”

“Don’t judge the book by its cover.”

“Waylon,” she says, using my first name, “I’ve known you for years, and I’ve never seen you pay this much attention to a woman before. I mean, I’ve never met her before seeing her in here. Why her?”

I shake my head, trying to rattle an answer free, but nothing comes willingly. “I don’t know, but I can’t stay away.”

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“As do I, but it’s like running into a hurricane. The rare beauty of it captivates me, and I can’t stop myself from going to it.”

“You’re so screwed, you ass.”

“We’ll see about that, won’t we?”

“Two hundred bucks says that it lasts less than a week before she jumps another man’s dick. You should see how many men approach her in here, and I swear that she’s given out her phone number more times than not.”

I look over at Hadley and fish out my wallet from my pocket. I take out two crisp one-hundred-dollar bills and set them on the bar counter in front of Isla. “Then it looks like you’ve already won.”

A puzzled look crosses her face. “What? She’s already fucked someone else, and you’ve just started to try and win her over?”

“I don’t know the details, but I know she’s been with another man since I took her on the date.”

She pockets the two bills and shrugs. “I’ll need to make another wager against her then if it’s going to be that easy.”

“Easy is not what this is going to be. Behave yourself around her.”

“Whatever you say, brass balls.”

“And fuck off with that nickname.”

She gives me the finger before handing me two tumblers. I walk across the venue, past a few members who greet me, until I’m standing in front of her.

“Rye.”

Her head pops up, and a radiant smile graces her face. “Hi.”

“Is anyone sitting here?” I nod toward the empty section of the nook’s bench.

“Yes. You are,” she says as I hand her an empty tumbler. She puts her book aside and sits up before taking the other tumbler. I pour the amber liquid into each glass and set the bottle aside before taking the seat beside her.

“It’s Dalmore 62. Let me know what you think. I haven’t had this one before.”

She nods and breathes in the limited vintage. She sighs before taking a sip and closing her eyes. “This is incredible. You didn’t have to share this with me. Thank you.”

“You’re most welcome. What are you reading today?” I take a drink and savor it.

“It’s just another romance novel. I know, you don’t have to say it.”

“Say what?”

“That it’s senseless that I read romance novels when I don’t believe in the notion.”

“As much as it shouldn’t make sense, I believe that it does. I think that you’d be capable of more than sex if you allowed yourself to feel more than just a heady orgasm.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” she says as she twirls the tumbler, watching the liquid inside of it swirl around and around.

“Try me.”

“Can we please not do this now? I feel like I’ve just been put in an interrogation room with a stranger.”

“We’ll do it when you’re ready then.”

“I thought that you wanted nothing to do with me after what I did.”

“You were wrong. I’ve been consumed with Brass Global, and I haven’t had much free time for anything other than sleeping.” That’s one hell of a lie. I wasn’t sure what my final decision was until I walked into the library and saw her again.

Her face lights up at my untruthful confession, and she leans against my body, “So what’s next?”

“I need to know where we stand before we can move anywhere. I’ve told you that I won’t be fucking you until you’re ready. Will you be sleeping with another man or men in the meantime?”

“Would that end whatever this is?” She gestures between us with her hand, and as much as it kills me, I give her my answer.

“No, because I understand that you think that you need it more than you need the air in your lungs, but I won’t push myself further than I am able to.”

“I think you just earned yourself another date.”

“I have?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she says as she leans into me, angling her chin up as I angle mine down to press my lips against hers, tasting the Dalmore on her tongue.

“I have one rule,” I say against her soft red lips.

“What is it?”

“That you won’t fuck another man when I know about it.”

“I swear it,” she says as she stands up and moves between my legs, wrapping her arms around my neck.

I ring my arms around her waist as she nips my bottom lip before taking what she needs from me at this moment, what I’ll allow her to take.

Our lips are locked together as I graze the visible skin between her shirt and her jeans with my fingertips. What the hell have I just agreed to with this woman? She pulls away and fishes her phone out of her pocket when it goes off. I use her distraction to look up at Isla.

She’s watching. She’s always been overly concerned about the women who come into my life. In the last few years she’s been a record on repeat telling me that I need to find someone here in Chicago, but by the look on her face now, I know that she meant anyone but the woman standing between my legs.

A shake of her head verifies my thoughts. I give her the finger, and she laughs across the room. She knows that she will get to say
I told you so
sooner or later. I do not doubt it. Not when it comes to Hadley Rye.