Captured Secret (The Captured Series) (5 page)

“You’re riding with Max?” She seems curious and concerned.

“Yeah, we are only about seven minutes away from here.”

“Okay, be careful. Max doesn’t look like he should be driving.”

I give a goodbye to all the guys, along with a thank you for the invite. The smile Ty gives me is just stunning. His eyes lock on mine before I turn and walk away.

Stepping out of the bar, I don’t see Max or Ethan. Is it sad that my buzzed brain is angry that my body doesn’t get to go home with Ty? My body is just as angry and begs me to turn on my heels and go be more aggressive. My brain tells my body to chill the fuck out, and to come back to reality. Ty has a girlfriend, and me coming onto him is wrong on so many levels.

Back to the now…I text Max and ask him where he is. He too only lives about five minutes from The Wall Street. I hear Ty’s voice behind me. Jaxon is with him, yet Emily is not.

“Who’s taking you home?” Ty asks me, looking puzzled as he looks to my right and left and realizes I’m standing alone. He towers over my five feet, five inch frame, and I feel the heat coming off his body now that he stepped so close.

“I… I thought…Max or Ethan, but they weren’t out here. I…uh…sent Max a text. I’m just waiting to hear back.” I’m a stammering idiot.

“Well, we’re not leaving you standing out here alone,” Jaxon says with the smile he has been giving me all night, like he’s the cat and I’m the canary. He really is a hot guy, but I’m just not feeling him. Maybe his personality will grow on me.

“I’ll take you home.” I have to keep my molars clenched so my mouth doesn’t gape open when those words leave Ty’s mouth and are aimed at me. My mind instantly goes to us in a car, while I drool the entire ride home. Or what if I get crazy and straddle him in out of control lust? Then the confusion hits me. He really hasn’t said that much my way all night, so why would he offer to take me home?

“No man, I got her. You guys would have to walk all the way to your flat to get your SUV, and then head out. My truck is in the garage right across the street. This one needs to get home only to get up in like four hours. Right, Stella?” Jaxon is trying to convince me to go with him. God, I want to go with Ty, but really, I do need to get home. Every passing minute is one minute more that I will be exhausted tomorrow.

“Go get your truck and pull it up here. I’ll wait with her,” Ty says to Jaxon. He agrees and mumbles something that sounds like cock blocker at Ty.
What?

“How far do you live from here?” He’s taken just one step back and is staring down at me with those intense blue eyes.

“Zoey and I rent a condo like seven minutes from here.”

“That was kinda dick for your boy to leave you here.” His tone is flat and not happy one bit.
Is he talking about Max or Ethan?

A little too defensively I reply, “He didn’t know I needed a ride, or I’m sure he would not have left me.”

“Do you always go into work so early?” Ty asks, as if he’s never heard of anyone starting their day at such an early time.

“Umm…every day, five days a week.”

“That sucks. So going in early must get you out early?”

“No, I usually leave work at 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.” My reply comes out quiet.

“Those are long days, I can’t imagine working that much.”

I don’t know why, but I feel offended. I want to say that sometimes people fuck their lives up and have to work shitty hours at a job they really don’t like. I’m sure Mr. Perfect, self-employed, godlike figure standing in front of me would NOT understand.

“Well, we all got to do what we got to do sometimes. That’s just life.” It comes out a bit snarky.
Where did that come from?

A black Ford F-150 with four doors pulls up and the passenger window rolls down. “Get in, sweetheart.” I didn’t think I would ever be so happy to see Jaxon again. I just want away from Ty before he asks me any more questions about my pathetic life.

I look at Ty over my shoulder as I approach the truck. “Have a good night, Stella,” Ty says as his arm flies around me to open Jaxon’s door. I have to use the running boards and the hand Ty offers to help me up. I wobble, and have to grab his hard shoulder. Maybe I’m a little more intoxicated than I thought. His touch sends waves of heat right between my legs. Okay, no more touching this man! I vow it!

“You too,” I reply as he stares very seriously as I settle in.

“Be careful, asshole,” Ty yells to Jaxon. “Buckle up, Stella.”

I do, and all he gets from Jaxon is a, ‘yep’ as we peel out to leave.

On the ride home, Jaxon and I giggle as he asks me a thousand questions. He’s a really happy guy, and it’s kinda contagious.

“Can I walk you to the door?” He asks in a shy voice.

“No, I’ll be fine. It was nice to meet you and thank you for the ride home. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon,” I grab my wristlet, shut the truck door and head upstairs. Once I open the door and wave, he takes off. It was nice that he cared that I got in safely. I’m still disappointed he was the one that dropped me off. If Ty had driven me home and asked to walk me up, the answer is so crystal clear…yes!

I down a huge glass of Gatorade, strip out of my clothes, and pass out.

“S
O
, I
EMAILED
THE
TBR
TO
YOU
. There are like ten books on the list, so don’t freak out okay?” Mandy looks a little nervous waiting for my response.

“Ten! Really? You do know that I am not going to read all those by next week, right?”

She sighs and says, “Yes, I know. You’re my little, slow reader.”

“I am not! Two to three books a week is pretty sufficient if you ask me. You do know this book club isn’t running correctly when you are always fifteen books ahead of me?”

She giggles and says, “I have a little more time than you, and I’m a super-fast reader. I’m just happy that you appreciate all my recommendations. I enjoy when you’re done and you get to tell me everything that you loved. We always like the same parts. I feel like I re-read them every time we meet. Did you read at work, crazy girl?”

I laugh out loud. She knows my little secret. “You know I did. Bathroom breaks, when the boss ran an errand, and lunch is really not about food, you know?”

“You have absolutely no self-control.”

“None, whatsoever, you know that I must know how it ends ASAP,” I tell Mandy as we are standing to leave the restaurant. We had appetizers and a few drinks after work.

“Yes, that disease runs in my blood too,” Mandy says like we are contagious.

We hug goodbye, and I get in the car for my short ride home. I love Mandy, because she enjoys books the way I do. If you’re not a total bookie dork like us, you just don’t get our crazy once a week meetings. We call it “Cool Nerdy Girls and Books.” It’s a book club where no one is allowed in, except us. There are too many hassles to bring in actual members other than Mandy and me. We just want to get together to talk about books and life over a couple of drinks and good food.

It’s about eight o’clock when I pull in and park at home. I get a text from Zoey asking where I am. Also, something to the effect of ‘get your ass home, biatch, it’s Friday’. Walking through the foyer, I hear voices and our iPod dock playing some tunes. Zoey, Pierce, Jaxon and Ty are hanging in the kitchen with some yummy looking beverages. Fuck! I never really thought this through. Pierce being around means his friends will be around, and one of those friends sends chills all over my body when he looks at me as I walk in the kitchen.

“How was your nerdy book club?” Zoey turns and asks while shoving a cold beer in my hand.

“It’s called Cool Nerdy Girls and Books. Please never leave out the cool part,” I correct her with a smirk that says thanks-a-lot. Now that my book club has been outted, I feel embarrassment all over my face. It’s not like we read history and autobiographies. No, we read fiction with drama, hot guys and it sometimes teeters on the edge of porn.

She arches her eyebrow at me. “Cool and nerdy…isn’t that an oxymoron?”

“You could be right,” I reply, taking a big drink of beer and try to calm my breathing. I look at them all and say, “Whatcha’ guys doing?” Jaxon is drinking me in, even with the black and white work dress that hugs at the top and flows at the bottom. I realize I have my black grandma looking cardigan sweater on that I wear at work so I don’t freeze to death.
Embarrassing! I should have left it at work where it belongs!

“We were all listening to Ty cry like a bitch about having to answer his phone all week, and do a shoot alone today. He misses his Emily.” Pierce acts as if he’s wiping a tear away.

“I do miss her; it was nice having her help me run it all. She did a shit ton for me. I don’t think I realized how much until my first week back at it solo.” Ty’s eyes are downcast, staring at his hands as if someone stole his puppy.

“You did this for almost two years without her, bro. Now, what? You need an assistant full time?” Pierce questions.

“No, not full time, business is good, but not that good.” He looks up at us with that angel face. “She booked appointments, handled emails and cleaned on Fridays. Shopping was always done and everything was stocked. Of course, she helped on the photography side because she had the knowledge,” he sighs. “It’s going to be hard to do big shoots without her. I’m spoiled; I just don’t want to do it alone anymore.”

“So, did the half-naked twenty year model you had in the studio go fine without an assistant today?” Jaxon asks with his Ty-you’re-a-scumbag voice.

Mischievously, Ty replies, “Yeah, it did go smooth, but I had to stop twice to answer client calls. It feels rude now. She understood, though. Not to mention I had to clean a bit today,” He winces as if something hurts.

The guys erupt with laughter. I can’t help but feel sorry for him. I’m sure he’s one of those guys that sleeps until noon and orders food in or goes out for every meal, much less, has to clean. He probably had a maid before Emily.

“Ty, you cleaned for yourself for almost two years, and with the bullshit Lacey pulled, you had to learn the domestic shit quick. Not to toot my own horn, but I do feel like I taught you well, son. The six months of living together, my student, was …well, it was harmonious…thanks to my teaching of cooking and cleanliness.” Pierce has on his proud face and pats his own back.

“Thanks for bringing that up, dick. You’re right. I had no choice due to my, um…change in living arrangements. Living with you, Pierce is like living with five very neat and tidy chicks. It’s kinda weird and a little gay,” Ty chuckles, smirks at Pierce and leaves the kitchen.

“When he comes out of the bathroom, you should ask him to hire you, Stella,” Zoey suggests to me while filling shot glasses full of vodka.

“What? Why me? He didn’t ask to hire me!” I try to dial down my face from horror to uncomfortable. Why would she suggest something so ridiculous? I don’t have any photography experience other than taking pictures of my nephew at his soccer games. Not to mention, I think I might explode being around him. My body is already humming and he’s not even in the room.

“Who’s Lacey?” Zoey quickly dismisses my deer in the headlights look as she questions Pierce.

“That’s a long story, honey. I’ll tell you later.” Pierce comes up behind her and its obvious he’s pushing his pelvis into her backside as they talk suggestively at one another. Jaxon and I exchange uncomfortable looks.

“Friend, listen. You are busting your ass at Medipoint for a new car. Add working with Ty for maybe a couple weeknights and some weekends and end your misery. It’s hard to see you tired all the time and the dark circles under your eyes, well, they are just not flattering,” She has that motherly look on her face. I’m happy she had the discretion not to mention the debt. My heart speeds up as Ty walks back into the room.

“To be honest, Zoey, I don’t see anything wrong with her appearance,” Jaxon’s eyes light up as he looks me over.

“Thank you,” I say softly toward Jaxon and sit at our kitchen bar set. I let my hair down out of the clip and drink several swallows out of my beer.
Wasn’t she making us shots?
I could really use one right about now. I could not work with Ty. What the hell do I know about assisting a photographer?

“I get worried about you. I mean, how many hours of staring at a computer did you do this week?”

Tightlipped I say, “Leave it alone, Zoey. I’m doing my best as fast as I can.” I really am exhausted, but I don’t need any advice from Zoey. I don’t get to make a phone call home, and some rich parent bails me out financially. When you grow up with money, you just can’t understand what it is like not to have it. My dad did well for my sister and me. We always had the trendy clothes, shoes, and designer perfume. We both had cars at sixteen. My mom gave my dad her monthly kid payment. But, never have I had the option of Daddy just gifting me several grand at a time. He can buy me a nice flat screen TV for my room, but buy me a new car, not so much.

“No really, how many hours this week?” She puts my ice-cold shot in front of me.

“Are you two going to cat fight?” Ty smiles wide and asks as he slides into the seat across from me. “I just came in at the right time.”