Taking Chances (Learning to Love) (15 page)

I walked over to the bookshelf, picked up the photo, and took a closer look at the woman.

"Are you always this nosey?" he asked, and came up behind me, looking as if he wanted to snatch photo from me.

"Usually." I placed the photo back down, after one last look. "Who is she?"

"Laurie. She was my wife," he answered, looking uncomfortable.

"Was?"

"Yes, was." He was not about to give me more than necessary, which was exactly what made me want to know more.

"Did you get divorced?"

"No."

I stood looking at him with my hand now resting on my hip and gave him a look that said 'I'm going to keep asking so just tell me the story.'

He let out a deep sigh and began slowly. "She died almost a year ago."

"Sebastian, I'm so sorry. What happened?" I knew I had no right to ask and that I was pushing him to talk about something he clearly did not wish to discuss, but I couldn't help myself.

He led me over to the sofa on the other side of the room and sat down.

"She was in a car accident." He looked away, as if there was something more he wanted to say, but just couldn't bring himself to get out.

I knew there was more to his story and I wanted to hear all of it, but I could tell he wasn't ready to go further. I put my hand down over his, trying to bring him some comfort. He tensed briefly under my touch and stood, handing me the press kit packet.

"Well, if there's nothing more you need, Ms. James..."

He was back to being professional, cutting me off from any further personal conversation.

"No, I think I have enough," I said, and let him lead me toward the door to be dismissed.

"Good then, enjoy your day." He nudged me out of his office toward Ms. Rivers, who was smiling warmly, waiting for further instructions from her boss.

"Have you brought an umbrella, Ms. James? A bad storm is about to roll in," Ms. Rivers frowned, motioning toward the large windows down the hall.

Sebastian turned to look at the rain as it began pelting against the darkened window.

"No, but I'll be fine, it's just a little rain." Good thing I put my hair up. The rain always made it frizz up into some sort of hair monster.

"Maybe you should stay a bit longer and wait it out?" Sebastian suggested, grabbing hold of my wrist.

"I'll be fine." I took my arm back from him, not wanting to let him cloud my thoughts in front of a witness.

"I'll walk you out then," he said, like it was not an option.

I nodded, the thought of being in the elevator alone with him again far outweighed the knowledge of the camera up in the corner.

"Thanks again for the tour and interview. This story is hopefully going to get me on the payroll, part time anyway." I watched the double doors close in front of us, suddenly feeling warmer just being closed in there with Sebastian.

"How do you manage to pay rent in that neighborhood as a freelancer, or even part time for that matter?" he said, eyeing me curiously.

"Oh, Justin didn't tell you?" I gave him my best 'matter of factly' face. "Blow jobs on weekends, fifty dollars apiece. I'm booked solid for three weeks." I looked up at him with a serious look, hoping to at least get a moment of shock from him.

No such luck.

Instead, he pulled out his wallet, thumbed through his cash, and asked, "How much for the three weeks after that?"

I bet James got a good laugh listening in that elevator today.

The thick metal doors opened, the loud ding startled me back to reality and caused me to drop my notebook onto the floor between the doors. Sebastian and I both leaned down to pick up my spilled belongings at the same time. It was then, on the floor, that I noticed the shiny gold letters on his wrist.

SM

It took me a few seconds to register the letters as part of a matching set to a certain tie pin from
that night
.

Oh. My. God.

I looked up at Sebastian's confused face and was flooded with shock, anger, betrayal. It was him in that hotel room that night. How could I not know? How could I not have put it together sooner?

"It was you," I spit the words at him.

Sebastian's face drained of color, as realization spread across his face.

"Please, let me explain..."

I pulled the papers he had picked up from him, shoved them into my notebook, and got to my feet.

"No, Sebastian. I don't think I want to hear it." I stormed off past the receptionist who was standing, looking shocked from me to Sebastian and back again.

"Lexi!"

"Just stay away from me!" I ran from the building into the rain, hiding my notebook in my jacket to keep from soaking it. I reached into my pocket to unlock the doors and hopped into my car, then locked the doors quickly.

Sebastian stood in front of my car, drenched, staring at me defeated. I almost felt bad for him. Puppy dog eyes on Sebastian Michelson was hotter than hell. Then I remembered that he tricked me into fucking him and never bothered to tell me it was him.

What kind of sleaze does something like that?

A short thin man in a bright yellow rain coat came running out with an umbrella to hold over Sebastian, not that it would do him any good. He was soaking wet already. He pulled out his phone and typed in a text.

'Lexi, please don't drive home in this weather. It's not safe.'

I quickly typed a reply and tossed my phone into the backseat, making sure Sebastian saw so he didn't bother to respond.

'I don't need you to protect me Sebastian. Leave me the fuck alone!'

Lightening cracked nearby, lighting the sky in an eerie purple color for a brief moment. The rain poured down making it difficult to see out of the windshield. Sebastian was right, it wasn't safe to drive, but there was no way I was staying there any longer. I put my car into reverse and backed out slowly, hoping for the best. I took one last peek at Sebastian, just in time to watch him throw his phone against the sidewalk and storm back inside. Well, at least I didn't have to worry about him texting me again.

***

I made my way out of the Bas-Linc parking lot, down the long drive and onto the main road. My wipers were turned up on high and I could still only see about five feet in front of me. Sebastian's face as he told me his wife died in a car accident flashed into my mind. I wondered if it was raining when she died. That might help explain his reaction to me leaving, at least a little. I mean, why did the guy care anyway?

I would, if it were him
.

Whoa, where did that come from? Was it even true? Even before I asked myself, I knew that it was. I couldn't explain what it was that drew me to him, but it was becoming clear that I couldn't fight it either. The best course of action was to just stay away from him. If I could avoid being around him, I might have a fighting chance.

I got about three miles away before it became evident just how bad of an idea it was to drive in that storm. It only took two close calls and a complete inability to see the road in front of me to make me pull over and wait it out.

Okay, so I was a little stubborn
.

I pulled my phone from the backseat to text Kat and let her know where I was. She texted a couple of times while I was still with Sebastian, so I didn't want her to worry. I didn't think either of us expected it to take so long. The phone said I had one bar but the text was not going through. Every minute or so it switched to no service and then back to one bar.

Well, texting Kat is out
.

I would have liked to be able to at least check the weather, but if I couldn't get a text to go through, there was no way I'd be able to access the internet either. I switched on the radio and turned the dial until I found something that sounded like news, hoping for a weather report. Every so often a text would come through from Kat or my brother but mine still weren't sending. I knew they were worried but there wasn't much I could do about it until the rain slowed down. On top of lousy service, the battery bar was flashing. I knew it wasn't going to last long so I powered it down to save what little was left.

Lightening cracked down around me, and the thunder boomed nearly on top of it, letting me know the storm was closer than I felt comfortable having it. I was starting to feel like an idiot for leaving Bas-Linc. I couldn't help being pissed at Sebastian. He had enough opportunities to confess and tell me it was him in that hotel and he chose to keep it to himself.

I was almost glad I couldn't see anything through the rain. It left less room to worry about any dangers of being parked on the side of a normally busy road with zero visibility, at least I thought I was on the side of the road. I couldn't be completely sure. Another bolt of light lit up the sky followed by an ear shattering boom that sounded like a canon being shot right next to me. Then something that felt like a house, crashed onto my car, cracking the windshield in a spider web pattern that had branches extending from it.

Holy fuck!

I jumped out of the car to see a tree laying across the hood of my car.

Great, now what?

The rain poured over me, and drenched me completely. I knew how lucky I was, seeing that tree there, only a foot or so from where I sat helplessly. I could have been killed, not that I was in the clear standing outside my wrecked car. I reached inside the back for my phone, powered it back on and tried one more time to send a message to Matt. I was going to need someone to pick me up from there unless I wanted to try to walk somewhere for a phone. The closest place with a phone was probably going to be back at Sebastian's, but that was the last place I wanted to be. Not to mention, the idea of a three mile walk in that weather was something less than appealing, and not at all safe.

Just when I was about to give up, the text to Matt went through, then the battery died and my phone shut down. Since I knew I might not get another chance at it, I told him I needed a ride and explained where I was. All I could do was wait to see if he showed up.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Holy shit, Lex!" Matt yelled, grabbing my shoulders and looking me over for injuries.

"I'm fine, can we please get out of this rain?"

Luckily, Matt received my text before the phone died and made it there in less time than was probably safe for him. The rain slowed down a bit by the time I got into his truck so we didn't have to worry as much driving back.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he eyed me skeptically. He always worried a little too much when it came to me.

"Yeah fine, just a little shook up. Damn, that tree was close." I could feel myself trembling and almost on the verge of tears. Sitting there safe, next to my brother, somehow made everything just bubble right up to the surface.

"Aww, babygirl you don't look fine." Matt pulled me across the seat against him and stroked my hair.

The tears broke through and streamed down my face onto his already wet shirt. I wanted to tell him everything that happened with Sebastian. How I took that hotel key from the stripper, how I went to that room and had sex with him, how it turned out to be Sebastian and not the stripper, everything. I knew he would be disappointed in me and furious with Sebastian, but I hated keeping things from him.

"Sweetheart, is there something else you're not telling me?" he asked softly, as my tears slowed down.

"I just can't." My voice hitched and I tried not to start sobbing all over again. "I don't want to lie to you, but I'm not ready to talk about it."

"Does it have something to do with Sebastian?" He gave me a knowing look.

I should have known my brother would pick up on something, but he couldn't possibly know the extent of my bad decisions.

"Please, Matty, I don't think we should talk about it." I leaned my head against his chest. I knew the story would come out eventually. Kat was awful with secrets, but it just wasn't the time.

"Okay, I'm not going to push you, but I swear to God, if that bastard did something to hurt you, him and I are going to have a problem."

The rain slowed down enough for us to make the trip back home. I hated leaving my poor car there, broken and stranded, but it wasn't like I had any choice in the matter. Matt's friend Tommy had a tow truck service and he could get him to come out for it after the storm passed to bring it to his shop.

As soon as we got in the house Kat was practically on top of me.

"My God, Lexi, I was so worried! You've been gone for hours."

"I'm sorry, I had my phone on silent while I was in there and it took so much longer than I expected, then I had no service. I tried to text you like fifty times." I was glad Matty didn't bring her to pick me up. She would have flipped if she saw my car like that. I didn't mention the tree when I texted because I didn't want to worry them more.

"You can't go scaring me like that girl. What took you so long anyway? Isn't this supposed to be a short piece?"

I knew as soon as I opened my mouth to speak that she would know something was up. Kat knew me better than anyone and hiding anything from her was next to impossible.