The One Left Behind (The One Series) (10 page)

“Hey, I got you a coffee. French vanilla, cream and sugar, right?” I smile shyly and think it’s sweet that he had paid attention to how I like my coffee when we were at the hospital. I feel my cheeks heat up with the amount of attention I realize he’s been giving me.

“Yup, someone’s been paying attention in class.” His shoulders go back as he lifts his chin up with a knowing grin stretched across his gorgeous face. “But, it’s not hard when you take it the same way I do; I guess that’s kind of cheating.” His shoulders slump down and he lifts the left one in a shrug. “I haven’t ordered any lunch yet, I was waiting for you to get here.”

He hands me a menu and I look it over. Cup of Joes is my favorite coffee shop in town because it’s also a deli. You can get anything you want and I love that. The waitress comes back and asks if we are ready to order. “Ladies first,” Pierce says to me while still looking over the menu.

“I’ll have the chicken Caesar sandwich with no onions please. Can I also get a salad with Italian dressing, but without the onions, tomatoes, and croutons?”

Pierce looks up from his menu and is staring at me with an amused look on his face.

“What?” I ask somewhat self-consciously.

“So what you’re saying is you would like a bowl of lettuce with Italian dressing?” he’s really smirking at me.

“What can I say? I’m a picky eater,” I say shrugging my shoulders.

Pierce quietly chuckles and places his order. “I’ll have the roast beef on rye and a salad with ranch dressing.”

Pierce grabs my menu and hands them back to the waitress and thanks her.

“So Pierce, I have to say I feel at a slight disadvantage when it comes to you.”

“Meaning?” he gives me a quizzical look, I’m sure wondering where I’m going with this.

“Well, you know so much about me. My job, my accident, where I live…”

“Don’t forget how you only eat lettuce in a salad,” he says teasingly.

“Haha very funny, I’m serious. You know so much already and I hardly know anything about you.” I look down and start to fiddle with my fork.

“Ask me anything you want to know. Consider me an open book when it comes to you. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know as long as it doesn’t involve embarrassing stories about me,” he squints his eyes to emphasize his point as I look back up to him and it makes me smile.

“Really? Anything?” I look at him skeptically.

“Anything, I have nothing to hide, so ask away,” he leans back in his chair looking completely comfortable with whatever line of questioning is coming.

“Okay, well you know I’m twenty five, about to be twenty six, how old are you? When is your birthday?”

“Well, my birthday is April 17th so I just turned twenty nine last month.”

I remember his business card said CEO. Twenty nine seems awfully young to accomplish such a title. He said I could ask him anything, so I guess that will be my next question.

“I couldn’t help but notice the card you gave me that day on the beach said CEO. How did you become so successful by the age of twenty nine?”

“Well, it was my dad and grandfather really. They were the ones who created Whitmore Enterprises.”

“What exactly does Whitmore Enterprises do?”

“It is a hedge fund company.”

I blink a few times and say, “I’m sorry, but I’m not exactly sure I know what that entails. Can you give me a quick rundown on what that is?” I bite my lip trying to conceal my bewilderment.

“Hedge funds are private, actively managed investment funds. They are open ended which allows the investors to either make withdrawals or additions to their investment. Investors can diverse in a range of markets. Our aim is to achieve a positive return on the investments no matter if the markets are sky rocketing or plummeting.”

“I see, sounds stressful.”

“It has its moments. Anyway, as I was saying my father and grandfather started this company together. When my grandfather passed, all his shares were left to my father, and when my father passed away, all his shares were left to my mom, Lexi, and myself. It was stated in my father’s will that I have one year to prove that I can handle the pressures of running a company solo before I get to properly take over as CEO of Whitmore Enterprises.”

“So, you are like a CEO in training?”

He looks at me in delight at my attempt to simplify his job title. He slightly chuckles which, in turn, makes me giggle too.

“I guess I am. I never really thought about it that way. Jimmy, my dad’s right hand man, is running the company right now until my year is up. He is a very close family friend and tried handing the title over to me right away. He said he knew I would make my father proud and only make the business better. He said I had already proved myself in his eyes with all the work I’ve been doing to expand our offices to New York. I wanted to respect my father’s wishes though, so I’m doing it the way he wanted. Jimmy took it upon himself to have business cards made up and said it will save us money in the end by just putting CEO on it now, instead of having to order new ones in a year.”

“I see. Jimmy sounds like a great guy who clearly respected your father.” Hearing the pain in his voice when he first told me his father had passed away makes me happy that he has another male presence in his life. Someone he can look up to in his father’s absence.

“Jimmy is the best.” A look of respect and admiration crosses his face.

“So the day I met you, you said you just moved back. Was that move from New York?”

“Yes, I was working on expanding our business. My dad didn’t like to travel a lot. As he was getting older he wanted to do less traveling and spend more time at home with my mother. I didn’t mind. After my breakup with…” he cuts himself off and stops his line of thinking before he continues with, “Well, I needed some time away and it was nice to have a distraction to keep me busy. After my father passed away, I moved back to handle things here.”

I have to hand it to Pierce, he seems to really be doing well as a businessman. I want to know what break up he is talking about. I remember Lexi saying something about a girl named Samantha. I wonder if that is the same person. It is probably best not to ask since he didn’t continue what he was going to say. Maybe it is still like rubbing salt on an open wound. When we get to know each other better, he might open up about it. I’ll leave it alone for now.

“So, you lived in New York. Have you ever been to Serendipity?” I ask, changing the subject.

“I think it’s a crime to live in New York and not go there. They have the best ice cream. I’m assuming you have been there before?”

“I have many times. I grew up in New Jersey so my friends and I would take random trips to New York and that place always made our list of places to stop at before heading home. I would kill for some ice cream from there.” I rub my belly wishing I had some right now.

Our food comes out just in time. Talking about ice cream makes me realize how hungry I really am. The rest of lunch is nice. We make small talk about where we are from, places we have been and places we would like to go. We talk about how he went to college at NYU and about the New York expansion for his business. I talk about how I can’t wait to be removed from light duty and return to my regular duties at my job. I glance at the clock and see that three hours have gone by since I arrived.

“Wow, I can’t believe we have been sitting here for three hours. I have so much I have to get done today. I totally lost track of time.” I start going through my purse trying to locate my wallet.

“Well, you know what they say, time flies when you’re having fun.” Pierce stands up and insists on paying the bill again.

“You know you don’t have to keep paying for my tabs,” I say as I put my hand on my hip in an exaggerated manner. He just grins at me and shakes his head.

“I know I don’t, but I invited you for lunch so I get to pick up the tab.”

I have a feeling I’m not going to win this argument. I smile and nod in defeat. Pierce laughs at me and continues, “Hey, if you really want to pay the tab you can invite me out next time and I’ll let you pay.” Somehow I doubt he’d ever let me pay regardless of who extended the invite.

“Sounds good. Hey, I have to run but thanks again for lunch. I had a great time.” I lean over to pick up my purse, then I reach toward him and give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I let my lips linger on his cheek a little too long and I wonder what his lips would feel like. I force myself to pull away hoping Pierce doesn’t notice my wayward thoughts.

“It was my pleasure. I think I have a busy week coming up, but how about I call or text you and see if we both have some free time on the same day?”

“That would be great. I’ll talk to you soon.” I know I have a big smile on my face, but I can’t stop it. I walk to the car and open the door, and am about to sit in it when Pierce calls out to me.

“Oh, and Addison?” I turn around to look at him while putting my sunglasses on. “I should have told you this earlier, but you look beautiful today.” He flashes me a smile that spans from ear to ear and winks at me. And with that he walks away.

I feel my cheeks flush crimson. Was he hitting on me? Of course not, don’t be stupid. He’s just being nice. I start my car and Taylor Swift is on the radio. I immediately change the station and turn up the music when I heard Neon Trees come on. I really enjoyed my lunch with Pierce. It’s so nice to hang out with someone and not be under the pressure of my current situation. I love hanging out with Colby and Morgan, but I always feel like they are just waiting for me to remember. With Pierce, there’s no waiting, no expectations, just two friends having a good time. No pressure. And I have to say, it is like a breath of fresh air.

AFTER I HANG up with Jeremy, I grab my keys and head over to his house. My mind is going in a million directions on the way there. I really need to get to Jeremy’s so he can give me his take on this and help me calm the fuck down.

I park my car in front of his apartment building. The front is made of brick with steps leading to the front entrance. You need either a key or code to get in. I have the code, so I buzz myself in and walk up the two flights of stairs to Jeremy’s apartment.

I knock on his door but he doesn’t answer. That’s strange since he knew I was on my way over. Then I hear arguing coming from down the hall. I recognize the voice as Jeremy’s so I walk down the hall and knock on the door where all the bickering is going on. Morgan opens the door and I’m met with her exotic green eyes. She smiles warmly at me.

“Hey, Colin. How are you doing?” she asks me.

“I’m doing okay. Is Jeremy here? I thought I heard his voice.”

“Oh, yeah. Come on in. He’s attempting to fix the leak under my sink, but he’s really just making it worse. I hate when he pretends to know what he’s doing when really he doesn’t. I should have just done it myself. I would have been done already.” She says all of this like she’s talking to me, but she’s looking at Jeremy the whole time. She has her hand on her hip and throws her long black hair over her shoulder. To put it nicely, she’s…intense. Jeremy better watch out.

“Fine. If you are so good at fixing your own shit, then be my guest,” Jeremy spits back. I can tell he’s annoyed with the way she was criticizing him. Not that I blame him. He is trying to do something nice for her after all. I just stand back and continue to watch the show.

“Oh, now you want me to fix it? After you’ve gone and made it worse? I don’t think so. You’re finishing what you started. And I don’t want to hear any bitching from you while you do it. Now hurry up and I’ll entertain Colin while you finish. Hopefully you’ll figure this out soon,” she snaps right back.

I follow her tall, slender body to the living room. It’s fairly spacious but a little bare. She has a couch against the wall facing the television that Jeremy mounted for her. There are no personal touches to her house at all. No pictures, no mementos, no nothing. I wonder if she’s done this on purpose or hasn’t had the time to put it all up. Although, I’m sure if she wanted something hung, she would elicit her bitch boy’s help. The thought makes me grin.

We make small talk while Jeremy cleans up. He comes out of the bathroom ready to go. Morgan smiles sweetly at him even though I can tell it’s full of sarcasm and says, “Thanks, Jeremy. You’re the best. I don’t know what I’d do without your handyman skills.” She rolls her eyes.

He doesn’t take the bait which surprises me. Instead he grunts and mumbles, “Yeah, now someone is waiting on me
again
because of you,” and walks out the door.

We go back to his apartment and I plop down on the couch. His apartment has the same layout as Morgan’s but is the stereotypical bachelor pad. He has a sectional that looks at a 52-inch flat-screen TV that is mounted to the wall. Every gaming console you can imagine is tucked neatly underneath on a stand with shelves. Jeremy doesn’t have any personal photos up around his apartment either, but he does have a bunch of scantily clad women on posters all throughout. Gotta love Jeremy. He’s always keeping it classy.

“Do you want one?” he asks me from the kitchen as he holds up a beer.