Business as Usual (Off The Subject) (24 page)

“What is it?”

“He said he had to go to Boston for a few days. He wanted to know if I’d come back to the apartment and stay with you.”

“Oh.” Boston? Why hadn’t he told me? Did this have something to do with whatever illegal activity he had planned? “You don’t have to do that, Caroline.” I want nothing more than for her to come back to the apartment, but Scarlett was right. I need to put her needs before my own. She still thinks Reed is seeing someone else and coming back here would hurt her. “I’m a big girl. I can stay by myself.”

“He seemed more…insistent than usual.”

“Really, Caroline, you don’t have to. I’m protected by two alarm systems—one on the outside door and one in the apartment. What’s going to happen? If I get a paper cut, I’ll be sure to call you and ask you to take me to the hospital.”

“I would hope you’d call 911 first,” she says in a teasing tone.

“Seriously, Caroline. I’m fine. I miss you like crazy, but I’m a big girl.”

“I miss you too.” Her voice breaks. “Maybe we could meet for lunch this week.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“I hear you’re making progress with the summer program for the charity.”

“Yeah.” I force myself to sound cheerful. “I can’t believe how well it’s coming together.”

“Well, I can,” she says. “You’re probably the most determined woman I know. If you want something to happen, nothing stands in your way.”

Everyone says that, so why can’t I stop Reed? “Yeah,” I say. She’s right. Why am I sitting around waiting to find out what Reed’s up to? It’s time for me to take charge. “Thanks.”

“Let me know when you can meet for lunch.”

“Okay.” But as I hang up, I’m already rushing down the hall to Reed and Caroline’s room. I’m not surprised his laptop isn’t here. It’s like an appendage for him, but I don’t need the laptop itself. Just the passwords to access his accounts, which I realize won’t be so easy to figure out. But surely there’s clue somewhere—all I need is a single bread crumb—to point me in the right direction.

I feel like scum for invading his privacy. In spite of all his protectiveness, he’d never search my room like this. I tell myself that this is different, that Reed’s life is on the line. And I know that’s not an exaggeration. His future rides on whatever plan he intends to carry out. And I need to stop him.

After ten minutes of searching, I find a torn off piece of graph paper in the pocket of a pair of dirty jeans in his laundry basket. A long distance number is written in Reed’s neat handwriting. Could this be Ms. Pembry’s number? It could just be the number to a math department in another university, but my gut tells me that it’s not.

I head back to my room and open my laptop, then run a search for the number. It’s for a cell phone based in New York City. Deeper investigation shows the area code is for Manhattan. I suspect it belongs to Ms. Pembry, there’s only one sure way to find out.

I dial the number.

I hold my breath while the phone rings and I worry that I’m calling too early. It’s only 8:30, but New York is Eastern Time, making it an hour later. Still, I’m not prepared for the voice on the other end of the line.

“Hello?” He sounds groggy, like he’s just woken up.

I don’t answer. I can’t. I’m too numb with fear.

“Who the fuck is this?” he asks, sounding more awake and irritated.

I still don’t respond, but I can’t make myself hang up either. I just hold the phone to my ear like a dazed idiot.

He pauses. “Why does the area code 931 look familiar?”

Oh God. He has my number.

That snaps me to attention and I pull the phone away from my ear, pressing the end button.

I’ve given the man who raped me my phone number. He has enough money to connect the dots, so I’ve practically led him to my front door.

My phone starts to ring and I drop it on the bed, filled with the irrational fear that he can reach through the line and grab me. I force myself to take a deep breath. He doesn’t know it’s me. Why would I call him? He’s only calling back because he’s curious about who called and hung up. That’s all.

The phone stops ringing and I watch it for several minutes, waiting for the ding that indicates an incoming voice mail. But it never happens. I nearly collapse with relief. There’s no way he knows it’s me. My voice mail message is just the generic automated recording with my number.

It was close call, but it’s over.

I glance at the time on my phone. It’s already 8:45. I’m going to be late for my nine o’clock class and I still haven’t finished getting ready. I pile my hair into a bun and pull a knit hat over it, swipe on a bit of mascara and blush, and then grab my bag and run out the door.

I arrive five minutes after class starts, but the teacher doesn’t seem to notice my late entry. I sit in my usual place next to Sylvia. She leans close with a smirk. “I suppose you want the first three minutes of lecture notes you missed.”

“Uh…yeah.” I say, taking out my notebook. I need to focus, but all I can think about is that phone call.

“Are you okay?” she asks. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“What?” I shake my head. “No. I just overslept and I’m running behind.”

“Okay…” She doesn’t look convinced, but soon we’re both busy taking notes. Thankfully, by the time class is over, I’ve gotten ahold of myself and Sylvia seems to have forgotten.

“We have an hour until our next class,” Sylvia says as we walk out of the room. “Do you want to go to the Higher Ground and copy my notes?”

“Sounds good.” I was planning to call Reed, not that I expect him to tell me anything, but I need the notes and I’m cold. Coffee will warm me up and help revive me.

There’s a line when we get to the coffee shop, not that I’m surprised. But after we get our drinks, there’s nowhere to sit. I turn to Sylvia to suggest we return to the business building when I hear Ben’s voice.

“Alexa.”

My back stiffens. He’s here and he knows who I am. But does he really? My hair is stuffed inside my hat. Even so, to see him like this—after last night…

Sylvia peeks at him from over my shoulder. “It’s the bartender from the bar we went to after the play. I didn’t know he went to school here. And did he call you Alexa?”

I shrug and lower my voice. “Sometimes I use full name—Alexa—because it sounds more professional.”

She narrows her eyes as though she isn’t sure whether to believe me.

“Can you give me a moment?” I ask. “I need to ask Ben if he’ll take part in the auction to represent the math and engineering department. He seems kind of hesitant, so it might be better if we don’t gang up on him.” I have no intention of asking him to do this, but it’s a good enough excuse to justify talking to him alone.

Sylvia gives him another look and a slow smile spreads across her face. “Okay. Although you might want to save him for yourself. He’s pretty cute.”

My cheeks start to burn. Great, I’m about to turn around to face him and I’m blushing. “I’ll keep that in mind.” I give her arm gentle push. “Now go. I’ll see you back in the business building.”

She heads for the door and I take a deep breath before turning around. He’s sitting at a table with an open book and a notebook. His eyes are on me as I move toward him, but his face is expressionless. What is he thinking?

I stop at the side of the table. “Hi,” I say, softly. My heart is about to leap out of my chest.

“Can you sit for a minute?”

I take the chair opposite him and set my coffee cup on the table. Is he surprised to see me? As Alexa I never told him I went to school here, but he never told me that he did either.

He looks down at his notes and licks his lower lip. He’s nervous. For some reason that puts me more at ease.

“History, huh?” I ask.

A slow grin spreads across his face as he looks up at me. “Yeah. It sucks to take one of your worst subjects the second semester of your senior year. No pressure.”

“Oh. Maybe I should let you study.”

He grabs my hand when I start to get up. “No. Please stay,” he pleads.

“Okay.” I settle back in my chair, but he doesn’t let go of my hand.

He swallows, looking nervous again. “I’m sorry about last night.”

My heart stops. I think I’m going to die right here in the middle of the campus coffee shop.

He sees my expression and his eyes widen in panic. “No! That’s not what I meant… I’m not sorry about last night.” He pauses and lowers his voice. “I’m sorry that I fell asleep.” He closes his eyes and cringes. “God, I sound like an idiot.”

I flip my hand over and weave my fingers through his. “No, you don’t.”

His gaze falls to our joined hands and then flicks up to my eyes. “I’m still sorry about falling asleep. And I’m sorry that you were gone when I woke up.”

I break eye contact with him. “I had to get back.”

“To your brother?”

I look up. “Yeah.” I should tell him. This is a good cue.

He licks his lips again, the color draining from his face. “Alexa. I know.”

My breath catches.

“I know who your brother is.”

I’m frozen in place.

“I don’t care.” His eyes search mine. “I don’t care what he says or if he fires me for going out with you.”

The tension in my chest eases and I tell myself to think this through. “How? How did you know?”

His hand lifts to my face, but then he looks around and lowers it. “Your eyes, Alexa,” he said, leaning close over the table. “No one has eyes like you. I know you recognized me in the math lab. I knew I’d seen you before, but didn’t put it together until I saw you with Tina that night.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

He looks down at our joined hands and then gives me a hesitant smile. “Because you seemed so desperate for me
not
to know. Every time Tina mentioned Reed, you cut her off and changed the subject.”

I sigh. “I was afraid you’d tell him I was out with her.”

“That name Tina was keeping from you—it’s the name of the woman Reed’s cheating on Caroline with, isn’t it?”

I try to jerk my hand back, but his grip tightens. “He’s not cheating on her. There’s a logical explanation for the whole thing.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice softens. “I only know what Scarlett told me.”

But I can tell he doesn’t believe me. I’m sure Scarlett’s made a convincing case. “I know what you think, but it’s true. I know what he’s doing. He’s in trouble, but it’s not an affair.”

“What kind of trouble is he in?”

I release a breath. “I can’t tell you.”

“Reed can be a dick, but I wouldn’t use whatever you tell me against him, even if half the math department would like to bring him down after how much of an ass he’s been this semester.”

I gasp and his eyes widen.

“Shit. I’m sorry. He’s your brother.”

I shake my head. “It’s okay. I know he’s hard to deal with sometimes. But he’s been really stressed out over this last month or so and it’s because of me.”

“Why is he so overprotective?”

I stare at him. There’s no way I’m going to tell him.

“He was the guy you were talking about when we were dancing. The one who gave up everything for you.”

I try to pull away again, but he won’t release me.

“Reed’s presence here is sort of a mystery. His background is sketchy. What happened? What did he give up for you?”

I tug hard to escape his hold. “I have to go.”

“Alexa.”

I get up and grab my bag, then rush out the door into the cold wind, leaving my drink behind. But Ben follows me and reaches me within seconds. “Alexa,
wait
.”

“Why are you still calling me Alexa if you know who I really am?”

“You introduced yourself as Alexa the first time we talked. Everyone else may call you Lexi, but you’re Alexa to me.”

I shake my head. I want to stay with him, but he’s asking too many questions I can’t answer. We haven’t known each other long, but I know him well enough to know he won’t accept vague answers. This is never going to work.

“You haven’t said anything about my wig.”

He shrugs and wraps his arm around my back, pulling me closer. “What about it?”

“Aren’t you curious why I wore it?”

“I don’t care.”

Anger rises up inside me. “You don’t care why I’ve worn a black wig almost every time you’ve seen me, but you
do
care about Reed’s mysterious past?” I pull out of his grasp. He called Reed a dick and said half the math department wanted to bring him down. Is he part of that half? What if he’s using me to hurt Reed? “I have to go.”

“Alexa.
Please
. I’m sorry.” I start toward the business building, but he blocks my path. “I don’t care about Reed. I’ll never even mention his name again. I just want a chance with you.”

I stop, my resolve softening. I want a chance with him too. I worry that his ultimate goal is to hurt Reed, but part of me wonders if that’s just because I have trouble trusting men.

He sees me weaken. “I swear—I don’t give a rat’s ass about your brother. If you want, I’ll quit my job in the math lab to prove it.”

I gasp. “But you need that job.”

“I know, but I think you and I could have something amazing. I’m willing to stop working there if that’s what it takes to get a shot with you.” His jaw squares in determination.

I shake my head. “No. Please don’t quit because of me.”

His hand slides to the back of my head, and he pulls my face towards his until our foreheads touch. “I’ll do it. I want to be with you.”

“I want to be with you too,” I whisper.

He kisses me, his lips pressing softly against mine, as though he’s worried I’ll change my mind if he’s too aggressive. When he stops kissing me, his hand is still behind my head, our foreheads touching. “I have to get to class. I’d skip it but I have a test. I want to see you later.”

“I…” Reed is gone and I can take advantage of his absence.

“I’m off tonight. I’ll take you out to dinner.”

He’s working three jobs. He can’t afford that. “I have a better idea. Reed’s out of town. Come to my apartment and I’ll cook for you.” Indecision flickers in his eyes. “That way we can be alone.” I add in a husky voice.

He pulls me to his chest and kisses me senseless. “Okay,” he says when he finally pulls back. “What time?”