Hewitt: Jagged Edge Series #1 (10 page)

When I left the gallery, I felt better. Even though I didn't like the way things ended with me and Peter, I needed to push my feeling towards him away. The only way to do that was to meet someone else. I thought about the guy at the gym. I wondered if he would be around today. The only way to find out was to go. A good workout would do me good.

I arrived at the gym an hour later. Just like every other time, the place was in full swing. I decided to do some warm-up exercises starting with a slow jog on the treadmill. While I was jogging, I looked around the gym to see if I could spot the gorgeous hunk of a man. The only thing I spotted was half-naked men showing off their chest and ab muscles. It was no surprise that the majority of the gym population was made up of horny women.

Finishing my warm-up, I decided to go to the weight room and get some reps in. Just as I was rounding the corner, I spotted him. Walking to the weight machine next to him, I acted like I didn't notice him. I knew he saw me. I could feel his eyes on me. Adjusting the weights, I looked over at him and smiled.

"Hey, Pierre right?" I said nonchalantly, hoping he wouldn’t see that I was attracted to him.

"Yeah. How are you doing, Lilly?" he asked with that beautiful smile.

"Good. Great, as a matter-of-fact," I said.

"Do you need help with that?" he offered.

"Yeah, that would be great," I said, watching him pull the pin from the weight stack. My eyes were glued to him. Even though he was wearing a t-shirt, it was tight enough that I could see the muscles in his arms and chest expand as he checked to make sure the weight wouldn’t be too heavy for me.

"I think that should be a good weight for you," he confirmed.

I got in position on the bench. Pierre was standing behind me while I placed my hands around the bar. Even from this position he was gorgeous. I didn't know if I would be able to concentrate on the task at hand with him standing there. Just as I was about to dislodge the weight bar from its stand, I could feel another presence. Lifting my head, I saw Peter standing in front of the bench. I released the bar and sat up.

"Is there something I can help you with, Peter?" I asked coldly.

"Can I speak with you for a moment?" he began. "In private."

Turning towards Pierre, I swung my leg around and pushed my body from the bench. "I'll be right back. This should only take a minute."

Peter grabbed my arm and escorted me out of the weight room, down the hall to an open office. Pulling me inside, he closed the door behind us. Looking down at me he asked, "Do you mind telling me who that is?"

I could see the anger in his eyes as his grip on me began to tighten. "Not that it's any of your business, but his name is Pierre." I looked back at him in annoyance while trying to get away from him.

"Well, I don't like him, and it is my business where you are concerned. I don't want you hanging around with him," Peter spat, running his fingers through his hair.

"What is it with you? You were the one who wanted to break things off between us. Now you come in with your alpha-male bullshit and tell me who I can’t hang around with. It doesn't work that way, Peter. You have no say in who I can or cannot see." I was fuming.
Who the hell did he think he was?

I tried walking past Peter so I could escape the room, but once again he took hold of me. "What do you know about him, Lilly?"

"I was just about to find out, until you so rudely interrupted me. Now let go of me," I said.

"Not until you promise me you'll steer clear of him," Peter advised.

"Whatever, Peter." I wasn't about to let him tell me what to do, but if it would mean he would let me go, I would have said anything.

By the time, I finished with Peter and went back to the weight room, Pierre was already gone. I tried looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found. My desire to work out left as well. Grabbing my bag from the women's locker room, I slung it over my shoulder and left the gym. On the walk home, I thought about the altercation with Peter. I wasn't sure what his deal was, but I was tired of him running hot and cold. As much as I wanted to be with him, I couldn't wait until he got his shit together only to find that he had moved on to some other bimbo.

~****~

Going to bed early was something I rarely did, so it was no surprise that I was wide awake at four o’clock in the morning. My body had been through the wringer yesterday, and all that it craved was a long restful sleep. I contemplated just laying there staring into the darkness or getting out of bed and doing some work. With everything on track for the opening of the gallery next week, there really wasn't very much left to be done. Pushing myself from the bed, I decided to go ahead and shower and grab a coffee and a bagel from the nearby Starbucks. As I was slipping on my shoes, my phone began to ring. The number came up on the screen as one I didn't recognize. If I had been smart, I would have let it go to voice mail, but being who I was, I went ahead and answered it.

It was the same as always. Silence. Just as I was ready to hang up I heard one word being spoken by the caller, "Mine."

I thought I might have misunderstood what the caller said. "Excuse me," I said as I waited for a response.

The caller hung up without saying anything else. Whoever was calling me, at least now I knew it was a man. With little battery life left, I plugged my cell into the charger and headed out of my condo in route for the coffee and bagel I could already taste.

Getting to the corner Starbucks, I entered the busy coffee shop and placed my order. Even through the place was busy, it only took a few minutes before my coffee and bagel was ready. I decide to stay and enjoy my breakfast. There was a table facing the window to the street, which I snatched and took a seat. My meal looked amazing as I began to unfold the wrapper around my bagel. I was just about to take a bite, when a familiar voice said, "Mind if I join you?"

Looking up, I could see Pierre standing before me dressed in a perfectly tailored gray suit. I had to blink twice before my eyes accepted his presence. "Sure," I said, covering my full mouth with my hand. The last thing I needed was to spit food on his expensive suit.

Pierre grabbed a chair from a nearby table and pulled it next to mine. Placing his coffee and muffin on the table, he made himself comfortable.

Now that I had a clear airway, it was only right to apologize for yesterday. "I'm sorry about yesterday. Sometimes Peter can be a little rude."

"It's okay. So is this Peter guy your boyfriend?" Pierre asked casually.

With a chuckle, I said, "I'm not sure what he is, but my boyfriend isn't one of them."

"Well, then maybe it won't be too forward of me to ask you to dinner," Pierre asked with a smile.

"I'd like that," I replied.

Pierre walked me out of the coffee shop and down the sidewalk towards my condo. We stopped just outside my building. Pierre took hold of my hand and squeezed it lightly. I cast my attention to him, only to see him lowering his head to mine. Just when I thought he was going to kiss me on the lips, he gently kissed my forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow night, Lilly," he said before turning and walking away.

My body was left quivering as I watched him leave. There was definitely something mysterious about him that I wouldn't mind getting to know. Turning, I headed back up to my condo. When I got to my floor, Cop was knocking on my door. I wasn't sure why he would be knocking on my door. I really didn't have anything to say to him. I knew that Peter still had his men watching me. Even though I couldn't see them, I could feel them around.

Stepping up to him with my keys in my hand, I asked, "Is there something you needed?"

"Good morning, Lilly. Peter sent me over to check on you. When you didn't answer your phone, he got worried," Cop explained, moving aside so I could unlock my door.

"Well, you can tell Peter that I'm alive and well," I said sarcastically.

"Do you mind if I check out your condo?" he asked.

"Yes, I mind. You need to tell Peter he needs to back off."

"I'm not to leave until I've checked to make sure it's safe," he said demandingly

"What is it with you guys?" I complained as I waved my hand up and down.

With no other choice, I let Cop enter my home so he could look around. In the meantime, I removed my phone from the charger and called Peter. "What the hell is your problem?”

"Maybe you should answer your phone when I call you," he said.

"Maybe you should stop being so paranoid and let me be."

“I can't do that Lilly. Until I can figure out what the calls are about, I'm going to keep you safe," Peter stated.

"You are so frustrating," I said, before I hung up on him.

Cop finished his inspection of my condo, leaving me agitated by Peter's insistence on having him look around. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I needed to stop letting this man get to me and focus on something else. I decided to do an Internet search to see if I could locate any good deals on a car. My parents purchased my last car, so I wasn't even sure how much a new car would cost. Even though I didn't budget in a car, it was something that I desperately needed. I wasn't one to take the subway, and taking a taxi was beginning to put a hole in my wallet.

After spending most of my time looking for a new car and not really knowing what to look for, I called my dad to see if he could offer any advice. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he offered to take care of it. He basically knew what I wanted, so it wasn’t a problem for him to find a good dealer.

Other than finding transportation, the only thing I had planned today was going to the gallery and checking on things. Even though I had just gone yesterday, I was beginning to get anxious. I wanted to have it completed so I could begin doing my thing.

~****~

When I arrived at the gallery, the men were busy working away. I found the foreman for the construction crew and stepped up to him. I needed to find out when he expected everything to be completed so that I could have my opening. He assured me that everything would be ready by the end of the week. This was perfect; it would give me enough time to get the announcements out and get everything ready. My office was pretty much already finished. All I needed to do was to purchase some furniture and a new computer.

Since everything seemed to be under control, I decided to head over to the IKEA store to see what I could find to furnish my new office. The forty-five minute ride was well worth it. I found everything I needed and set up a delivery time for Friday. While I waited for the store associate to complete my order; I looked on-line for computer equipment. Within minutes I found what I needed and ordered it with a rush delivery to the gallery. Thinking about the technical stuff, it wouldn't hurt to find an IT guy to take care of hooking up my computers and whatever he or she thought would be necessary for the business. It was getting late, so this task would need to wait until tomorrow.

By the time I got home, my feet ached and I was ready to just veg out on my couch and watch a good movie. I didn't feel much like cooking either, so I called for Chinese food from one of my favorite places. I kept thinking about how much I hated spending time alone. It seemed as if I was doing that a lot lately. It was then that I decided to see if Brie was home. Since we were unable to meet up a few days ago, maybe she wanted to do a movie and Chinese food with me. I didn’t have her number, so I decided to walk across the hall to see if she was home.

Knocking on her door several times, I finally gave up and headed back to my condo. I left her a note letting her know to come over when she got home if it wasn't too late. I wasn't sure what her schedule was at the coffee shop, but I would assume she wouldn't be working too much later since it was already approaching eight o’clock. I didn't think people would be drinking coffee at this hour.

I must have been a lot more tired than I thought because when I woke up, there was another movie on and my food, which I barely touched, was cold. Stumbling off the couch, I decided that my bed would be a lot more comfortable than the couch. Fifteen minutes later I was snuggled beneath my covers ready for sleep to take over. It wasn't long after my head hit the pillow and I was out.