Hooked #2 (The Hooked Romance Series - Book 2) (5 page)

The previous week, I had earnestly thought
everything was lost. But on this day, it seemed that everything was different.
I peered into the sunlit streets of my Windy City, and made a decision not to
give up—not yet. I wanted to be a dance instructor. I wanted to continue
helping all girls, from young to old, learn the brilliance, the passion of dance.
And I could do that anywhere. Preferably in a cheaper studio, somewhere in
Wicker Park.

So on this Sunday morning, I made the decision to go
out into the world and search. I grabbed my fall boots, my cute autumn hat, and
bundled up for serious walking. I fed little Boomer enough kernels for the day
and fled into the street, thoughts of coffee and bagels on my mind.

I grinned at everyone I passed, fresh with the
knowledge that I could succeed, I could do whatever I wanted to do. I peered in
windows of FOR RENT buildings; I rushed across streets, in front of cars, just
to check out prospective places. I felt my heart beating fast in my chest. The
possibilities were limitless.

Sometime in the middle of the day, I stopped at a
coffee and bagel shop. Exhausted, I pulled off my gloves, my hat, and ate my
bagel ravenously. I had chosen a pumpkin cream cheese that oozed delightfully
in my mouth over the warm, pumpernickel bagel. I closed my eyes, thinking that
nothing could be better than working your way up from sadness, from the
desolate week before.

Nothing.

As I scouted through Wicker Park and the surrounding
neighborhoods, I made a large list of addresses and phone numbers. At around
two in the afternoon, I finally collapsed back at my grey apartment, a cup of
tea in my hand, and the list before me. I was going to call everyone and
discover if the places were in my price range. The sooner the better, I
thought. This way, I wouldn’t give my students time to find a place somewhere
else, with another teacher. They loved me, I knew. And I loved them.

The first few places I called didn’t fill me with an
ounce of hope. Some places had much higher rent than the place I had just lost,
and I knew I couldn’t
wrangle
even the safety deposit.
Many required credit reports
—which
I didn’t have.
After about six phone calls, I heard Boomer meowing at the window, and I put my
head down at the table, feeling dejected. I knew I couldn’t give up after just
a few hours. But already, this task was feeling like a bigger feat than I could
presently deal with.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to
find a message from Drew. “Have you decided what you’d like to do for our date
tonight?”

My heart started beating hard in my chest. I hadn’t
had time to think about our date destination for even a moment. I looked at the
clock. Already, it was four in the afternoon—and I hadn’t taken a shower,
brushed my hair, anything. We were meant to have our date at seven, I knew. But
already there was so much to be done.

I allowed the phone to linger without texting him
back immediately. I rushed to the bedroom, stripping off my clothes. Boomer, at
the window, continued to meow. I turned on the shower as hot as I could and
started scrubbing at my scalp and my underarms. I shaved my legs swiftly,
noting it had been a little while—given my lack of sexual prowess in the
previous weeks. I shivered, knowing that if I missed a single spot, Drew would
notice. He knew the female body better than anyone.

I jumped into my bedroom, my wet blonde hair streaming
all around me. I peered into my closet, my eyes wide. What the hell was I going
to wear? I heard my phone begin to buzz—loudly, a phone call—in the next room.
I walked naked, feeling my breasts bounce lightly. The phone’s white letters
screamed; “MEL.”

“Hey, Mel,” I said, sounding a bit distracted. I
missed my studio partner a great deal, but I knew how busy she was with baby
Jack.

“Molly!” Mel called. She sounded loud, pulsing with
energy. “I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been worried about you.”

I nodded my head, watching my naked body in the
mirror by the refrigerator. I looked good. I spun this way, then that,
inspecting my body. “I’ve missed you, as well,” I murmured. “We have to get
together soon. I decided to try to find another dance studio.”

“Oh, yeah?” Mel asked. She sounded excited. “Please.
Do tell.”

“I can’t really talk right now, Mel.” I made myself
sound apologetic. “I have a date tonight. I’m trying to get ready. You know,
it’s been so long since I had a nice dinner date. And I’m supposed to find the
place we’re going! I don’t know what to do!”

“Oh. He put you in charge, huh? Is this the same
guy? The guy who thinks I’m your assistant?”

I murmured a brief “Yes” into the phone.

“Ah, well. How exciting. He was sexy, no? Anyway. I
was going to ask you if you wanted to come over for dinner with me and the
boys.”

“The boys? Your husband and your baby?” I asked,
laughing.

“Who else? And have you ever seen anyone more
handsome?” At this point, I could tell that she was talking directly to her baby,
cooing at him. I smiled, in spite of myself. “Seriously. Maybe this would be a
good time for me to meet this guy. Drew, yeah?”

I thought for a moment. I certainly didn’t have any
real plans for us for the rest of the evening. I pictured us whiling away at
some dumb restaurant, unable to find anything to talk about—especially in the
wake of such excitement the previous day. “You know. That isn’t such a bad
idea,” I murmured. I still stood naked in the kitchen considering this.

“I’ll make your favorite. Spinach lasagna sound
good? You know my husband’s Italian.” Already, I could hear Mel in the
background, bumbling around her kitchen, pulling out pots and pans.

“Don’t work too hard,” I said, laughing languidly. I
supposed it was time that I brought Drew into a small piece of my life. He had
said, after all, that he wanted to know me; he wanted to understand who I was. He
could make his own opinion of me. Then, he could decide on what terms he wanted
to leave me.

I shivered. Mel and I decided on a time; seven-thirty,
after Drew and I were able to meet up and head over, via the train (“or his
Porsche!” as Mel had called out), and arrive at her apartment, positioned
closer to the water. I hardly went to Mel’s apartment. I felt strange,
surrounded by her perfect family and her rather quiet, rather secretive
husband. Sure, her husband was attractive, sturdy. He did something that made
them all quite a bit of money. But Mel—my darling good friend, only
twenty-eight years old—had given up her dance career for him. Although she had
always said she wouldn’t have been able to make it anyway, that there wasn’t
really hope for her, I always wondered if she regretted it. And the
undercurrent of regret I generally felt at their apartment was almost too much.
It was like the smell of baby formula; rancid but a little sweet as well. It
lingered on clothes.

I dressed myself in one of my favorite green
dresses. The green always matched my eyes so well. It wrapped around my slim
waistline and pulled around my breasts in such a splendid way. I brushed
through my hair, then curled it a bit to give it a feminine flair. It was
already six-thirty, and Drew would be here in just thirty minutes. I had to
look perfect.

Finally, I sat back on my couch, glaring at the
shine of the wooden door. I imagined Drew down the hallway—at his own
apartment—preparing himself for our date. I imagined him splashing cologne on
his neck, on his chest. I imagined him humming as he proceeded through his many
steps. He lived such a glamorous, well-formed existence, so unlike my own—in
which I rushed around, unable to afford anything, wearing the same dress I
bought three years ago at a vintage shop in college.

But it didn’t matter anymore. It couldn’t.

I heard his sturdy footfalls outside the door, and I
clung to my knees. Boomer bounced down from my lap and sauntered toward the
door, ready to greet whoever arrived. He was so unused to guests, and he was
wrapped up in the excitement that seemed to emanate through the room. His
knuckles collapsed into the door.

CHAPTER
FIVE

I touched my hair briefly before opening the door
and tipping my hips to the left. I greeted Drew with bright eyes. “Hey,” I
whispered.

He looked quite dapper. He was wearing a black shirt
and a stunning purple tie. His smile nearly smirked at me before giving way to
something deeper, something sincere. “Hey,” he said. He looked at me earnestly
before clearing his throat. “You look lovely.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, looking down at my tight
dress.

“Have you decided what you want to do this evening?”
Drew asked after a long pause. “It is your turn, after all.”

“And we’re a democracy, something like that?” I said
it playfully.

He nodded. His chin was pointed, sturdy.

“All right, then. You’re going to meet my closest
friend. My assistant. And her baby, Jackson. And her husband.” I smiled at him
with assurance as his eyed grew dark for a moment. “Don’t worry about them.
They’re fine. They just—they don’t get out much. And I promised I’d head over
there tonight. Afterwards, we can grab a drink somewhere in Old Town?”

Drew nodded, placing one of his wide hands on his
chest. “That sounds nice, actually. It’s been a long time since I had some
semblance of a family dinner.”

I laughed, walking out the door and locking my room
behind me. “You know. It’s been quite a while for me, as well. I never
considered myself a ‘family girl,’ I suppose.”

“There’s not a lot I know about you, is there?” Drew
asked me, placing his arm out beside me. I accepted his elbow as we walked
toward the steps. “I don’t know what you do, how you do anything. I don’t know
what you did today. I can’t even imagine it.”

I didn’t say anything as we walked down the steps.
My heart nearly burst as we exited the front door and found the Porsche out
front once more; ready to pounce into the Chicago night. I looked up at him
with bright eyes.

“You know. You just looked so good in it last night.
I had to bring it tonight,” he murmured, leaning down and kissing me directly
on the cheek. I felt his large, supple lips as they bounced off me lightly.

We rushed across the city toward the lake. I watched
out the window without speaking, noting the way each car rushed by us, on the
way to other dinners, other drinks, other dates. I turned toward Drew as he
focused, concentrating on the road with his lips firmly together. Every move he
made was directed with such ease, such ready comprehension. In a way, he drove
like he made love.

“Is there anything I should know about your best
friend before we arrive?” Drew asked me, turning his head primly toward me.

I thought for a moment. “You know. One thing you
might want to know is that she was one of the premier ballerinas throughout the
country. She was the head ballerina at her university before this guy—her
husband—
swooped
her up and promptly married her.”

“That’s tragic,” Drew said, saying exactly what I
wanted him to say.

I nodded. “I think she’s happy, though.” We were
stopped at a red light and the engine hummed beneath us. “She has her baby. And
her lake, and her life. I don’t think she would have changed anything.” I
thought for a moment. “Would you change anything about your life?”

Drew sighed through his nose. “You know. That’s a
heavy question. Because—if I were to change anything, I wouldn’t be here, with
you, right now.”

I smiled, flashing him my white smile. I brought my
blonde locks around to my front and played with the ends, a bit nervous with
the energy, the vibrant way Drew and I spoke to each other—as if we had
something here. As if we were more than just hooking up.

Finally, we arrived to the other side of the city.
We parked in the parking garage beneath Mel’s apartment building. We walked
outside of the garage to look at the angry lake in the evening air. We could
hear the waves crashing into the sand. I watched as a single, lonely runner rushed
down the boardwalk, south, toward the bright lights of downtown. A single red
hat wrapped around his ears, shielding himself from the angry autumn air.

“Shall we?” Drew asked me, placing a tender hand at
the base of my back.

I nodded, turning back around. We walked toward the
elevator in the foyer, and rushed to the top of the building, where I knew Mel
and her husband had the entire top floor. I tucked myself close to Drew,
feeling a bit afraid of the evening ahead. Would Mel approve of this man? Would
she chide me for bringing home such a player, such a man who would surely ruin
my life, my mentality?

Deep in my heart, I knew nothing mattered anyway. I
would probably have to rush back home, to Indianapolis, and admit that I had
messed up my life, that I didn’t have what it took to remain. I knew this would
happen. So I decided to enjoy my time, no matter what.

We walked toward her large door after the great
elevator doors opened before us. “Now. This wouldn’t be too bad,” Drew laughed
as we looked at the automatic grandeur of their foyer. A large painting hung on
the wall; a beautiful rug swooped along the floor. “I should look into a place
like this.”