Lost Wishes (11 page)

He tilts his head. “Did you have an appointment?”

“No.” I stand up so we’re at eye level. Yeah, I know how this shit works. “Is she here?”

He stares at me for a few seconds, no doubt doing some of his own assessing.  “She’s in a meeting,” he says.

“Fuck this shit,” I say under my breath, reach into my pocket. “Here,” I hold the necklace out to him. “Can you make sure she gets this?”

“Sure,” he takes it, surveying me.

I gotta get the hell out of here. I turn and head for the door.

“Hey, are you Fallon?”

I stop and glance over my shoulder. “Yeah.”

“Shit,” his shoulders relax, “why didn’t you say that? Come on back.” He waves at me. “Come on.” He waves again. “I’ll go get her.”

“She’s here?”

“Yes.”

“That’s all right. Just make sure she gets the necklace.”

“Dude,” he says, and the way he says it gets me to take a harder look at the guy. He’s kind of young to be ruling such a lucrative empire. My age, maybe a little older. Shit. I could have been him. “If Jessina finds out you were here and I just let you leave, man, she’ll have my ass.”

“She’s here, too?” Shit. I’m not ready for a family reunion right now, although when I walked through the doors, I knew it was a possibility. But I was that desperate to see Katie.

“No, but she’ll be back soon.” He walks over to me and holds out the necklace. “Let me get Katie, and you can give this to her yourself.”

“Yeah.” I take the necklace back and scratch my head. “Yeah, okay.”

Chapter Thirteen

Katie

Laptop to iPad to cell, checking, sending, and uploading—I swear I’m going to have carpal tunnel before I’m thirty from all this damn typing. My eyes start to blur. I’m gonna need glasses, too. I press my fingers to the middle of my forehead, close my eyes, and sit back in the chair. Dammit, Fallon. Every time I close my eyes and shut out the world, I see him. It’s been a week, time to let it go and move on.  Considering those two days on that island feel like a damn dream, it should be easier than this.

“Hey.” I hear my boss’s voice and blink my eyes open. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” My back snaps straight in the chair. “What’s up?”

“There’s someone waiting for you in my office.”

“Oh.” I glance at my phone, checking the time. “Did we have an appointment?”

“No.” He turns to the left and his face transforms from corporate studios to drooling lust. I know Jessina must be out in the hall. Yep. Her thin arms wrap around him. My boss leans in and kisses her, and it’s not a work appropriate kiss. But I’m getting used to it, I don’t blush as much anymore. He shifts to the left and whispers something into her ear.

She smiles and turns to me. “Hey, Katie. Don’t forget about tomorrow. The car will be at your place around five. Okay?”

Shit, I forgot all about the Langland’s charity dinner. Dammit! There’s no way I can get out of it now. Whenever one of our clients has some kind of shindig and I’m invited, Mr. Lennox always sends a Town Car for me.

“I’ll be ready,” I say with a small smile.

“Good,” she says, and after another quick kiss to her husband, Mrs. Lennox is gone from the doorway. Mr. Lennox stands with his eyes lingering on his wife.

I clear my throat.

Head moving in my direction, his expression straightens when he regards me again. “My office.” He points and then he leaves, no doubt following his wife.

To prepare, I check my calendar for any appointments Mr. Lennox might have had and find none. Oh well, whatever it is, he obviously needs me to take over for him. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s sent me in blind since he knows I’m good for it. And, I’m damn proud of it. I work hard.

I get up, smooth my hands over my pencil skirt, and march down to his office.

Head held high and shoulders squared, I enter the room ready for anything.

Every muscle in my body loses form when, for the first time in days, I see Fallon with my eyes wide open. He’s here, in Nevada, standing right in front of me. It’s like everything, air included, has been sucked out of the room, and all that remains is him.

I take a deep breath and check myself back into composure. I can’t let him know how badly I’ve wanted this to happen. How I ached for him to come for me.

“Hey.” He nudges in that sexy Fallon way and stands up from the chair. I muster a small smile, afraid to open my mouth as he moves toward me. “I found this,” his hand comes out, “and thought you’d want it back.”

I touch my chest. Oh, my God. I didn’t even realize that it was gone. Could have something to do with the past week; I’ve had nothing but Fallon O’Conner on the brain. “Thanks.” I open my hand, and he places it into my palm.

He shrugs, pulling his hand back, keeping those hazel eyes in line with mine. “I know it’s important to you.”

I squeeze my hand around my mother’s necklace, and like an idiot, all I can manage to do is gape at him.

“Well,” he says, and I think he wants to say something else, but just the same as me, he can’t get it out. “I wanted to make sure you got that. I’m gonna shove off.” He breaks our connection and makes his way to the door.

He’s leaving. I can’t let him walk away. He came here; that’s gotta mean something.

“Oh.” I squeeze tighter to the necklace, seeking strength. “So, this isn’t you coming after me?” 

He stops and so does the beating of my heart. He slowly turns around, and my heart starts to beat again, fast. He strides over to me, again with his eyes controlling me. “No,” he says. His hand slips around my nape, and he pulls me to him. “This is me coming after you.” His lips touch mine. So gentle and so soft at first, and then the kiss intensifies. Like the rest of him, a slow burning build, a fire so hot there’s no extinguishing it, the violent flames destined to scorch forever.

Whether I want to be or not, I am his. The only thing that’ll save me from totally losing myself to him, from emptying all that I am in his heart, is to stay away from him. But I can’t. 

“Shit,” he murmurs breathlessly against my mouth, eyes closed with his forehead pressed to mine. “Fuck, stowaway.” His eyes slit open and that hazel shine glistens brightly before me. “Run,” his grip on my nape tightens, “fuck, run far away from me.”

I pull from the blur of our closeness, ready to explain that I’m not going anywhere, but when I glance up, I see Jessina heading our way. I step back so our bodies separate.

“Fallon,” Jessina says, as she comes storming into the office.

With his back to her, Fallon’s eyes close for a brief moment. He takes a deep breath, and then he turns around with a smile quickly slipping over his lips. “Hey, cuz,” he says in a jovial tone, one I’d never heard.

“Oh, my God! It really is you!” She throws her arms around him. “I’ve missed you so much!” He stands, arms at his sides as Jessina strangles him with the hug. When she finally lets go and looks up at him, her nose scrunches. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks,” he chuckles. And that’s when I notice that she’s right. He’s pale.

“Are you okay?” She sets her hands on her hips. “You’re not sick or anything, are you?”

“No. I had to drop something off at Lucky’s last night, and I wanted to get the necklace Katie left back at my place to her, so I drove straight through the night to get here.” He ruffles a hand through his hair. “Just tired. I’m gonna get a room, get some sleep, and then I’m heading out.”

“You can’t leave, you just got here. Listen, we have a flat on the top floor. Chase will be working until six. You can go up there and get some sleep,” Jessina says, and I’m thankful for her fight. Saves me from doing it.

“Thanks, but—”

“I’m not taking no for an answer.” Jessina glares up at him.

“Yeah, figured as much, cuz. Okay.” He drops his hand from his head with a long-winded sigh, “But I can’t stick around.”

“We’ll talk about that after you’ve gotten some rest.” She pats him on the shoulder. “Now, I need to let Chase know you’ll be up there.” She looks at me. “Katie, can you show Fallon to the flat?”

“Sure.” I smile.

Jessina grabs his arm, tips up on her toes, and kisses Fallon on the cheek. She stares at him for a moment and smiles. “It’s really good to see you.” She pats him on the arm a few times before she heads out the door.

I peer over at him. “You really drove all night?”

His eyes slip over to me. “Yeah.”

“You could’ve just mailed the necklace to me.”

“I know. I thought about it.”

* * *

I busy myself for the rest of the day. After showing Fallon to Mr. Lennox’s apartment, I scurried out of there. I could tell Fallon was exhausted, and he knows where to find me. When it comes to a man like him, you can’t push. He’ll just push back.

Finishing up with a few proposals, I send the last email and look down at the corner of my laptop to check the time. Six o’clock. I’m starving.

I glance up, and my heart halts mid-beat. Fallon’s there, leather jacket open, white t-shirt peeking from beneath, a hand shoved in the front pocket of his jeans. He’s leaning against the doorframe, staring at me.

“Hey,” I say, my insides doing a happy dance. Thank God! He came back to me.

“Hungry?” he asks, arching a dark eyebrow.

“Actually, I am.” I smile, closing my laptop. “There’s a great little mom and pop place down the street, and they make a mean hamburger.”

“Sounds good.” He tilts his head at me. “You done for the day?”

“Yep,” I chirp, dammit. “Let me grab my stuff, and we can go.”

A half hour later, I’m sitting across from Fallon in the restaurant. Food ordered and drinks served. We sit in silence.

“So…” I wrap my hands around my glass of water and look up at him. He’s watching me in that cool, easy, relaxed manner that makes me nervous and makes me wonder what he’s thinking in that gorgeous head of his.  “Thanks again for bringing me my mother’s necklace.”

He hefts a shoulder, glancing at my neck. His eyes meet mine, and I lose track of time as I fall victim to those hazel gems.

“How’s, ah,” I blink past the drugging trance, “Twigs?”

“That girl, she’s a pain in my ass,” he chuckles, lounging back into the booth, stretching an arm out along the top of the booth. “She threw a fit when she found out you left and she didn’t get to say goodbye.”

I laugh, envisioning her stomping one of those cute little feet. “You’re lucky to have her.”

“Shit, I couldn’t get rid of her if I wanted to. I inherited her from Hope.”

“She told me how they met, and that Hope really helped her.”

“Yeah, that little shit. When Hope came home from the hospital, Twigs hid on one of the boats and hitched a ride to shore. She convinced a taxi to bring her to my house, promised that I’d foot the bill. I did, but I had no idea she was coming. She gave Jenna a heart attack. But I did let her stay the night with Hope.”

“She really cared about her,” I say, trying to get him to open up a little more about his wife. But, already, I can see that he’s shutting down. His lips thin and he nods his head. “So, how’d you meet her, Hope?”

He stares at me for a few moments then scans the room, perhaps, seeking an escape. He leans forward, rests his forearms on the table, and clasps his hands together, finally coming back to me. “She was my best friend’s step-sister.” He pauses, jaw clenching. “Joey and his mom moved away our senior year to live with Hope’s father. When I went to college, Joey told me that she was at the same school as me. I didn’t know Hope; I hadn’t met her yet. Joey asked if I’d look her up, keep an eye on her, show her around and shit. And the day I was on my way to her dorm room to meet her, I bumped into this chick. She spilled her coffee all over me. There was something…I don’t know, something special about her.” He shakes his head. “I managed to get her number and a date with her for later that night. Anyway, I went to my dorm, changed, and headed back to my friend’s step-sister’s room only to discover that she was the same chick who dumped her coffee on me.”

“Wow.” I settle my chin into the palm of my hand. “It’s like you two were destined to meet, huh?”

“That’s what Hope used to say.”

“Tell me about her.”

He gazes at me, and I know that I’m pushing here, but he hasn’t gotten up and left yet. I feel confident that he just might open up a bit more. He lounges back again into the booth, getting comfortable—a good indication that he’s going to continue the conversation.

“Hope was this,” he sighs. “Fuck, I don’t know. She was young, full of life, smart, funny, beautiful, and she always saw the good in everyone. Hell, she even saw it in me.” He half-laughs. “We dated all through college, got married, and then I got a job at this huge law firm. I was working late hours and climbing up the ladder fast. She’d tell me to slow down, to enjoy life. And ya know what I told her?” His left eye twitches. “I told her that I was doing it for us, for our future, and not to worry ‘cause we had the rest of our lives together.”

“Oh, Fallon,” I say, hearing the regret in his every word, “you couldn’t have known.”

“Yeah, fuck it.” His eyes shift from me to the waitress, arriving with our food.

Again, we’re back to the silence. We finish our meal, I order a glass of wine, and Fallon opts for a beer. I pick up my cell and check the time. “It’s eight-thirty already,” I say, setting my phone back on the table. I know that I’m really about to push it here, but I can’t stop myself. “Listen. Why don’t you come back to my place for the night then you can head out in the morning?” I’m so not ready to let him go. Hell, I don’t think that I ever will be.

He takes a swig of his beer, peering down at me from above the bottle. I hate that I can’t read him. He gives nothing away. He sets the beer on the table, his eyes still imprinting me. Man, why when he does that, just stares at me, do I feel like I’m going to melt?

“Katie, what do you want?”

“I want you to come back to my place,” I say. It’s the truth.

“Why?”

“I just think that it’s getting late, and it’d be safer for you and the other people on the road if you got a good night’s rest before you set out on the long drive back to wherever it is you’re going.” All right, I’m stretching the truth a tad here now but it sounds good.