The One Left Behind (The One Series) (22 page)

“Yes, I’m serious. A deal is a deal.” I sit back and grin at her.

She takes a deep breath and blows it out in a rush. “Okay, I don’t want to hear about this after tonight because I still don’t think I’ve gotten completely over it. When I was in the second grade, we would have library time. After the librarian read us a short story, she would call our names randomly to pick a card off the wall of activities. That day, my name was called toward the end, so all the cool stuff was taken. So my friend and I decided to go to the study area where they have cubicles for you to read quietly.

“About halfway through, I needed to use the restroom. So I asked the librarian if I could go. She told me no. So I went back to my cubicle where my friend was waiting and I had to hold it until my teacher came to pick us up and take us back to class. Well, my friend is hilarious so we start joking around. She makes me laugh really hard. As I’m laughing, I start to pee. I can’t stop laughing, so I can’t stop peeing. Finally, the horror sets in and it’s not funny anymore. I tell my friend I just peed my pants. She, of course, laughs. I get up and I peed so much that there was a puddle left in the chair. I’m instantly upset and freaking out. I don’t want people to see, and my entire butt is wet.

“Before we’re dismissed, we all have to come back to the center of the library to be accounted for before we’re released to the teacher. My friend and I make sure we get up last. I look at the carpet we were sitting on and there is a perfect butt imprint left from where I was sitting. I told my teacher and cried the whole way to the office.

“Then, to make matters worse, the office called the wrong number on my contact sheet and couldn’t get in touch with my mom. So I had to wear these awful blue sweatpants the office gave me that were too small and the universal signal of ‘Look at me, I just peed my pants.’ It was awful.”

Her cheeks are turning red just talking about it. She buries her face in her hands and I try really hard to hide my laughter, but I just can’t. That is the funniest, and most endearing story ever. I think I just fell completely in love with this girl. I start to laugh and she looks up and glares at me. “Oh, you poor thing. That mean librarian wouldn’t let you go to the bathroom. I hope she’s the one that had to clean up your pee.”

She glares at me again before she starts to laugh too. “I never thought about the person that had to clean my mess. I didn’t tell anyone that I left a trail of urine in my wake.”

I laugh until my stomach muscles are protesting, and she joins in too. “Looks like we have something in common; embarrassing pee stories,” I say as the laughter drags on.

Our dinner continues in the same light hearted, fun manner and I’m loving every second of it. When we finish dinner I ask if she wants dessert. She says she’s too full from dinner. I’m kind of glad because I’m stuffed too. I settle our tab and we head out.

Because I’m not ready to let her go, I suggest taking a walk in a nearby park. She smiles and says that she’d like that. We’re walking hand in hand talking about anything and everything. I keep looking at her from the corner of my eye and she’s breathtaking. I can’t believe I have convinced such a stunning creature to date me. The moon is out and is casting the perfect glow on her face. There’s a light breeze coming through and her hair blows gently in the wind. I notice a piece of hair gets stuck to her lip gloss. I stop walking and turn her toward me.

She’s looking up into my eyes and the moment is absolutely perfect. I can tell we’re in our own little bubble. Just the two of us, the stars, and the moonlight. I gently grab the piece of hair on her lip and brush my fingertips across them in the process. I pull my gaze away from her lips to meet her eyes, but she’s staring at my lips too. Taking that as a sign and without a moment’s hesitation, I cup her jaw with my right hand, lean in, and kiss her.

I start off with soft, gentle kisses, grabbing her waist with my left hand and pulling her closer to me. She places her hands on my chest and I wonder if she can feel my heart frantically beating. I start to deepen the kiss and she just barely parts her lips. I take that as permission and slowly slip my tongue in and touch hers.

The feeling I get from kissing her is unlike anything I have ever felt. Time stops, the world vanishes, and I feel like I can do anything in the world as long as I have her by my side.

Before I can get too carried away, I slow the kiss down gradually and place a few small pecks on her mouth before I kiss the tip of her nose. I’m grinning when I look at her because even though I’ve stopped kissing her, we’re still embracing each other and she has yet to open her eyes. I’m hoping she’s thinking that was the best kiss of her life, because it sure as hell was the best of mine.

Leaning into her ear, I whisper, “Are you okay?”

She nods, “Mmmhmmm.” She finally opens her eyes and I swear I almost see the same emotions I’m feeling reflecting back at me. I must be the happiest man alive right now.

“Come on, it’s getting late,” I say as I grab her hand and lead her back the way we came.

I’m brought back to reality as the end of the memory flashes through my head. I rub at my chest to help dull the perpetual pain that resides there lately. I just can’t imagine someone else having that moment with her. Taking a deep breath, I face reality and think it’s time I try to accept that this may be the way things end up. She might not ever come back to me and I’ll have to get used to this kind of thing.

To get my mind off of things, I refocus my attention on work and get lost in it until it’s time to go home.

TWO WEEKS HAVE passed since Pierce taught me how to surf. Every now and then during the day my mind will float back to when we shared a few kisses sitting on the boards in the ocean. Each time I think about it I know I have a goofy grin on my face, but I can’t manage to hide it. That ended up being one of the best days I can remember in a long time. We have gone back out a couple more times since that day and I’m getting a lot better at surfing. I told Pierce to leave his boards at my house so he didn’t have to keep bringing them over, and so I can steal a moment from him when he goes surfing with his friends. Of course, I didn’t tell him that. He agreed to leave them as long as I didn’t go out without him. I joked around that he was nervous I was going to get better than him, and he insisted it was for my safety. I couldn’t help but fall a little more for him.

I have the day off so I’m meeting Colby for dinner later. Damon’s parents decided to get a divorce, so she’s been very busy spending time with him and his little brother. For this reason, I haven’t seen much of her and have missed her. I have time to kill so I lay out and tan. I put on my bikini, hat, and grab my iPhone and tea, and make my way to the lounge chair. I’m not sure when, but I fall asleep listening to my music. I wake up and see a text from Pierce.

Charming: Hey Beautiful! I hope you slept well. Work is already crazy. It’s going to be a long day. Just wanted you to know I was thinking of you.

I look at the clock and see it is ten forty five. He sent that text about an hour ago. Not knowing if he would see it or not, I text him back anyway.

Me: Hey. I fell asleep outside. Sorry you’re having a bad day.

Pierce responds almost immediately.

Charming: I wish I was there with you. Just seeing you puts a smile on my face.

Me: I know what you mean :)

I instantly melt at his words and have a huge smile on my face. I decide to surprise him at his office and bring him lunch.

Me: Hey I just remembered I have somewhere I need to be. Can I text you in a little bit?

Charming: Sure. Enjoy your day.

I take a quick shower to wash the tanning oil off me, straighten my hair, and get dressed. I am walking to my car when it hits me that I have no idea where Pierce’s office is. I pull out my phone and do a quick Google search for Whitmore Enterprises. I put the address into my GPS and make my way to the pizzeria in town. It is in the opposite direction of Pierce’s building, but the family who owns it is from New York and I want to get him the best calzone this town has to offer. I order a large pizza, two calzones, and grab a couple waters and sodas. I pull up to his building and park my car. I take a moment to stare at it and notice it is definitely different from the rest of the neighboring buildings since it is much taller and is wrapped with mirrored glass that reflects its surroundings. I reach in my car to grab the food and walk through the doors. I am looking around a little lost when a man catches my attention. He is tall and has black hair and brown eyes. He has a fresh clean shaven face and is all-in-all quite good looking.

“Can I help you with something?” he asks still looking down at his phone.

“Yes, please. I’m looking for Pierce Whitmore.”

He eyes my hands filled with the box of pizza, calzones and drinks while looking down at me over the top of his nose. “Deliveries go right to the front desk over there. They will pay you and send it up to Mr. Whitmore,” he says before turning, clearly dismissing me.

I look at him confused. He thought I was a delivery person. Really? I mean yeah, I have a box of food but I’m wearing a dress and heels for crying out loud. Who deliverers food in a dress? I look at him and get a little snippy, annoyed at the fact that he clearly thinks I’m below him.

“Actually, I’m not a delivery service. I’m here to have lunch with Pierce,” I cock my hip out a little to the side. If my hands weren’t full, I probably would have put my hand on my hip for added emphasis. I see a challenge in this guy’s eyes as he makes an amused face at me. It took all of two seconds for me to know that I don’t like this guy. Deciding I’m not going to stick around to see if he will help me or not, I turn to walk away to look for someone else to help me.

“Miss, wait!” I hear him yell out to me. I keep walking, heading towards the secretary but he jumps in front of me. “I’m sorry I was rude. If you follow me, I will take you right up to Pierce... uh, Mr. Whitmore’s, office.”

I eye him suspiciously because something about this guy doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t say anything as I follow him into the elevator. He hits the button to the top floor and we start to ascend.

“I’m Maximus, but everyone calls me Max,” he extends his hand like he wants to make a formal introduction, but I’m not interested. He already pissed me off. Thankfully, my hands are occupied with the food so I hold them up in a gesture that says “Sorry, my hands are full.”

And his name is really Maximus? How pretentious. A douchey name for a douchebag guy. I look ahead and keep my eyes forward.

He obviously doesn’t take the hint as he continues to talk, “Funny, Pierce didn’t tell me he was seeing anyone. In fact, he didn’t mention having a lunch date with anyone when I just left his office from my meeting with him.” This guy is really starting to annoy me with his nosiness and assumptions. Yep, looks like my first impression was correct; I don’t like him. It feels like he’s trying to goad me for some reason and I have no idea why.

As we get closer to my destination, I start to second guess my surprise visit. It never dawned on me that Pierce might be busy and not able to have lunch with me. Oh well, if he’s busy I can just leave it for him with a note. The elevator dings and I step out. I’m happy Maximus doesn’t follow me. I don't feel like I should thank him with his underhanded snarkiness, but I decide to be nice.

“Thank you for showing me up,” I say with fake politeness.

“You’re welcome. I never did get your name,” he replies with a sleazy smile.

“Not the delivery girl.” I spin on my heels and walk away but can hear Maximus laughing as the doors close.

I walk up to the reception desk and am greeted by a young woman. She looks to be in her late twenties. She has long, platinum blond hair and hazel eyes and is wearing a very tight dress that accentuates all her curves. She smiles at me and says, “Hello, can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m here to see Mr. Whitmore.”

She looks down at the calendar and continues, “Did you have an appointment? I’m not seeing anyone on his schedule for noon.”

“Um no. I was just bringing him lunch.” I hold up the boxes and drinks even though I know she can see them.

“What’s your name? I’ll let him know you’re here,” she says with a cheery smile.

“Addison Ramsey.”

She picks up her phone and calls back to Pierce. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Whitmore, but there is an Addison Ramsey here to see you.” There is a short pause and then she continues, “Right away, sir.”

She smiles at me again before saying, “You can follow me.”

Leading me through a set of double doors, I see Pierce standing in front of his desk. He is leaning against the edge of it with his legs stretched out and his ankles crossed. He is wearing a charcoal three piece suit with a light grey dress shirt with a deep purple tie. Damn, he looks sexy as hell in that suit.