Tryst (5 page)

Talie

I drove straight to Jack’s office and gave the papers to his assistant. I made her promise to get them filed that day. After vowing she would do it, I left before someone could tell Jack I was there. I wasn’t up for another “family intervention” about my marriage.

I kept my end of the deal. I talked to Blake. It was offensive and frankly disturbing. How could I have been so wrong about him? Sure
, he’d always had an ego, and yes, he knew he was successful. But I truly had no idea he had such a… a… good ol’ fashioned southern boy hidden beneath his exterior.

You think you know a guy
…

Maybe I had seen the signs of the real him. Maybe I just didn’t want to admit what kind of guy he really was, because if I did
, I would also have to admit I let myself get duped. That I was just as guilty for his behavior because I gave him the impression I would be okay with it.

It was a mistake. A mistake I was correcting.

Since it was too early in the day to start drinking (hey, a girl has to have her standards), I pointed my stuttering car toward the store Claire managed. I couldn’t really afford to shop right now since I was unemployed, but I could look… and maybe buy myself
one
thing. After the last few days, I think I earned something sparkly and new.

Her “office” was on the corner of a popular street in Raleigh. Just about everyone I knew shopped there. They had the best clothes by the best designers and their accessories were always flying off the shelves.

It was a mainstream store, with many locations across the US, so the prices weren’t completely ridiculous like some of the specialty boutiques in this area.

The interior was brightly lit and well air
-conditioned. Even though it was early in the day, shoppers milled around, most of them with purchases already draped in their arms. I browsed around for a bit, decompressing from the morning. Even though I was shopping, I barely paid attention to the things I was looking at because my thoughts were still focused on the things Blake said to me.

He thought I would allow him to sleep around. He expected me to be grateful that he chose me to be his wife. He made me sick. And I won’t lie
; his words were a huge blow to my self-esteem. I never thought I was the prettiest or the smartest, but I never really thought I was unworthy of anyone’s full love either.

But that’s exactly what he implied. He implied I wasn’t enough to keep him happy. He implied
I wasn’t enough.

“Talie?” a familiar voice said from behind. I spun, blinking away the silent accusation.

“Hey, Claire,” I said, mustering a smile for my best friend. She looked good in a cobalt-blue lace blouse, a pair of white skinny jeans, and her sassy red hair all styled out in an arranged tousled mess.

She was enough to keep a man happy.

“What happened?” she asked, her eyes narrowing on my face.

“I signed the separation papers
.”

She grabbed me by the wrist and led me through the store toward the back where we went through a door with a sign that read
: “Employees Only.” After making a sharp right into a small office, she closed the door and dropped down behind her desk with a sigh. “I hate inventory.”

“Inventory sucks
.” I agreed just because that’s what BFFs did. They agreed with each other. I’d never actually done inventory before so I wouldn’t know, but I would take her word for it. That thought gave me an idea. “Is this place hiring?”

She gave me a wary look. “Actually we are.
For sales associates.”

“You don’t think I would make a good employee?”

“Of course you would. I just can’t imagine subjecting you to inventory.”

I laughed. “Well
, getting a paycheck might be nice.”

“You’re trained in billing and coding for doctors and hospitals.”

“Numbers,” I replied. “Isn’t that what inventory is? Counting?”

“Touché.”

“Can I have an application?”

“You can have the job if you want it,” she said
, waving away my request like it was a pesky technicality.

“Don’t you want my references?” I lifted a brow.

“Nah.” She grinned. “I know where you live.”

I laughed.

“You didn’t come here for a job. And you didn’t come here to buy that god-awful purse you’re carrying around.”

I glanced down at the purse. I hadn’t even realized I was still clutching it. It
was
ugly. I set it on her desk with a look of disdain.

“We got
in a shipment of Michael Kors bags this morning. To die for. You should go through the stash before we put them on display.”

“Where are they?” I asked, perking up. Maybe a new bag would make me feel better. It certainly would make me look better.

I had a slight obsession with purses.

Blake said I had too many.

It was exactly why I needed another one.

“So you saw him,” she said, steering the conversation back to the reason I was here.

“Yes.”

“How was it?”

“He apologized that I caught him in bed with his secretary. And then he told me he wanted to have a baby.”

“
He played the family card,” she said. Claire knew how much I wanted a family and kids. Up until this point, Blake hadn’t wanted to start a family yet. He was too focused on his career. “Maybe he really is sorry.”

“Then he went on to say he would be discreet in his future affairs and I wouldn’t notice because I’d be too busy being a mother.”

“Tell me you’re kidding.”

“I’m not kidding.”

“And that explains that ugly-ass bag you were carrying around.” She sighed.

I grimaced and looked at the bag. It was the color of puke. And it smelled weird.

“Do I have the words COMPLETE IDIOT stamped across my forehead?”

“Of course not. He’s just a complete ass.”

“I made him sign the papers. I threatened his good family name.” I glanced at Claire. “He said it wasn’t over.”

“And people wonder why I’m still single,” she mused. After her comment
, she glanced at me, guilty. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I wish I’d never got
ten married.”

We lapsed into silence.

“I’m homeless, about to get divorced, and out of a job.”

“I just gave you a job.” Claire pointed out.

I gave her a dark look.

“Oh, sorry. Was I interrupting your pity parade?”

“Yes.”

She grinned. The phone on her desk rang. She rolled her eyes and reached for it. “Claire Fuller,” she answered.
“Mom!” she said a few seconds later. “I told you not to call me at work unless it was an emergency! … The state of Aunt Ruth’s bunions are not an emergency. And frankly, I don’t want to hear about it at all.” She made a motion and I smiled. Claire’s family was a kooky bunch, but I loved them anyway. “I can’t talk right now. Talie is here.”

She paused and I heard the low chattering of her mother on the end of the line.

“She’s getting a divorce. Blake cheated on her. She’s staying at my place.”

I made a sound as she rattled off my business like it was old news.
Geez, just tell everyone, why don’t you.

Her mother’s chattering got louder. Claire made a sound of agreement. Then she looked at me and made the talking signal with her hand as her mother kept yapping.

“That serious?” Claire said, interrupting. “For a bunion?” Her tone was doubtful. “How long?”

My eyes wandered toward the ugly purse. Maybe if I tied a beautiful scarf around the handle and pinned a sparkly broach on the side it wouldn’t be so hideous. It just seemed wrong to leave that poor bag so unsightly.

Claire snapped her fingers at me as if she could read my thoughts. When I looked up, she shook her finger at me like I was a dog who went pee on the floor.

“Mom!”
She interrupted. “Who’s taking care of Ruth’s house?”

“I’ll just go shop,” I mouthed, getting up to escape her office.

Claire gave me the eyes of death.

Eyes of death = promise of great torture later if I moved from my chair.

“What about Salty?” she asked.

I walked to the door
, defying her death stare. What was she going to do that hadn’t already been done to me in the past couple days?

“Talie will do it!” she said.

I stopped and turned, wondering what in the hell she was saying. “Do what?” I said.

“
Mom,” she said. “Mom!” she screeched. “I get it. I’ll be over after work.” She slammed the receiver down and made a sound of relief. “That woman could talk fifty-year-old wallpaper off a wall. It’d peel itself off just to get away!”

“What the hell did you just drag me into?”

“Aunt Ruth had bunion surgery. Apparently, bunions are very painful.” She shrugged. “Anyway, my dad drove down to Topsail to get her. She’s staying with them while she heals. I guess she has to stay off her foot for a while, and since she lives alone, Mom wanted her here.”

“Well
, I hope she’s okay.”

“It’s a bunion,” she said dryly.

I suppressed a giggle.

“Anyway, Aunt Ruth’s house is going to be sitting empty. So I volunteered you to housesit.”

“You what!”

“It’s great timing. Your calendar is wide open and you need a vacation.”

“I need to put my life back together.”

“So what are your plans? You honestly want to work here, as a sales girl
, and sleep on my couch forever?”

Of course I didn’t. It’s just… this was all so sudden I had no idea what to do. I didn’t have a backup plan.

“Exactly.” Claire surmised by the look on my face. “Aunt Ruth lives on the beach. Like, literally the sand is at her backdoor. Go stay there, smell the ocean air, take long walks on the beach… get the hell out of town. You need it.”

It certainly wasn’t the worst idea I’d ever heard. At least if I wasn’t here
, I wouldn’t have to listen to Joanna tell me what a huge mistake I was making.

“I guess I could go for a few days.”

“At least a week, Talie,” Claire said.

“Fine.”

She grinned. “There’s a whole rack of new bathing suits out there. You can pick one out with the new purse.”

“Yeah, because this week hasn’t been shitty enough
. Now I have to subject myself to bathing suit shopping.”

Her phone rang again. She groaned.

“I’ll just go look around.”

She nodded. Just as she picked up the phone
, I remembered something. “Claire?” I asked.

She held the phone away from her as she looked at me.

“Who’s Salty?”

“My aunt’s cat.”

As I wandered out into the store, steering clear of the bathing suits (evil things), I had to laugh. I laughed so loud a nearby woman gave me a strange look.

My life was reduced to living with a cat.
I was turning into a cat lady.

Of course
, at this point, I’d take a cat over a man any day. Men weren’t to be trusted, especially with matters of the heart. Hell, maybe when I got home from vacation, I would get a cat of my own.

I laughed again, this time a little more to myself. I had to laugh. If I didn’t
, I might start crying and never stop.

Talie

Topsail Island was located on the coast of North Carolina and was just over a two-hour drive from Raleigh. The island itself was approximately twenty-six miles long and completely surrounded by water. There were only two ways on and off the island and both of those ways were by bridge.

This wasn’t the first time I’d ever been to Topsail
. I’d come here many times as a kid with my parents and brother, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. This would be the first time I’d ever come here alone.

Coming alone wasn’t depressing to me. If anything
, it was refreshing. The more miles that slipped between Raleigh and me, the more at ease I felt. I did need this. I needed time to think, to process, and to feel. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going; the only person that knew was Claire, and I made her promise not to tell a soul.

When I turned onto the two
-lane road that would carry me to the island, I rolled the window down and let the thick, humid air swirl inside the car. The heady scent of salt pressed against my skin and lips. I knew if I were to stick out my tongue, the sharp taste would already be on my lips.

My hair blew around in the breeze
, and for once I didn’t worry about how tangled it was getting. It didn’t matter. No one here knew me. No one here cared what I looked like. It was freeing to not have to worry who I might see at the grocery store or worry what someone might think.

The road was empty at this late hour
. It was already after nine and the sky was dark. It always seemed darker at the beach. Without the lights of busy streets and strips of shopping centers, the sky took on a velvet quality that I didn’t often get to see.

The shape of the bridge came into view
, and I smiled. I couldn’t wait to bury my toes in the sand. I looked ahead at the way the bridge rose up off the ground, supported on thick legs to curve up over the sound, the intercoastal waterway. Part of me was sad it wasn’t light out because the views from the top of the bridge would be spectacular and go on for miles.

But there was always tomorrow.

Just as the road started to gradually lift and lead onto the bridge, my car made a very loud clunking sound and then groaned like it was going to come apart at any second.

Even though my foot was pressed on the gas
, the car slowed considerably, idling along like a turtle who had nowhere it needed to be. “Come on!” I yelled at the dashboard as I gave the steering wheel a smack.

Suddenly
, the wheel seemed extremely hard to steer. What usually was an easy, effortless task now seemed like something that required large muscles.

Did I mention I was lacking in the muscle department?

I applied the brakes and fought the Jetta to the side of the road. I wasn’t about to try and make it over the bridge like this. My luck, I would plunge over the side and get eaten by a shark when I hit the water.

The loud rattling sounds the stupid car made drowned out the cadence of the ocean waves and cause
d some of the peace I found on my way here to disappear.

After several long moments of just sitting there, leaning my forehead on the steering wheel and asking God why I was cursed
, I turned off the engine. The car stuttered and then died. I knew it wasn’t going to turn back on.

“And the hits just keep on coming,” I said out loud.

I opened the car door, leaving it open so the light would stay on for a few moments, and bent down to look for the hood release latch. After I found it and popped the hood, I stood there staring down in the dark at the insides of a car I couldn’t see.

Then I remembered my phone. The flashlight app was handy in moments like this. Even with the engine and innards of the car visible
, I had no clue what was wrong with it.

“I am so getting a new car
.” I sighed. I called up the number to AAA in my phone (I might not know how to fix cars, but I knew how to call people who did) and wondered how long it would take them to send a tow.

A pair of headlights appeared traveling in my direction. I raced around the side of the car and leapt into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind me. After the way this week was going
, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the person behind the wheel of that car was a serial killer out looking for his next victim.

The car slowed and pulled directly behind my car.

See? Total serial killer.

I heard the slam of the door and watched as a large
, dark figure approached. I could make out nothing because his headlights turned him into nothing but a dark shadow.

The only thing I knew for sure was that it was a man. Unless
, of course, it was a woman. Judging from the sheer size of the black shape, if it was, then she would have to be a professional body builder.

Seconds later
, a darkened face appeared at my window.

“Car trouble?” he rumbled. His voice was deep and his southern accent was strong.

I screamed.

I forgot my window was down!

I jammed the key back into the ignition and turned over the engine. It made a puny, pathetic sound and stalled out. The windows were electric. I couldn’t get it up if the car wouldn’t start.

“Please don’t kill me!” I burst out.

A laugh floated through the night air and wrapped around my body. He put one of his hands on the door so that it rested where the window should be, his fingers falling down the inside of the door.

I snatched the keys out of the ignition and swung down to stab the fleshy part of the back of his hand. Seconds before I made him bleed
, he jerked away.

“I’m not going to murder you!” he shouted.

“Don’t you yell at me!” I retorted.

“You tried to stab me!”

“You tried to kill me!”

“I stopped to see if you needed help. You know, because your junker car here stopped working.”

“How dare you call it a junker?” I fumed. My car definitely was a junker, but I wasn’t about to let him insult me. I’d had enough of men to last me a lifetime.

“Sweetheart, I call it like I see it
,” he drawled.

Damn if I didn’t get goose bumps.
His voice was like the velvet sky I was admiring only moments ago. “Well, okay, it’s a piece of crap.” I allowed. Obviously, his southern accent was making me stupid.

“I’m just going to take a look,” he said. Before I could tell him no
, he was walking around the front of my car. The glow of his headlights gave me a glimpse of the way his hips rotated when he walked.

He had long legs, the kind that owned the ground whenever he took a step. He was tall… at least six two. Other than that
, I couldn’t make out anything else about him. He was wearing a baseball hat and it was pulled down low, shading all of his face from the little light out here.

A light clicked on up front (he must have
had the same app as me), and I saw him reaching down into the engine. The sound of something being pulled out of the car had me leaping out of my seat and rushing around the front.

“What the hell are you doing
?” I demanded, horrified, as he pulled out this long, black thing. “Is that a snake?” I shrieked. Had I somehow run over that giant thing and it got caught in my engine?

He paused and looked up at me. “A snake?” he asked like he couldn’t understand what I was saying. Then he shook his head.
“It’s the drive belt,” he muttered, going back to pulling it out.

“Well
, if it’s supposed to be in there, why are you pulling it out?”

“This way when I go to kill you, I know you won’t be able to get away.”

I ran for my phone, which I left lying in the front seat. Forget AAA. I was calling the police!

His laugh stopped me in my tracks. “Are you always this gullible?”

“Only when people tell me they’re gonna kill me,” I snapped.

“The drive belt snapped. Half of it is shredded. The car isn’t going to start until it’s fixed.”

“Oh,” was all I could manage.

“And judging from what else I can see
, I think there are some other issues in there too.”

“Yeah
, well, I’m not surprised.”

“Where are you headed?” he asked, dropping the ruined belt on the ground.

“Topsail Island.”

He made a sound that seemed to rumble out of his chest. “You have a house here?”

“I’m not telling you that!”

“You got someone you can call?” he asked, not seeming offended by my refusal to tell him a thing.

“Yeah.” I turned away and dialed AAA and gave them my location. They said the tow truck could be forty-five minutes to an hour.

Wonderful.

Once I was done, I disconnected and threw the phone onto my front seat. “Thanks for stopping, but I have this under control.”

“Just doing my gentlemanly duty,” he said, tipping his hat. Beneath it was a mess of thick blond hair.

Something told me he was anything but a gentleman.

Without another word
, he walked back to his car. That lazy, long-legged walk of his snagged my stare more times than I cared to admit.

After settling in my car
, I leaned my head against the seat, thinking about calling Claire to tell her my latest disaster. After a few minutes, I realized I never heard the man drive away.

I glanced back and sure enough
, his car was still sitting there. The interior of the car was too dark to make out if he was in there.

Pricks of fear lifted the hairs on my arms. Why was he still here? What was he doing back there in the dark?

Maybe he really was going to kill me after all.