Unravel (5 page)

I swirled my drink, watching him, wanting to know just how much power he had to slide into this secret circle so quickly.

“I hope to see everyone very soon.” His eyes made contact with mine. I felt a jolt go straight through my body. My first instinct was to retreat, like a wild animal encountering something dangerous.

But he looked away and gave the crowd his charming grin. “Now enjoy the rest of the night!”

Everyone murmured their agreements and drank their wine. But Max didn’t. His eyes found mine and he tipped his wine glass in my direction.

A silent toast.

Get ready,
that one tilt of his glass said. His lazy smile disappeared and his eyes became feverish the longer we looked at each other.

I mimicked his actions and tipped my glass.

I had no idea what I was in for.

Over the next few days, I spent the majority of my time with Lana. I didn’t see Max once. That wasn’t to say I didn’t have the want to see him. My heart and memory teamed up to taunt me. They haunted me with visions of his face and the way I felt that day. I was slowly starting to become impatient. I wanted to see him again. I wanted that feeling back and that scared me. So I was waiting until I could put a lid on this strong desire.

But today that was all about to change.

Lana and I were supposed to be going out for lunch. But she took a quick left and the next thing I knew we were in Tysons—a large business district close to McLean.

We sat there, parallel parked, on the side of the street. Lana drummed her fingers on her thigh nervously, staring out the window.

“Are we going to sit here forever and stare at the people walking by, or are we going to go eat?” I asked.

Lana reached back to grab documents from the backseat. “I need to drop these off for my dad.”

“You want me to do it?” I said.

I knew how she felt about crowds… about people in general. This wouldn’t be the first time that Lana had to run errands and I took over for her. Plus, I was hungry and the quicker we got out of here and to the nearest restaurant, the better.

I expected Lana to hand them over. But her grip tightened on the papers. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said.

She looked out the window, at the looming building next to us. I looked with her. While people walked quickly to their cars or into stores to get away from the heat, this building stood tall in the humid weather. Above the revolving doors, in black letters, was the company name and I finally understood her hesitance.

I turned to face her. “Max works here?”

She nodded slowly.

“And you’re concerned why?” I smiled. “Lana, I’ve met the guy once. That’s it. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

“But… Lachlan. You haven’t talked to him in days.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “Why are you suddenly bringing him up? You hardly talk about Lachlan. In fact, I don’t think you ever have up until a few days ago! There’s nothing wrong with not talking to him,” I replied.

Lana didn’t look convinced and I’m sure I wasn’t doing a good job at keeping my emotions out of my eyes. Every time Lachlan’s name was mentioned I felt a deep pain slash through me.

“Just give me the documents,” I said quietly. “I’ll hand them over to his secretary or one of his co-workers or whoever the hell is here and be on my way.”

Lana didn’t say anything.

“Or you can deliver them,” I suggested.

Lana placed the papers into my outstretched hand. Before I got out of the car I looked at her one last time. She was staring out the window, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“It’s not a big deal, okay?” I said. “Max is just one guy. That’s it.”

“Okay, okay.”

I waited for her to smile. No one smiled like Lana. It transformed her face. She went from being somber and quiet, to someone so beautiful it made you want to do a double take.

But she didn’t smile at me.

I opened my door, knowing this conversation wasn’t over. Not in the least.

“His office is on the seventh floor,” Lana called out.

I gave her a thumbs-up and walked into the blistering heat. If I stayed out here longer than five minutes I was liable to start melting. The heat made everything in the far distance blurry, almost pixilated. I’m surprised steam wasn’t rising from the sidewalks.

Only a few steps away were the revolving doors. I couldn’t stop staring at them and I couldn’t stop my mind from conjuring up the image of Max.

I heard his silent toast echo in my ears:
Get Ready.

And even in this scalding heat, I shivered.

Taking a deep breath, I followed Lana’s directions and crossed the main lobby. My flip-flops sounded against the black granite floors. I signed in, grabbed a visitor card, and went right to the elevator. I was surrounded by men in suits. They spoke quietly on their cell phones or to each other. I stared at my reflection in the elevator doors and knew that I stood out in my white short shorts, and green racerback tank.

The doors finally slid open. I pressed seven. My fingers drummed against my thigh as I watched the numbers flash above me. It was crazy, but I was starting to get nervous. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. Maybe Lana was right.

2, 3, 4…

I took a deep shaky breath.

5, 6…

My grip tightened on the papers.

7…

The doors slid open to a typical office. Plush, black chairs against the wall. Black and white pictures of high-rise buildings. Magazines on the end tables. Green plants placed throughout the space. Right in the middle of the room was the secretary’s desk, with a pretty brunette behind it.

I put one foot in front of the other.

Get this done and get out of here,
I said to myself.

The brunette looked up. She gave me a friendly smile. But she took in my dress code and her smile waned. I couldn’t really blame her for judging. I looked at the name on the counter. Sophie Miller.

“May I help you?” she asked.

I lifted the stack of envelopes in my hand. “I need to drop these off.”

“You can just hand them to me. I’ll make sure he gets them.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Sophie grabbed a pen and notepad. “Who should I say this is from?”

I leaned on the counter and smiled. “I’m Starlight from the local strip club. Your boss has a running tab and I was just delivering his newest bill.”

Pen dropped. Sophie’s head shot up. Mouth was hanging open. This was fun. Some of my anxiety began to fade.

And right when I was starting to relax, the door behind her opened. A man walked out. He wasn’t Max.

I smiled.

I wanted to sigh with relief, but right behind the man was Max. My smile faded. My body started to tingle. He had on a white dress shirt, tucked into navy blue dress pants. A striped tie, and a tailored vest showcased his wide shoulders. He crossed his arms and I saw the silver watch on his wrist.

My body felt leaden. My movements were slow. And it was all because of him. I gripped the counter. It didn’t even matter that he wasn’t looking my way. His magnetism fell off him in waves, pulling me under, drowning me slowly, making my lungs constrict with every breath.

Max had a focused look on his face as he talked. I knew he was in his element. He was a shrewd businessman. One that was intelligent enough to know when to shut up and listen, and when to speak.

My resistance, the little I had built up, was starting to fade. I had to get out of there fast. I attempted to get Sophie’s attention. Attempted was the key word. She was fixated on Max.

I tried using my manners. In a polite voice, I said Sophie’s name. She didn’t look at me.

I tapped the counter. Still nothing. I glanced over at Max. He was wrapping up his conversation. My heart started to race. I felt like these were the final seconds I had before a bomb went off and exploded in my face.

“Hey,” I snapped my fingers. “Sophie!”

She jerked her head back to me and gave me an impatient look. “Yes?”

I quickly rushed my words. “I need to be going. Can you just say that Naomi stopped by to drop these off for—?”

Max stopped mid-sentence. So I stopped mid-sentence.

His head turned in my direction. I silently cursed myself. He had been gesturing with his hands but now they were frozen in the air. He blinked and looked at me as if I weren’t real.

I wished that were the case. I wished I could snap my fingers and disappear that second.

His silence made the man next to him stop talking and stare at me. The man looked between Max and me, and excused himself.

“Naomi?”

How did he do that? How did he make my name sound so… sinful?

I cleared my throat. “That’s my name.”

He walked over to me. “How are you?”

I shrugged and gripped the envelopes tightly in my hand. “I’m all right.”

He tucked his hands into his pockets and leaned against Sophie’s desk. “Having a good summer?”

I stared down at the counter as I answered, trying to appear unaffected. “I am. Just been really busy. You know how it is.”

“Ah, of course. Busy,” he repeated back.

My eyes lifted and were caught by this gaze.

“Yeah, just visiting friends and running errands. I figured I’d make the most of my time while I’m here.”

That was a lie. If Lana hadn’t woken me up this morning I would’ve slept until noon and sat around watching re-runs of reality shows with a plate of brownies on my lap.

“How long are you home?” he asked.

“Until September.”

Maybe it was my eyes, or my mind playing tricks on me, but I swear he was slowly inching closer to me. Or maybe I was. Either way, the space between us was slowly starting to disappear.

I looked down at my hands. I was gripping the papers so tightly that in a few minutes they would be wadded up in a ball. My mind kicked back into gear. I shoved the envelopes at him.

“I’m just dropping these off.” Max looked at the envelopes and back at me. “For Michael,” I said dumbly.

He said nothing. Just smirked and reached out his hand.

If this were a movie, I would press pause at this part. And I would point to my hand on the screen. I would show you how I made sure to grip the very edge of the papers. How I went out of my way to make sure we didn’t touch. Then I would press play and when I did, you would see his fingers grazing the back of my hand and me standing there frozen solid. And if you listened very carefully, you would hear the sound of a faint tear. That was just the sound of my heart unraveling like a torn ribbon.

All from one touch.

“Thank you,” he said.

I took a step back. “I’m gonna go. Sorry for interrupting.”

“You’re not interrupting.” He held up a finger. “Just wait.”

He looked back at Sophie and told her she could take lunch early. She grabbed her stuff. When she passed me she looked me up and down curiously. I wanted to tell her to stay. I was even willing to go as far as to tell her I was sorry for being a smart ass earlier. I was that desperate.

But she left. The door clicked shut.

There were no noises. Phones had stopped ringing. Printers and fax machines were silent. No voices or laughter. Not even footsteps. Nothing. Just the two of us.

This time it wasn’t really in my mind. This time, we really were in our own world.

“What was that?” Max said.

“What was what?”

“The look my secretary gave you.” He opened up the paperwork as he talked to me. I watched his hands. Long, tapered fingers. Bluish veins traveled up his arms. A vision of those hands wrapped around my waist, pressing into my skin, guiding me closer to his hard body flashed through my head. It was gone in an instant. But my gut twisted and that greed I had for him intensified by a million.

“Did I miss something?” he asked.

“Oh, it was nothing,” I said evasively.

He lifted a brow. I changed the subject.

“So,” I drew out slowly, trying to think of a new topic.

Max leaned on the counter. “No, no, don’t try to change the subject. What happened between you and my secretary?”

He was persistent. Why was I so surprised?

“I might have introduced myself in a not so professional way,” I said.

He turned his body toward me. It was a simple shift but it made all the difference in the world. One step forward and I would be able to smell him. One step forward and I could actually make my vision a reality. One step forward—

“Which way did you introduce yourself?”

My body jerked back.

This time I didn’t dodge his question. “I may or may not have told your secretary my name was Starlight and that I was from a local strip club, here to drop off your running tab at the club.”

I expected him to be pissed off. But his eyes merely widened and he laughed. A deep laugh that came from his belly. For a reason I’d never figure out, I smiled at him. I smiled and stayed in place when I should have been waving at him over my shoulder as I walked to the elevators.

Max slid closer. My smile faded. Here he was. Nothing stood in between us. I could yank him by the tie. I could kiss him. I could make my dreams a reality and have his body pressed against mine within seconds.