I cringed just thinking about it. I cringed thinking about him.
The girls at the nearby table were still covertly paying attention to the drama, so I sweetly gave them an encouraging smile, letting them know I was glad someone found my life so entertaining.
“Don’t you want to hear my news?” Alan said, leaning his elbows on the table and flashing his dimple in my direction.
I used to love that dimple. Now I thought it was annoying. And childish. In fact, the blond-haired, blue-eyed, boy-next-door good looks that I used to swoon so hard over just seemed tired and immature.
I wanted something darker, something more commanding.
“Nora,” Alan snapped, the charm he tried so hard to maintain slipping away as irritation took hold.
“What?” I snapped back.
“Face it, bro. You just can’t keep her attention anymore.” Val taunted him.
Alan’s face flushed with anger and his hand fisted on the tabletop. An uncomfortable feeling slipped down my back, chasing away some of the lingering dream I’d been holding on to since I woke up this morning. Closing my eyes, I clutched tightly at the dream and the feelings it left me with, not quite ready to let them go.
But it was too late.
Awful Alan and his stinky presence was too much reality for my fantasy.
“I’m coming to Boston with you this summer.”
Eyes springing open, my head nearly rocked on its shoulders when I swung around to face my ex.
“What?” Val and I both exclaimed at the same moment.
He smiled a Cheshire cat smile. “I sent Net Tech my resume to see if they had an opening, and they called right away.” He leaned forward, bringing our faces just inches apart. “I’m in.”
I sat back, flabbergasted.
Val and I shared a look. I could practically hear the storm brewing in her head, and I knew in just a matter of moments, she would open her mouth and unleash it all.
I was tempted to sit back and watch.
But then I glanced over at smug-faced Alan and down at the silk shirt draping my body. Valerie’s lips parted, and I cut her a look, shaking my head just slightly.
Her eyes narrowed, and I shook my head more firmly. Sighing, she sat back and indicated for me to do whatever.
“You got a summer internship at Net Tech,” I repeated to Alan.
Valerie made a sound, clearly not happy with my opening line.
“It’s not an internship. I’m getting paid. I’m too skilled to work for free.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and regarded him. “But you don’t mind having your father call in a favor to get you a job.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “That’s business. It’s all about who you know.”
“I thought you were going to New York City,” I rebuked.
Reaching out, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Why would I go there when you’re going to Boston?”
Valerie made an angry sound and practically leapt over the table. Without looking, I held up my hand, stopping her.
“I don’t get you, Alan.” I began. “When I first started talking about going to Boston for a summer internship months and months ago, you were dead set against it. You wanted nothing to do with Net Tech at all. When I landed a spot, you practically laughed in my face and told me how stupid I was for wasting my time there,”
“I don’t think I was that harsh,” he said, tugging on his earlobe.
Tugging on his earlobe = he knew exactly how much of an ass he’d been about Boston. So much so that I’d nearly called and given up my spot.
“You were worse,” Val and I intoned at the same time.
“And now…” I forged on, pinning him with a hard look. “You stroll in here this morning, announcing that you’re coming to Boston for the summer like it’s some grand gesture that will make me fall all over you.”
He reached forward to touch my hair again, and I recoiled. Dropping his hand, he leaned close. “Just think about it. Me. You. Summer nights in Boston and the weekends in The Hamptons.”
My mouth dropped open.
“I rented us an apartment near the office. It has a view of—”
“Are you insane?” I burst out.
Alan glanced up sharply, and the girls nearby giggled.
“We broke up, Alan. Months ago. Remember that day I walked in on you in bed with another girl?”
“Shh,” he implored, rubbing the back of his neck.
“What? You don’t want everyone here to know what a shitty boyfriend you are? Maybe you should have worried about that more before I dumped you.”
“You did not dump me,” he hissed, anger flashing in his eyes.
“Yes, Alan, I did. Is that what bothers you so much? Is that why you’ve been trying so hard to get back with me? Because I dumped you? Because I’m no longer interested and it kills you? You pay more attention to me now than you did when we were actually in a relationship.”
“Mm-hmm.” Val agreed from across the table.
Alan’s shoulders rose and fell with his deep breath. Swiping a thumb across his lower lip and regarding me with serious eyes, he smirked. “This is getting really old, Nora. I said I was sorry for what happened that one time.”
For the record, it was not one time. Alan was a chronic cheater.
“I’ve been trying to make it up to you ever since, including giving up an incredible opportunity in New York so I could be with you this summer.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that,” I spat. “I don’t want you there. I don’t want to see you at all.”
“You’re surprised. I surprised you. You never were very good with surprises,” he allowed and pushed out of his seat. Pushing his hand down into the front pocket of his jeans, Alan pulled out a business card and slid it in front of me. One hand rested on the back of my chair and the other on the edge of the table beside me. He leaned down, bringing with him the scent of his cologne.
Memories and feelings welled up inside me with the familiar scent, and tears rushed to the backs of my eyes. His voice was low beside my ear, smooth like honey and cajoling like a lullaby.
“That’s the building manager for our new place. The place I got for us. You can call him anytime, and he’ll send you pics of everything. All you have to do is ask. I put your name on the lease. Yours and mine. This is what you always wanted, Nor. I know I messed up, and I’m trying to make it up to you. You just have to let me.”
When I didn’t respond, he leaned around me farther, trying to get a glimpse of my face.
Turning my head away and keeping my posture rigid, I said, “Just leave.”
He sighed as though I’d hurt him, but I felt him nod. “Fine, I’ll go. But I’m not giving up.” Finally pulling away, he tapped on the card still lying on the table. “Give him a call. You’re going to love our new place.”
“You have two seconds before you’re wearing this coffee,” Val threatened.
“Pleasure as always, Val,” Alan quipped, turning away.
Just when I thought he was gone, he appeared on my other side, stepping right into my line of sight. I turned away, but as I did, he caught my chin with his hand. “I’ll call you later.” He spoke softly, then leaned down to kiss the top of my head.
I sat rigid even after he walked away, afraid to move or react until I knew for certain he wouldn’t reappear. My stomach felt knotted and my fingers ached from the tight fist I was making beneath the table. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone? He didn’t even want me. He just didn’t want to lose.
“He’s gone,” Valerie said, setting aside her coffee like it suddenly tasted bad.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Slumping forward, my elbows hit the table, and I groaned. “Can you believe him?”
“Usually, I’m not surprised by anything that moron does, but Boston?” Val shook her head. “I didn’t see that one coming.”
“He hated the idea of going there. You know that.” Glancing down at the busi
ness card in front of me, I shook my head. “What is he thinking?”
“He’s desperate,” Val said, licking the lip of her lid. “He can’t stand the fact that you want nothing to do with him.”
I laughed without humor. “Maybe if I cared a little less when we were dating, he would have cared a little more.”
Val slapped her hand down on the table in front of me. “Fuck that. Head games don’t belong in relationships. You deserve better than that.”
“I know.” I agreed. And I did. Sometimes, though, I would momentarily slip back into the past and feel all the pain he’d inflicted.
“I take it back,” Valerie announced.
“Take what back?”
“What I said earlier, before Awful Alan showed up. You know, the hard time I was giving you about Mr. Fantasy.” As she mentioned Carter, her finger pointed to the shirt I was draped in.
Glancing down, I sat back in my chair and put one hand over the other arm, lightly stroking the fabric with my fingers.
“If it wasn’t for that guy, Alan probably would have his nasty hooks back in you.”
My head whipped up. “He would not!”
Valerie gave me a look, calling me a liar. “You were totally wavering before spring break. During spring break. But when you stepped off that guy’s boat the morning we came home, Alan was nothing but a bad memory. You totally swapped hangovers.”
“I didn’t!” I objected.
“It’s okay, Nor. Being hung over from one epic night of sex is a lot better than being hung over on an ex who treated you like shit.”
Looking down at the business card on the table, I frowned. “I really wanted this internship. It will look really good on my resume when I start applying for jobs next year.”
“Call up there. Tell them you can’t work in the same place as your stalker ex.”
“And given the choice between some no-name unpaid intern and the guy with an already incredible resume and a father with a big name in the tech industry, who do you think they would choose?”
Valerie put her chin in her hand. “What are you going to do?”
I shook my head. “I’m supposed to move up there next month. It’s too late to try and get another internship. Everything worth having is going to be full.”
“I should have dumped my coffee on his head.”
“I have to go,” I said, standing. A moment of alarm burst through me when I looked down for my bag and it wasn’t there. Then I remembered Alan tossing it on the floor.
Jerk.
Leaning over the chair, I fished around for the strap. As I leaned, the chair under me slid backward and banged into one behind it.
The man sitting in it jolted, and I leapt up. “Oh, I’m sorry!”
“No problem,” the man said, not even bothering to turn around. His attention was fixed on the screen of the laptop in front of him, and there was a black hat pulled down over his head.
Pushing the chair all the way under our table, I reached for my stuff.
“Throw that away for me?” I gestured toward the card Alan left.
“With pleasure.” Val agreed.
Outside, the thick, humid air smacked me in the face and stole my breath. It wasn’t anything at all like the balmy tropical breeze from the island. We’d been home a little over a month, and I still thought about our trip every day.
Dreamed about Carter almost every night.
Maybe Valerie was right. Maybe I had traded one man-hangover for another.
Carter
The screen on my phone lit up with a notification, giving me an excuse to avoid work. Pushing off my desk, the chair I sat in rolled backward as I snatched the phone and stood. Turning around to the window, which offered a hella nice view, I pulled up the message.
The photograph filling the screen made my fingers tighten around the device. It was just an ordinary photo, taken from a distance.
It didn’t matter.
It was enough.
Enough to transport me out of this office, out of reality, and back to that night.
Skin on skin. Lips on lips. The look in her eyes when I was inside her… Shaking my head, I tried to clear the memories rolling over me. Laying a palm flat against the window, I stared down at the photo again, bracing most of my weight on my arm.
Even set in reality, my good girl looked like a fantasy.
The cut-off shorts she wore were too short, exposing long, slim legs that sometimes I still felt wrapped around me. The sneakers on her feet splashed through the puddles on the streets, kicking up droplets of water that were frozen midair in the photo, making it appear as though raindrops danced around her.
The sudden image of her in my arms beneath the spray of the shower flashed in my head, and my throat constricted.
She was wearing my shirt. Seeing it knotted at her hip imparted a deep sense of satisfaction. It might have been just one night, but she hadn’t forgotten.
The pad of my thumb swiped over the image, bringing up a second, then a third.
One was of her sitting at a table with some man beside her. Jealousy was quick to kick up in my stomach, churning like a bad burrito and leaving a sudden foul taste in my mouth.
Closing out of the images, I pulled up the accompanying report. The second I finished reading the words, I hit the screen on my phone and brought it to my ear.
“Come in here,” I ordered, then disconnected.
Seconds later, Aaron let himself into my office and perched on the corner of my desk.
I didn’t beat around the bush. I wasn’t that type of guy. “There’s something I need you to do.”
Nora
I was right. Every internship worth having this summer (and even some that weren’t) were all full. Ever since Awful Alan decided we should play house in Boston, I’d been scouring the internet for something—anything—that wasn’t in Boston.
“Why?” I cried, shoving my laptop away so I could lay my head on the table and moan.
“I take it the search isn’t going well?” Val asked, coming into the kitchen to grab a soda from the fridge.
I made a grabby hand at her drink, so she handed it over, then reached in to get another. The sound of the tab popping open was satisfying. After a long drink and the prickly sensation of all the carbonation going down my throat, I shook my head miserably.
“You have to apply so early for this stuff. If I don’t go to Boston, I’m screwed.”
“Which is exactly what Alan wanted,” Val said, carrying her drink over to the table to drop into the seat across from me. “He knew you wouldn’t be able to find anything else. He’s totally taking advantage.”
“Why couldn’t I see what a colossal jerk he was when we were dating?” I grumped.
“He’s good. I’ll give him that,” Val allowed.
Pursing my lips, I said, “You never liked him.”
“I’m a bitter bitch. I don’t like anyone.”
“You like me,” I sang.
Without missing a beat, she replied, “You pay half the rent.”
Snatching the pen off the table, I threw it at her.
Val laughed and let the pen skid across the floor without batting an eye. “So are you going?”
I didn’t want to. However, if I didn’t, it would basically put me a year behind. True, I could still apply for jobs next year after I graduated, but I would be at a serious disadvantage to everyone else who had internships and letters of recommendation and actual experience.
Taking another sip of soda, I stared off into space while debating.
My phone started ringing, and I glanced at it, then away.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” Val asked.
“It’s an unknown call.”
“Ooh! My favorite!” Val exclaimed, snatching up the cell and answering. “City morgue. You kill it; we chill it!”
I snickered into my soda.
Instantly, Val straightened and her eyes went wide. “Uh, yes, hold on, please.” Lowering the line, s
he put her hand over the front of the phone. “They’re asking for Ms. Williams.”
I rolled my eyes. “Telemarketer.”
“He says he’s from Ansoft…” Valerie added, her voice trailing away.
My mouth dropped open. “Ansoft? Like that Ansoft?”
“Is there any other Ansoft?” Val asked.
I shook my head slowly. There was only one Ansoft… and it was huge in the technology world.
Holding out the phone, Valerie urged me to take it. I did but hesitated before putting it up to my ear.
“Hurry up!” Val whispered, motioning at me.
Swallowing, I answered, “This is Ms. Williams.”
“Ms. Nora Williams of the Digital Art and Design College of Savannah.”
“Yes,” I replied cautiously.
“I’m calling on behalf of Ansoft Corporation. Are you familiar with Ansoft?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Good. We recently decided to open a few spots for interns in our company, so we reached out to your university for a list of potential candidates that might fit who we are looking for. Your information was sent over, and we like what we see.”
Glancing at Val, I sat up straight. “You’ve seen my work?”
“Some of it,”
“Ah…” I didn’t know what to say. I mean, what did one say when a huge gaming company called to tell you they liked your design work?
“We’d like to offer you an internship at our company headquarters in Florida. You would report here at the end of May and finish up work mid-August.”
My mouth dropped open again.
Val knocked on the table, drawing my attention. “What?” she mouthed. “What?”
Shaking my head at her, I focused on the conversation. “I, ah, already have an internship at Net Tech for the summer.”
“Net Tech is a solid company. A safe choice. But based on what I see in your work, you would be more suited to the type of creative freedom a company like Ansoft allows.”
My head was spinning. Never in a million years would I have expected a phone call like this today. Glancing at my laptop, I noted the long list of technology and design companies I’d just been searching to try and find a replacement for Net Tech. Ansoft wasn’t even on my list. As far as I knew, they didn’t even take interns.
Mr. Fantasy: (A standalone romance) Page 5
