“I’m looking for Ms. Danica Withers, please,” I said.
“May I let her know who’s calling?” I gave her my name. “Please hold.” I sat in my office chair, waiting with impatience before the young woman came back. “Mr. Landen?”
“Yes?”
“Sorry for the wait. Ms. Withers said that she could really use that coffee right now.”
I laughed. “Tell her that I’ll be there in half an hour.”
As I hung up, my mind began to wander. I was so excited to help Anna that I forgot what meeting with Danica could entail aside from my pitch for help. Would she want to talk more than business? My stomach churned with anxiety.
Gathering my wits, I made the decision to keep this visit short and sweet. There’d be other times to rehash the past and discuss what happened between us a week ago, including Monday’s unfinished conversation about Jordan’s father.
Since when had life grown so complicated?
Heading for my car, I got in and sped off towards the center of town.
Chapter 20
I walked through Withers International’s doors and stopped at the reception desk. “Mr. Landen, here to meet with Ms. Withers.”
She got up. “Ms. Withers has instructed me to bring you to her office. You can wait there.” She led me to a rather large suite with mahogany furniture and finishes. “She’s just finishing up with a client and will be right with you. Can I get you anything while you wait?”
“That won’t be necessary, thank you.” She exited the room and shut the door behind her.
I took my time looking around. On the massive desk, that dominated the room, there were a few photos of her and her father, an older one of her parents, and one of her and Jordan.
I stopped to pick up the frame that contained mother and son, and smiled at the two silly faces looking back. It looked to be a recent photograph. I leaned on the edge of her desk, admiring the pose. They looked happy but I could tell that there was something missing in Danica’s eyes. To anyone, they wouldn’t have seen it. To someone who knew her, she looked tired — haunted — like the spark that used to be there had gone out and had never returned.
“It’s my favorite of the two of us.” I jumped at the sound of her voice, I looked up and handed the frame into her outstretched hand. Smiling down at it, she said, “I replaced the old one with this just this morning. It was taken the day we won against you in court.”
I nodded in understanding. She set the frame down and I caught the spicy-sweet scent of her perfume. She smelled good enough to eat. And just like that, scenes from my dreams began to replay in my mind, combining with the fresh memory of the feel of her body against mine from our most recent tryst.
If you thought that my erotic dreams had faded after that night, you’re wrong. If anything, they had grown more vivid and intense. With more time on my hands this week, I was now taking lengthier runs and my hot water bill was going to be next to nothing.
Caught up in my head, I didn’t realize how close she was until I felt the flat of her hands on my chest. I blinked and found myself looking down into her bright blue eyes.
“It’s good to see you again, Jacob.” She stretched up and kissed my cheek. As good as it felt to have her close enough to hold her, I needed to back away before my main reason for being there turned into a personal campaign.
I cleared my now parched throat. “It’s good to see you too.” I grabbed her hands, removed them from my chest, and let them drop to her sides before moving from between her and her desk.
She turned to face me and leaned back on the edge of the intimidating piece of furniture. Her arms were crossed at her chest and she looked as if she waited for me to say something. “I’m assuming that this isn’t a social visit so let’s deal with business before we go for coffee, shall we?” Her businesslike tone sent sparks of lust straight to my groin. I’ve always loved a woman in charge and last weekend, she had more than delivered on that.
“Right.”
Things couldn’t have gone better. Jumping at the chance to run PR for an organization that might not live to see the next year, but that she believed in, Danica was determined to look after Anna’s needs herself. Despite my mention of reduced fees, Danica argued that the services would be free because it was time for WI to get with the times and broadened the philanthropic commitments and outreach.
If anyone could turn things around for Anna, I knew that Danica could. The fact that Anna wouldn’t have to spend a dime on the services was a plus.
In the seat across from mine, excitement gleamed in her eyes. “Let me work out a plan to present to her. I know that we can turn this thing around and recoup the money she’s lost.” She perked up in her seat and clapped her hands together. “I think we should celebrate!”
I leaned back in my seat and smiled at her enthusiasm. “Remind me to hire you if I ever run for Congress.”
“You?” She leaned forward and slapped my thigh playfully. “You’d be the poster boy for indiscretions.”
“That was mean.” I feigned insult. Despite her joking manner, her words stung.
“I’m sorry.” Her hand came to rest on my knee and never left. I looked down at it, feeling the heat which spread to my groin. This situation had trouble written all over it.
Before anything could happen, I got up and headed to her office door. I turned to look at her and she seemed disappointed, not to mention, caught up in her own thoughts. “You coming?” Her head snapped up to look at me. “I thought you said you wanted to celebrate?”
She sighed. “About that. Uh… can I take a rain-check?”
What? She was flaking on me. For a moment, I was relieved because it meant that I wasn’t singled out in feeling the tension between us but I was also annoyed that she was trying to back out.
Well, I wasn’t having any of it.
I stalked up to her and stopped when we stood toe-to-toe.
“Jacob...”
“It’s just a drink, sweetheart.” I grinned. “We’ll save coffee for another time.”
“All right.”
Chapter 21
Opting for Fairfax, we found a table secluded from the coming and going of patrons. It wasn’t busy as of yet, seeing as it was mid-afternoon, but that would all change the moment work let out for the masses.
“I love it here.” Danica sighed and looked around. “I was happy to hear that Ben went through with opening this place despite everything he’s been through.” I watched the emotions cross her face. I knew that Ben and Danica knew each other well what with her brother, Mike, and him being close friends and all.
A year older than the both of us, Ben and I had gotten closer over the years. I wouldn’t go as much as to say that we were best of friends but we were more than mere acquaintances and hung out on a regular basis when he managed to get away from Fairfax.
Ben lost his wife and newborn daughter two years ago, in a fatal car collision. I never heard the specific details about the night, only that he’d been driving while Candace was unbuckled, tending to their daughter, then everything changed for him.
According to various newspapers and word of mouth, Ben’s wife was thrown from the windshield the instant the vehicle made impact with a deep culvert after hitting a patch of black ice. She was impaled by a tree limb.
Their daughter later died in hospital from being shaken while the vehicle flipped over on its descent. The newborn’s cranium had suffered a partial detachment from her spine. They never knew until they moved her. Even with securing her beforehand, everything went to hell.
“Jacob?” I felt her hand on mine.
“Huh?” I shook the morbid thoughts out of my mind and looked at Danica sitting across the table from me. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, just thinking.” I forced a smile. “I love it here too. I try and stop in when it’s slow so Ben can take a break. I don’t think the man stops much except for when it’s time
to close up.”
“You’re right.” I jumped as Ben came to stand at our table. “What can I get you two?”
“I’ll have a glass of white wine.” She looked from Ben to me. “I’ll be back. The little girls’ room is calling.”
Ben sat down and I felt his eyes on me as I watched her walk away. “I didn’t expect to see you two out together,” he said.
“There’s nothing going on.” I might have been too quick to say this.
“Uh… huh.” He wore a knowing grin. “You know you two were perfect together, right?”
My brow arched. “Why do you say that? If we were, she wouldn’t have left. You know, it’s not that she left really, it’s the way she did. I could have dealt with phone calls and letters. It wouldn’t have gone down the way it did.”
“Did you ever stop to think that there were reasons why she never kept in touch?” His expression had gone serious, almost haunted. He knew something. “Listen, all I can say is what Mike’s told me over the years because we’re like brothers. Danica’s like a sister to me. With that said, it’s her story to tell so I’m not going to go into details with you. Just know that she didn’t want to leave and she did want to keep in touch. She just couldn’t.” Ben got up and stood in front of me. My gaze was stuck to the table. “Mull that over before you decide anything. Whiskey, straight?” he asked.
“Yeah. You better bring two and a Bud Light chaser.”
“You got it.”
I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the information Ben gave me.
I caught sight of Danica walking toward me and smiled. As she arrived, so did Ben with our drinks.
“Here you go, folks. Would you like to see a menu?”
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Danica said and looked at me before shrugging her shoulders and I nodded. “I’m in no mood for cooking tonight.”
“Two menus, coming right up.”
What with the way that she took a few large gulps of her wine before setting it down, I would have said that Danica was nervous.
I laughed. “Pace yourself, honey, I’m sure Ben’s got more back there for you.”
She smirked. “We are celebrating aren’t we?”
“But there’s no need to get drunk because of it.” I downed the first of my whiskeys, ignoring my own words.
She harrumphed. “Says the man who’s drinking straight liquor.” I laughed. “So when are you planning on letting Anna know?” she asked.
“Tomorrow.”
“Can I be there? I’d like to meet her.”
“I was planning on calling her.” Quick to notice her look of disappointment, I added, “But we could go see her instead.” The smile that beamed told me that I had said the right thing.
“Hey, what are you doing for dinner tonight?” she asked.
My chuckle lacked the humor it needed. “Same thing I do every night, eat alone.”
“Not tonight, you’re not,” she said. “We’ll order our food, I’ll get something for Jordan, and then we can head over to mine if you’re up for it.”
I hesitated. “I don’t know.” Was it a good idea? Jordan is going to be there, it’s not like you’ll be alone and you kind of miss her kid.
“Come on.” Her eyes were hopeful. “Jordan’s been asking about you all week. He wants to know how we know each other.”
My heart thumped out of my chest. “What did you tell him?”
“That we attended school together as kids.” Then she smiled that mischievous smile of hers. “That you were the high school sweetheart that got away.” As soon as she said this, she looked away with a blush.
“You didn’t!” I laughed.
“I did.” Her blush deepened and she kept on talking. “I didn’t know what to say! I mean, one minute he’s bragging on and on about how cool you are and how he doesn’t feel like a kid around you and the next, I’m spilling my guts about our past and then...” Her words froze and her features darkened.
“What is it?” I made a grab for her hand.
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “It’s nothing. It’s all in the past and I’m here in the now… with a great friend… and I’m fine.”
“Fine?” I wasn’t going there with her friend comment. Not yet.
She nodded. “Yep, fine.”
“Seems to me that you’re doing more than fine, Nica.” She blinked and slid her hand from mine. “You’re running a multi-billion dollar company with your brother and father. You’re a single mother who’s raised a rather too smart for his own good son, you’re beautiful and successful. And despite the years and whatever’s happened between then and now, you’re still the same sweet, giving person that you’ve always been.” Where’d that come from? My words were honest but why had I felt so compelled to let her know what I saw, what I thought? You know you’ve never been able to stand to see her looking down or doubting herself.
She gave me a shy smile. “That’s sweet of you.”
Chapter 22
We received our food and headed out. I followed her car over to her place. On the drive over, I found myself overwhelmed with nerves at the evening ahead.
I tried to convince myself that it was just dinner with friends, as she’d said earlier, but the memories from last weekend kept replaying in my mind. Needless to say, I stuffed those erotic images in the recesses of my mind and trekked on. I could be her friend, right?
I stood behind her as she let us in. She called out to Jordan.
“Living room!” he said.
My feet were glued to the entrance floor as she headed into what I figured was the aforementioned room’s direction.
When she realized I hadn’t followed, she turned around and laughed. “What are you waiting for?” I felt my face heat up, removed my shoes and walked toward her.
“Hey, Mom.” Jordan gave me a puzzled look. “Hot shot, what are you doing here?”
“I invited him over for dinner.” She lifted the bags she still carried. “I picked us up some food from Fairfax.”
“Oh.” Why did he seem bummed out? “I was hoping that…” His voice trailed off.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Well, Trevor asked if we could hang out at his place tonight.” His eyes met mine and went back to his mother. “Can I?”
“That Trevor Callaghan kid?” He nodded. “Are his parents going to be there?” Another nod. “I would have liked to have met them before you stayed over.”
“Callaghan, as in Marty and Clara Callaghan?” I asked. Jordan looked at me, hesitated and then nodded. I laughed. “No need, Nica, you know them from school.”
Seconds trickled and Danica’s eyes widened. “No way! Marty and Clara got together?” I nodded. “I always knew they’d be perfect!” She was cute, sounding all school girl like.
“Mom!” Jordan called her attention back to the present. “So, can I?”
“Yes,” she said, “as long as it’s okay with Trevor’s parents.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Give them a call and make sure to let me know what time I need to drop you off for,” she said.
“No need. Trevor said he wanted to pick up a couple of games and some movies, I’ll get him to pick me up.”
I watched as Danica pondered this and then nodded. The kid sure knew how to play the game. I could see why Danica worried about him.
Throughout dinner, I was subjected to what I would call the Jordan Inquisition. He asked about how high school had been for me, what sports I played, what subjects I detested most, the girls I dated and Danica, all in that particular order. Suffice to say that the conversation was easy enough until we arrive to the topic of his mother and me.
“Mom said that you were the one that got away?”
“More like the other way around, don’t you agree, Nica?” I looked at her as I mumbled over a mouthful of food.
I was uncomfortable talking about our past. We were about to rehash pain from our youth with her son in the room. I would have preferred
to discuss things with her alone first, worried that her observant son became aware of how deep my feelings for his mother once ran.
“Why do you call her that?” he asked.
“What… you mean, Nica?” He nodded and my eyes met his mother’s. She gave me a sad smile. “It’s a nickname I gave her a long time ago.”
“She doesn’t like it,” Jordan said.
“Jordan!” Her head snapped to her son.
“What? You don’t!”
“You don’t?” I asked.
“It’s not that, it’s that I don’t like hearing it from anyone else but…” Her voice dropped along with her eyes.
Jordan’s gaze swayed between us. “But I thought… when Bruce...” His words halted when his mother’s gaze turned to ice. “Oh! Okay, I get it, now. It’s a thing between the two of you.”
“Exactly,” Danica snapped, “now can we leave it?”
“How’d you guys get together anyway?” Jordan continued.
“We were friends. For the longest time, it was her, Paxton and me,” I said.
“Paxton’s the man you met at the mall the other day,” Danica added.
Jordan nodded. “So you were all friends and then what?”
“Why the sudden interest?” If he wasn’t going to answer his mother having asked the same question, maybe I’d have better luck. Fat chance.
“Because I want to know more about you. Mom never talks about the people she left here when Granddad took her away.”
Took her away? That was an interesting choice of words from a kid his age.
“Jordan, that’s enough!” Her words were terse.
“No, Mom! You never talk about that time in your life. I want to know!”
She slammed her hand on the table and stood up. “No! It’s too hard to deal with, dammit!” When I looked at her, her gaze was lowered and averted from me.
“Nica, it’s…” I said.
She tilted her head toward me but never lifted it enough for our eyes to meet and turned to exit the room. “I’m sorry, Jacob. Just… give me a minute, okay?”
Almost Forgotten (Contemporary Erotic Romance) (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 2) Page 8
