Cruising Love

by Lexy Timms

  “Something smells delightful in here,” she said.

  “Honey-basil chicken with garlic whipped potatoes and apple-cider roasted vegetables.”

  “Wow,” she said breathlessly. “That’s a hell of a meal.”

  “It’s for a hell of a woman,” I said. “Care for a glass of wine?”

  “I’d love some.”

  I went to grab a bottle from my collection as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I picked it up and saw it was an unknown number and a chill shivered down my spine. Plucking a vintage white wine from the wall, I peeked out into the kitchen before I took the call.

  Abby wasn’t looking this way and she wasn’t lurking around the corner to hear, so I felt safe enough to take the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Colin.”

  I recognized his slimy little voice instantly.

  “Derek,” I said.

  “I just wanted to thank you for the deal we cut. I wanted to let you know that you can call off your P.I. I’ll be leaving town in the morning.”

  “Then he’ll be with you for another forty eight hours, just to make sure you’re solid on your word,” I said.

  “You really love her, don’t you?” he asked.

  “Not that I care to defend myself to you, but yes,” I said.

  “Ah, well. I guess even someone like her could snag someone.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked.

  “See ya around, Colin.”

  I clenched my fist as the call went dead. Immediately after the call, I got a text from Arthur. It confirmed what Derek had said about him leaving town, and I told Arthur to stay on him and make sure that actually took place. There was something I still didn’t trust about this guy. Even if he was just trying to get under my skin, I wasn’t cutting any corners just because he decided to pay me a friendly phone call.

  “Colin?” Abby asked. “Everything okay?”

  I took a deep breath and put on my best smile before I walked out.

  “So sorry. Just a work call,” I said.

  “Something wrong?” she asked. “You look a bit pale.”

  “Actually, it was good news. I’m—cautiously optimistic.”

  “Well, that’s good then. We can toast to it,” she said.

  “Sounds like a plan. To futures unspoken and blossoming love.”

  I poured us each a glass of wine before we clinked them together.

  “Here-here,” she said.

  The evening was relaxing and just what we needed. We ate dinner at the table and talked, laughing over work gossip and catching each other up on things around the city. I listened as she talked about her apartment, her eyes lighting up with each and every word. A part of me was still aching for her to move back in. Aching to hold her at night and wake up to her scent underneath my nose. But the way her eyes twinkled with her independence, and the way she was so excited about decorating—I didn’t have the heart to tell her how much I missed her.

  How much I worried about her.

  Our conversation moved from the kitchen to the couch as we polished off the bottle of wine. We sat there, her body nestled into mine as a fire roared in the fireplace. Memories of Christmas night came tumbling back into my mind as my fingertips traced designs on the skin of her arm.

  How I wanted to fuck her body against the windows of my home again.

  A home that was going to be our home soon.

  “Thank you for dinner,” she said.

  “Thank you for coming,” I said.

  “I’m sorry I’m not any more energetic than this.”

  “No need to be sorry. It’s been an interesting few days for us both.”

  I heard her sigh heavily as her body melted into mine before she jolted and sat up.

  “Yikes. I think I’m more tired than I thought,” she said, giggling.

  “Well, then let’s get you to bed. I’ll go pull back the covers and I think you have a nightgown still here.”

  “I do?” she asked

  “I think so. But if all else fails, you can just wear one of my shirts.”

  “Actually, I think I’m going to venture home.”

  Home.

  The word stopped me in my tracks.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You know, back to my apartment? It’s been such a whirlwind, coming here and things with work and Derek popping up randomly. I just—sort of want to be in my own bed.”

  Red flags were popping up everywhere in my vision and I tried to shake them away. Abby looked so tired and so vulnerable. How many glasses of wine had she had?”

  “Should you be driving with the wine in your system?” I asked.

  “Oh, I took an Uber to get here.”

  “You did what?” I asked.

  “Colin, it’s not a big deal. I know you’re scared with me being in this new city, but I’m learning my way around. You know, sinking my claws into it or whatever. I promise that it’s fine. I figured we would be having wine, so I didn’t drive.”

  “Then let me at least send you with my driver,” I said.

  “Colin. Eventually you’re going to have to stomach the fact that I’m independent. Eventually you’re going to have to be okay with the fact that it’s not your money I want.”

  “But what is your independence going to cost us?” I asked.

  Her eyes held mine with a confused look before her face slowly melted into stone.

  “Abby, I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”

  “I should be going,” she said.

  “Abby, please. Just stay and let’s talk about it. It’s obvious we both have some things we need to say. Let’s just say them.”

  “Right now, all I need is sleep. Thank you for dinner, Colin. It was lovely.”

  The elevator doors opened and she stepped in swiftly. I knew better than to go after her. It would only give her fuel for her argument. I pleaded with my eyes to try and get her to stay. I tried to silently communicate with her that all I wanted was to be close to her. To be next to her at night.

  To be her fiancé, for fuck’s sake.

  But instead, the elevator doors closed and I listened as the humming dragged her down. I looked down from my penthouse apartment and watched her step out into the street, getting into some foreign car with some foreign person driving it. I pulled out my phone and sent her a text message, telling her to let me know when she got home safely.

  Then, I sat by the fire and allowed the memories of our relationship to drench me.

  Because at that moment, those memories were all I had.

  Chapter 8

  Abby

  I stopped in the coffee shop next to my apartment building before work. The sun was shining brightly onto the city, rousing it from cozy slumber. Cars were on the road and people were out walking their dogs. The smell of different coffees wafted under my nose as I entered the coffee shop. I’d woken up with a lot on my mind and was ready to get into work. I was ready to throw myself into the job so I could try to get my mind off of all the things that were spiraling around me.

  I grabbed my coffee before a man appeared at my side. Dressed in black and donning a familiar hat, I sighed as he escorted me to the car. I wished I could walk to work and experience Los Angeles in the morning. I wanted to walk by a food stand and get breakfast from the back of a truck. I wanted to get my coffee from a street vendor that made it just a bit too strong. I wanted to take a detour by the beach and take my heels off, digging my toes into the sand just before work.

  But Colin had this car waiting for me every morning, and I had no other choice.

  The driver escorted me out of the building and off to the side of the car. He opened my door for me and smiled kindly, waiting for me to step in so he could take me to work.

  I debated not even getting in until a voice rose from behind me.

  “Abby.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Now, all I wanted to do was get in the car and drive away as fast as possible. The driver stepped in fro
nt of me, putting a wall between myself and Derek.

  I turned around and stepped to the side so I could take my ex in with my own two eyes.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. “I never called you.”

  “Well, I informed your fiancé I was leaving, so I figured I should let you know as well.”

  “You informed my fiancé?” I asked.

  “Yes. I called him last night.”

  My mind flashed to the business call he took and I felt my skin crawling with anger.

  “Well, good fucking riddance,” I said.

  “He must really love you,” he said.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” I asked.

  “To pay off your lawsuit. He must really love you.”

  “What lawsuit?” I asked.

  I watched Derek’s eyes sparkle with delight as I shivered. Whatever the hell he was baiting me for, I’d stepped right into his trap. I dug around for my phone in my pocket, ready to press the speed dial button and get Colin’s ass over here.

  Now I was beginning to be thankful for the car he sent for me every morning.

  “Interesting. I guess your fiancé must’ve squashed it before it got to you,” Derek said.

  “What lawsuit!?” I asked.

  “I wouldn’t yell if I were you,” he said, as he nodded across the street. “People are watching.”

  Turning my head, I saw paparazzi across the road. I saw them trying to get out into the street, being cut off by cars whizzing down the busy road. The L.A. morning was growing louder and louder and my heart was pounding in my ears. The driver of the car honked the horn, trying to urge me to get in so he could get me to work safely.

  “What lawsuit?” I asked, with a whisper.

  “It doesn’t matter. Your fiancé paid me off, so I’ll be on my way.”

  “He what?” I asked.

  I watched as Derek shoved his hand into his pocket, and taking out a check he set it in my hands. Smoothing out the crumpled piece of paper, my eyes scanned the document. It was a check cut for fifty thousand dollars. Paid to my ex by one Colin Murphy.

  My hands were trembling as the check fluttered to the ground.

  “Anyway,” Derek said, as he picked it up. “Sorry to blindside you. I figured you’d be happy about my leaving.”

  “I hope your car runs off a cliff,” I said, breathlessly.

  Derek grinned at me before he turned and walked away, leaving me trembling as the mass of paparazzi finally made it to my side of the road. Lights flashed in my face and people were throwing questions at me as I fell into the car. The driver took off before I could even get the door closed, and tears streaked my cheeks as I clutched my coffee.

  Derek was trying to sue me? How the hell did I not know this? What the fuck was he trying to sue me for? What the hell did I do to him!?

  And how the fuck did Colin know about it?

  The driver pulled me up to the back door of Murphy, Inc. headquarters and I slammed through the doors. I headed straight for the elevator, taking it all the way up to the top. I stalked off the elevator and dropped my stuff on my desk, then made a beeline for Colin’s office.

  I was furious, and I was done with all of this.

  “Abby, good mor—what’s wrong?”

  “What lawsuit?” I asked.

  “Abby, come sit down. What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Don’t you touch me! What lawsuit was Derek talking about?”

  I watched him get up from his desk as his face set itself into stone.

  “Derek approached you again?” he asked.

  “Answer my fucking question.”

  My hands were clenched into fists, trembling at my side as I stared down my fiancé. Who the hell did he think he was? Who the hell did any of these men think they were!? I was ready to end this all. I was ready to throw in the towel, go home to my parents, and find another fucking career altogether. I’d had it with the paparazzi and the cameras. I’d had it with the secrets and the lies. I’d had it with Colin thinking he could buy me, like I was some prize horse to be bought and quarantined for the rest of my life.

  But more than that, I felt betrayed. Betrayed by a man I once loved, and betrayed by the man I loved now. I was now staring into the eyes of my fiancé who was apparently able to look me in the face and lie.

  “Did you know about the lawsuit when you showed up at my apartment?” I asked.

  “Abby, if you’ll just sit—”

  “Answer me! And I swear to fuck if you lie to me, I’m done.”

  I saw fear run behind Colin’s eyes before he leaned his hip against his desk.

  “Yes,” he said. “I did.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “Abby, please.”

  “How the fuck did you know and I didn’t?” I asked.

  “A private investigator.”

  It was like a punch to the gut. I felt the wind being knocked out of me as I stumbled back. I braced myself against the heavy wooden door of Colin’s office, and I could tell he wanted to approach me. To run after me and hold me close. But the thought of his arms wrapped around me made me sick, and I wanted nothing to do with him.

  “You hired a P.I.? To do what? To follow me or something?”

  “No. I hired him to make sure there was nothing in your background the media could spin once they found out about our engagement.”

  “And you didn’t think to just sit down and ask me?”

  “Would you have told me the truth?” he asked.

  “We’re engaged, Colin!? How the hell is that even a question if we’re engaged!?”

  I felt tears of helplessness running down my cheeks as I closed my eyes. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think straight. I felt like I was falling into an endless abyss before the world tilted upside down and pushed me from the sky. The coffee I’d had earlier was coming up my throat, threatening to spew all over Colin’s office as I closed my eyes.

  “Abby, just take a deep breath,” he said.

  “Don’t you dare tell me what to do,” I said. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

  “I only found out about the lawsuit by proxy. He hadn’t served you yet, and I thought it would be best if I handled it. He was coming after you. He wanted to sue you for whatever it was you would ever have throughout the course of your life. He was going to use the common law marriage tactic to syphon money off you for the rest of your life. The rest of our lives.”

  I slowly opened my eyes as they hooked onto Colin’s form. He was gripping the edge of his desk, doing everything in his power to stay rooted. I slid my hand down to the doorknob and opened the door and I saw him push off his desk.

  “I have to take a few days off,” I said.

  “Abby, please. Just come sit down and let’s talk about this.”

  “I’ll be back in a few days,” I said.

  “Abby.”

  His hand came down onto my wrist and I looked up into his eyes. He was pleading with me. Silently crying out for me to stop. My heart leapt out for him, but my brain was telling me to get out. My gut was churning for him, but my legs were telling me to run.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, as tears ran down my cheeks. “I’ll see you later.”

  Then I rushed out of his office, grabbed my things, and ran for the elevator as Colin called after me.

  Chapter 9

  Colin

  It had been twenty four hours since Abby had barged out of my office telling me she needed a few days. The news was running headline after headline of her on the street with some guy. But it wasn’t just any guy. I recognized that slimy little face.

  Derek had cornered her on the street, and I was infuriated.

  I couldn’t get Abby’s face out of my mind. How scared she looked in that last shot just before she ducked into the car. Why she didn’t get into the car sooner was beyond me, and what the fuck had the driver been doing? I felt like firing someone. I needed to regain control of the situation again. My driver was done, and I’d post a sec
urity guard outside of her apartment door. Maybe this would convince her to move in with me. Maybe this would convince Abby to see that I could only protect her as much as she let me. My fears weren’t unfounded. People out there would want to attack her like this for the rest of her life now that she was successful and attached to me.

  Where the hell had my fiancé gone?

  That man didn’t have any right to tell Abby what he did. I called up my lawyer and asked her if this encounter had been a breach of the paperwork he had signed. And of course, there wasn’t. I’d paid this damn lawyer thousands of dollars to take care of this, and she’d forgotten to put the one clause in that damn paperwork that mattered.

  Best lawyer in L.A., my ass.

  Sitting in my office, I picked up my phone again. I dialed Abby’s number in the hopes that she would pick up. I wasn’t going to try and convince her to come home, nor was I going to try and make her talk. I would simply ask if she wanted him try to figure out where she was. I needed to know she was okay. I needed to know she was safe.

  Especially since Derek was apparently just wandering the fucking streets with fifty grand, and nothing to keep him away from Abby.

  Then, after calling her for the third time that day, she finally picked up.

  “Colin, what do you want?” she asked.

  She sounded exhausted, and it only fueled my desire to know where she was.

  “I just want to talk, if you’ll let me,” I said.

  “I told you I was taking a few days to myself. I don’t think bosses would call their employees like this,” she said.

  “Good thing I’m not calling as your boss, then.”

  “I’m just not sure I want to talk with you right now. Why can’t you respect that?”

  “Because you won’t pick up your phone to tell me anything,” I said.

  There was silence on the other end of the line and I was praying she wouldn’t hang up.

  “Are you safe?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Colin—”

  She was begging me to stop, yet something inside me just couldn’t drop it.

  “I just want to know you’re safe,” I said.

  “Then trust me when I tell you that I am.”