Chapter Four
April stopped by the bar and ordered another Cupid’s Arrow. Swallowing the first one quickly, she motioned for Joe to bring her another.
“Hey, where’s your friend,” he said refilling her glass.
“Oh, well, it’s time for us to work so he went to find his people.”
Joe nodded and moved on to service others. April scoffed and gulped down half the contents in the glass.
“You’re the one who should be finding your people, April,” she muttered to herself. “Yeah, it was the best sex you’ve had in over a year…well, it was the only sex you’ve had in a year, but that’s not the point. Who am I kidding? That was the best sex I ever had. But was it worth losing your job over? That’s the twenty-thousand dollar question.”
The query settled into her buzzed brain. Her body still tingled from Grant’s touch. She could feel the stretch in her thigh muscles and her pussy from riding him and a smile touched her lips as she raised her cup to finish her drink. When her drink was gone, April dropped the empty cup with a dull clunk, then groaned.
“I’m so fired,” she said hanging her head.
“April, there you are.”
She snapped her head upright and spun on her stool.
“I wondered if you were here yet. I’m so sorry I was late. The wife held me up asking a bunch of crazy questions. I told her I had to be here by eight o’clock since I told you to be here. As you can see that didn’t matter to Mrs. Bowman. Here it is after ten o’clock and I’ve just been here about ten minutes,” her boss said on a laugh. “I guess this doesn’t count as fashionably late, does it? This is just plain ole late!” he added laughing harder.
Stunned by her boss’ explanation, April could barely form a reply.
“Uhh…”
“Well, the good news is I’ve already found the client. Ran right into him as I was coming in the door. He is completely on board and he introduced me to a friend of his. The friend owns his own restaurant in Carmel and he’s interested in our services as well!” he announced jovially. “So we’ve killed two birds with one party,” he joked, then offered his hand to her. “Come along, April. I want you to meet them so we can seal the deal.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Since I hadn’t found you yet I gave them a sorry proposal, but I explained that you were much better at that type of thing than I.”
Full comprehension still wasn’t restored. “Uh-huh.”
He chuckled. “Are you all right?”
Finally her brain was back on track. “Yes, sir, I’m fine. Did you say you’ve only been here for a little bit?”
“Yes, not even a half hour. Sorry you were stuck here waiting on me. I know you really didn’t want to come out to this shindig.”
Relief flooded through her as he pulled through the crowd to a table. April couldn’t help but smile at her good fortune. She could cherish the memory of her wonderful fling with Grant without it having a bitter end of losing her job behind it. They arrived at the table with the clients and her smile was replaced by a stunned intake of breath.
“April Harding, this is Daniel Robbins and Grant Murphy our new clients. Mr. Murphy owns Chef Murphy’s Bistro. He’s the friend I mentioned,” he added close to her ear.
She swallowed her shock quickly putting her best smile in place. “Hello, Mr. Robbins, it’s nice to meet you. Mr. Murphy, wonderful to meet you as well.”
Grant stood and smiled at her. “The pleasure is mine in meeting you, April. What a beautiful name.”
She could hear the lust in his voice as he kissed her hand. Her pulse raced as her body remembered his touch.
“Since Robbins here has already heard our shtick I will take him with me. April, will you bring Mr. Murphy up to speed on our products and how we do things since he will be joining our team?”
“Of course, Mr. Bowman.”
“Excellent! This is cause for celebration. We shall return with drinks so that we can toast our new relationship. We’re all going to be great friends from here on out.”
April watched her boss leave then turned to Grant. “What happened? How did you become our new client?”
“When I found Dan he mentioned Mr. Bowman from Spit Shine called to tell him he was running late but would be here any minute. That’s when I realized he was meeting your boss and by extension you.”
Grant brought both her hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. April stepped closer to him. Her core throbbed reacting to his closeness. The near two hours she had spent with him were the best she had in a long time. Did she really want to give up the chance that it might work with him?
“Grant, you didn’t agree to be our client just so we could have another chance to hook up, did you?”
“Absolutely not. I agreed because you convinced me that the product was good. I consider it a fringe benefit that I’ll see more of you if we’re working together.”
“What kind of fringe benefits were you hoping for?”
She gasped as Grant pulled her against his torso. “I don’t believe in coincidences, April, but I believe that everything happens for a reason. I think this whole situation is fate. This party, your boss running late, us meeting, our time together, it was all part of a divine plan.”
“What plan?” she asked breathlessly.
He smiled. “The plan to bring us together. You probably don’t believe in fate since you don’t believe in love at first sight, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. “Cupid lined up his arrow and you and I was his target. We belong together,” he told her with a happy grin. “I want to be with you, by whatever means necessary. I want you to give me a chance to prove to you that love at first sight is real because I do love you.”
Before she could form some kind of response to his affirmation, her boss and Mr. Robbins returned. April stepped out of his arms widening the space between her and Grant, but he made sure to stay beside her. The men handed them each a glass. Mr. Bowman raised his in toast.
“The bartender said this was some kind of special lover’s drink or something. From the looks of the people in this place I wouldn’t be surprised if he slipped some kind of aphrodisiac in it,” he added with a chuckle. “Anyway, to us and a long association together!”
Grant raised his glass with everyone else, but his eyes never left April’s. “My sentiments exactly,” he whispered to her.
They drank together and she moved closer to him. “I think Mr. Bowman may be right about the drinks. The bartender may have slipped us all a Mickey,” she said shaking her cup.
He chuckled. “Everyone does look a little looser than they did earlier.”
“So you’re agreeing that everyone got slipped a Mickey?” April teased with a raised brow.
Grant laughed. He took her hand and pulled her to the side away from the other men.
“That doesn’t go for us, baby. What we got growing between us has nothing to do with the drinks. That, sweetheart is plain old fashion love.”
“Well, since you feel so strongly about it I was thinking the least I can do is let you convince me.”
Grant slipped his hand around her waist and yanked her to him. She gasped as an exhilarating tremor ran through her body. His lips brushed across hers as he spoke.
“I think that would be a benefit to us both.”
Her body heated for him again. Maybe he was right. She would be crazy to let go of a man that could arouse her so easily without even seeing if it would work.
“I—I wasn’t a big fan of Valentine’s Day before today,” April confessed.
He smiled. “Well I’m going to have to change that. I’ll start by making this the first of a series of ‘best Valentine’s Day of all’ for you.”
*THE END*
Accidental Valentines
by
Daisy Dunn
Chapter One
Alex stood in front of his high-rise office window overlooking the city of Chicago late
in the evening. His firm was situated on the fifty-ninth floor, making streetlights and neon signs appear as tiny burst of dotted lights breaking through the darkness. On this bitter cold February night, a gentle snow fell blanketing the city, making the evening seem calm. The peace and tranquility he felt at the moment had been the most he’d experienced in months. Seeing his bitter wife Sally made him dread every second of returning home.
They’d drifted apart in the past few years and fighting seemed to be their only means of communication. Sally’s changed or maybe I have. Warring with his emotions, he decided to ask his wife to go for marriage counseling with him. At thirty-eight years old, he didn’t want to throw away ten years together. Lately, he found himself working longer hours, so he wouldn’t have to face the chaos and anger greeting him at the door almost every night. The time had come for him to stop ignoring the problems—whatever they may be—and find a solution for both their sakes.
Taking a deep breath, he sighed, knowing he had to leave his cocoon of safety and solitude. Sorrow filled his heart as he turned away from the window, and headed out of his office, forcing himself to go home.
Twenty minutes later, he parked his Mercedes in the garage. Composing himself for their talk tonight, he took a few minutes to go over the situation in his mind. Please let her listen to me.
He emerged from his vehicle and entered the house through the side door. Hanging up his coat and taking off his shoes, he wasted as much time as possible before having to face Sally. Finally, he walked into the living room and noticed her suitcases sitting beside the front door. He turned and headed into the kitchen and found her leaning on the counter writing something on a pad of paper.
“Hi, Sally.”
“Oh, you startled me. I didn’t hear you come in. I’ve been writing you a note.”
“Why are your suitcases by the front door?” His muscles tensed, and he prepared himself for the worst.
“I’m getting ready to leave,” she answered with a smug smile.
“Where are you going?”
“Well, if you haven’t figured it out, I guess I’ll have to spell it out for you. I’m leaving you for another man. I’ve been having an affair for over a year, and he wants me to move in with him.” Scowling, she strode over to him and started jabbing him in the chest with her long fingernail. “You’re such a useless man. I want nothing more to do with you. I’ll be talking to a lawyer next week, and as you know, half of everything is mine.”
Alex stood before her dumbfounded. With his heart in tatters, and knowing things weren’t the best between them, he had honestly wanted to make their marriage work. This hadn’t been the first time she cheated on him. After the last incident she begged him to give her another chance. This time, there would be no second chances.
“Leave.” He clenched his jaw to keep himself from saying anything else.
“Gladly. At least Kevin will be there for me instead of leaving me by myself all the time. And the sex sure as hell is better!” Glaring at him, she bated him for an argument as usual.
Instead, he walked to the front door, opened it, and stood back, giving her plenty of room to march out of their house. Grabbing her purse off the kitchen counter and two bottles of wine, she looked at her bags, and then back at him. “Aren’t you going to put them in the car for me?”
Aghast of her audacity, he looked at her with pure disgust. “Get your own bags.”
“Never mind, I’ll send for my things in the morning. By the way, happy Valentine’s Day, darling.”
He had forgotten what day it had been, but for years the occasion had lost all romance for him, as had his marriage. Angry, he watched as she sauntered into the night and out of his life, this time for good. Slamming the door behind her, he went to his den to pour himself a scotch on the rocks.
With a fresh drink in his hand, he turned on the gas fireplace and sat in his favorite brown leather chair. Gazing into the fire, he nursed his drink for a while thinking about what had transpired tonight and found himself quite relieved, as if a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He loathed her right now, but brought up his glass in a toast. “Here’s to you, Sally, may you be someone else’s problem for a change. Good riddance.”
* * * *
Catrina sat on the couch reading a book as her cell phone rang, breaking the silence in the room. Reaching over to the coffee table, she hoped her husband would be the one on the other end of the line. The number displayed on the screen made her smile. It’s him.
“Hello, Phil.”
“Hello, doll. Sorry about the late night. We just got out of our meeting and both sides have agreed to the terms of the merger. Bring out the champagne because we’re going to celebrate tonight.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful news. I’m so happy for you. All you’re hard work has finally paid off.”
“Yes, it has. I know we didn’t make plans for Valentine’s Day because of this merger, but since I’m the boss, I told everyone I’m taking a week off to spend with my beautiful wife. However, I didn’t tell my employees I intend to spend that time ravishing the hell out of you and treating you much better than the neglected wife you’ve been.”
“I’m so excited. I’ll get the champagne out and ready for your arrival.”
“Perfect. I’m getting into my car now, and I should be home within half an hour. Would you mind wearing that slinky, black negligee I love so much?”
“I’m already two steps ahead of you. I’m wearing it right now.” Catrina giggled like a school girl waiting for her date to come home.
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Phil?”
“Yes?”
An uncertain feeling overcame her and she blurted out, “I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetie. Bye for now.”
“Bye.”
Her heart beat a little faster as she stared at her cell phone after hanging up. Something troubled her, but she couldn’t say what. Shaking her head, she placed the phone back on the coffee table. Maybe I’m feeling anxious for him to come home. She shrugged her shoulders and headed into the kitchen to get the champagne ready for their romantic Valentine’s evening.
A loud knock echoed through the quiet house. Catrina jumped, feeling groggy and unaware of her surroundings at first. Sitting up, she realized she’d fallen asleep on the couch waiting for Phil to return home. When is he going to learn to stop forgetting his key?
She walked to the door anxious to strut her satin and lace barely-covered body in front of him. Something told her they wouldn’t even make it to the champagne. The knock came again, but this time a voice erupted through the door. “Mrs. Catrina Lund? This is the police. Please open up.”
She froze, confused. What the hell would the police want with me? I’m a law abiding citizen. Returning to the couch, she grabbed her pink robe lying on the armrest, put it on, and went back to the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw two large uniformed police officers standing on her front step, a dusting of snow accumulating on their dark hats and broad shoulders.
Opening the door a crack, she said, “Yes?”
“Are you Mrs. Catrina Lund?” the taller of the two men asked.
“Yes I am. What seems to be the problem?”
“Can we come in, ma’am?”
“Of course, come in. It’s pretty cold out tonight.” She opened the door wide enough for both men to come in.
All of a sudden, one of them had a call coming through from the radio attached to his shoulder. “I’m going to have to take this. I’ll be right back,” the shorter man said. Disappearing into the falling snow, he seemed to be engulfed by the flakes in a matter of seconds.
“I’m Officer King and that’s my partner, Office Vicks.” He made his introductions as he stepped inside and closed the entrance.
“Can I get you a cup of coffee?” Confused, she didn’t know what the proper etiquette was for a night time visit from the cops. She realized they weren’t here to arrest her, or they would
have done it by now.
“No, thank you, Mrs. Lund,” he said as he took his hat off. Standing before her, he appeared nervous or at least anxious about something.
“If you’re looking for my husband, he should be home soon. I got off the phone with him I think about half an hour ago. I’m not positive because I feel asleep on the couch.”
“At what time did you last speak with him?”
“Around eight o’clock. Why? Has he done something wrong?” Turning, she glanced at the clock in the hallway. “Two forty-five? I can’t believe he didn’t wake me up. I’ll run up the stairs and get him for you.”
“No, ma’am. That isn’t necessary. This is about your husband.”
“What? I don’t understand?”
“I’m so sorry to tell you this, but your husband has been killed in a head-on car crash. We don’t know all the details yet, but we were informed he died upon impact. He didn’t suffer.”
The words flew inside her and wrapped around her heart, bursting it into pieces. “No, you’re mistaken. I’m positive he’s upstairs. Please let me go get him, please, I beg you, let me get him.” Tears welled in her eyes, as she fought to understand the obvious lies Officer King told her.
“No, Mrs. Lund. Your husband is not upstairs.” Reaching into his heavy coat, he pulled out a manila envelope. “These are his belongings.”
With sadness in his expression, he handed the package to her, but she took a step away from him shaking her head. “No, I can’t take that, it doesn’t belong to him. Whatever’s in there, it’s not Phil’s. I’m telling you, he’s not dead, he can’t be. I just talked to him.”
“Is there someone I can call for you, a family member or friend to come and be with you?”
“No.”
“I’m going to leave this for you right here,” he said as he set the envelope on the ground in front of her as well as a business care. “When you’re ready, you can open it up. If you need to talk to someone, I’ve left you a card with a support line phone number on it. Please don’t hesitate to call them at anytime. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Placing his hat back on his head, he nodded to her, and hustled out of her house without looking back.
Five Hearts Anthology Page 11
