by Jayne Blue
Chapter Seven
Valerie
* * *
“Trent, that was sweet. I understand your worry. But please, don’t get so mad.”
“I’m not mad. I was worried. You disappear and then that text? I’m sorry, but that was so dangerous, going off with him.” She guided Trent as they drove from downtown Grand City to the River Road section where her uncle and aunt lived.
She knew full well that Trent had never been to this part of town. Just like she hadn’t. They had only seen the houses on the river. They’d never even dreamed of being in one. But here she was.
“Trent, he’s really awesome. I mean really. He took care of me. I don’t know. I just got so, uh, panicked, out of nowhere when we were in the bar.”
“That’s ridiculous. You were perfectly fine. You were with the girls and me. Stop being dramatic.” Trent was annoyed, no question about it. And Valerie was hurt that he wouldn’t hear her out.
“No, it was like I had a heart attack.” She wanted to have Trent’s understanding. She wanted what she’d just had with Zane. Well, not the kissing part, but at least the part where he gave her a chance to process what had happened.
“He drags you out of the bar, he accosts you in the parking lot. Is this the kind of people these fighters are? Because it sucks. You’re lucky I got there when I did.”
“It wasn’t like that Trent. You’re the one being ridiculous.”
“This is like the Josh situation. Remember, junior year?”
Josh Wilkins was her first serious boyfriend, and he was a jerk. She’d complained up and down to Trent about it. Trent had been her sounding board. Her bestie. But right now, he was acting like a jealous asshole. He was her friend, not her boyfriend. But even as a friend Trent was a total fail right now.
“You’re wrong. Turn up here.”
They pulled into the long curving driveway.
“Jesus Christ Val. This is like Stately Wayne Manor or something.”
She did laugh at that. Trent could always make her laugh.
“I know. A little over the top. I live there. Above the garage.” She pointed to it.
“Good.”
“I texted for an Uber for you, it’s going to be here in a minute.”
“You know I could stay, crash on your couch like you’ve been doing on mine.”
It was true. She’d been on Trent’s couch a million times, it always felt normal, comfortable, easy. But something was different. Trent’s reaction to Zane had put her on edge, and she didn’t want any more drama for one night.
“Trent. I know you don’t believe me, but something did happen to me tonight, I don’t know what. But now I’m tired, and I just need to crash. I appreciate you driving me home but look the Uber’s here already.” She saw the headlights. Thank god. Valerie just wanted out of the car and in her bed.
“Fine. But stop ignoring me. I’m your friend, and I’m here to help you and stop you from stupid relationships like that fighter asshole.”
“I like him, Trent. I like him a lot. Don’t be mean.”
“You’re drunk.”
“You know I’m not.” Trent was protective of her. She knew that. Sometimes it got annoying, but he meant well she reminded herself.
“Fine, well now I know where you live. If you disappear, again I’m going to come over here and get you.” Trent got out of the car. Valerie felt relief at that. She just wanted him out of her hair. She hated to think it, but maybe she had outgrown Trent. Did you outgrow a person?
Trent hugged her tight, and it hurt a bit.
“Good night.” Trent let go and headed to the now waiting car. He walked away but kept looking back at her. Valerie waved goodbye and then went up to her apartment. She was starting to love her little corner of the Thompson’s world. Getting back here had her feeling calmer and safer.
It had been a crazy few hours. She wondered if what Zane said was right. Did she have PTSD from what happened to her parents?
Valerie felt her phone buzz. Ugh, it was probably Trent again. She reluctantly dug it out of her pocket, and the number was new.
“Drink water, sleep, eat breakfast, text Zane.” Said the text. She felt a smile on her lips. It was Zane. She felt a little thrill in her heart, it quickened at the sight of his name. She added Zane to her phone contacts.
She paused a moment. Should she play hard to get? She admitted to herself that it was probably way too late for that. The thought of him kissing her outside the restaurant had her hot all over again. Yeah, there was no way Valerie could pretend that she wasn’t interested in Zane Diggs.
It was the only thing she was interested in, other than learning her new job. Maybe it was a good thing. You were supposed to have balance in life, and a month after her life turned upside down it was also very one-sided. It was all work. Not that she was complaining but a little romance? A little flirting? That sounded very appealing if it was with this gorgeous man who’d also been patient when she’d freaked out.
She texted back.
“Is that your prescription Dr. Diggs?”
“Yeah, and a bath.” Came the quick response on her phone.
“A bath will help with my anxiety?” She texted right back, ruining again any illusion that she wasn’t interested.
“Probably no. But that’s where I want to picture you.”
Shit. She’d wanted to flirt, but this man was at another level than she was.
Valerie wondered if she could handle someone as bold as Zane Diggs. She flashed to his strong arms ushering her through the club and then later when he kissed her wrist. All of it was a combination of strength and sweetness, and she was hooked. She knew it. Valerie admitted to herself she’d never crushed on someone this hard in her life.
She looked at the sexy suggestion again. So, he wants to picture her in the bath? Valerie decided to try her best to match Zane. Her fingers hovered over the screen of her phone.
“I’m sinking in right now.” She hit send. That sounded sexy, she hoped. She was new to this whole sexy texting thing. Would he expect a picture? She wasn’t doing that. No way. If that’s what he wanted he’d be disappointed.
Her phone vibrated again. Zane.
“Perfect. I’ll see you later in my dreams tonight. NO question.” She swallowed hard and imagined being next to Zane.
She wondered when she’d see him again. She hoped it would be at the gym tomorrow. Somehow going another day without Zane was unacceptable. She wanted to pick up the phone and talk to him. Damn.
Zane Diggs. Who would have thought she could fall so quickly and so hard for a guy?
Valerie crawled into her bed. And instead of freaking out about her meltdown in the club she focused on Zane, how he talked to her, what his lips were like, and his strength. He had let her lean on him. He listened to her. She had thought he was a cocky jock, but he legitimately had asked her about her life. She now wondered about his.
Next time they were together that would be her mission. Learn more about Zane Diggs.
Learn everything about Zane Diggs.
Oh, and let him finish what he started out there in the dark. She felt her toes curl just thinking about every second they’d spent together. Valerie slowly drifted off.
She had no idea that someone watched. Someone waited for her to turn off the light.
Valerie had no idea that she’d just made a huge mistake, one that she’d have to pay for.
She slept, and she dreamt of Zane.
* * *
The next morning her aunt and Jan had a new request.
“You’ve got to come to the Gala tonight. We realized yesterday you probably didn’t expect to come, but it’s a done deal? Right?” Aunt Susan always had a new plan for her.
“Uh, well, I have no idea what a gala really is. What you are supposed to wear? Or really anything.” She was antsy to get to the office. And she knew she was also antsy to see Zane.
“You know that we’ll handle the what to wear portion,” Jan said, and Valerie suspected
that they already started that search.
“Typically, though, you take a date.” Aunt Susan chimed in with that little nugget.
“Really?” She immediately thought about Zane.
“Would you want to bring, what was his name? Oh, Trent. Your friend. I’d be happy to send a tuxedo to him if you think he’d be a good escort.” Aunt Susan’s efforts to find out if she had a boyfriend were less than subtle.
“First off, I haven’t said I’d go.” The idea of a fancy society type gala had her nervous. She wanted Aunt Susan and Uncle Meyer to be proud of her. So far, they seemed to be happy with her work as a project manager, but a fancy party with a bunch of rich people? Valerie was only a few months from her life of buying a Red Solo Cup and trying to avoid frat boy gropes. This was a huge leap, and she was very likely to trip.
“You have to. It’s for the Grand City Children Services Fund.” Jan wasn’t taking no for an answer it appeared.
“I see. Second, if I go I won’t be taking Trent.”
“Well you can always come with your Uncle Meyer and me I was just saying if you wanted to bring a date, that would be good too.” Aunt Susan had a wide smile on her face.
“I may have someone in mind.” She couldn’t hide her own smile. The idea of Zane Diggs in a tuxedo had her thinking all kinds of things. He was so good looking it might just be illegal in a tux.
“Who?” Aunt Susan asked with wide eyes.
“I don’t want to jinx it but there’s a fighter,” and before she had the words out.
“Oh, Lord. Here we go.” Jan said, and Aunt Susan laughed.
“What?” The two women had a shared history, jokes, and could clearly communicate without saying a word.
“Nothing. Jan just remembers what it was like when I was dating a fighter.” Aunt Susan was, of course, talking about Uncle Meyer, back in his fighter days, before he was a CEO and boss.
“How did you meet Uncle Meyer?” It wasn’t the first time Valerie wondered about how her aunt and uncle met.
“That’s a story for another time dear,” Aunt Susan said, and Valerie had no doubt that was true.
“Let’s just say it wasn’t a smooth path to all this.” Jan gestured to the house around them.
“Right,” Aunt Susan said and put the travel cup of coffee in Valerie’s hands.
“I’ll be happy to block out an evening to go to the Gala but only if you block out an evening to tell me that story some time.” Valerie was curious about Aunt Susan and about her shared history with Valerie’s dad. How had Aunt Susan and her dad started out? Her dad hadn’t talked about it much. That story would be a good one, Valerie suspected.
“Deal, and if you see my fighter today don’t let on I’m going to regale you with tales of his rebellious youth.” Aunt Susan smiled in a way that showed you it came from inside. She was warm and open. And that warmth lit her face no matter what she was doing.
“Okay, I won’t tell Uncle Meyer you’re going to share. And I also won’t protest going to this shindig or whatever.” She kissed Jan and Aunt Susan on their cheeks and grabbed the coffee that they always thoughtfully prepared for her.
She left the kitchen and was off to work. She could hear as her aunt, and Jan’s conversation turned to the million household details they had to deal with. Aunt Susan recounting something about some shrub.
“Yeah, it was the strangest thing. That one bush on the back wall is all mangled. Some deer maybe thought it was his girlfriend.”
“We can call that landscaping service that came out last spring,” Jan added as the conversation continued and grew fainter as Valerie left the house.
She was a little nervous. She wanted to see Zane but at the same time was a little shy when she thought about their kiss. What if she was the only one feeling a bigger connection? What if she was reading that wrong?
Zane Diggs was the most handsome man she’d ever seen other than some movie star she guessed. He focused his entire night last night on her. What if it was for one reason, to get her into bed? That was possible. It just didn’t feel like what was happening.
At any rate, it wasn’t something she had to deal with right away. As soon as she got to the office, there were phone calls, emails, and questions. She was buried in details about a dozen projects from the moment she got there until she heard her name.
Her thoughts of kisses and movie star looks receded as she handled each issue, one at a time, like a boss. Before she knew it, the morning was gone.
“Hi, Valerie.” It startled her, and she looked up. And there he was.
Had Zane gotten more handsome overnight? Yes. Yes, he had.
“Hi, come in.” He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. She felt her heart go a little faster.
Valerie stood up met him halfway.
“I figured you could use some lunch. If your day today was anything like it was yesterday.” She noticed the bag in his hand.
“That’s really too sweet of you. I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s just a sandwich, don’t get crazy with gratitude. Unless you want to kiss me as a thank you. If that’s the deal, I’m in.”
“I thought I owed you lunch, or pop from the vending machine, or five dollars.” She decided to let Zane know his cocky side wasn’t intimidating her.
“Oh, well that’s disappointing.” He stepped closer and set the lunch down on the little conference table in her office.
“What can–” Valerie didn’t have time to finish her sentence. Zane had closed the distance with another step, and he had her in his arms.
It was sudden and there was not one hint of a preamble. He was just there, around her with his lips on hers. She didn’t have time to think about what he wanted, what he said, what she wanted. She just reacted. Her body responded to his like it was the air she needed to breathe.
His lips on hers were hot, insistent. She forgot where she was, what she’d been doing, and all her doubts about how to handle this man. Valerie’s senses were alive and reacting to his lips on her skin.
He pulled her close to his body, and she wanted more of whatever he did. Her flesh came alive wherever his fingers and lips touched it.
His hands roamed from the back of her neck, and then down her back. Zane’s powerful hands were on her backside, pushing her closer to him, into him. She lifted her leg and hitched it around his, and he leaned her back over the desk where she’d just been working, only seconds ago.
Zane’s mouth traveled down her jaw and over her collarbone, his fingers were on her nipples, and she realized they were hard buds, she gasped when he took one in his fingers and squeezed. She was still in all her clothes, and for the first time, she wanted him to get her naked. She wanted him naked.
Zane pushed away her bra cup with his nose and teeth, and she could have come right then as he pressed his hardness into her.
She didn’t care that it was her office. She forgot that it was broad daylight and that there were probably people walking around on the other side of the door.
He lifted her off the floor, and she was now fully on the desk. And then the phone right next to her head rang. Loud.
“Ignore it.” He said, and she wanted to. She didn’t want this to stop. But then she saw it was her uncle.
“Shit. I can’t.” She put a hand up to his chest. He stopped the beautiful onslaught for a second as she picked up the phone.
“Uncle Meyer,” she answered and felt Zane’s hand slide from her breasts to the hem of the pencil skirt she wore.
Valerie struggled to concentrate on her uncle’s instructions.
“Yes, in person. For sure.” Zane’s hands had pushed her skirt up, up, and up and he was there, right at her panties. If he did anymore, she wouldn’t be able to keep this act of normal conversation going.
“Okay. First thing this afternoon.” She clicked the phone off.
Zane growled into her ear.
“You’re perfect. I want to eat every single inch of you.” He said
and then she felt his hands still. She squirmed under him.
“What?” She had already decided she’d gone way too far to stop now. She didn’t want to stop now.
“We’re not going to do it here.” He lifted her upright. She realized with embarrassment that she should be the one who put the brakes on things but she didn’t. She couldn’t.
“You’re totally right.” She stood up, started smoothing her blouse and assessing her current state.
Zane encircled her in his arms again, and she couldn’t have moved away if she wanted to.
“But we are going out tonight. I’ll come get you.”
“Okay.” He leaned back and looked at her. She felt each place on her body that his eyes fell. He looked at her like no one ever had before.
“Fuck,” he said and shook his head. Zane Diggs turned and took a few steps toward the door.
This time she shook her head.
“Yeah, fuck,” as in what in the fuck had she gotten into her? Why in the hell did he affect her this way, and how would she ever be able to wait until tonight to have him near her again?
Zane Diggs made Valerie feel things she’d never felt. He made her want a man in a way she didn’t know was possible. She wanted him to rip her clothes off in her office. Heck in her uncle’s office for God’s sake!
She didn’t really know one thing about him, but it didn’t matter. There was an attraction between them that was not going to be denied.
“I just remembered.”
“What.”
“I have a thing; my aunt wants me to go to this fancy thing.”
“Oh, too fancy for me eh?”
“Too fancy for me too.”
“Is it that charity Gala?”
“Yes, how did you know about that?”
“The fighters all have tickets. I ignored mine.”
“Zane would you…” She stopped for a moment. She’d never asked a guy out, but there it was, there he was.
“Would I what?”
“Would you go with me? This Gala is going to be a big deal to them, and I don’t know anyone. I’ve never gone to one, and well, free dinner?”
“Your wish, my command.” She was suddenly much more excited about this event. Before it felt like a chore but now, now, it would be a way to see Zane in a tux. That idea sounded very nice.
