Silver Back (Wild Ones Book 1)

by Robin Edwards

  I wondered around his open-floored apartment looking at the books on the shelves wondering if he actually ever read any of them or if they were just conversational pieces to impress women. When my finger ran across the spine of Tolstoy, I realized they were just decoration like everything else in his apartment.

  The couches were white leather, and there was a bold teal throw tossed over the edge of the cushion. An enormous flat screen television was bolted to the wall above the fireplace. And the room looked like something out of a decorator magazine under the headline: The Top Ten Chicest Condos in The City.

  My whiskey was smooth but wasn’t hitting the spot, so I tossed the glass on the counter and pulled out my suit for the evening’s festivities. It was going to be a long night if I didn’t pull myself from this funk. But, as I watched the set behind the towering skyscrapers packed tightly in the city, I could feel a change blowing in, and I wasn’t sure if it was good or not.

  Chapter Three

  MADISON

  The low lights and posh atmosphere of Lavish made me feel a bit more comfortable, even though I couldn’t help but stare at the models walking around with their long legs and perfect bodies. The music bumped, and Lindsey and I laughed and whispered as we scouted out the joint. It was like a high school dance for adults with all the women dancing and the men standing around the edges of the building lurking in the shadows. We went to the bar and grabbed some drinks, and Lindsey leaned back on her elbows, looking out into the club.

  “Look over there at those two hotties in the booth,” Lindsey said, pointing in their general direction. “Come on, let’s go talk to them.”

  “Okay, but first I need to use the restroom. Wait for me here,” I said handing her my drink and scurrying off before she could stop me.

  I pushed the crowd and into the bathroom, standing to the side as two tall, beautiful women moved away from the sinks. I started the water and washed my hands, looking at myself in the mirror. Picking up men was never my thing, and being Lindsey’s wingman was pretty much terrifying.

  Usually what happened is the hot one of the pack would immediately attach himself to Lindsey while I entertained one of two types of men. The other guy was either the skeevy creep that no girls wanted to be around or the shy nerdy guy that didn’t even know how he got into the club. However, squinting across the room, these two both looked pretty attractive.

  Okay Madison, it’s not rocket science. You can do this. One foot in front of the other, don’t be nervous and don’t tell any stupid jokes.

  My mind seemed to regularly give me these types of pep talks, even if it was to stop being nervous about ordering a fancy coffee from the chic coffee shop on the corner. It always felt like they were judging you by your order, secretly sitting in the back doing a personal profile based on my choice of skim milk over two percent, and light sugar instead of sweet tooth status. Then again, it was probably all in my mind. I was smart, cute, and had a great sense of humor and I had an amazing son who I loved more than anyone else in the world, so I shouldn’t be thinking any of this.

  I grabbed my purse, dried my hands, and marched out of the bathroom determined to keep my head held high. Well, apparently my head was too high because when I rounded the corner, I ran face first into a tall, well-dressed man moving in the opposite direction. His drink splashed against the front of him and onto the bottom of my skirt. I could hear his huffing and puffing over the music.

  “Jesus, watch where the hell you're going,” he growled.

  “I’m sorry your highness, I wasn’t aware the walkways were cleared for your royal entrance,” I snapped back wiping my hand down my dress.

  “My apologies, here use my napkin,” he replied.

  “No thanks, I’ll take care of it myself,” I snapped looking up at the man in front of me. He was tall, handsome as hell, and his eyes seemed to be hiding some kind of secret.

  “You know when someone offers to help you shouldn’t be so indignant,” he retorted.

  “When you are in a club full of people, and someone knocks into you, you shouldn’t be so snarky,” I responded. “It’s a club. There are people all over. You're bound to knock into someone at some point.”

  “Well, thank you so much for your expert advice on how to navigate a club,” he retorted. “Obviously I don’t frequent them as much as you apparently do.”

  My mouth dropped open at his insinuation, and I fumbled with words in my head. I clenched my fists and scowled at him before turning and marching off into the crowd. What a complete and total asshole. When I got back to the bar, Lindsey was staring at me, noticing the scowl on my face. She turned and set the drinks on the bar, handing me a napkin so I could wipe the wine from my arm and dress.

  “Get into a bar fight?” Lindsey asked, laughing slightly under her breath.

  “Maybe I should have. This guy was a complete jerk,” I said breathlessly.

  “Wait, what happened?” Lindsey asked, straightening her dress. “Did he throw his drink at you? Did you try to ask you out and you refused?”

  “No,” I pouted. “I ran into him coming out of the bathroom, and we got into a verbal altercation of sorts. He wasn’t very nice.”

  “It doesn’t surprise me. So what does he look like?” she said looking out over the crowd. The club was so over populated tonight that as soon as you moved from one position, it just filled up with more people.

  “Don’t worry about it. He’s not worth ruining our evening over,” I mumbled.

  “Are you sure you’re not irritable because you’re nervous about your new job?” Lindsey responded. “I mean this is something you’ve dreamed about for years.”

  “Is it that obvious? I mean I’m completely excited about the opportunity but I’m worried about failing too.”

  “Look, let’s not think about it tonight because those two hotties over there are calling our name,” she laughed, pulling me toward the booth.

  I smiled as Lindsey did the talking and watched as the professionally dressed guy to the right immediately zoned in on her. I sat down next to the other guy, Ryan I think his name was, and politely introduced myself. He seemed quiet and shy, and I was relieved not to have to fight off any pervy guys tonight.

  As Lindsey talked, drawing both guys attention, I looked out into the pool of people, thinking about that jerk’s smug, little face. The business world was full of people like him and I hope I didn’t encounter the same type of people at my new job and spend the next five years exchanging snarky comments with them.

  The rest of the night went as it always does with Lindsey getting wasted and being whisked away to the “hot guy’s” place and me hailing a cab. I actually had a pretty decent conversation with Ryan, and he seemed like a really sweet person, so we exchanged numbers. I think he may have been a bit more interested than I was, but at least he didn’t try to take me home or grope me. By the time I hailed a cab and got home, the alcohol had turned into a sleep aide, and I plopped down on my bed, threw the horrible stilettos off and passed out, still dressed like I was going clubbing.

  The next day was really quiet and peaceful, and I spent my morning wavering between excitement for my new job and fear that I would be fired the first day by my new boss. I called Lindsey to make sure the random guy she went home with didn’t turn her into a lampshade and then lounged around on Saturday googling the company and memorizing their recent accomplishments, just in case I was quizzed.

  Sunday pretty much went the same way, except Lindsey helped me babysit Billy, make sure I ironed out my first-day outfit and that I needed to go to bed early so I could have a fresh, smooth start in the morning.

  Staring up at my suit on the back of the door I realized that I could be a little uptight sometimes, but I knew that I had to be if I wanted to build my career. It was already hard enough for a woman to be taken seriously in this city with all the models and actress eye candy sauntering around the streets displaying their complete intellectual ineptitude. I had to be above the curve
, even if that meant I laid out my clothes the night before and perfectly timed my morning to avoid any huge traffic mess and arrive precisely fifteen minutes early.

  Fifteen minutes early was exactly what I did the next morning. My coffee was ready before I even had to walk out and knowing how Monday morning traffic was, I decided to drink it at home instead of taking the chance on spilling it all over myself. The mornings were always way easier than the end of work day traffic because the street was full of anxious business people and kids making their way to school. The evenings were a bit more temperamental with an influx of people heading home from work, school kids and those who felt like they didn’t need to get anywhere by a certain time yet decided drove slow in the fast lane.

  When I got to the office, and the elevator doors opened, I looked inside cheerfully, staring at the beautiful people walking around, folders in their hands. I double checked the floor number and realized that I had found the secret stash of Lavish’s crowd in the daylight hours. I shook the ‘want to run for the hill’ thoughts off my shoulders and bounced toward the receptionist who was looking down at her nails.

  “Hi,” I chirped happily. “My name is Madison, and it’s my first day.”

  “Last name?” The girl was kind of rude and didn’t even look up at my face.

  “Oh, Grey. Madison Grey,” I replied, keeping my upbeat mannerisms.

  “Have a seat,” she replied, finally looking at my face and glancing back at the chairs behind me.

  I watched as she sat for another moment, finishing the last polish on her nails before picking up the phone and dialing a number. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she looked over the desk at me with a judging face. She hung up the phone and went back to her grooming.

  “Madison?” A friendly voice called out from the left. I looked at the middle aged woman with a very calming face. She smiled at me kindly and motioned for me to follow her. “I am Louise, the Client Services Manager, and you will be working with me today. I saw you were from New York City, and I knew I’d like you immediately. I grew up there, the Bronx actually.”

  “Wow, that’s great. How long have you been in California?” I asked, feeling very comfortable with Louise. Her sweet discourse and kind smile eased my nerves a bit.

  “About ten years. So this is my office, and your desk is over here,” she said walking me over to a large mahogany desk right next to my new boss’ office.

  I set my things in the chair and walked around the office with Louise. The space was large and separated from the lobby area in the front. There was a large conference room adjacent to the hallway where the agents would take clients for meetings. Other than that, everything else happened in the maze of desks and offices in the back. Most everyone was friendly enough, though they all seemed to be completely absorbed in their work and didn’t take more than two seconds to say hello.

  When we made our way back to my desk, Louise handed me some files and put me to work, having me start to learn what my job would be. As I flipped through the files and started entering the client notes into the system the door to the offices swung open. I glanced up, freezing for a moment as I stared at the jerk from the club exiting out of my new boss’s office with another gentleman.

  Please don’t let him be my new boss. Please. Please. Please.

  “It was great to see you again, Will. It’s a rare treat that I get a visit from an old friend. How’s the job going, killing you with the hours huh?”

  “I’m used to it.”

  His face was emotionless, just as it had been in the club. I put my head down trying not to be noticed, but as they slowly approached Louise as they talked, I realized there was no way out of this, he was going to see me. What a way to start my first day.

  Chapter Four

  WILL

  I spent the morning, nursing a hangover and thankfully I have the next three days off before I did my four days of twenty four of shifts otherwise it would have been hell to have any emergency calls and have the truck’s siren blaring in my ears.

  Normally I would have turned Jake’s offer at hitting the clubs because frankly I was a little too old to be dancing the night away with women who were nearly a decade younger but I gave in after weeks of him pestering me about how I’ve spent the past few years keeping to myself in the cabin I owned on the outskirts of town.

  I still say there is nothing wrong with wanting to be near nature and having a little peace and quiet so I could unplug and so what if it’s not a vacation home and was where I lived 24/7. He didn’t understand there were times where I just don’t want to be around anyone, call it PTSD or social anxiety or a fear of going outside or whatever medical term he called it these days. If I was around people too much, and working in fire science forced me to be, that was enough as it was otherwise I’d turn into a raving lunatic if I had to be around anyone more than that.

  I have to admit I was a bit of jerk, though I had tried not to be after looking down and realizing how beautiful the woman at the club was. However, she didn’t seem to get my genuine offer to help her with the wine running down her skirt and continued with her smart-ass jabs which only frustrated me even more.

  When the last of my coffee was gone, I showered and got dressed. I promised I’d visit my friend Tony who I met when I first purchased the cabin years ago. Normally when I was off of work, I stayed at the cabin and took care of remodeling and kept to myself with no distractions but Tony too had been bugging me to meet up with him and have coffee and to check out his company has been doing.

  It was getting close to fall in the city, and I couldn’t help but smile a bit at the leaves changing colors and the very early Halloween décor going up in the shop windows. It was my parent’s favorite holiday. By the time I reached the office, I had shaken the memories out of my system. I knew I had a huge day ahead of me and the last thing I wanted was to be in a bad mood before I met up with Tony.

  We met up at the coffee shop around the corner from his office and it was good to see him again. Although he was relatively local to me, I only saw him a few times every year. After having coffee and catching up, we walked over to his office building.

  When I walked in, Marlene at the desk smiled flirtatiously at me, as always and I nodded my head, walking quickly past. As we made our way past the cubicles, watching as no one really noticed our arrival. After Tony gave me the grand tour of the floor where his office sat, I went to say goodbye before I stopped in my tracks staring at the blonde sitting at a desk by my office door remember it was the woman from the club.

  I didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that this amazingly gorgeous woman that had been on my mind all weekend was sitting in Tony’s, so I sauntered over to Louise and stood in front of her desk while she finished filing her papers. She greeted me with a warm smile as she turned around.

  “Good Morning, Mr. Silver,” Louise said happily. “How are you doing today? How’s Benson?”

  “He’s doing just fine, thanks. I hope you are doing well. ” I said turning to walk away, not waiting for her response. I just wanted to get out of there before the blonde affected me way more than I wanted her to.

  “Oh, before you go, let me introduce you to our new Junior Client Account Exec,” Louise said pushing me toward her desk. “This is Madison Grey and Madison, this is Mr. Brighton’s associate, Will Silver. He’s a fire man at Station House 14.”

  From the look of the pause on her face, I could tell she already remembered me from the club. I held back a smirk and stuck out my hand, trying to act like I had no idea who she was. She smiled shyly up at me as she held out her hand.

  “Uh, nice to meet you Madison, you are in good hands here.” I stated.

  “It’s a pleasure to be here,” she replied with a bit more confidence thinking I had no idea who she was.

  “Don’t let these two give you a hard time,” I said with an awkward smile. “See you later, Tony.”

  “Hopefully sooner than later.”

  I smil
ed one last time at Madison before leaving the room and heading towards the next elevator that came along. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. As I rushed into the elevator, I let out a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, my heart beating out of my chest.

  Once I exited out of the office building, I quickly dialed Jake’s number despite mostly talking to him at the fire house but I really needed to talk to him.

  “Hey, do you have a moment.” I said once he picked up.

  “Sure. What’s up?” he answered.

  “Do you remember the girl I told you about, that spilled wine on me?” I asked.

  “Yeah, the hot blonde one,” he said. I didn’t need to be in the same room as him to know he was smiling.

  “You could say that,” I said as I walked briskly with no destination in mind. I was too agitated. “I saw her again in Tony’s office. He just hired her recently.”

  “What? No way,” Jake said. “So she’s the new employee he was looking to hire? Ha, small world.”

  “It’s not funny,” I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead. “What am I supposed to do now?”

  “What do you mean what are you supposed to do now? It’s not like you’ll ever see her again unless you visit his Tony again.” Jake laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of the woman. It’s bad enough you lock yourself up in your cabin all the time. Did she recognize you?”

  “I don’t think so. I just acted like I didn’t even recognize her.”

  “Well, like I said. You don’t spend much time with Tony as it is so it’s not like you’ll ever see her again unless you want to see her again.” he snickered.

  “Of course I don’t want to see her again!”

  “Are you sure about that? You’re having such a panic attack about a woman you’ll never see again and it was enough for you to call me, which you rarely do.”

  “You’re right. Why does she have the ability to aggravate me?”