Chapter 4

Four

TOM

As I readiedto head out to work on Monday morning, I snuck a glance at myself in the foyer mirror. A smirk tugged on my lips as I adjusted the collar of my shirt and buttoned my suit jacket. Bax, my chocolate lab, sat at my heel, looking up at me, a goofy dog smile on his face.

You are not seriously considering going back there he seemed to say as if he could read my mind.

I crouched beside him and scratched his head. “I know. Definitely not like me. What are the chances she shows up, though?” I asked him, dumbly hoping he could talk me out of it. He cocked his head, ears perked. “Yeah, I’m confused about this whole thing myself.”

Standing, I looked at my reflection again and rubbed at the day-old scruff. Couldn’t believe I’d been so preoccupied with thoughts of Coffee Girl I hadn’t bothered to shave. I also hadn’t bothered to check her ring finger to see if she was even single. Not that the lack of one would mean she didn’t have a boyfriend.

This was ridiculous. I had a company to run. Worrying about some girl at a coffee shop was the last thing I needed on my mind. But she wasn’t just some girl, was she? She was the girl with the sultry brown eyes and timid smile. The girl with the white blouse that had me fantasizing about what she looked like underneath all that silky fabric. And she had been on my fucking mind.

All goddamn weekend.

Not thinking about Coffee Girl had been a failed mission. It nearly drove me insane. I wanted to see her again. Needed to.

Tiff could make a coffee run. I could order my Americano on the app and have it delivered straight to my office.

Coulda shoulda.

Fuck. I had a feeling I was gonna regret this.

With a resigned breath, I told Bax I’d see him later and grabbed the keys to my Range Rover before dashing out the door of my Hoboken river view apartment. Some days, I took the ferry across the Hudson. Other days, I didn’t feel like dealing with crowds and drove in instead. Today, I drove in because I was anxious to get to the coffee house early. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this eager to get into the city. The amount of times I face-palmed while stuck in tunnel traffic was comical. All for Coffee Girl. Who was likely not even going to be there.

Once I made it in to Midtown and to our office building, I handed the keys to our valet and took off on foot. A block away from Rockefeller, sweaty beads rolled down my back. If Jake saw me now, he wouldn’t let me live this down. The man was always trying to drag me to where he claimed were the hottest spots in the city and the easiest places to hook up with beautiful women. I wasn’t a tail chaser, though. I didn’t like going around town hitting up bars looking for sex. The women who wound up tangled in my sheets were typically women I already knew. Women who didn’t care I wasn’t looking for attachments but were cool with just a helluva good time in bed.

Yet, there I was, tail chasing at a coffee house.

I arrived at eight on the dot and as always, the place was packed. I nonchalantly scouted the interior looking for Brown Eyes, but was quickly deflated when there was no sign of her.

Idiot.You’ve now become a creepy stalker.

Bummed I’d rushed there for nothing, I walked up to the counter to place my order when my cell rang. Speak of the Devil. “Hey man, what’s up?” I said, placing the phone to my ear. “Yeah. I’ll be in a few minutes. We got the sale, Jake. Don’t worry. I’m telling you, man, we got it. The presentation was seamless…hold on a sec.” I looked up at the barista waiting to take my order. “Hey, Em. The usual. And I’ll take a blueberry muffin too, thanks.” I paid the girl and moved on to the next counter to grab my order.

“Till tomorrow, Mr. Wright!” she said, batting her eyes.

Phone still to my ear, I smiled back as I turned to leave and nearly dropped my phone when I spotted Brown Eyes sitting at a table by the door. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, shying her gaze away as if she didn’t want to make eye-contact with me. She was as stunning as I remembered.

Just ask her, asshole Ask for her name.

But for some fucking reason I couldn’t decipher, I kept walking, fingers itching to touch a silky strand of her hair, and berating myself a million times over inside my head for not turning around and ending the game. I pushed through the double doors and immediately reached up and loosened up my tie. I didn’t realize how flushed I felt until fresh air hit my face.

“Tom, you still there? Tom?”

Fuck. I’d forgotten Jake was on the line. “Yeah, man. Look, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

* * *

Located on Fifth Avenue across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, our Commercial and Luxury Real State office was situated on the ninety-third floor of one of the tallest skyscrapers in Midtown, offering a perfect Birdseye view of Manhattan. I stood in front of the wall of windows of my private office, gazing out toward the city as I did every day, except, the views of my city no longer hit the same way, not when I knew she was somewhere out there.

My personal assistant, Tiffany, sat in front of my desk, briefing me on my schedule for the day, but I could hardly concentrate on what she said. All I kept thing about was about my brown-eyed Coffee Girl and where she could be at the moment.

Jake stormed through the door, snagging my attention and temporarily distracting me from my thoughts.

“Hey, Tiff,” he said, his blonde hair bright as the sun. “Can I have a private word with Tom?” His grey silk suit practically gleamed under the morning rays blasting through my office windows. He looked like a shark prowling the seas for prey. This usually spelled trouble.

Tiff threw him a side glance that spoke volumes of her distaste toward him, but she stood, red hair dancing over her shoulders as she pressed her tablet to her chest. “Call me when you’re ready,” she said to me as she exited, not offering a word to Jake.

“Dude, what’s her problem?” Jake asked, taking the seat she’d just vacated.

“Could be the fact you’re a bit of an asshole to her.”

He shrugged. “She’s a beautiful girl. What girl doesn’t like to be told that?”

“When she’s made it quite clear she’s not interested in you, it’s called harassment.”

He leaned forward, blue eyes narrowing over me. “Or she’s still hung up on you.”

I wasn’t in the mood to breach that topic, especially when that ship had sailed ages ago. “I take it you’re here to talk about the Cantanello Developers?”

He nodded, knee bouncing up and down impatiently.

“I told you they are practically ready to sign. It’s a done deal.”

“Not until Cantanello signs. What the hell is taking him so long?” he asked.

Unbuttoning my suit jacket, I sat on my leather chair and opened up my laptop. “It’s a billion-dollar investment. This is standard procedure. You know this. What’s really going on?”

He wiped at the sweat beading on his forehead. “I need this commission, okay? Can’t have this asshole backing out at the last minute.”

I eyed him with suspicion and a bit of concern. “He won’t. And if you’re having money issues again, that’s a separate problem.”

Jake jumped from his chair, eyes darkening. “Know what, I don’t need a lecture from you. Just let me know when you hear back from Dan, okay? A week to review the paperwork is more than enough time. Either he wants the damn property or not.”

“I’ll give his agent a call. Nudge him a little if it makes you feel better.”

“Good. I’ll be in my office.” Flustered, he stormed back out.

Pressure built between my shoulders as I watched him leave. I hated seeing him consumed by anxiety, but he wasn’t one to listen to reason. Jake was my best friend and we shared a history that went beyond being business partners. We’d been enlisted in the military together and were practically brothers, so I knew when he was being plagued by something. And given his desperation over the commission of this deal, I could only surmise it had to do with his gambling debts.

We’d been down this road before and I’d bailed him out more times than I wished to remember, but this was worse than I had ever seen. Way worse.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and leaned back on my chair when a text notification popped up on my phone. My brother, James, and I had recently reconnected and he’d been trying exceptionally hard to get me to go up to Lake George and visit him and mom. The thought iced my blood. It’s the one place I swore I’d never return to—too many shitty memories. I looked at his text again:

Penny and I are celebrating our engagement this weekend. Mom’s letting us use the lake house to throw a small dinner party. Would love it if you could make it. LMK

Fuck. How was I supposed to get out of this one? I wanted to see him and mom. And I wanted to meet his fiancé. I just couldn’t bring myself to make the trip to the lake house. Not after everything that happened with my father. With Shayna. Not after the way I left.

I decided to leave the text unanswered. James would understand. He had to.

Expunging a deep breath, I chose to bury myself in work. It was the only way I knew how to keep myself from ruminating about my brother’s party or about Jake. Coffee Girl, though?

She was already running through my veins and I hadn’t even tasted her. My craving for her was going to be harder to ignore.