“I’m nothing like Pete.” His voice is lowered so we can’t be overheard. When I don’t answer, he lets out a sigh and says, “Come on, let me give you a ride. I’m due in court this morning and it’s right near your building.”
“How do you know where I work?” I cross my arms over my chest.
“I’m the ADA for the county, I know almost everything.”
I stare at him and he finally smirks.
“I may have Google’d.”
My heart does a leap in my chest that it shouldn’t. What I should be thinking is that his behavior is borderline stalkerish, but instead I’m finding it worthy of a TV rom com.
“I’m just getting on my feet again after our move. Trust me when I say that I have so much shit you don’t need to deal with.”
He nods to the waiting Uber. “It’s just a ride to work, Victoria.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t.” I place my hand on his arm and he looks down at it. Is he feeling the surge of energy between us, too? I quickly retract my hand and turn away to head to the train station.
I don’t have the guts to turn around. Instead, I keep my eyes forward and thankfully my cell phone rings in my purse. Happy for the distraction from the magnetic pull drawing me back to him, I answer on the first ring.
“Hi, Hannah.”
“Victoria, how far away are you from the office?”
I can tell from her voice that she’s flustered.
I glance in front of me at the houses on either side of the road as I walk. “I’m just about to hit the train station,” I fib.
“This new dog I got has gone into heat and I have to drop her off at the veterinarian. I told myself not to book an appointment for a Monday morning. NO!” she screeches. “My new Persian rug. God, how much blood can come out of one dog?”
“I’ll get there, Hannah, you take care of Lucy.”
“Thanks. Can you pick up a pastry plate or something? My meeting is at ten and I was going to stop, but now…”
“Yep. I’ll handle everything.” I sling the strap of my purse further up on my shoulder and quicken my pace.
“Come on,” she pleas, to the dog I assume. “The dog won’t walk on a leash. How do you get a dog to walk on a damn leash?”
I stifle a laugh. “I have no idea. I’m a cat person.”
“I should be a cat person. Thanks, Victoria, you’re a lifesaver.”
Click, the line dies and I’m about to climb the stairs to the L train when I realize there are people standing everywhere. It’s even more crowded than usual and taxis are arriving in droves and driving away just as fast.
“What’s going on?” I ask a woman who is about to climb into a taxi.
“Not sure, but it’s delayed by like an hour I heard.”
I cringe. “Seriously? Can I share the taxi with you?”
She smiles. “Where are you going?”
“City. Downtown.”
That smile turns down immediately. “Sorry, I’m not going that way. I’m going Southside and if I go through downtown, I’ll be late.” The woman honestly looks like she feels bad and I’m not about to make someone else late.
“Go,” I wave her off. “I’ll grab another one.”
She slides into the back seat. “Good luck.”
The taxi pulls away and you’d think the world is about to end the way people are cutting in front of one another for the taxis.
I walk a block down figuring if I can get away from here, I’ll be able to catch one before it reaches the station. I’m only walking for a few moments when I notice a car double-park a few cars up from me. A window rolls down and before I hear his voice, I already know who it is.
“Care for that ride now?” Reed’s smug face appears like he knew the entire time catching the train today was going to be impossible.
“Am I going to have to take out a restraining order?”
He opens the door, steps out and motions for me to join him in the car. A few taxis behind him honk, but it doesn’t faze him as he waits patiently.
“I guess I know what you need before you do.” He winks. On any other guy, it would come off cheesy as hell, but somehow on Reed, it’s charming.
I step forward and stop just outside the door. If I stepped any closer our chests would touch. “One ride and I need to stop for Danishes on the way.”
He chuckles. “So, I get breakfast, too. Sounds like a date.”
I slide into the car and scoot over to the far side, giving the driver a small smile of thanks. Reed slides in next to me and takes up the majority of the space, his knees hitting the back of the passenger seat.
“It’s not a date,” I say once I’m settled.
“Yet.”
“Never.”
“If you say so.”
He shrugs, and though he may sound like he’s in agreement, the cocky smirk splashed across his face says differently.
Chapter Nine
Wednesday night when I arrive home from my evening class, Jade’s laughter echoes from behind the door and I smile to myself. Inserting the key into the lock of my childhood home, my body craves the serene comfort of my daughter and our new life.
I don’t mind going to school. I actually enjoy it more than I did eight years ago when I was only a year away from earning my degree. I could strangle myself every time I think of the bad decision I made, knowing full well at the time that that’s exactly what it was. No, it wasn’t the fact Pete and I didn’t use protection and ended up pregnant with Jade. It wasn’t marrying him quickly so that his family didn’t have the shame of an unplanned pregnancy to their name. I loved Pete and when I walked down that aisle, I truly thought he was my forever. The mistake I made was letting him convince me to leave college with one year left so I could follow him to Los Angeles.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy—raising a baby and finishing my degree—but I naively thought Pete signed up to stand beside me, not in front of me.
Pete had other plans though. Maybe it was because it’s all he knew growing up. Who knows? He had a stay-at-home mom while I had two working parents. To me having it all meant a family and a career. Pete felt differently.
He envisioned coming home to a home-cooked meal, a perfect wife who brought him a drink at the end of the day and wore lingerie to bed every night. I didn’t miss the disgust in his eyes when I swapped out my satin for flannel. But I’m not naive enough to believe that our bedroom problems were the only reason he strayed.
Pete was someone who was never fulfilled with what he had. He’s still that way.
I hate the memory of the weakness that lived inside of me while we were married. I was trying to make something of us while losing myself in the process. When I signed those divorce papers, I made a promise to myself. I’d never let a man run my life again.
“Mommy!” Jade screams when I walk through the door, getting up and running toward me dressed in her rainbow emoji pajamas.
My mom glances over from the chair, a curious look in her eyes. “How was school?”
I hug Jade tight against my body. “Good, but I’m glad to be home.”
Jade runs back to the couch to watch some game show on the television. “Grandma is so smart. She’s getting every answer right.”