Filed to story: Can’t Get Enough Of You
He wasn’t shocked to see me. He wasn’t as shaken as I was. The look on his face seemed normal. He seemed like he’d expected to see me standing in the hall, gaping at him.
My blood rushed in my ears and I felt hot. My button-up shirt suddenly felt like it was choking me. I tugged at the collar.
“Here we are,” Mr. Shannon said. He knocked on an office door before pushing it open. “Hannah,” he said with a smile.
A blonde woman with a short bob and straight bangs stood and smiled.
“Austin,” she said. “What can I do for you?”
“This is Carey Lowden,” he said, beckoning for me to join them. “She’s starting work here on Monday, and she’ll come to you first thing in the morning. Carey, this is Hannah Fleming, Director of HR. She can be your best friend or your worst nightmare, depending on how you conduct yourself.”
I swallowed. I was still shaky on my feet with the shock of seeing Nolan. With the shock of Nolan not being shocked at seeing me.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, shaking Hannah’s hand.
“Welcome to Appetite, Carey,” Hannah said. “You’ll find that working with us isn’t just a job. We’re like a family, and we look out for each other.”
I smiled. It sounded wonderful. Everything about being here was wonderful. And bizarre.
Hannah and Austin made quick conversation about something that went over my head, then she said, “I’ll see you on Monday.”
Austin ushered me out of the office again and accompanied me to the lobby. While we walked, he chatted excitedly about the campaign we would work on. I tried to focus on what he was saying-I had to take all of this in. This was my foreseeable future. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Nolan, about what he’d looked like when I saw him, and about the fact that somehow he’d known I was here.
Why was he here? I’d thought he’d left LA. And after all this time, all the wishing I could find him and tell him about our son, now I’d be working with him?
God, my mind spun.
“I look forward to working together, Carey,” Austin said when we stepped out of the elevator in the lobby.
“Thank you, Mr. Shannon,” I said, shaking his hand one more time. “For everything. I look forward to it, too. I’ll see you on Monday.”
He turned around and walked away, and I left the building. I walked to my car and climbed behind the wheel. I hurried, turning the key in the ignition while pulling my seatbelt on in a frenzy. As was my habit. Then realized I had nowhere to rush to. I could take a moment and breathe.
I did just that. I took a deep breath in, and let it out again. In. Out.
When I put my car into gear, I turned it toward home. I could spend time with my boy. I could give my mom a break.
And I could tell them that, for the first time, our luck was going to change.
After locking eyes with Nolan, I had a feeling that a lot of things were about to change.
Nolan
It took me over five years to get her off my mind. Five years where she would show up in my dreams unannounced and fuck up my day. Five years where I would work hard, powering on, and suddenly I would flash on her face and it would floor me.
After so long, I thought I’d gotten my strange Carey addiction out of my system.
Until the moment I saw her again.
It was as if everything had come back into focus again. As if I’d walked through life with everything around me a blur, and suddenly with her in it, the image was crystal clear.
And now, she was right here, under my nose where I could keep an eye on her.
“She was rattled as fuck, man,” Austin said when he sat on my desk in my office, swinging his legs like a kid. “She thought I wasn’t paying any attention to her. First, there were your constant texts. Then I had to look at her portfolio on the spot to make sure she wasn’t incompetent. I was a little distracted. She was ready to leave.”
“You made her stay, and that’s what counts,” I said, looking out through the window.
“What is it with this one, anyway?” Austin asked. “Since when do you get your balls in a twist over a woman?”
I shrugged. Austin was right, I didn’t usually get worked up over any particular woman. I seduced them, I fucked them, I sent them on their way. That was what Nolan Heaton did. I didn’t commit, I didn’t call back, I didn’t do second dates or second chances.
They didn’t work for me.
But with Carey, it was different. She was different. She had been from the moment I’d seen her working behind the counter at that little café close to the college I’d graduated from. She’d been spectacular, taking my breath away with how incredibly raw and natural and unapologetically authentic she was. And then she’d blown my mind with the best, most incredible, most personal sex I’d ever had with a stranger.
And then, just as I’d thought I found the one girl that would change my mind about everything-about my damn life itself-I woke up to an empty bed.
But she was here now, and she wasn’t slipping through my fingers again. I had her number. I had her address. And she worked for me.
Well, not directly.
But that was going to change. Austin thought he had it all figured out-she was a good designer, as luck would have it. After looking at her portfolio, he’d been impressed by her work. She’d be an asset to the company, he assured me. She was going to blow up his campaign. He was sure of it. He was excited.
But there was no way in hell I was letting Carey work for him. I wasn’t going to stand having her in my company when she wasn’t working directly for me.
I knew I would be breaking all kinds of protocols, but I was the boss. I could do whatever the fuck I wanted.
And I wanted her working under me.
I cocked a grin at the thought.
I wanted her under me for other purposes, too.
When I closed my eyes, I could still hear her moans in my ear. I could still see the red flash of hair in the near dark as she bucked and curled and writhed against me. I could still taste her skin on my lips.
All in good time, though. All in good time.