I thought back to the first night I met her. It was the best and worst night of my life.
The first time I saw her was at 1:30 a.m. I could still remember it as clear as day. I had been walking home when I saw her standing there, looking so lost and innocent. She had been standing against the wall and dancing and singing to herself with a huge smile on her face. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from going up to her, even though I hadn’t wanted to. My insides had screamed at me to move on, but there was something about her that had made me grind to a halt.
“Are you okay?” I’d approached her apprehensively, hoping not to scare her outside of the trashy club.
As I got closer to her, I realized that her face looked pale. I immediately felt concerned for her, though my brain was screaming at me to leave her alone. I knew that Doug’s was a bar full of miscreants, and after the last couple of weeks I had had, I wasn’t interested in meeting any new women.
“Do you need me to take you somewhere?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, and my hands gripped her shoulders. As soon as I touched her, I felt a buzz of electricity run through me. She looked up at me then, her big brown eyes friendly and surprised. She studied my face for a few seconds before grinning at me in appreciation.
“I’m fine.” She giggled slightly and moved closer to me. A part of me wanted to kiss her right then and there. She captivated me with her openness. It was something I wasn’t used to. “I’m just waiting on my friends.” Her words slurred and she hiccupped.
I looked around the street to see if I could see any other girls. There was no one else outside, aside from one of the bouncers and a seedy looking man who was staring at her legs. I glared at him before turning back to her angrily. What was she doing standing outside this sleazy club by herself? Didn’t she know what could happen?
“You’re drunk. I’m not seeing any friends here.”
“They’re in the toilet.” She stumbled towards me.
“I see. I’ll wait with you then.” I took her hand and we leaned against the wall, waiting for her friends to come out. She stared at me again with a sweet smile.
“Thank you,” she said softly and I nodded at her, not knowing what to say.
This girl was different, with her big, wavy hair and cheap, overdone makeup. She didn’t fit the sleek, made-up look of other women in the city. A part of me was attracted to her for all she represented, and the other part of me was attracted to her because she was sexy as hell.
“Are you trying to seduce me?” She wiggled her eyebrows at me while staring at me with obvious lust as she giggled and pushed her chest out. I appreciated the fact that she was showing me who she was and what she wanted, even though I knew there was no way I would sleep with her now. Not when she was drunk. Not after what had happened with Denise. I’d be a fool to go down that road. I declined her offer and smiled at her. There was something so lost but genuine about her. Standing there brought out feelings I had never felt before. This girl was different, and I was loath to just leave her alone.
I can still remember my brain screaming at me as I offered to take her home with me that night. I supposed I could have asked to see her driver’s license and sent her off in a cab, but I wanted to make sure she was okay. And I wanted a chance to see what she was like when she wasn’t drunk. I helped her back to my apartment slowly. I was mad at the fact that she went with me so easily. She fell asleep and became dead weight in my arms about two blocks from my apartment, so I picked her up and carried her back quickly, feeling like her knight in shining armor. Only, she didn’t know, and I knew that there was no one else who would ever call me a Prince Charming. I’d placed her in the bed and gone to sleep on the couch in the living room. I didn’t want her to wake up in bed with a strange man and panic, even though I’d wanted to feel her in my arms.
The next morning she woke up with a trusting face and a huge but weary smile, and I knew she wasn’t like all the others. She was different, and as she looked at me so guilelessly, I knew that I wanted a relationship with her. But I couldn’t forget what had just happened with Denise, so I called Will and asked him to check her out and follow her. I just needed to know that she wasn’t setting me up. It was the second-worst decision of my life, and once again, I felt like everything was crashing down around me.
“Ow,” Harry whimpered, and I was immediately brought back to the present.
“What’s wrong?” I hurried over to him.
“My Lego hurt me.” He grinned at me and jumped up. “I want to go and play on my new skateboard now.”
“Not right now, Harry.” I shook my head and ruffled his hair.
“Oh come on, Dad. I’ll be careful.” He looked up at me with a hopeful expression and a small pout. He reminded me so much of his mother with his expressive face. I hugged him to me for a second and shook my head.
“Maybe tomorrow.”
“You always say that.” He frowned and pulled away from me. “I’m going to go and play Wii.”
“Maybe I’ll join you in a few minutes,” I called after him as he ran out of the room, and he looked back at me with such a look of joy that I told myself I definitely needed to play with him after my call.
“Hello?” he answered slowly and unsurely. I knew he was worried about my tone. I had been furious with him last night.
“Matt, it’s Brandon.”
“She’s not answering my calls, sir.”
“That’s fine.” I bit my lower lip, not sure how to continue. “Right now I need you to focus on something else.”
“Sure. Do you want me to look into another company?” His voice grew excited at the possibility, and I sighed internally. He wasn’t as good a detective as his father Will had been. I knew his heart wasn’t in the job, not if it wasn’t to do with business. Matt was a journalist first and foremost, a detective second. And I didn’t trust him, not like I had trusted his dad. But when his dad died of a heart attack two years ago, he had taken over the business, and I’d remained loyal to honor his dad.
“No, I need you to find a bar.”
“A bar?” His tone sounded surprised.
“I need to know the name of the bar Katie went to last night when she left your apartment. And I need to know the names of all the bartenders that were working last night.”
“How am I supposed to find that out?” Matt sounded bored, and I wanted to reach through the phone and smack him. Matt irritated me, and if it weren’t for all he’d done so far and all the information he knew, I would have told him what I thought of him. The only reason I’d hired Matt to date Katie was because I knew he was g*y. No matter what happened, he was never going to seduce her and have sex with her. And I didn’t care about a few sloppy kisses—not from him. I knew he could never set her on fire like I did.