The Guy Next Door (Forbidden Love Book 1)

by Kelly Myers

  My focus tunnel-visioned in on Rolly’s outstretched hand. Zack’s long fingers, elegant and strong, wrapped around Rolly. Cords of tendons strained in Zack’s arm as Rolly hoisted him up onto the bed of the truck.

  “Not exactly like the stage show we got when he took over at Shingle Click, huh?” Charline said.

  My gut twisted. My focus shifted from Zack’s hands back up to his face. I wasn’t sure I was able to function at the moment. “Yeah, but it feels familiar, doesn’t it? Zack’s talking to us in a parking lot. How come I can’t help but think everything is about to change, and not necessarily for the best.”

  She let out a derisive laugh. “Seriously. At least we get fed this time.” She sighed. “Are you going to be okay with him here? I know you’ve got your reasons, but is he in any way behind your secrets for leaving California the way you did?”

  I shrugged. I already was not okay, and there wasn’t anything I could do about him being here. I couldn’t run away, not after Ellen had apologized. If I pulled a runner, she would think I was as flighty and thoughtless as she had accused me of being. If I did anything but looked shocked, annoyed, or surprised, then Charline might put two and two together. I had never told her.

  As far as Charline was concerned, my reasons for leaving were that I was getting evicted, the job was not paying me enough for rent, and definitely not enough for putting up with Greg. Adam’s father had been one night of fun, and he had no idea about the baby. None of these were exactly lies. They weren’t the complete truth either.

  Besides, I wanted to see Zack. I wanted to know if he remembered me at all. Had I been as big of an impact on his life as he had on mine?

  “He’s got hair a lot like Adam’s. You sure he’s not the father you won’t tell me about?” she laughed.

  I winced.

  Rolly kept on talking. Zack stood there with his hands in his pockets, his expression hidden behind dark sunglasses. From where I stood I could tell he was still biking, still had those powerful thighs. But he looked thinner. Leaner. Meaner.

  And then he smiled. Even his business smile had been stunning, and I was painfully reminded of that. Emotions that I hadn’t felt for years stirred up in my body, and tears threatened. I looked up and blinked hard. I refused to cry. I didn’t have sunglasses to hide behind.

  “Ain’t no better way to get to know someone than over a good brisket.” With a thunderous sound, Rolly clapped his big hands together. “Let’s eat.”

  I didn’t move as the rest of the people made their way to line up in front of the tent where the caterers were serving. It was like a reception line with Rolly introducing Zack to everyone as they walked past with plates piled high with lunch.

  “What are you waiting for?” Charline asked as she started to head over. “Crystal, come on.”

  I wasn’t ready to meet Zack again. But the food smelled so good, and I was hungry. My stomach rumbled. The desire for the food won out over my panicked thoughts of running away. I fell in line. The closer I got to the head of the line the more nervous I got. My hands could hardly hold on to my plate of food.

  “Crystal, I want you to meet Zack Noble. This is the young lady I was telling you about, Zack.”

  I met his eyes for the first time in almost four years. All strength left my body.

  25

  Zack

  I barely registered the baked beans and the potato salad that slid down my shirt and globbed onto my slacks, and then onto my shoes. Crystal stood in front of me, alive, vibrant, and full of health.

  A deep red flush colored her cheeks in the seconds our eyes met before she went pale, and then dropped her lunch all over me. If she hadn’t reacted that way, looking like she had seen a ghost, I probably would have.

  “Whoa there, Crystal, are you all right?” Rolly’s big voice cut through the haze that clouded my brain and stunned my reaction.

  “Crystal!” A woman behind her cried out.

  I stood, frozen in shock. Shock at seeing her, shock at being attacked by barbecue. I reached out to steady her, my eyes on her face. A flurry of activity happened as a chair and a bottle of water were brought for her. I was ignored in the very obvious concern for her well-being. Maybe she still wasn’t healthy, maybe she came here for treatment. Maybe…

  “I’m so sorry Mr. Noble, I don't know what happened,” she said.

  Mr. Noble? Was she pretending not to know me? My gut tightened as emotions I needed to sort through fought for dominance: anger, surprise, shock, relief.

  “Hey, Mr. Noble. I doubt you remember me, I’m Charline.” The redhead, who had been behind Crystal in line, gave me a nod and a smile as she fussed about. If she remembered me, what was Crystal’s game? “I used to be a receptionist for Shingle Click. Came back here cause Rolly gave me an engineering job.”

  I nodded. “I remember you. You too, Crystal. You both used to work for me. Or have you forgotten, Miss Pond?”

  She looked shaken. Her eyes darted around, but would not meet mine again. Someone handed me a handful of napkins and I began brushing the food from my clothes.

  “Somebody get Noble here a clean shirt. Sorry, I can’t help you with the pants, maybe we have some work boots you can borrow,” Rolly said.

  I was grateful he wasn’t paying attention to the conversation I was having with the women. Instead his focus was on handling the mess.

  “I don’t think boots will be necessary,” I said, giving him less than half of my attention. It was difficult not to give my full attention to Crystal. After all, I was surrounded by people eager to meet me, and covered in food. But she was here, breathing, alive.

  “I… I remember.” Crystal’s voice was so tentative, nervous. “I wasn’t sure if you would remember me.”

  My gut coiled in and my chest squeezed. How the fuck could she think I would have forgotten anything about her? A derisive chuckle left my lips.

  “Your work ethic was something to be commended. I was perplexed that you never contacted HR regarding references. Your team spoke highly of you.”

  That got her attention, and her eyes snapped to my face. “Most of them at least,” I smirked. Maybe I should tell her that I fired Greg after one off-color remark about her after she vanished.

  Someone handed me a Rollins Tech tee. I unbuttoned my shirt. Crystal’s gaze followed my hands before returning to my face. I held her gaze, daring her to look away. Did she want to drink me in the same way I was fighting my instinct to look at her? I wadded up the soiled shirt and tossed it in the garbage. It was too stained to even bother with. I pulled the tee on over my head and returned to wiping my shoes clean. Small mercies, the food had not made its way into my shoes, and it wasn’t puke.

  “I hope you’re feeling better.” I left her with a curt nod and followed Rolly to meet more employees.

  My focus was completely shot. All I could hear were her soft gasps of shock. All I could see was the flush across her face, the way her breasts strained at her blouse as she gulped for breath.

  She was as shaken up as I was. Only everyone could see her reactions. I hid my own reactions well, I should go play a round of poker. I was so cold and shut down I might as well have been dead. But I didn’t feel dead. I felt like the human equivalent of a thousand swarming bees, all movement, and buzz. I wanted nothing more than to follow my queen around now that I had found her.

  I smiled and shook hands, and forgot names the second they were told to me. Excusing myself, I phoned Lisa. “It looks like I’m going to need that box of clothes sooner than expected,” I said.

  “Rollins Tech has potential?” she asked.

  “He’s motivated. My real problem is someone just dumped their lunch all over me. I have enough clothes for tomorrow and that’s it.”

  “I’ll get your clothes out to you immediately. Will you need help locating a dry cleaner, or can the hotel concierge handle that for you?” she asked.

  “The concierge should be able to handle that. Thank you, Lisa.”

  A
s I ended the call, an image of the little boy flashed on my phone with a text from Paris.

  “Looking at this again. You sure it’s not you? Secret love child? How many mystery spawn do you have out there?”

  I did not appreciate her humor and shoved the phone into my pocket. I was not an irresponsible lover. I didn’t lose control like that.

  The familiar swish and wiggle of Crystal’s hips in my peripheral vision caught my full attention. Fuck me. My body instantly reacted to that woman’s walk. She was the only one who could ever drive me so wild I could lose that level of control. I followed her, needing answers.

  I slammed into the building and staggered at my sudden blindness. The interior of the office space was darker than expected, coming in from the bright of outside.

  “If you close your eyes just before you walk inside it’s not so bad. Your eyes will adjust faster.”

  I turned to the sound of her sweet voice. “Crystal.”

  “Hi, Zack.”

  “So, you do remember me? What was that out there?” I didn’t hide the bitter resentment in my voice.

  I heard her swallow. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed. I didn’t know if you would want people to know we knew each other. I thought I was over everything.”

  “Over?” I growled. My vision was still impaired with purple spots, but I could see her outline. I stepped closer, crowding her. I slammed my hands against the wall on either side of her head, boxing her in.

  “What is there to get over? Did you have to get over me, or some illness? I thought you were sick. What was it, Crystal? What did you have?”

  Her breasts lifted with heavy breaths, brushing my chest. I was no longer in control, my body remembered every soft curve of her and wanted her back. I dipped my nose to her neck and inhaled.

  “Why did you leave me?” I hurt for so long, and she had been here the whole time.

  Her hands pressed into my chest, and I relaxed against her touch. More. I needed more.

  She smelled so good. I trailed my nose along her neck and into her hair. I wanted to taste her skin. Her ear was soft under my mouth.

  Her hands rested for a moment. “I didn’t have a choice.” Her voice was small as she breathed hard. She swallowed again and then shoved me away.

  “I heard you talking to your uncle, Zack. You were going to fire me. You let him say those horrible things about me, and you did nothing. I had to leave. I couldn’t be your fake roommate once I realized what you really thought of me. I couldn’t stay.”

  “Crystal,” I rubbed at the spot on my chest where she shoved. I didn’t need to remember the exact words of Uncle George, whatever he had said wasn’t complimentary or nice.

  “Your uncle, Zack? You couldn’t date me, but your uncle is President of the Board?” Anger fueled her now. She shoved me again.

  I stepped back before she could push me one more time. “Let me take you out to dinner, give me a chance to explain,” I said. I reached for her. I wanted her in my arms again.

  She scoffed. “Is that allowed? Looks like I work for you again.”

  “You don’t work for me yet. But Rolly is certainly throwing this sale at me.”

  “I can’t go out with you, Zack.” She wrung her hands together. I didn’t see the flash of a ring on her finger. As much hope as that gave me, I realized that no ring didn’t mean there wasn’t a man in her life.

  “Look, I’m going to be here, number-crunching for a few days, maybe a week. Can we go out while I’m in town? I owe you,” I didn’t want to beg, but for this woman, I would crawl across broken glass for another chance.

  “I’ll think about it.”

  26

  Crystal

  I wanted to avoid him while he was at Rollins Tech. Maybe if I didn’t talk to him, I wouldn’t have to face all these emotions he stirred up. There was no reason for me to be walking past the conference room, but there I was. I stared at Zack through the plate glass window.

  He ran his thumb over his eyebrow like he always did when he was thinking. His focus divided between an open binder full of papers, and his laptop. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up and I had a clear view of the muscles of his forearms at play.

  He looked up and our eyes met. My stomach flipped.

  He waved me in. “You might as well come in, or would you rather stand there staring at me all day.”

  I felt a blush burn my cheeks. “Busted, huh?”

  I slid into a chair across from him. I didn’t know where to focus. I picked up a pen that had rolled away and was on my side of the table. I put the pen back. I adjusted in my seat.

  He leaned back and braced his hands on the back of his neck. The movement strained his biceps against the fabric of his shirt. I was losing the battle of being physically attracted to him again, still. Had I ever stopped?

  “Stop fidgeting, you’re making me nervous,” he said.

  “You nervous? What do you have to be nervous about?” He wasn’t the one who had a massive walking talking secret to tell.

  “I’m not going to be here too much longer. Rolly’s books are exceptionally organized. He’s already had the business evaluated by an outside source to determine value. He wants to sell. He’s motivated, that makes my job here easier.”

  I shifted, I wanted to look at his face, but I still couldn’t look him in the eyes. “What exactly is your job here, Zack? I’m surprised you’re the one here. I thought you were the ‘talk to investors and make sure things got done’ guy.”

  He cleared his throat and sat up. He reached across the table and picked up the pen I discarded. I forgot how long his arms were. I had forgotten so much about him, and I thought I had committed every word, every breath, everything about him to memory.

  “Go out with me and I’ll tell you everything. A lot has changed since you left.”

  “Did the HCC app rollout end up going smoothly? I…” I couldn’t finish. I had abandoned everyone in a selfish fit.

  Zack chuckled. “Everything went perfectly. You really made sure your team was taken care of when you vanished. How long did it take you to work out that revised schedule?” He shook his head. “No, let me take you to dinner. You can tell me everything then.”

  I twisted my fingers in my lap. I needed to tell him everything, and more. I finally looked up and our gazes locked. The sadness I saw in his eyes brought tears to my own.

  I nodded. “Dinner.”

  It was a scramble to find a sitter at the last minute. Fortunately, Sue from the daycare was available. I know I could have asked Charline, but I would have had to explain everything to her, and I didn’t have it in me for two major confrontations in one day.

  “I don’t know where to take you, do you mind suggesting a place? I’ll pay. A place where we can sit and talk and not feel rushed.”

  “I know just the place.”

  He gave me his hotel information, and I told him I’d pick him up at seven. That would give me enough time to make sure Adam had dinner and was ready for bed before I left.

  I couldn’t focus on anything for the rest of the day. Fortunately, I wasn’t in the middle of anything pressing, or Ellen would have had a fit.

  Nerves I thought were long dead danced in my belly as I pulled up to Zack’s hotel a few hours later. He had to have been waiting in the lobby since he walked out the doors mere seconds after I texted him.

  “Hi,” he said as he slid into my small Prius. “I should have known you would have an electric car.”

  I was too nervous to say anything. Would he notice the car seat under the blanket in the back? He was inches away. I could smell his skin and the hotel soap. His chin still sported the scruff. I itched to reach out and scratch my fingernails along his jaw.

  “This is a mom-and-pop kind of place. I think you’ll like it.” I bit my lips closed before I could say that Adam liked the sparkly red vinyl booths. I wasn’t ready to dive right into Adam, just yet.

  I closed the car door and my phone started
going crazy.

  “Give me a sec, I need to take this,” I said to Zack. I turned around as if my back to him magically made him not hear anything I said. “Sue, what’s up?” Sue never called when she babysat. She never had any problems with Adam. I had to fight to keep panic from my voice. The babysitter calling was never a good sign.

  “Crystal, I’m so sorry. Adam’s fine, but can you come home?”

  “What happened?” I swallowed bile and began fishing for my damned car keys. How had they wormed their way into the depths of my bag so fast? I had just tossed them in.

  “I’m really sorry, but my mother called. My dad fell off a ladder. She needs me to come home so she can take him to the hospital. She doesn’t know how long that’s going to take, and she doesn’t want my little sisters home all by themselves for too long.”

  “I’m about thirty minutes away, will that be okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, that will be great. Thank you. I’m so sorry.”

  I disconnected the call and breathed out a heavy sigh. I hoped her father was all right, but I couldn’t hide my relief that nothing was wrong with my baby.

  “Hey, Zack. Something has come up and I have to get home. Would you like to come over, and I can cook? I’m really sorry. Um…” I started shaking, the keys jangled in my grasp.

  “Sure, are you okay?” He turned around and put a hand on the car door.

  I clicked the unlock, and got into the car. “Yeah, I don’t know. The sitter’s father had an accident. So I have to get back.”

  Oh damn. That wasn’t supposed to have come out that way. I drove the entire way home in silence, my eyes on the road ahead.

  Zack didn’t say anything either. He followed me up to my second-floor apartment without a word.