Candy King

by Christine d'Abo

  Simone had tried to do some mental math on when her mystery man might have gone to school. “Can I see what you have from the mid to late nineties? If I don’t see what I’m looking for, I might ask for a few more.”

  “Sure. If you want to go across the hall, there’s an empty office you can use. But I have to leave in about an hour, so you’ll have to be done by then.”

  Simone wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “You’re amazing. Thank you.”

  It didn’t take long for the woman to bring her several piles of yearbooks, and for Simone to start searching through. She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t let go of the idea that the name Candy King had personal meaning to him. Something about the way he’d use it in conversation, his teasing nature, gave her the impression that it had been a moniker he’d had for a while.

  But after nearly forty-five minutes of looking through pictures and reading blurbs, Simone was beginning to doubt her premise. Maybe he hadn’t gone to university here and this was all a complete waste of time. Perhaps this entire enterprise of hers was a waste.

  Her phone had been buzzing off and on while she’d been here. Needing the break, she pulled it out and quickly scanned her e-mails. Nothing that couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Then she saw that there was a message waiting for her from the sugar daddy app. Quickly looking around to make sure that someone wasn’t about to come into the office, she snuck a peek.

  Hey Sugar Tart.

  I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and what we did yesterday. You might not believe me, but I haven’t done that before. I can’t get you out of my mind.

  I might have to jerk off again just thinking about you.

  CK

  Shit, she’d completely fucked this up with him. Here he thought that she was after him for a relationship, and all she’d wanted was to get a story from him. Well, if she were being honest with herself, she wasn’t averse to engaging in their mutual online sexy fun times, but there was no way she had the time for their relationship to go much beyond that.

  If she did ever track him down, she didn’t have a clue how she’d explain all this weirdness to him.

  Simone closed her eyes and placed her forehead on top of the open page of the 1997 yearbook. God, she was a complete idiot for thinking she’d be able to pull off a story like this. There was next to no information for her to go on, and the man apparently wasn’t interested in revealing his name to her on his own. What right did she have to dig up his identity? Even if she promised not to disclose it to the public, how could she possibly reassure him of that? He’d say that she’d led him on just to get the story, and she couldn’t exactly deny that.

  This was pointless.

  “Are you okay?”

  Simone lifted her head to come face-to-face with a man who looked to be in his mid-forties. “Hi. I was doing some research on someone who I think might be an alumnus. But I don’t have a whole hell of a lot to go on.”

  The man, somewhat handsome and relaxed, smiled at her as he crossed his arms. “I did my graduate degree and have worked there for years. Maybe I can help?”

  “Unless you know someone who went by the nickname Candy King, I doubt it.”

  The man straightened. “Ah, actually I might be able to help with that.”

  Simone was on her feet, all the pain instantly gone from her muscles. “I would love you forever if you could even point me in the right direction.”

  “It might not be who you’re looking for, but when I was doing my master’s degree, I played rugby for the Varsity Blues. There was an undergrad I knew who went by a similar nickname. Something about him being sweet and slick with his moves. I don’t really remember much as he was a few years behind me.”

  Simone’s mind was screaming for more information, but she did her very best to maintain the illusion of being a calm and collected professional. “Would there be any publicly available information on who the team members were? And what year was this?”

  “Are those yearbooks?”

  She moved away from the desk, motioning for him to come closer. “Everything from the nineties.”

  He came entirely into the office and flipped open the top one when the girl from the alumni office came in. “I’m sorry, but I have to head out.”

  Simone practically flew across the office to take her by the hands. “Can I borrow some of these? I promise I’ll bring them back.”

  “Sorry, no. They’re school property.”

  “I’d only need them for a night. I’d be more than happy to leave my work information, or even give you some cash for them. I really just need to do a bit more reading—”

  “There he is. I remembered the nickname because everyone said his moves were sweet like candy.”

  Simone abandoned the girl and joined her mystery man at the desk. “Dylan Williams?”

  The picture in the yearbook was of Dylan at a rugby game, running hard with the ball under his arm. His body was lean, the muscles in his thighs firm, suspended in time for her to ogle. She didn’t know the first thing about rugby, but there was something sexy about the look on his face. His brown hair was pushed back, the muscles in his jaw clenched as his focus was squarely on his goal—whatever that had been. She couldn’t imagine having that intensity fixed on her for any reason, even as her body responded to it.

  The caption read: Dylan “Candy King” Williams, making his move.

  “I didn’t know him well, but I do remember he was quite well off. I’m still paying off my student loans.” He nodded. “I’ll let you get out of here.”

  “Thank you, Professor McKenna.” The girl moved to the desk and began to collect the yearbooks.

  Simone took a picture of the page with her phone before holding out her hand for Professor McKenna. “Yes, thank you. This is incredibly helpful.”

  “My pleasure. Good luck.”

  Simone turned to the girl. “Thank you as well. You’ve just saved my ass.”

  “Sure.” Clearly, she wasn’t at all interested. “Can you find your way out?”

  “No problem.”

  Simone’s mind kept saying his name over and over—Dylan Williams—trying to see if it felt right. Was this the same guy who’d jerked off with her in the bathroom two days ago? She wanted nothing more than to find out.

  The minute she got into her car, Simone opened the picture and stared down at him. “Who are you, Dylan Williams?”

  It was time to find out if he was indeed her mystery man.

  Then she needed to figure out what exactly she was going to do if he was.

  * * * *

  Kayla was in her pajamas when Simone showed up at her house later that night. Kayla’s hair was loose around her shoulders, and she didn’t have any makeup on. “Do you know what time it is?”

  “Ah, no.” She didn’t wait to be invited in before pushing past Kayla to make a beeline for her coffee maker. “I think I found him.”

  “Devin is sleeping in the living room.” Kayla poked her head around the corner, no doubt looking to see if her fiancé was still snoring. “And found who?”

  “The Candy King. The owner of the sugar daddy website.” She’d been buzzing from excitement for hours and knew there was no way she’d be able to sleep for a while. As per usual, Kayla would be on the receiving end of her boundless energy.

  Simone helped herself to a coffee, drinking down half of the hot liquid without really thinking about it. The burn was good to refocus her mind and to calm her down enough that she’d be able to speak in full, non-run-on sentences. “At least I think it’s him. I was able to miraculously track his nickname down to an entry in a university yearbook. I need to reach out and see if he’ll bite on my questions. But I’m close.”

  She would need to reach out to Williams tomorrow, but the question was should she do it through the sugar daddy app and see what
his reaction was, or should she reach out to him at work? Would he see that as a threat or an attack? She really didn’t want him to think of her contacting him as either of those things. Maybe she’d do the app first. “I could really use your advice on what you think is the best way to approach this. I mean, I know you’re not a reporter, but I think I need a sanity check or something.”

  When she turned around to face Kayla once again, she’d been expecting to see the same facial expression her best friend wore whenever Simone showed up late at night or unexpectedly. Kayla always looked amused with a side dish of exasperated, generally because Simone didn’t let her get a word in edgewise.

  Tonight, she merely looked tired.

  “Are you okay?” Simone put her mug down and practically flew across the kitchen to her friend. “Did something bad happen? Do I need to kick Devin’s ass for something?”

  Kayla took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, before pulling Simone into a hug. “It’s late, and I’m just a little tired.”

  “But if there’s a problem, I’m here to help you.” Simone always hated the expression take a bullet for someone, but Kayla was that person for her.

  “I know you are. And I love that about you.”

  “Whatever you need, I’m here for you. Well, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the research that I’m doing.”

  Kayla smiled, looking more than a little exasperated. “Darling, I don’t want this to sound harsh, because I don’t mean it that way. But in this particular instance, you’re the problem.”

  Simone stopped moving and stared, wide-eyed, at her friend. “What?”

  “You’re clearly really excited about your break, and I want to be excited too. But it’s nearly midnight.” Kayla pushed a piece of her dark loose hair behind her ear.

  Simone turned and looked at the close. “Oh shit. I had no idea.”

  “I know you didn’t. I was about to throw a blanket on Devin and go to bed. He’s been studying up and getting ready for his school semester on top of volunteering at the soup kitchen. And I’ve been going all week on a special project at work. I really want nothing more than to go to bed and sleep.”

  Simone knew her face was flushed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay, and I love you. Maybe next time give me a bit of warning if you’re coming by this late at night? I’ll drink a coffee.”

  She’d always come over to talk things out with Kayla in the past. No matter the time. Had her friend always put up with that? Simone’s chest tightened, and it suddenly became hard to breathe. “I didn’t know you hated when I’d come over like this.”

  “I don’t hate it. And don’t think for a second that I hate you.” Kayla pulled her into a quick hug. “I just wish that sometimes you’d look at a clock.”

  And just like that, Simone felt like the biggest asshole on the planet. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry.” Kayla sighed. “Honestly, it’s just tonight. I’m wiped out, and I have a big meeting again tomorrow.”

  “Hey.” They both turned around to see Devin standing, sleepy-eyed, in the doorway. “Everything okay?”

  “Simone was just heading out. Go to bed, and I’ll be up shortly.”

  “Okay. Night, Simone.” He turned as though someone else was piloting his body and disappeared up the stairs.

  “Shit, I’m sorry.” Despite how long Kayla and Devin had been together, Simone still wasn’t used to sharing her best friend with someone else.

  “It’s fine. He’ll be back asleep before his head hits the pillow.” Kayla rubbed her eyes and bit back a yawn.

  “Sorry. I’ll go.”

  “I’m not mad.” Kayla’s smile eased the tension in Simone’s chest.

  “Okay.”

  “Give me a call in the morning, and you can tell me all about who you found. If you have time, we’ll do lunch.”

  Simone gave Kayla a little wave before trudging back to her car and getting inside. All the joy, the excitement she’d felt since finding Dylan Williams’s picture in the yearbook finally faded away. She’d never considered herself a selfish person, never had thought she’d taken advantage of Kayla, but, clearly, she’d grown too accustomed to having her friend at her beck and call. While their friendship was solid, Kayla had changed since she’d gotten engaged to Devin. Simone was happy for her friend and wanted her to have all the joy that was coming her way.

  And yet, there was a part of her that wished everything had stayed the same. That Simone, not Devin, was the center of Kayla’s world.

  What kind of person did that make her?

  A lonely one.

  Simone turned her car on and pulled onto the road. Well, if she couldn’t fall back on her relationship with Kayla as a sounding board for what she’d found, then this was an excellent opportunity for her to fly on her own. Not only would she prove to Carl that she was an excellent reporter, she’d prove to herself that she didn’t need to rely on anyone for anything.

  She could do this. She would do this.

  Dylan Williams wouldn’t know what hit him.

  Chapter 4

  Dylan Williams stood nursing his second whiskey and listening to his brother extol the virtues of doing yoga while people he didn’t know mulled around them. This was the third engagement party he’d been invited to by his brother in the last ten years, and there was a small, cynical part of him that suspected that it might not be the last. Though if anyone could keep his brother in line, Sarah was it. While she was seven years younger than Jonathan, Sarah had a calm wisdom to her that his older brother had yet to possess.

  “Seriously, within a month Sarah and I were doing headstands against the wall.” Jonathan drained his glass and winked. “I mean, I fell on my ass within about five seconds, but it makes her happy when I try.”

  “Happy wife, happy life.” Not that Dylan knew the first thing about matrimony. Unlike his brother, who seemed to be perpetually getting married, Dylan had made a point of steering clear of anything resembling a serious relationship.

  He was self-aware enough to know he was far too selfish to make an excellent partner to another human being. All he was interested in was work, the occasional one-night stand with a willing partner, and traveling when he could take the time away.

  Plus, he had his website if he needed a date. That was far easier than any relationship.

  Case in point, his little flirtation with his anonymous Sugar Tart.

  Since their little back-and-forth three days ago, he hadn’t been able to get the thought of her out of his mind. She’d barely filled out her profile on the site, which was a bit surprising, given that most women who signed up were actively trying to find someone to go on dates with and offered lots of information about themselves.

  His Sugar Tart seemed more interested in talking to him, trying to get information on who he was, rather than dating. That in itself wasn’t unusual—he’d had more than a few people want to know who the owner of the site was, which was one of the reasons he’d used an alias. Typically when he was looking for a date, he used a different name without a picture. The last thing he wanted was to have it readily known that he was the owner of the site and have that come back and have an impact on the family business.

  The chance of them losing contracts around the city wasn’t worth the risk. And while his family might be more than a little dysfunctional, no one would take very kindly to the idea, let alone the reality, of his little side company.

  His dad would see him as little more than a pimp.

  And knowing Jonathan, he’d want to sign up.

  “Little brother,” Jonathan slapped him on the back of the shoulder, “when are you going to settle down? Find some nice girl to spend all your money on.”

  Ah, the ever-present belief that if you’re single, you must be inherently unhappy. It wasn’t just his brother who thought th
is. Dylan’s parents would generally bring it up whenever he went out to lunch with one of them. They’d been divorced for fifteen years, but in this matter, they both seemed to feel that because the youngest of the Williams family hadn’t tied—and then promptly untied—the knot, he was somehow deficient in life experiences.

  Never had Dylan ever felt he was missing out. There were plenty of women out there that he’d had arrangements with: traveling companions, lovers, friends. He’d never had any reason to change his life to “Not happening.”

  “Why not?” Jonathan used that same tone of voice that also seemed to be a Williams trait. “You’re thirty-five, times a wasting.”

  “I’m thirty-seven, and I’m fine single.” He really was fine on his own and had no desire to run out and change his status.

  Before Jonathan could jump in for round two of You really need to get a girl, Dylan’s phone rang. “Sorry, have to get this.” Without looking, he hit answer and pressed his phone to his ear. “Yeah?”

  “Hi, Mr. Williams, it’s Sonya.” It didn’t matter that his assistant had been working for him for over five years now, she always insisted on letting him know it was her. As though he couldn’t recognize her voice by now. “I’ve had some e-mails from a reporter wanting to interview you. At least, I think that’s what she wants.”

  It wasn’t unusual for him to get media requests as part of his job as CEO of the family company. But he could tell there was something different in Sonya’s voice and that this particular request was unusual. “What’s going on?”

  “Well, she just wanted to know if you’d gone to U of T, and honestly, I couldn’t remember what the diploma in your office said, so I just gave her the brush-off. She wouldn’t say exactly what the information was for, and she didn’t ask me any other questions.”

  Dylan felt as though he’d been hit in the face with a brick. There was only one person he knew who’d been asking questions about his personal life recently, and that was Sugar Tart. He mentally tried to recall everything he’d said to her online, trying to remember if there’d been anything he could have said that would have led her to make the connection.