In all honesty, she was avoiding Pierce for more than simply stressing over the loss of a second friend. The problem was that she hadn’t thought of him as a friend for weeks. The man made her heart race and her pulse beat faster every time she saw him. And she saw him often.
At first, she’d told herself he was just doing his job every time he called or came by to ask her a few more questions about Louis. After all, the man was doing his job. He needed to wrap up the loose ends and close the case. Right?
It was Rayne who eventually smirked at London, barely containing a chuckle. “That man needs more information about that case about as badly as I need a Lamborghini,” she’d said.
“What are you talking about?” London had responded before she could stop herself.
“Come on. He’s interested in you. Trust me. I’ve known him a long time. The case concerning your ex was wrapped up the same night it started. Louis came to Colin’s house to kill you, got into a shoot-out with the police, and got himself killed. It wasn’t that hard to close.”
That was the first time London had permitted herself to consider Pierce’s possible ulterior motives. It was also the first day she began to live again. She had hope. Her future looked much brighter. Not necessarily because she expected anything to actually materialize with Pierce, but because she began to believe someone could be attracted to her again.
That had been over a month ago. Pierce had been around plenty of times since then, and London had never pointed out that he stopped asking questions related to the “case.”
The man was hot. Six foot. Dark brown hair cut short. Muscular. Kind. Gentle. Funny. Hardworking. She knew he was the sort of man who would drop everything to help her if she called for any reason.
She didn’t dare let herself fall for him, however. Not beyond the superficial. It felt good for someone to flirt with her. It gave her confidence. Entering into a relationship, on the other hand, was out of the question. She wanted to experience life. Do everything she hadn’t been permitted to do while married to an abuser. She did not want to answer to another man. Ever.
Pierce was not hard on the eyes, though, and he was a good friend. For those reasons, she was reluctant to face him. She wasn’t in the mood to be reprimanded, nor was she ready to face the fact that he might be furious enough with her to tell her to take a hike.
It would hurt. So, she’d avoided him for more than a full day.
Shaking thoughts of Pierce from her mind, London used the hands-free connection to call Club Zodiac. It wasn’t open for business yet, but she’d already agreed to help out at the front desk. It wouldn’t be many hours, and it wouldn’t be much money, but it was her first real job in five years. She went in several days a week already to help organize.
Rayne answered on the first ring. “Club Zodiac. How can I help you?”
“Rayne, it’s London.”
“Hey. What’s up?”
“I was just checking to see if Colin and Aaron needed me.”
“Nope. Colin said to tell you to come in Monday. By the way, have you heard from Pierce? He was looking for you.”
Of course he is. London sighed. “I know he is. I don’t feel like getting my ass chewed out today, so I’m ignoring him.”
“Yeah, he was a little pissed that you let Hope hide out at your apartment, but he’s not the sort of man who is going to yell at you. You know him better than that by now,” Rayne pointed out. Rayne had been friends with Pierce for a year. She knew him well.
London also realized she was probably right, but the truth was, she didn’t want even the slightest reprimand. She wasn’t sorry she helped Hope out. She felt defiant. “Yeah, well, too bad if he’s pissed. I’m not interested in letting another man boss me around. Been there. Done that.”
Pierce stood outside London’s apartment, leaning against her door. He’d been there for an hour. She was either inside and refused to answer the door to him, or she was out running errands and would return soon. Since she hadn’t answered his calls or responded to his texts for over a day, he wasn’t about to budge until he’d spoken to her.
Over the past few months since he’d first met her, he’d found himself thinking about her more and more. At first, he’d kicked himself for being interested in a woman who’d just gotten free from an abusive relationship. It was crass of him.
But dammit, he liked her. A lot. She was cute and sweet and fun to be around. Even in the aftermath of her husband’s death, she proven herself to be a survivor. Strong. Independent. Resilient. Her long brown curls and brown eyes made her look younger than her thirty-one years.
He loved that she had bounced back and taken control of her life. Some women wouldn’t have been able to pull themselves together so quickly. Or ever. But London wasn’t like other women. She was a fighter. Perhaps more of a fighter than was necessary even. Lately, she’d gone overboard. It seemed she’d gotten reckless in her desire to experience everything she thought she’d missed out on in the past five years.
He was worried about her. He felt protective of her. After spending the past few months remaining in the background, letting her find her way as she came out of her shell, he was done keeping his mouth closed.
He wanted more. He’d been thinking about actually asking her out on a real date for weeks. He couldn’t be certain she felt the same way about him, but she always seemed glad to see him when he showed up, and she made time for him when he called. That had to count for something.
Today, however, probably wasn’t the day he was going to get the opportunity to ask her out. He knew she was avoiding him. Which meant she also knew he wasn’t pleased with her actions. Over the last day, he’d managed to convince himself to rein in a bit of his frustration, knowing London wouldn’t take too kindly to him reading her the riot act. But she needed to know how her actions had affected other people.
She should have at least let Rayne or someone know Hope was safe, instead of letting Aaron worry about her all night. The man had been beside himself by the morning, worried about where Hope might have gone. It wasn’t until Colin threatened to call the police—a.k.a. Pierce—that London piped up.
If you’d like to continue reading Claiming London, click here.
Author’s Note
I hope you’ve enjoyed this fifth book in the Club Zodiac series. If you’d like to continue reading the series, I’ve included the link for the final book in the series:
Claiming London (Club Zodiac, Book Six)
Also by Becca Jameson
Project DEEP:
Reviving Emily
Reviving Trish
Reviving Dade
Reviving Zeke
Reviving Graham
Reviving Bianca
Reviving Olivia
* * *
SEALs in Paradise:
Hot SEAL, Red Wine
Hot SEAL, Australian Nights
* * *
Dark Falls:
Dark Nightmares
* * *
Club Zodiac:
Training Sasha
Obeying Rowen
Collaring Brooke
Mastering Rayne
Trusting Aaron
Claiming London
* * *
The Art of Kink:
Pose
Paint
Sculpt
* * *
Arcadian Bears:
Grizzly Mountain
Grizzly Beginning
Grizzly Secret
Grizzly Promise
Grizzly Survival
Grizzly Perfection
* * *
Sleeper SEALs:
Saving Zola
* * *
Spring Training:
Catching Zia
Catching Lily
Catching Ava
* * *
The Underground series:
Force
Clinch
Guard
Submit
Thrust
Torque
&nbs
p; Saving Sofia (Kindle World)
* * *
Wolf Masters series:
Kara’s Wolves
Lindsey’s Wolves
Jessica’s Wolves
Alyssa’s Wolves
Tessa’s Wolf
Rebecca’s Wolves
Melinda’s Wolves
Laurie’s Wolves
Amanda’s Wolves
Sharon’s Wolves
* * *
Claiming Her series:
The Rules
The Game
The Prize
* * *
Emergence series:
Bound to be Taken
Bound to be Tamed
Bound to be Tested
Bound to be Tempted
* * *
The Fight Club series:
Come
Perv
Need
Hers
Want
Lust
* * *
Wolf Gatherings series:
Tarnished
Dominated
Completed
Redeemed
Abandoned
Betrayed
* * *
Durham Wolves series:
Rescue in the Smokies
Fire in the Smokies
Freedom in the Smokies
* * *
Stand Alone Books:
Blind with Love
Guarding the Truth
Out of the Smoke
Abducting His Mate
Three’s a Cruise
Wolf Trinity
Frostbitten
A Princess for Cale/A Princess for Cain
About the Author
Becca Jameson is a USA Today best-selling author of over 80 books. She is most well-known for her Wolf Masters series and her Fight Club series. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, two grown kids, and the various pets that wander through. She is loving this journey and has dabbled in a variety of genres, including paranormal, sports romance, military, and BDSM.
A total night owl, Becca writes late at night, sequestering herself in her office with a glass of red wine and a bar of dark chocolate, her fingers flying across the keyboard as her characters weave their own stories.
During the day--which never starts before ten in the morning!--she can be found jogging, floating in the pool, or reading in her favorite hammock chair!
…where Alphas dominate…
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Contact Becca:
www.beccajameson.com
[email protected]
Trusting Aaron Page 18