Overdose: A British Bad Boy Romance

by Raven St. Pierre

  After sending Jim a quick response, she moved on to the next message that caught her attention.

  Her brow lifted with curiosity when she clicked the name Rose Olson—the mother of Ryan’s best friend, Kevin. Vanessa skimmed the words quickly, soon realizing it was an invitation. The family was taking a camping trip to a nearby lake and they wanted to invite Ryan along. That was all fine and good until she read the dates—the outing was scheduled for the upcoming long weekend she’d made plans to spend alone with her son. The one she’d taken a few extra days off to make sure Ryan had her undivided attention.

  A breath hissed from between Vanessa’s lips. Ryan had been asking her and Simon to take him camping for more than a year now. At first, the reason they couldn’t decide on a date was because of their conflicting schedules. When Vanessa was free, Simon was booked and vice versa. Now, the reason the two couldn’t come together was obvious.

  ‘He’d love this,’ she thought to herself, already hearing Ryan’s excited voice in her head when she got home to tell him about the upcoming trip. She couldn’t tell him no. He needed a break from real life as much as she did… maybe more.

  Before she could talk herself out of it, before she let her selfishness get in the way, she responded to Rose’s email. She’d miss her little guy while he was away, but he’d definitely have more fun at the lake than he would entertaining his mom for five days.

  Without further thought, she hit ‘send’, and then closed out her email, only thinking about Simon after the response had already gone out.

  They had an agreement. When it came to Ryan, they’d keep communication clear so one would never be in the dark about his day-to-day whereabouts. Instead of going to Simon’s office to discuss it face to face, she simply shot a quick instant message and then signed off of her computer to head out for lunch.

  Purse in hand, she walked toward the door. The second she stepped out into the hallway, the sound of her name being called made her pause. It was Simon and his tone was curt.

  “Would you mind if we talk for a moment?” he asked.

  She wanted to say no, but she chose to be cordial since Greta was in earshot. Without a word, she went that way, toward Simon’s office.

  Once inside, he gently closed the door and offered her a seat. Vanessa quickly declined, not wanting Simon to get the wrong idea; she wasn’t staying.

  “Your message,” he started. “It was pretty vague.”

  Vanessa frowned and inched her handbag to the bend of her elbow where she clutched it.

  “How so? I told you where he was going, the dates, and who he’d be with,” she countered. “That’s everything you need to know.”

  Simon shoved his hands in the pockets of his tan suit pants as he leaned casually against his desk. “For starters, were you just running the idea past me or did you already give Rose an answer?”

  She didn’t have time for this. “I told her he could go.”

  That response visibly frustrated him. “I didn’t even have any say in the matter.”

  “What’s the problem? He stays over with them all the time. We’ve known them for years,” Vanessa debated, still not understanding why this was a problem.

  “I just don’t think Ry’s old enough to spend days away from home without one of us there with him. And it would’ve been nice to have been asked before you said yes.”

  Heat flashed across Vanessa’s face. “Are you kidding me right now?”

  Simon stared her down just like she’d done to him. “I’m actually quite serious,” he said flatly. “You know… I’ve let you cut me out of things, let you boss me around, I’ve allowed you to talk down to me, because I know I’ve hurt you and I don’t want to add to that, but… it ends here,” he asserted, holding her gaze. “I’m putting my foot down. From now on, when it comes to our son, I forbid you to make decisions without my input first.”

  That word… forbid… it burned a hole right through her.

  “Oh, this is rich,” she said with a laugh in her voice. “You forbid me, Simon?”

  “Yes, as Ryan’s father, I forbid you to make decisions concerning his wellbeing without me.”

  “It’s a damn camping trip!” she yelled.

  He over-talked her, deciding to finish his thought. “What if something happens to him while he’s out there in the middle of nowhere? He’s too damn young, Vanessa!” He added, raising his voice a little, too, now.

  She was so angry she could barely even form words.

  “What’s this really about?” Simon asked flatly, eyeing her. “Do you just need a break from him? Is having him too much for you?”

  Her blood reached boiling point. “Don’t you dare do that,” she hissed. “Don’t you dare turn this into something ugly, implying that raising my son is too much for me. For your information, I took off work to spend time with him because you decided to cancel on him.”

  “I’ve got a conference to—”

  “Of course you do,” she cut in. “There’s always a conference. Always something more important than your family. Well, what’s left of it, anyway.” When Simon didn’t respond right away, she went on. “Will she be there? The one who finally got you caught?”

  Simon turned away and sighed. “I won’t do this with you.”

  “Why? Because you’ve forgotten which one it even was? Did you lose track of your whores, Simon? I know you had several.”

  That stopped him cold in his tracks and she loved seeing him sweat. His silent response confirmed what she already knew: there was so much more she wasn’t aware of.

  “So… the next time you think about questioning my parenting, just remember; I’m not the one who ripped our little boy’s world apart.”

  Simon said nothing.

  “He’s going on this camping trip because he needs it,” Vanessa added. “He needs some time away from our craziness to just… be a damn kid again.” And that was all she had to say about it.

  Simon never turned after Vanessa’s accusation hit home with him. Feeling winded by the emotional highs and lows of her day, she was all the more relieved that she’d heard back from Dr. Keiser. The sooner she got out of this place the better. She was always in knots and it took so much effort not to let it affect her work. It was hard, though. At every turn, she was trying to avoid Simon. Even when all he wanted from her was casual conversation, it left her feeling drained.

  This wasn’t what she wanted anymore.

  Hadn’t been for a long time.

  The alarm on her Cadillac chirped and she walked faster, hearing the sound of her high-heels clicking across the concrete lot. She wanted to run and never stop. She wanted today to be her last returning to Ferris and Ferris. Ever.

  The engine roared to life and the car was in reverse, but Vanessa didn’t take her foot off the brake pedal.

  She was full.

  So full.

  Of rage, anger, hurt, just… full.

  Without thinking, or maybe she had thought about it, she had her phone in hand, but not to make a call. Instead, using the number to Zander’s office, she did a reverse lookup and found the address to his practice, locking the information into her GPS. After that, her foot pressed the accelerator and she followed the route.

  With every turn, she questioned her actions. Just days ago, she’d had her mind made up to tell Zander they couldn’t see one another again, but… that call was never placed. His late night visit, the one she thought had made the need for separation so much clearer, had actually had the opposite effect. Several times, she remembered picking up the phone the next day only to set it right back down, ultimately deciding she couldn’t find it within herself to cut him off.

  The chance of her regretting the weakness she seemed to have for him was great, but she still couldn’t do it.

  And now… here she was making her way to his office, heading right into the lion’s den.

  The voice on her GPS announced that her destination was coming up on the left. With a white-knuckle grip on th
e steering wheel, Vanessa turned into the freshly re-paved lot of Zander’s practice. Crisp white lines divided parking spaces and she eased her car into one, eventually turning the engine off.

  Still, she sat there, wondering why she’d even come.

  Rough sex to get her mind off the conversation with Simon? Was she looking for Zander to stroke her ego?

  The answer to both questions rang loudly in her ears and the hidden meaning behind it scared the hell out of her. The answer was no; she wasn’t here for either of those things. For once, she sought Zander out for something she wasn’t even sure he could offer; something she wasn’t sure he was capable of giving without there being strings attached.

  Comfort.

  That’s what she was after.

  ‘So, why on Earth did I think I’d find that here?’ she asked herself.

  The sound of a gentle knock on her driver’s side window startled her heart out of rhythm and, staring back at her, was the devilishly handsome man she couldn’t seem to get out of her system. Golden–brown eyes burned brightly in the sunlight and it struck her that she should just start the car and leave, like nothing ever happened, like she hadn’t just made the effort to drive over.

  “Are you stalking me?” Zander asked through the window, wearing a coy grin. “Because, if I’m being honest, I might actually be into that sort of thing.”

  Surprisingly, his crassness made her smile a little. She realized how silly this must look to him, staring without words after showing up unannounced, so she pressed the button to lower the glass.

  His smile widened. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  Vanessa shrugged nonchalantly. “I was just in the area and decided to stop by,” she lied, knowing good and well Zander saw through the thin excuse.

  His eyes slipped down to ogle the hint of cleavage beneath her red blouse before eventually meeting her gaze again.

  “Why don’t we go inside,” he suggested, motioning toward his building with a nod.

  Vanessa hesitated, but then decided she may as well follow him since she’d already driven all this way.

  Pulling the handle, the door released and Zander eased it back, giving Vanessa space to stand. She straightened her skirt before reaching back inside for her purse. Once she had everything, Zander latched the door again before offering her his arm.

  It always surprised her when he was such a gentleman. He was so different when they were physical—rough, brutish. It often made her forget how mild he could be. Until moments like this, when he was nothing but chivalrous.

  In like fashion, the door to his building was held open for her, too. His setup was different than hers. Instead of walking right in to find a secretary there to greet them, they stood in a well-lit lobby with very little décor other than the shallow fountain set in the center of the room. Straight ahead, they crossed marble tile to the gold, brushed-metal doors of an elevator. Zander pressed the button and Vanessa’s eyes went up to the numbers as they changed, watching the countdown from the fifth floor.

  “Have you eaten?” Zander asked casually.

  Vanessa’s nervous fingers feathered through strands of her hair as she answered. “Uh… no, but I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure? I could order in if you’d like.”

  She shook her head. “No. Really. I won’t stay long. I’m sure you’ve got patients coming in soon, so…”

  “Nonsense. You’ll stay as long as you’d like.”

  Her face warmed as he did that thing again… the thing where he made her feel like she was far more important to him than she really was. Like he’d make the world stop to cater to her. Still, although she didn’t buy into it completely, she did allow herself to revel in the idea of a man finding her so special.

  Stepping off the elevator, they entered another nearly-empty lobby but this time a set of glass double-doors were just ahead. On them, the words Hale and Associates etched in fancy gold lettering. She smiled a bit to herself, thinking it fit him perfectly.

  Another door was held for her and she stepped inside, laying eyes on the secretary she expected to see several floors down. Zander placed a hand on the small of Vanessa’s back and walked her past the middle-aged woman without an introduction. Without a greeting at all. Clearly, his relationship with his administrator was colder than hers with Greta.

  A long hallway with three closed doors at either side indicated how many offices there were. Each had an embossed name plate beside it, meaning Zander’s practice was operating at full capacity—something they’d never discussed before. In fact, Vanessa had wrongly assumed he worked alone. Everything about him screamed ‘lone wolf’, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

  “After you,” he said politely, holding the last door for her to enter—the one leading to his office.

  Vanessa stepped in and took a look around, finding herself only a little surprised by how lavish it was.

  From the expensive mahogany wood each piece of furniture was carved out of to the rare pieces of art lining his walls. Yes, this room practically screamed Zander Hale.

  “Sit with me,” he urged, offering her a seat across from his desk as he eased into the high-back chair on the opposite side.

  Vanessa did as she was asked, but didn’t feel relaxed. For one, she had no idea what they’d talk about, but felt obligated to hold a conversation because, after all, she’d come to him.

  “You came here, which means something’s on your mind,” Zander deduced, surprising Vanessa when he didn’t automatically assume she’d come for something physical. But maybe he’d seen it on her face that something troubled her.

  The butter-soft leather caressed the backs of Vanessa’s thighs when she shifted. “I um… I don’t really know why I looked you up,” she confessed.

  Zander tilted his head and really observed her, noting that she seemed uptight… even for her.

  “Something’s wrong,” was his assessment and he knew he wasn’t too far off. At the thought of her ex, a scowl turned Zander’s mouth down a bit.

  “Is it him?” he asked.

  Vanessa didn’t say a word, didn’t deny that Simon had, in fact, been the cause of her showing up here today. She focused on her nails—shiny, neat, perfect. In fact, everything about her life seemed perfect, but that was from the outside looking in. In reality? Things were kind of a mess.

  Zander focused on her lips when a slow breath puffed between them.

  “I just… I’m tired. Feels like every time I turn around, Simon is throwing his weight around.”

  And he was. If it wasn’t imposing on her group sessions, he was giving his input about her patients, or manipulating his way into her home. Today was just another example of this.

  His words still bounced around inside her head. Words like ‘forbid’. She still couldn’t believe he’d gone there.

  “He accused me of putting my son off on his friend’s family because I need a break from him, which is not true, might I add.” She blew out a breath, trying to give Zander the condensed version of the story. “Simon was supposed to have him for a few days because Ry’s got a break from school, but, of course, Simon had to cancel for some damn conference,” she huffed. “I rearranged my schedule, canceled everything I had going on so I could give Ry my undivided attention, but he got a last-minute camping invite. I arranged for him to go before running it past Simon and he jumped down my throat about it and it just… it turned into this huge thing and I’m… I’m tired,” she said in closing, ending the rant right where it started.

  Tired… Zander could see that all over her face, in her posture. While he believed it wasn’t her son she needed the break from, he did think a break would do her good.

  “You cleared your schedule?” he asked, making up plans in his head as he spoke.

  Vanessa’s dark hair shifted over her shoulders when her head rose. “I had to. I couldn’t get a sitter to keep him all those days. Plus, I thought it’d be a good time for he and I to just hang out. It’s been a while s
ince we’ve been able to do that.”

  There was genuine disappointment in her tone. Zander detected that.

  He had an idea. Chances are it wouldn’t appeal to Vanessa as much as spending the next few days with her son, but he hoped she wouldn’t turn him down. Asking her was a risk, but… after all… she’d come all the way from her office to his, so… that had to mean something, right?

  Grabbing the notepad from the corner of his desk, the small one with the name of his practice embossed at the top, he wrote down an address. Tearing the sheet from the top, he passed it across his desk to Vanessa, but left his hand on it even when she reached out.

  “Come away with me.”

  The words made Vanessa’s eyes widen and, immediately, she knew this was her fault. Coming here had made Zander bold. Coming here had made him think she would say yes to this.

  “I can’t. You know—”

  “This is the address,” he cut in, his tone even. “I’ll be there Thursday evening and will stay the entire weekend. Whether or not you choose to show is entirely up to you.”

  His deep-set gaze made Vanessa shiver, but she tried to hide it. When he eased his hand away from the sheet of paper, he casually adjusted his tie before leaning back in his seat.

  Vanessa stared at the address he’d jotted down for her and felt her heart thundering inside her chest. She didn’t know what to say, but she knew she couldn’t meet him at this place—wherever it was—nor could she meet him anywhere else.

  …not even if she may have been tempted.

  The sound of Zander’s secretary coming through the intercom didn’t break his gaze. He responded, telling the woman to send in his next patient with his eyes set firm on Vanessa.

  As she rose from the seat to give him privacy with his incoming appointment, her steps were quick and she didn’t say a word in parting. However, despite her abrupt exit, she’d done something that caused a dim smile to touch Zander’s lips.

  He eased his hands behind his head, staring at the space on his desk where the small piece of paper had been.

  She’d taken it with her.