What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 9)

by Kristine Cayne

  Neil shook his head and rolled his eyes. In some ways he was glad to be done with this lifestyle. A few weeks ago he would’ve seen just how wide her mouth would open.

  “I’m gonna have to turn that offer down. My lady takes very good care of me.” Krista in her red dress flashed through his mind. “I’m a happily taken man.”

  His cell phone buzzed his on his hip. Pulling it from his waist, he saw it was Krista.

  “Hey, beautiful. I was just talking about you.”

  “Good, I hope.”

  “Of course. I’d never have a bad thing to say about you.”

  She laughed. “I just got EJ to bed and I’m gonna head that way too. I wanted to call and tell you so you didn’t call me later and worry if I didn’t answer.”

  He wished he was crawling into bed with her and not sitting here, toasted and alone. “Have sweet dreams.”

  “They’d be sweeter if you were here.”

  “Is that the lucky lady you were telling me about,” Beth cooed over his shoulder.

  “Who was that?” Krista asked.

  “Just a woman at the club,” Neil responded, pushing Beth off his arm.

  Beth laughed. “Just a woman. Gee, thanks, Neil.”

  “Sweet dreams, Krista. I’ll call you first thing in the morning.”

  Krista was quiet.

  “Wow, you are tired. You’ve fallen asleep on the phone.” He chuckled. “Get a good night’s rest.” He ended the call.

  He got up from the table to search out Ian to get a number for a cab. He needed to get home himself and get to sleep. He’d had too much to drink and the idea of slumber sounded good right about now. Beth said something behind him, but it was taking a lot for him to stand at the moment.

  When he found Ian, his friend called a cab. A few minutes later, Ian helped him out to the car.

  “Get some rest, old man. You can’t hold your liquor the way you used to.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I just got carried away.” He climbed into the cab and laid his head back in the seat as Ian told the driver where to take him.

  He closed his eyes and did his best not to fall asleep. His phone buzzed on his hip again. Groaning, he pulled it from the holster.

  The baseball game is off.

  Neil stared at the message and read it again. Krista was canceling the baseball game? He began to type the word why back, but the cab driver arrived to his house. He handed the driver money and then exited the vehicle.

  Once inside he tossed his phone and keys onto a table in the foyer and then crashed on a couch in the formal living room, not giving a second thought to Krista’s message.

  Chapter Eleven

  “But, Mom!” EJ complained.

  “I’m sorry. Plans change.” Krista hated breaking her son’s heart, but after hearing Neil drunk and some woman with him, letting Neil and EJ meet was out of the question.

  In fact last night showed her just how different their worlds really were. He was a bachelor at heart, who for some reason wanted a relationship with her. But would he ever really be able to give up that lifestyle?

  How often would she be left at home while he was out on the town doing whatever it was he did? And it wasn’t fair of her to ask him to change. Once again, she was slapped in the face with a reminder that things could never work between them. It didn’t matter how much they wanted it to, it simply wouldn’t work.

  It wasn’t fair to EJ either.

  She held his shoulders and stared at him. “I promise we’ll go to a game soon. Let me see what I can find for us to do to make up for this, okay?”

  EJ grunted. “Can I go play with my Legos?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine.” She sighed. “Want to go out for brunch?”

  “Will you let me get the smiley-face pancake? The chocolate one?”

  The one full of nothing but pure sugar. Ugh. “Sure.”

  Krista turned back to the coffee maker and poured herself another cup. She’d tossed and turned all night. All she could imagine was one of those women at the club with the barely-there dresses touching Neil. Rubbing her body against his and teasing him. Would he take the bait?

  God, how had she gotten herself so involved with this man? He’d come into it so quickly and after a kiss she’d thrown all caution to the wind. There was a reason why she over thought things in life. It was to keep her out of this very predicament.

  And she was in this deep.

  After draining half a mug of her coffee, she decided to head upstairs to take a shower.

  Cell phones really needed to come with a recycling bin. Last night Neil had gotten a message from Krista—at least he thought it was from her. And somehow he’d deleted his whole damn text message folder. All his messages were gone.

  He’d attempted to call Krista, but it had gone straight to voicemail. They’d already decided that she and EJ would meet him at the game and to keep it as laid back as possible. If you could call laid back sitting in one’s own private box, sure. But at least it would be just the three of them in the air-conditioned room. He’d requested it be stocked with snacks kids loved.

  He had about an hour before he had to head over to the stadium. Neil went into his office to check his email. As he sat down at his desk, he dialed Krista again, but like before, it didn’t even ring.

  “I’m looking forward to today. Can’t wait to see you and meet EJ. See you soon.” He placed the phone back in the holster on his hip.

  Two hours later, Neil sat in the private room—alone. Krista and EJ hadn’t shown up. He’d called down to the gate several times to see if they were there then proceeded to call Krista, but as usual the call went straight to voicemail.

  Was she hurt? He couldn’t make sense as to why she wasn’t there.

  Something told him if he hadn’t deleted all his text messages, he’d know something. He couldn’t understand why she’d canceled. When they’d spoken earlier yesterday, she was excited and said EJ was as well. So where were they?

  Neil called down to the gate again.

  “This is Neil Clark in room four A. I’ve got to head out, but I have guests I’m waiting on. If they arrive, will you show them up and let them know I’ll be back? Thanks.”

  There was only one way to find out why Krista wasn’t here, and that was to go to her house and see if she was home.

  Krista parked the car in the driveway. As she climbed out, she handed EJ the keys.

  “I’ll be right there. I’m gonna grab the bags from the trunk,” she told him.

  Her son nodded and continued for the front door. She popped the trunk and grabbed the few bags from the store that were in there. As she closed the trunk, she heard a car pull up behind her. It was a quiet engine and she recognized it.

  Slowly she turned to see Neil. He turned the vehicle off and climbed out.

  “Are you okay? I’ve been worried sick about you.” He marched toward her.

  She was confused why he thought something was wrong, unless he didn’t get she was mad at him and ignoring him. “I’m fine.”

  “Then why aren’t you at the baseball field?”

  She set the few bags down on the top of the trunk. “I sent you a message last night that we weren’t coming.”

  Fuck, he remembered now. Seeing her text in the cab about not coming. “Why? I’ve been calling you all day and all I’ve gotten is your voicemail. I accidently deleted the message and called all morning to see what you’d said. Are you ignoring me?”

  “I’m not sure where my phone is.”

  He groaned and she could see his anger rising. “What’s going on?”

  She was never good with break-ups. “This isn’t working. That’s what’s going on.”

  “Yesterday things were great. What changed?” He rubbed his temple.

  She crossed her arms. “It clicked last night when you were out partying it up that I was right in the beginning, when I told you it would never work. It won’t. We’re two different people. I don’t want to be at home worrying if some
woman is flirting with you, or worse, you’re flirting with some young woman. I can’t expect you to change your life for me.”

  He ran his hands through his dark hair and held them there a moment. “It’s unfair that you think I would do that to you. I wouldn’t.”

  She laughed sarcastically. “That happened last night. Who was the woman?”

  What the hell was she talking about? “Woman? What woman?”

  “I’m not stupid!”

  Neil stepped back from her, putting much-needed distance between them.

  “Mom,” EJ called from the front porch.

  Great! “I’ll be back in a moment, honey. Go inside.”

  “Can I play the Xbox?”

  “Yes, it’s fine.”

  EJ turned and went back in the house.

  “You need to go,” she said.

  “So what, this is it?” Neil rubbed his palms together. “I’ve done everything I can these past few weeks to show you how I feel about you. But apparently it hasn’t been enough.”

  “It’s been a great few weeks, but it can never be more. And you know it. I have a kid and I can’t live the life you do. We’ve known this. It’s nothing new. I should’ve stuck to my guns in the beginning and not have let this go as far as it did.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

  “Did you really think it would work?” A big part of her had hoped it would, even now.

  “When I told you I loved you, I meant it. I’d have given everything up if it meant I got to spend the rest of my life with you.” His back was to her now and he took a few steps toward his car. He glanced over his shoulder at her and got into his car.

  Krista watched as he drove off. Her heart ached. As she stood there a few minutes later, she couldn’t decide if she should be relieved that she could now move on and get her life back, or if she’d just made the biggest mistake in her life.

  Chapter Twelve

  “So it’s over?” Jamie stared at Krista.

  Krista nodded, her gut churning. “I guess so.”

  “You don’t look happy about it.”

  “Who is ever happy when a relationship ends?” Krista slumped back in the chair. “Of course I’m having doubts, but it’s gotta be for the best, right? Was it ever going to work?”

  Jamie shrugged. “You never know. It might’ve.”

  “It wouldn’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  She didn’t, but she had to believe that her decision was the best thing for her and EJ. “I’ve been over this a million times. I feel like I’m repeating myself.”

  Jamie held her hand up. “You’re right, it never would’ve worked.”

  Krista heard the irritation in her friend’s voice. Jamie didn’t agree, but Jamie lived in fantasy land and was so sure one day her own prince was going to swoop in and whisk her away. Jamie wanted someone just like Neil. Krista didn’t—or hadn’t—until recently.

  Neil had never flashed his money around her, except for the beginning. But when she’d made it clear to him that wasn’t the life she wanted, he stopped. The more she thought about, the more she realized how much he’d given up for her. Flashy dates had gone out the window. In fact the last few dates they’d been on had probably been the lowest key dates he’d had in years and he seemed to enjoy them.

  Whenever they were together, he seemed genuinely happy, as was she. When with him, she never really thought about the money and the things they could be doing. Hell, if she wanted fresh Italian for dinner, he had the ability to whisk her to Italy for dinner and back.

  He was a successful man and could have any super model he wanted, and yet he claimed he loved her.

  He loved her.

  And she threw it away.

  Krista smacked her forehead and grunted.

  “Is it finally clicking?” Jamie asked.

  “Don’t start. But it doesn’t change one thing and that’s the fact that he has a lifestyle I’m not sure I can accommodate.”

  “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”

  “The going-out-to-clubs thing.”

  Jamie cleared her throat. “I know for a fact, that the evening in question, he was celebrating.”

  Good news from work? Why didn’t he tell her? “Celebrating what? And why wasn’t it with me?”

  “He was celebrating you! He went to the club and the club owner ordered drinks for everyone and then Neil did the same. They were celebrating that he’d found love in Ian’s club.”

  She’d never even let Neil explain about the night. “The woman—”

  “Is a regular there and Neil made it clear to her he wasn’t interested.”

  “I still don’t know.” Krista sighed. “How do you know all of this? Are you seeing someone you haven’t told me about?”

  Jamie grinned. “Not necessarily seeing someone, just playing.”

  Krista’s eyes lit up. “And you’re just telling me?”

  “You’ve been a little pre-occupied.”

  She playfully hit her friend. “Jamie! We’re best friends. And now I feel even more awful because I’ve been so wrapped up in myself.”

  She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “It’s fine. Like I said, right now it’s just playing. I don’t know if it’ll go anywhere.”

  “Tell me about him, please. Let’s talk about something other than me for once.”

  “Well, he’s older, rich, and great in bed.” Jamie giggled. “What more could I ask for?”

  Neil looked over the contract he’d just signed for another hotel opening. This one was down under in Australia. He’d be traveling there soon and would probably stay awhile. At the moment, he needed something to take his mind off of Krista.

  Years ago Rachel had torn his heart into pieces when she’d betrayed him and he’d vowed to never love again. And he’d done a damn good job until Krista came about. He’d found a woman he wanted to love and give the world to and for some reason, she didn’t want it. He could probably hand her his heart and she’d give it back.

  How had this happened? How had he fallen for a woman who’d made it clear from the beginning she didn’t think it would ever work? Mainly because of who he was.

  He was used to women wanting him because of who he was.

  Krista was upset about the night he went to The Gentleman’s Club, but she never gave him a chance to explain. She just assumed the worst and that was it. This whole damn relationship had been in her control almost the entire time. He’d been walking on eggshells to try and keep her happy.

  Perhaps in the beginning when she’d asked him if he was a Dom, he should’ve said yes. He liked to be in control and this woman had swept all of that from him.

  Maybe he needed to take this relationship by the reins and tell her how it was going to be.

  Neil couldn’t help but laugh as he thought about that and how she’d react. Krista wouldn’t take kindly to it, or would she? She thought everything through until she couldn’t think anymore. Maybe she needed someone to tell her how it was going to be.

  His phone buzzed and Tana spoke through the intercom, “Sir, you have a visitor here. A lady name Jamie.”

  “Send her in.”

  He hoped Jamie wasn’t here to tell him off. He was doing a fine job putting himself down.

  The door opened and she walked in, closing the door behind her. “Hi, Neil. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by.”

  “Have a seat, please.”

  Jamie sat down and pushed her blonde locks to the side. “I’m here about Krista.”

  He shrugged. “I figured as much.”

  “She’s a mess and you don’t look like you’ve been getting much sleep yourself.” Her gaze traveled over his face.

  Neil smiled. “It shows a lot more when you’re my age.”

  “I’ll remember that.” She grinned. “Anyway, do you really love her, or were you playing?”

  Why did no one see the way he felt about her? “I love her.”

  “Then go get her.”
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  He straightened a stack of papers. “It’s not quite that simple. Your friend doesn’t think this will ever work and I can’t keep trying to convince her. I feel like I’m walking on hot coals all the time around her. I can’t do it anymore. As much as I want to be with Krista, I’m halfway convinced it isn’t going to work either.”

  “I think if you talk to her, you’d be surprised at what she might say. She’s been doing a lot of thinking.”

  That could be a good thing…or bad. He wanted Krista more than anything and really, he should tell her friend this, but he didn’t want it to be that easy. A quick fix. He wasn’t looking for that. If he ran to Krista’s door now, things would be good, yes. But was it time?

  “Her biggest concern is your lifestyle. And I’m a little concerned too.”

  “I can’t walk away from my job or money. I’ve worked hard to get here and I wish I could shower her with it.”

  “Neil, Krista doesn’t want to be at home alone while you’re out on the town. That’s what this is about.”

  He’d only gone out once while seeing her and would’ve gladly brought her along. “Why would I be out on the town when I have her at home? I’d much rather spend my evenings with her and EJ.”

  “She doesn’t know that.” Jamie bit her bottom lip. “She wanted a family. A real one. She deserves it after Todd. She needs to know what love is and a man who can provide that.”

  Neil picked up a pen and tapped it on the desk. He could provide that, but he couldn’t quite understand why no one thought he could.

  Jamie stood. “My friend’s stubborn and I wouldn’t expect her to come knock on your door anytime soon. As I’ve told her, you really need to think about this and what you want. It isn’t just both of your hearts that are involved. If you take this step, you have EJ to consider too.”

  Neil nodded. “I understand. Thank you for coming by. I appreciate it.” He followed her to the door. “I’d say tell Krista hi for me, but I have a feeling she doesn’t know you’re here.”