He laughed. “Somehow I have a hard time believing I really have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice. I can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to. You’re not my boyfriend or anything.”
He smiled, almost gleaming. “So, if I was your boyfriend then you could force me to do it?”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t go that far, but let’s just say this…” she moved in closer to him and brushed a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth. “I’d be forever grateful if you helped me pack and move.” Her lips went to his, and she pushed her tongue through. He groaned, bringing his hands down to her ass and squeezing hard.
“You drive a hard bargain,” he moaned against her lips.
“That’s not the only hard thing,” she teased. She reached her hand down and cupped Damian’s crotch. He groaned, and she snickered. “We’ll be back before you know it.” She dropped her hand and turned away from him, despite his obvious plea for her to change her mind. He slowly followed her, and they made their way out of his house and to both of their cars. She didn’t have a lot to transport, but anything they could get done would make things that much easier. Then they could make it back to his place and continue finding ways to please one another.
***
Calvin called Derek on Saturday afternoon after he finished his lunch. When he saw his number, he quickly answered the call. “This is Derek.”
“Hey, Derek, it’s Cal. So, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’ve lost her.” He hesitated, before continuing, “not once, but twice,” he confessed.
Derek let out a slow breath. “Alright. Tell me what you do know.”
“Well, yesterday I followed her from her apartment to Ana’s parents’ place. Then they went to several apartment complexes.” That made sense, especially since he knew she was running out of time to find a new place to stay. He wondered if maybe Ana and Charity were teaming up together in the search…perhaps even moving in together. Calvin continued. “About halfway through their adventure, I got the impression Charity suspected they were being followed.”
“Why do you say that?” Derek asked.
“Well, a couple of times I spotted her staring at my van. I don’t think she could see in, because of the tinted windows, but then at one point she sped ahead and even though I dodged up and down streets and thought I was keeping up…I lost her. I went to Ana’s place and waited around, but as it started getting dark, I realized she wasn’t coming back there and most likely had already dropped Ana off. So, I went back to her apartment, and her vehicle was there. I spent the night in the parking lot and woke up early the next morning. I followed her to a doctor’s office this morning.”
“A doctor’s office?” Derek quickly interjected. “What was she doing at a doctor’s office?”
Calvin chuckled on the other end. “Well, I don’t know. Even if I had gone inside, I wouldn’t have been able to find out. They don’t provide that information to everyone you know.”
“I know,” Derek quietly replied. “Then what?” he asked.
“Well, I waited until she came out of the doctor’s office. I followed her to the pharmacy and again waited. However, when she came out of the pharmacy I got the impression that she realized she was being followed again, and we started another high-speed chase through town. I couldn’t keep up, and I didn’t want her or myself to get a ticket…so I slowed down and let her out of sight. I went to Ana’s parents’ and her apartment complex, but haven’t seen her since.”
“Well, she’s safe, and that’s what matters,” Derek quietly replied. Although he wished, he knew why she had to go to the doctor’s office. “If you wouldn’t mind following her the next couple days, I would appreciate it. Then, let me know Monday if you discovered anything else.”
“Not a problem,” Calvin replied.
They said their goodbyes and Derek hung up. He wanted to believe Ana would continue to try to convince Charity that he wasn’t the bad guy, but there was no guarantee with what she did or didn’t say about him. He would allow Calvin to do his job and then take over if he needed to. He wasn’t going to give up without a fighting chance to win her back, and he’d find a way.
***
Charity was able to finish packing and moving all her things to the new apartment by the end of the weekend. Ana had left most of her things at Jesse’s place, so originally she only had to move some clothes and a few pieces of furniture she kept. Charity tried to convince her to go pick her things back up, but Ana wouldn’t budge. She denied that she wanted anything that was at his place.
When they finished bringing in the last of Charity’s things and sat it down in the living room, Charity turned to Damian. “Thank you so much for helping me move this weekend.”
He grinned, moving closer to her. “Baby, you know I’d do anything for you as long as you’re willing to pay up. He moved in for a kiss, but it was interrupted before their lips even touched. Ana walked through the door, carrying her own pile.
“This is awesome!” she replied.
Charity laughed, seeing the irritated look on Damian’s face. She turned to Ana. “What’s awesome?”
“This floor is filled with male college students. I bet I walked past seven of them coming up here.”
Charity frowned at her, before laughing. When she looked back at Damian’s expression, she nearly choked. He was shooting a look at her that was filled with jealousy and anger. She looked away from him and caught Ana’s expression. “You don’t know they live in this apartment. Maybe there’s a party going on.”
She shrugged. “All the better. Maybe we’ll get invited.” She wiggled her eyebrows and Charity couldn’t believe how easy the conversation was flowing out of Ana, when a man, whom she only met a day earlier, was staring at her.
Charity had to break the awkwardness so she turned back to Damian. Ana had carried her load into her bedroom, giving her room to talk to him. “I probably should start unpacking.”
He scrunched up his nose. “I thought perhaps we could christen your bedroom.” He wiggled his eyes and she playfully slapped.
“As much as I would like that,” she whispered. “Ana would question things, and I’m not willing to go there…not yet.”
He nodded in his knowing way. “Then I guess we’ll see each other later.”
“Guess so,” she stated. She quickly kissed Damian, before he left her apartment. When he was gone, she heard Ana behind her.
“So…who is he again?”
Charity turned around and saw Ana staring at her. Charity closed the door, before replying. “No one. He’s just a friend.”
Ana smirked. “A friend? So when did you meet this friend? Where did you meet this friend?”
Charity shrugged. “I met him around. Why does it matter?”
Ana smiled. “He seemed more than a friend. Is it a friend with benefits?”
Charity opened her mouth to deny it but then stopped herself. “Why does it matter? He gives me things I need, and I help him out, too.”
Ana nodded, knowingly. “So, it is. He’s hot and any guy that would be willing to spend his weekend moving is a keeper.” Ana turned around and carried another box into her bedroom.
Charity glanced at the closed door and then put that thought from her mind. Damian and her were nothing but friends that were satisfying a need they both had. That was it, and she didn’t need Ana to try to convince her otherwise. She grabbed a box and carried it to her own room. She unloaded it, and when she got back to the living room, Ana was already there.
“What do you say we order some pizza?” Ana replied.
“Works for me!” Charity answered back. Ana dialed up the pizza place that was stored in her phone and placed an order, which would be delivered. When she hung up the call, Charity continued the conversation but left out Damian. “What about you, Ana?”
Ana frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You were talking about those college boys on this floor. Are you over, Jesse, or
are you using that as a tactic so people don’t think you care?”
Anger shone in Ana’s eyes. “How dare you think that I would use someone for my own gain.”
Charity sighed. “I’m not saying that. I’m simply asking if you’re truly over, Jesse? You seemed all eager about the guys, and it seemed like maybe there was something you were hiding.”
“You don’t just get over some guy you once loved. Are you over, Joe?” Ana asked, tossing Charity’s fiancé back in her face.
“Those are two different things. The love you shared with Jesse was a hell of a lot stronger than the love I shared for Joe.”
Ana laughed. “You were going to marry Joe.”
Charity nodded, laughing lightly. “Precisely. I was about to marry a guy that I barely knew. You were attached to Jesse, and that just doesn’t evaporate. So, you still love him, right?”
“Of course!” Ana replied softly. Her eyes dipped down to the floor, and she didn’t look up until she asked her own hard question. “You care about Derek, don’t you?”
Charity fidgeted uneasily in the living room. “It would never work out between us,” Charity stated.
Ana nodded. “That’s the same with Jesse and myself. We would never work out if the relationship started out with lies.” She grabbed a suitcase and carried it into her bedroom.
That was exactly how she felt about Derek, and only Ana would understand that. They were very similar in that aspect. Yet, something deep down told her that she was to blame for Ana’s negative response about Jesse; she just wasn’t ready to fully give in to that question.
****
Monday morning, Derek decided that he needed to do his best to put Charity behind him, at least for a minute, and go back to his busy day at work. At the Monday morning meeting, he ignored the empty seat where Charity would normally sit. He discussed how the plans were in full swing to start the project, and they would be breaking ground in the next couple days. There was a lot of eager chatter, but no one had any questions to add to the discussion.
He dismissed the meeting earlier than usual, and when he got back to his office, his cell phone was ringing. He grabbed it from his desk and spotted Calvin’s number on the screen. “Hello?” he anxiously replied into the phone.
“Hey, it’s Cal. So, I got you an address.”
Derek sighed before grabbing a piece of paper and pen. “Great! What is it?”
“5552 Billingham Pl. Apartment 30 B.”
“Do you know if this is her new place?” Derek asked.
“It appears that way,” Calvin answered. “This weekend Ana and some guy helped her move in.”
Derek frowned. “Some guy?” Derek asked.
“I’m not sure who he was, but he used his vehicle to help haul some furniture for them. It appears Ana and Charity have gotten the apartment together. At least, I stayed there until nearly ten o’clock and besides a pizza delivery man, no one came in or out of the apartment.”
“Alright. Thanks, Cal.”
“Of course. Do you want anything else right now?” Calvin asked.
“Nope…that should be it. Thanks, Cal.” He disconnected the call and dialed up Jesse’s work number. He answered right away.
“Hey…what’s up?” he asked.
“Well, I believe I found where Ana and Charity are.” At first, he didn’t know if he should include Jesse, but they were kind of in this together, so he decided he wanted Jesse involved. Two heads were better than one so they could figure it out together. At least that was his hope.
“You did?” Jesse asked, sounding as shocked as Derek felt.
“Yep!” He gave the address that Calvin provided to him. “I thought at lunchtime we could go check it out. Want to come?”
“Why wait until lunch time? I’m free now,” Jesse replied.
Derek quickly pulled up his schedule for the day. He didn’t have any meetings until the afternoon. “Alright. I’ll meet you in the lobby in five minutes.” They hung up, and Derek grabbed his keys and hurried out of his office. He took the elevator down to the lobby and spotted Jesse standing by the automatic doors. He approached him, and Jesse looked up.
“How’d you find them?” Jesse asked immediately like he had thought of the question on the way to the lobby.
“Had Charity followed,” Derek nonchalantly replied as he left the door and Jesse had to work hard to keep up.
“You had her followed?” Jesse asked.
They reached Derek’s car and Derek turned around to face him. “I had to. She wasn’t returning any of my calls, and I need to talk to her. I had Calvin, my PI look to see if he could find her.”
Jesse laughed. “Man, I can’t believe you did that. I want to talk to Ana, as well, but personally, I don’t know if she would ever forgive me if I had her followed.”
“She’ll understand,” Derek huffed, opening up the driver’s side, but the truth was…he wasn’t sure she would. He wanted to believe that Charity would forgive him because she would see it as him having so much love for her, but it was possible he went too far. They both got in the car and before he started the vehicle, he stopped and glanced at Jesse. “She will understand, right?” His face had to be a vast array of emotions, as Jesse leaned back in the car’s seat and watched Derek for a moment before answering him.
“I see that you love her, and that means a lot. You speak and people listen…that’s your job, after all. You’ll talk to her and try to convince her that you’re not as evil as it may look.”
“Gee, thanks a lot,” Derek replied with a soft laugh. He turned to his GPS and put in the address, then started the car and pulled out of the parking garage. Jesse was right, he had to make her listen to him. “How are you going to make Ana listen to you?” Derek asked.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jesse shrug. “I guess I’ll play it by ear.”
Derek understood Jesse’s attitude. They were both going after women they loved, who currently wanted nothing to do with them. It wasn’t an easy task.
He followed the directions on the GPS until they were pulling into an apartment complex. It was nicer than the one she left, so he was relieved by that. He hoped it didn’t have a dirty landlord that didn’t know how to take no for an answer. They continued through the apartment complex until he spotted the building that Calvin told him she was living in.
They pulled into a spot and Derek pointed to the stairs that led to the B apartment. “That’s where they live.” He motioned to the cars parked a few spots down from them. Both Ana’s and Charity’s car was in the parking lot. They stayed in the car and just stared up at the apartment building, unmoving, and clearly torn at what to do next.
It was Jesse that spoke first. “I don’t know what to say to her.”
Derek thought about that. He knew everything he wanted to say to Charity, but he didn’t know if he could get the words out, without looking like a bumbling idiot. “We don’t have to go up yet.”
Jesse nodded. “You’re right. Let’s just sit here for a moment.”
They did just that. Derek and Jesse sat there and sat there until one hour passed and then two and then another hour passed and another after that. At one point after sitting there for five hours, Derek glanced at Jesse. If we wait much longer, we’re not going to have to go to the door, because they’ll come outside and see us. Are we going to ever go up?” Derek asked.
Jesse smirked. “You know, I’ve wanted to talk to her, and I still want to talk to her, but maybe this isn’t the best route. I don’t want her to think I’m a stalker and frankly…I’m beginning to think I’m a stalker.”
Jesse was right, there was very stalkerish, and he wouldn’t blame Charity for being angry with him for showing up out of the blue. He started the car, and Jesse glanced at him. Derek nodded. “You’re right. We’ll have to think of another way.”
Jesse groaned and sunk back into his seat. They pulled back out of the parking lot and headed back to the office. He had a meeting in an hour anyway, so
he needed to prep for that. Then he would consider what his next step would be.
****
Charity opened up the final box to unload her personal items when her cell phone rang on Monday afternoon. “Hello?” she answered, making note that she didn’t know the phone number.
“Hello, is this Charity Parker?” The woman on the other end of the phone asked.
“Yes, this is she!”
“Ms. Parker, this is Evelyn. We had met at Jamison Daycare last week.
“Of course!” Charity excitedly stated. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m doing well. Thank you. I just wanted to call and make an official offer for the job.” Charity covered her mouth so Evelyn wouldn’t hear her scream. “It pays thirty thousand a year.” Then things came to a screeching halt. That was half of what she made working with Derek. The thought alone scared her out of her mind, but the good thing was she was not going to have to face him.
“That’s perfect!” she said, lying flat out.
“Great! As we stated before, we’ll give you the two weeks to give notice. Will that be enough time?”
Charity didn’t take even a second to answer that question. “Honestly, I could start next Monday if you would prefer.” It would’ve been too obvious if she had suggested starting Tuesday, so she thought this would work best.
“If you’re sure Mayor Worthington wouldn’t mind, that would be great.”
“He won’t mind at all,” Charity lied. She thanked Evelyn for calling her, then jumped with enthusiasm. She glanced at her watch. It was just before five and Damian wouldn’t be home until after six o’clock. She slid her contact list down to Damian’s information and pulled up the text message. She sent him a quick text.
Charity: Available when you get off work? I have some news that requires some celebration.
She added a smiley face emoji and then hit send. It wasn’t even thirty seconds that she was leaving a response back.
The Proposal (Forever Bound Book 2) Page 6