Pulling my ringing phone from my bag I groaned as Adam’s name flashed up. Could this day get any worse?
“Hey,” I answered quietly, already rubbing my face in distress.
“Zoe, please listen.”
I blew out a breath. Adam was a brilliant father to Jakob. Throughout my pregnancy and the six months since Jakob’s birth, he’d been there every step of the way. He had Jakob at least twice a week and every weekend. I knew I wouldn’t have managed to cope with motherhood without him. He’d even changed his work schedule this weekend to have Jakob and accommodate Spirit and Bulk’s wedding.
However, this evening as I’d dropped Jakob off at his, I’d had to tell him about us leaving, and as expected he hadn’t taken the news very well. I’d left him staring at me as I’d shut his front door behind me, Jakob grumbling in his arms.
“I have to, Adam. I need this.” An elderly woman walked past, her eyes narrow, her head tilted as she attempted to listen in to my conversation. Nosey cow. I turned towards the boot, concealing my voice. “Think of Jakob.”
“I am thinking of Jakob!” He sighed, the pitch in his voice giving away his upset. “You can’t take him away from me Zoe. Is it money? I’ll help out more.”
“No, it’s not money, it’s my life.”
“And what about my life?” he spat, anger a side to him I had never seen before. “Are you really that selfish?”
“Okay, so because I want to better my life I’m being selfish?” I stabbed at the bag of dog food with an angry finger, imagining his eye. “This is an opportunity for Jakob too, don’t let your selfishness ruin it for him.”
“What?” he barked. I squeezed my eyes closed, pulling the phone from my ear slightly at the volume of his bitterness. “I’m selfish for loving my son?”
“Christ, this is going nowhere but in circles, Adam. We’ll talk when you drop Jakob off on Sunday.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Go enjoy your weekend! Go get drunk while I look after your son.”
“Whoa.” My body slammed upright, the top of my head bouncing off the boot door. “This isn’t you, Adam.”
“Yeah,” he retorted, “well maybe it’s about time I found that Adam. I’m going to fight you on this Zoe, there is no way I’m allowing you to take Jakob across the world.”
“What?” My heart sped up, its beat erratic against my chest as my lungs squeezed.
“I’m sorry but you’re leaving me no choice. My solicitor will be in touch.”
“Adam?” Silence greeted me. “Adam!”
“Fuck!” I seethed, throwing my phone into the boot.
He wouldn’t be able to take Jakob from me, would he? Tears sprung from my eyes but I swiped them away quickly. I could understand him, if someone was to take my son from me then I would be the same, but my life was crumbling around me. Adam knew this, he had always been a shoulder to cry on and I thought we’d developed a good friendship. Obviously I was wrong, he’d rather sort this through legal representatives instead of between us. I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to take Jakob out of the country without Adam’s consent.
Grumbling under my breath, I turned to unload the remaining items from my trolley into the car, to find it had disappeared. I was sure I had left it right there, right behind me. Frowning, I scanned the car park, wondering if some thieving git had stolen my shopping. My eyes widened when I spotted it running away down the car park, aiming for a nice shiny bright red Mercedes, its wheels squealing at the velocity it was zooming down the sloped concrete.
“Fuck!” I raced after it, my mind saying a silent prayer that I caught it before it crashed into the perfection of the beautiful car.
Yep, no such luck. It rammed into the back wing of the car, forcing a huge dint in the pristine metal before bouncing off, the handle then hitting an adjacent car and rebounding once again, finally coming to rest embedded in the Merc’s back door.
My footing stuttered as I watched with a sickening twist of my stomach, my eyes perusing the area to see if there were witnesses. I would never be able to afford the insurance premium, or the repairs to such a luxury car. Sighing in relief when the dark evening produced none, I clenched my fist with slight excitement at my, for once, good fortune.
I skipped towards it trying to act natural, my eyes still combing my surroundings frantically, pleading with God that he kept everyone inside the supermarket for another ten minutes.
Guilt surged through me when I got close enough to observe the damage, I would be so angry if someone had done that to me, although my tiny Punto would maybe have gained from another dint in its side, evening up the rear damage. Yet another part of me remained pleased that I had been unnoticed. I wasn’t usually such a bad person, but I simply couldn’t afford it, and trust it to be the most expensive car in the bloody place that it had decided to attach itself to!
Just as I reached out and curled my fingers around the handle of the trolley, the driver’s door slowly slid open, each inch the door opened my mouth dropping in perfect progression with it.
My stomach dropped, shock at its owner suddenly curling long, large legs out of the car before coming to stand, to an enormous size I might add, around the other side of the car, his head turning gradually until his fierce green eyes found me.
“Hi.” I cringed, lifting my hand, then dropping it before I decided my wave might anger him further. “Uhh.”
He stood still for a moment, his narrow eyes burning into me. I could see his struggle. If I had been a man he would have already been around the car and trying to implant my face into the concrete.
“I’m so sorry.” My voice was tiny, the squeak my lungs produced rather irritating. “I, uhh… I don’t know what happened. My phone rang and I answered it, but a woman was being nosy,” I continued rambling as he took regular paced strides towards me, his height making my neck creak as I struggled to look up into his stern, but very handsome, face. “Well, I mean, she shouldn’t have been listening, it was private. So I took my eyes off it for a moment, and when I turned back round, it… it had disappeared.” I rolled my eyes dramatically, forcing a small giggle. “I mean, who the hell builds a car park on a slope this…” I couldn’t find the word as he took another step closer to me so I just made a hand motion indicating how steep the slope was. I lowered my hand when he didn’t look, his blazing angry gaze still fixed securely on my face. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered as I shut the hell up, finally.
He continued to stare at me, his intensity making my heart thud, but then he turned to see the damage. A funny gurgle came from him and I took a step back. Sod it, he could have my shopping, I’m sure the corner shop sold tampons and that nice pink soap I liked.
“Stay there!” he ordered with a tone that told my body that it wasn’t even going to risk breathing. I did wonder how he’d realised I had started to retreat.
He reached forward, his palm gently resting on the roof of the car to hold him up in his distress as the fine, fine muscles on his back heaved under the stretch of grey cotton.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated stupidly. “It just disappeared.”
“It didn’t just disappear though, did it?”
“No,” I squeaked. “I think your car… your very beautiful car I might add, is umm, well, maybe it’s magnetised. You know, attracting things to it.”
“I know what magnetised means!” he growled without turning.
“Yes,” I nodded frantically even though he couldn’t see me. “Yes, I’m sure an intelligent man like yourself knows what every word in the dictionary means.”
He swung round to face me, his fists clenched as his jaw tightened. “Are you mocking me?”
My eyes widened as I lifted up my hands. “What? No, I just meant….” I released a huge shuddering sob, my shoulders sagging as the final straw of the day broke and tears slid from my eyes, my jaw trembling as I dropped to the ground, the cold concrete biting through my jeans and making my skin recoil as I sat and wept uncontrollably.
The man s
tared at me, his mouth open as wide as his eyes.
“I didn’t mean to damage your car,” I gulped out. “I’m just… I’m useless. I can’t do anything right. My life sucks. I’m broke! It’s all a mess! Everyone hates me. All my friends hate me, my ex hates… even my little boy prefers to be with his father than me.”
I continued jabbering as I pulled out my purse and rummaged through it. I wrote my phone number on the fiver I found screwed up in the coin section and thrust it and numerous coins into his hand. “That’s,” I peered into his hand, squinting at the money as I tried to count it through the blur of my tears, “seven pounds and forty six pence. My number is on the fiver. I would rather not go through the insurance as my premium cripples me already. I’m sure I’ll find the money from somewhere. Just ring me when you get a quote for the damage.”
His brow lifted as he looked at me, down to the money in his hand, then back to me. “I’m sure you won’t be able to afford the repairs yourself, honey.”
I glared at him as I scrambled upright. “How do you know what I can’t afford? How dare you judge my life?”
He blinked at me, his throat bobbing as the hysterical woman that had bashed his car in took umbrage and narrowed her eyes on him then prodded him in the chest, his footing stumbling backwards slightly. “How dare you! I’m not some penniless destitute. How do you know what I can and can’t afford?”
“Uhh, you just told me you were broke.”
I halted, staring at him curiously, “Did I?” He nodded, a faint curve of his lips appearing. “Are you laughing at me?”
“Nooo love,” he shook his head slowly, his eyes lit with humour.
“Oh… go to hell,” I grumbled as I turned and stormed off towards my car.
What an arrogant shit. It wasn’t as if I had rammed his car on purpose. Okay, I admit, I was going to slide away unnoticed, but he hadn’t known that. He had no idea that I wasn’t going to slip my card under his wiper.
Reaching into the boot to retrieve my phone, surprised that it was still there, I pulled my keys from my bag and stabbed the unlock button with my finger.
“Great!” I grumbled as I slid in and started the engine. “That’s all I need, thousands of pounds on a piece of shiny metal, so Mr Oh-you-hurt-my-precious-baby can ejaculate all over it.”
I rammed the gearstick into reverse, shot a look through the rear-view and … froze.
He was stood directly behind my car, his chilling green eyes staring at me through the mirror. Unless I wanted to run him over, which I debated, I was going nowhere.
Winding my window down, I stuck my head out and growled at him. “What now?”
He quirked an eyebrow at me then lifted something up for me to look at. I squinted, Christ I needed glasses, then gasped when he waved my tampons at me.
Mortified, I climbed back out of the car, snatching the bags from the trolley and shoving them in the boot. “You can keep the pound out of the trolley,” I said stiffly. “Buy yourself some manners!”
With that, I left him gawping at me as I drove out of the car park, my lips finally lifting into a smile.
“FUCK, I’M SURPRISED your little swimmers can still find their way,” Bulk goaded Boss, peering over the rim of his glass to smirk at him.
“Fuck off,” Boss glared back. “They don’t need to swim. Those fuckers need helmets the way I shoot them out.”
Jax chuckled, picking up his own glass. “Gratz, mate, remind me to send my condolences to Jen.” I rolled my eyes when Boss beamed at Jax.
“Cheers, Jax.” He nodded gratefully. “That means a lot.”
“For fucks sake,” I scoffed, standing up and snatching my jacket from the back of the chair. “I’m off.” I turned to Bulk. “See you in the morning.”
He narrowed his eyes on me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just tired. I’ll be at the hotel for nine in the morning. Night.”
They all mumbled goodbyes, all eyes watching me keenly as I slid through the bar and sighed gratefully at the blast of cool fresh air that hit me when I exited the building.
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I strolled through the streets, trying to concentrate on the various shop windows and revellers that were out for the night. But I couldn’t shake this damn frustration.
As much as I tried to push him away, Nick came to the front of my mind yet again, his striking eyes looking up at me as his mouth slid down the contours of my abs, his soft full lips parting for his tongue to sneak out and taste me.
I groaned as my dick hardened, my balls clenching painfully. Shit, I was fucked. I forced myself to picture his journalists ID badge, desperately trying to curb my need.
I jolted when a guy slammed into me from the side, pushing me hard against a wall. He reared back, his eyes wide on me. “Shit, sorry man. Stumbled.”
Shrugging, I held up a hand to him, waving him off. “No sweat.”
“Hey, aren’t you…?”
“Nope,” I replied immediately as I carried on walking. Fucking fans. I prayed for one quiet night. I was sick of this shit, I needed a life. I couldn’t do anything, go anywhere without some bloody arsehole chasing me down the street. I had seriously had enough.
“Yeah, you are. You’re Romeo from 103. Fuck, they’re after you man.”
“What?” I stared at him, my brows furrowed so hard it was giving me a headache. Fucking nutter!
“The cops, dude.” He continued to follow me down the street, side-stepping to get my attention as I carried on walking away from him. I squinted at him, speeding up to try and shake him off me. “For the murder of that girl. Just heard it on the news.”
“Look, man, sorry but I have no fucking clue what you’re on about. The cops are not after me. You’ve got the wrong guy.”
He snatched my arm with his hand and stopped me. “They are man, I’m telling you, it was on the news in the pub ‘bout fifteen minutes ago. But don’t worry, I won’t grass. Bitch probably deserved it.”
He quirked an eyebrow at me when I blinked at him, but something deep down was telling me this dude was far from crazy. “Explain.”
He blinked back at my abrupt order, pursing his lips then shrugged. “Dunno much, just that you were the last one to be seen leaving her flat last night.”
My mouth dried as my legs stuttered beneath me. “What?” My voice was tight, my throat closing in around my vocal chords. I grabbed him, ignoring his wince when I squeezed too tight. “What’s her name?”
He shrugged. “Fuck knows. Uhh,” he scrunched his face up, creases appearing in his forehead when he thought. “Begins with P.”
Everything rushed at me, the buildings around me slid from my view when my legs buckled and my heart beat paused. “Penny?”
“Yeah, that’s it, man.” He nodded with a huge grin, pointing his finger at me, delighted I had figured it out. “Penelope. Reminded me of her from the cartoons, Penelope Pitstop. Classic bird….”
I didn’t listen for him to finish as I pushed him out of the way and ran.
FUCK! IT WAS like trying to fight through a bunch of twelve year old girls at the front row of a One Direction concert; the swarming mass of screaming people, flashes of cameras, thrusts of microphones and professional video equipment causing me to stumble on my way up the steps to the hotel. The hem of my shirt caught in my heels and tore the full skirt of my dress away from the bodice.
“Bloody hell!” I turned furiously and yelled at the bloke currently trying to smack me around the face with his huge furry mic; and by that, I actually meant his large fuzzy microphone and not some slang for his dick. “You bloody retarded buffoon,” I raged, the burn over my cheeks alerting me to the fact that I was losing my shit. “Can’t you do something useful like go play on the motorway instead of standing here plaguing two people who don’t deserve this shit on their wedding day!”
His lips twitched as his piercing green eyes danced with humour. “Well fuck me, little Miss Tampon.”
My eyes closed slowly as my sho
ulders sagged in sufferance. “Christ, Mr My-car-is-a-substitute-for-my-small-dick. What a pleasure.” I sneered at him, trying not to allow his deep rugged face to sooth my anger towards him. I couldn’t understand what it was about him that grated on each of my last nerves but I could physically picture tying him up and making him watch as I splattered his beautiful car with nail polish remover – after I raked my keys all the way across its nice red shiny bonnet. My gaze travelled slowly over him in disgust. “I should have known such a dickwad would turn out to be paparazzi.”
“Journalist, honey.”
I barked out a laugh of actual humour. “Sure. Whose knob did you have to suck to upgrade your job title?”
I gasped when the crowd surged and I fell against the man currently trying to hold in his amusement with me. My hands slapped his chest to steady myself – his very firm chest I might add – as I was pressed into him. I blinked when his hands slid round me and he spun me round, pressing his own back towards the mass of people that had gathered to catch a glance of the famous bride and groom.
I shivered when his warm breath brushed the skin on my neck, his hands sliding further up my back to pull me closer to his body as his mouth hovered over my ear. “Now, now. We mustn’t forget that you still owe me, Zoe.”
I looked up at him, the edge of my jaw grazing the cotton of his white t-shirt. “You don’t have to prove your capability of earning your upgrade by trying to impress me. It’s quite easy to find out someone’s name. Even us poor people with disappearing trolleys can do it.”
His slow smile turned into a grin, his eyes lighting as he looked down at me from his great height. I ignored the extra beat of my heart at the sight of his beauty. “You really shouldn’t be out here, it’s not safe.”
My brows shot up, then furrowed. He rolled his eyes and sighed before he started to manoeuvre me through the crowd, his back to the crowd as mine pressed against his, his feet guiding mine up the several steps until he passed me safely over to a couple of 103’s security men who recognised me immediately.
Finally Heaven (Room 103 Book 4) Page 3