Chosen by a Stranger (Craved Series #5)

by Kelly, Hazel

  "Me too, Jerry," I said. "Do you know where the show would be filmed?"

  "Here in Cali."

  "So I'd have to move back?"

  "I'd say so, but I can get in touch with the producers to be sure if you-"

  "Yeah," I said. "Why don't you do that?"

  "Then maybe we can meet up in person to discuss the finer points of the contract. The connection now is great- you sound so close- but it would be nice to see you."

  "Why don't you investigate the details of the offer and get back to me?"

  "Really?"

  "Really," I said, checking my watch in vain again.

  "I told you I'd find you something good, didn't I?"

  "I never doubted you, but let's not pop the champagne until we know more."

  "Fair enough," he said. "I'll get right on it."

  "I'm sure you will," I said, knowing he was probably desperate to get a new commission from me after all these years.

  I hung up with Jerry and scrolled through my phone until I found the number I was going to call.

  Then I sent a text asking if she would be home later so I could catch her.

  And I couldn't wait to see the expression on her face when she realized I'd meant not on the phone, but at the door.

  Chapter 8: Audrey

  I decided obsessing over Jack wasn’t going to give me the clarity of thought I needed.

  Sure, I tried that first, but then I remembered that I couldn't put my life on hold just because I'd royally fucked up my morning. So I decided to check my email and see if I had any job offers.

  Mostly, I was just desperate to take my mind off him for two seconds so I could remember what it was like to breathe normally. I wanted to feel grounded again, like I did before he showed up at my door and gave me the mind and body fuck of a lifetime.

  On the plus side, I had two new freelancing gigs. One was for a book cover design and the other was a request for two alternate versions of a pamphlet comparing several popular brands of document scanners.

  But it was no use. Every time I shifted in my chair, I could feel him inside me again. Every time I cleared my throat, my vagina flinched. And every time I blinked, I saw him on his knee looking up at me naked from the waist up.

  And if I kept my eyes closed, suddenly he was there with me, squeezing my breasts, panting against my neck, licking me down there like his life depended on it. And when that initial flush would pass, his words lingered on…

  "Marry me, Audrey, and I'll spend the rest of my days trying to convince you that you're the lucky one."

  It was as funny as it was sweet. After all, surely he knew what a fucking good catch he was. I certainly did.

  I also didn’t think he would hurt me, even if he couldn't love me forever. I could tell by the way he looked at me and how safe I felt in his arms. Not to mention the fact that I was a lot more than safe in bed with him.

  And yet, something was nagging at me. And the more I tried to ignore the voice, the louder it got.

  "Don't do it, Audrey. You could never be as happy as all that. It would only make you feel guilty accepting that kind of love and generosity into your life. You can't handle it. You don't deserve it."

  And that's only paraphrasing the doubts that were bubbling up in my overactive imagination. And maybe they weren't true. Maybe they were completely unfounded self-sabotage of the highest order.

  But that didn't mean I couldn't hear them. And it didn't change the fact that they were still nipping at the heels of my mind, trying to confuse me.

  And all the while my body ached for him.

  When the phone rang, I was so deep in thought it was only after it stopped ringing that I realized I'd heard it.

  I pushed my chair away from my desk and looked around for it. When I finally located it on one of my bedside tables, it wasn't alone. It was being kept company by Jack's watch.

  I picked the watch up in my hands. It was heavy. How someone could have a wrist strong enough to comfortably wear it was beyond me… Not that I really wanted to dwell on the strength of his wrists just then.

  I slipped it over my own hand and fastened the clasp. It was so big the face was wider than my wrist and the strap dangled around my arm like a loose bangle. If I'd tilted my hand down, it would've fallen to the floor.

  It was one of those hyper masculine watches with an excessive amount of dials crowding the face. One of the dials looked like it measured pressure or something, and I wondered if it was the watch he used when he was scuba diving.

  And then it hit me.

  He left it behind.

  At my place.

  Like a real, careless boyfriend.

  I felt my heart swell in my chest as I slipped it off my wrist and laid it face up on the table.

  Then I picked up the phone.

  One missed call. From Megan.

  I hit the callback button and waited. I wasn't sure how I was going to tell her about the last twenty-four hours, but if I didn't get a second opinion on the situation soon I was liable to have some kind of nervous breakdown.

  "Well, well, well," she said. "If it isn't Mrs. Jack Quinn."

  My whole face scrunched. "What? How did you- Have you spoken to Jack? Did he tell you what happene-"

  "Whoa- slow down. Christ. I was just joking around."

  "Well it's not funny," I said, climbing onto the bed and trying to ignore how vast it felt without him in it.

  "Sorry. Is everything okay?"

  I shook my head. "I honestly don't know."

  "You sound like a crazy person."

  "I think I might be one."

  "What happened?" she asked. "Did you not have a good date or something?"

  "Quite the opposite. It was a great date. Best day of my life probably-"

  "Besides the day you met me?"

  "The day I met you I blacked out and woke up with a drinking ticket-"

  "That you very much deserved by the way."

  "Can you be serious for a second?" I asked. "I really need to talk to you."

  "Yeah, sorry. I'm just a little giddy cause I've been dying to hear about your date."

  "Just wait till you hear what happened."

  "Shoot."

  "So everything was going well all day, and the evening continued very much the same way."

  "With lots of sex?"

  "Yeah."

  "I'm jealous."

  "You should be," I said. "It was fucking brilliant."

  "Where'd you go to dinner?"

  "The Space Needle."

  "Fancy."

  "We got there on the bike he rented, too."

  "No surprise there."

  "He even bought me my very own motorcycle helmet."

  "That was nice. Except for the fact that it's probably too big to fit in your apartment."

  "Very funny."

  "Maybe you could buy a parking space for it."

  "Megan! Focus!"

  "Sorry. Is that what you're upset about? I mean, your voice is all shaky. I was just trying to lighten the mood cause you sound-"

  "He proposed," I said, unable to handle her waffling anymore.

  "What?"

  "He proposed."

  "I heard you," she said. "I meant what did he propose?"

  "No." I groaned. "He proposed proposed."

  She laughed. "Not marriage?"

  I didn't say anything.

  "What the fuck?"

  "I know."

  "Shit. I just got the death stare for swearing. Hold on. I'm going to find a free conference room."

  I sighed and waited, listening as Megan smiled and helloed all the way to a quiet place where she could talk. Then I heard a door close.

  "Audrey?"

  "Yeah."

  "What do you mean he proposed?"

  "I mean he asked me to marry him."

  She blew so much air out of her mouth I was sure she would've spit all over me if we'd been face to face.

  "Twice," I added.

  "Twice?!"
r />   "Yeah."

  "How does that even happen?"

  "Well, he asked once last night," I said. "And then again this morning."

  "Whoa."

  "I know."

  "What did you say?"

  "Which time?"

  "Start with the first."

  "The first time I said I'd sleep on it."

  "That's normal," she said sarcastically. "And the second?"

  "I said I needed time."

  "Time?"

  "Yeah."

  "Time for what?"

  "To figure out my answer."

  "Yeah, I get it, but is that what you told him?"

  "Yeah."

  "Huh."

  "What do you mean, huh?" I asked.

  "Well, what is he supposed to infer from that?"

  "That I need time."

  "Is that like a maybe?"

  "It's like a yes with conditions… I think."

  "Not a no then?"

  "No."

  "Shit. So is he going to ask again later or is he waiting for you to get back to him?"

  "I have no idea."

  "How much time do you need?"

  "I don't know."

  "He didn't ask?"

  "No."

  "Jesus."

  "Jesus what?"

  "I just felt like I had to say something."

  I rolled my eyes. "I was hoping you could say something constructive."

  "I guess I didn't realize you guys were that serious."

  "Me neither, but he is definitely not playing around."

  "Obviously."

  "What do you think I should do?"

  "I can't tell you what to do-"

  "I know that," I said. "I’m just asking for a second opinion cause I've been in my own head all day, and I'm not even making sense to myself anymore."

  "Right," she said.

  “The sooner the better.”

  "I guess it’s not that complicated when you think about it."

  "Enlighten me."

  "All you have to do is decide if you love him."

  "And then what?"

  "Figure out how much."

  Chapter 9: Jack

  I'd never been in her new house, but it looked nice from the outside. Very modern, even for Cali.

  Her car was in the driveway next to a pickup truck. I assumed it was her latest boyfriend's. I furrowed my brow trying to remember his name but came up short.

  I tipped the cab driver and slung my duffel bag over my shoulder, taking my time up the driveway.

  Soon after ringing the doorbell, I heard footsteps.

  "Hello," a fit man in his forties said when he opened the door. He was wearing basketball shorts and a few grey hairs poked through the stubble around his chin.

  "Hi," I said, momentarily confused. "I'm looking for Ariel Quinn."

  The man narrowed his eyes on me. "What's this about?"

  "I'm her son."

  His face relaxed instantly. "Why didn't you say so?" He stuck his hand out and shook mine enthusiastically. "I'm Travis."

  I smiled.

  "Ariel's boyfriend."

  Right. "Nice to meet you." I guess my Mom was committed to being a cougar after all. Frankly, I’d hoped the reiki instructor and the dj were a fluke, but this guy was at least twenty years her junior.

  "You, too," he said. "I'm sorry to freeze you out there. I was just surprised because your Mom didn't tell me you were coming."

  "I hadn’t mentioned it," I said, switching my bag to the other hand.

  "Come in," he said, stepping backwards. Then he turned his head and yelled up the stairs. "Ari!"

  My Mom appeared at the top of the stairwell in a breezy dress that showed her thin, tan arms. Her white blond hair was chopped off in a mature pixie cut that suited her, and I wondered why she hadn't done it earlier considering how much she hated having hair in her eyes.

  "Jack!" she said, throwing her hands in the air when she saw me.

  "Surprise," I said, putting my bag down and holding my arms out to my sides.

  "Can I get you a drink?" Travis asked as my Mom hurried down the steps. "Fresh lemonade?"

  "That would be great, thanks," I said, warming to him now that I could see how well my Mom looked.

  She threw her arms around me at the bottom of the stairs, squeezing me tight and twisting side to side like I was a towel that needed to be wrung out.

  "Oh Jacky," she said, stepping back, her thin fingers on my shoulders. "You look wonderful."

  "So do you Mom," I said. "And Travis seems nice."

  She smiled. “He is nice.”

  I hoped that meant I was getting points for maturity. Needless to say, I hadn't always been charitable about her boyfriends in the past.

  "Come sit down in the kitchen,” she said. “We have so much to catch up on."

  I laid my bag beside the door and slipped out of my shoes. If everyone else was going to walk around barefoot, I wasn't going to miss out.

  When I followed my Mom in the kitchen, the first thing I noticed was that Travis had already put a pitcher of lemonade out for us and disappeared. Then I saw the row of orchids in the corner.

  "Those are pretty," I said, pointing towards them.

  "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to grow them," she said. "I know you probably take them for granted since they practically spring out of cracks in the sidewalk in Thailand, but I'm very proud of them."

  I pulled out the kitchen chair across from her. Now that I could see her more closely in the bright kitchen, I noticed that she had a few more sun spots on her chest and hands than I remembered. But more importantly, the sparkle in her eye hadn't dulled one bit.

  "Before I start babbling, can you just confirm that you're okay?"

  "I'm fine," I said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

  "No reason," she said, leaning forward and taking one of my hands in hers. "It's just that you don't visit very often, and I've trained myself to assume that no news is good news so I guess now that you're here I-"

  "I'm fine, Mom. Really."

  "Plus," she continued as if she hadn't heard me. "I spoke to your Father yesterday."

  "You did?"

  She nodded.

  "Did he call you?"

  "Yes."

  "Is everything okay?" It wasn't like my Dad to call my Mom. He despised her in that way that you can only hate someone you actually love.

  "I'm hoping it will be," she said, squeezing my hand, her eyes watering so slightly I might not have noticed if I wasn't studying her so thoroughly.

  "What happened?"

  "He checked into rehab."

  I cocked my head. "Seriously?"

  "He told me what happened- about the accident."

  I swallowed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you more when I called, Mom. I just feel like I only ever call you with bad news and that’s not fair cause it's not your problem. Plus, there was nothing you could've done about-"

  "It's okay," she said. "I understand."