Pursued by the Player (Black Towers Book 3)

by Lauren Hawkeye

  She closed the gap in her shirt and rolled her eyes. “This won’t happen again. I’ll promise you that.” She shoved his hand holding the business card away from her, wanting nothing to do with it.

  “Don’t be so hasty.”

  “Don’t be such a pig.”

  She turned and started walking, desperate to put as much distance as she could between them. The horribly high heels pinched her toes and made it difficult to move with much dignity. Beautiful, yes. Practical? Hell no.

  “You’re going the wrong way.”

  “What?” She stopped and stared at him.

  He nodded in the opposite direction. “The ambulance is that way.” He started closing the distance between them. “Here, just let me help you—“

  “No, I’m fine, really.” She took several more steps back “Don’t come any closer.”

  “You were almost hit by a car. At least let them look you over.”--”

  “I’m fine.” Panic rose up inside of her. She just wanted to get out of there and put the entire, embarrassing incident behind her.

  “Don’t get upset.”

  “I can get whatever I want.”

  “Come here.” He started toward her. Mel turned and hurried into the crowd, wanting to get away. A quick look back showed that he was following her. The man was crazy.

  She fought the urge to run and instead walked faster toward the subway entrance. She didn’t want to attract more attention. Besides, the stupid heels wouldn’t allow her to run anyway. After sliding her card through the turnstile, she pulled the hat down further on her head and followed the crowd down onto the subway platform.

  “Stop her!” She glanced behind her to see the man trying to get through the turnstile. Panic rose up in her chest as she pushed her way through the crowd.

  “Excuse me.” Where was a subway when you needed one? Liv continued making her way down the platform, hoping a new train would come in time.

  Jett pushed another man out of his way. Why wasn’t anyone helping him? He had to get to her before she disappeared out of his life forever. He didn’t know who she was, not even her name. He had to at least find out her name.

  The grinding engine of an oncoming train filled the air, as Jett closed the distance between them. “Stop that woman. Don’t let her get on the train.”

  The doors opened just as Jett grabbed for her. She yelped and hit him as she stumbled over the divide.

  “Wait!” Something glittered down by his feet. As the door closed, he noticed one of her obnoxious pink shoes on the platform. He stooped down and picked it up as the train started rolling away.

  “Wait!” He ran alongside the train, holding up her shoe. “You forgot your shoe!”

  As the train moved faster, Jett realized he wouldn’t be able to keep up. He stopped and held up the shoe high enough for everyone around him to see.

  “You forgot your shoe!” he repeated, but it was too late. His lovely woman was gone. Grinding his teeth, Jett tightened his grip on the heel and made his way back up onto the sidewalk. This wasn’t the end, not by a long shot. If that woman thought she was going to fuck him and be on her way, then she had another thing coming. No one played with Jett Gorski’s emotions like that. No one.

  He had her shoe, and that was a start. He was going to find that woman again if it was the last thing he did.

  Chapter 4

  That night, Mel lay awake in her bed, unable to sleep, her head too full with thoughts of the absolutely crazy day she had. The adrenaline had worn off and the reality that she was lucky to be alive settled in. And all because she was desperate to get away from a sinfully handsome man in an elevator. Maybe she needed to reevaluate her priorities -- had Marc left her heart so damaged that she was willing to risk her life to get away from a prospective date? She hadn’t realized quite the impact his betrayal had had on her until that moment. Sure, the guy was laying it on thick and a little persistent, but was that anything to run into oncoming traffic for? Get it together, Mel.

  And then there was her mystery man, he was a different person when she came to in his arms, face filled with concern. Genuine concern for her. She still couldn’t believe she fucked him in the back of his limo – that so was unlike her – but despite her head telling her she should, she didn’t regret it. She started to think about the way he felt inside of her, making her feel so alive after her near death experience…

  She let her hands start to trail over her body as she thought about the way he made her feel. Running her hand down her torso, she slipped her delicate fingers, so unlike his rough, strong ones, under the hem of her pajama shorts, rubbing them over her mound until she slid one finger in between her slick folds. Finding her clit, she started to rub circles over the sensitive nub as she ran her other hand up under her shirt, massaging her breast and rolling her nipple between her fingers. Her heart rate started to quicken as she closed her eyes, imagining the hands on her body belonged to the beautiful man with the piercing blue eyes…except her touch was too gentle to be his. Remembering the way her skin lit on fire when he scraped his teeth over her neck, her breast, she pinched down hard on the nipple between her fingers as she added pressure to her clit, switching between rubbing hard circles and flicking it under her touch. But it still wasn’t enough. Sliding the hand between her legs down further, she slid a finger inside, then two, crooking them to reach the ball of nerves that she knew would send her over the edge. Head tossed back, she continued to pinch and roll her nipples between her fingers, giving a jolt of pain with her pleasure as she moved her fingers in and out, faster and faster, curling them inside to rub her most sensitive spot until her breath came in quick pants and her whole body tingled all over. Adding a third finger as she remembered how he slammed into her, hard, she pushed herself over the edge with thoughts of her mystery man floating through her head.

  Body exhausted, she was finally able to slip into sleep, but her dreams were filled with limos, love bites, and pink sparkly shoes.

  "What's going on?" Liv asked the next day when Mel finally arrived at the coffee shop on the first floor of the Black Tower building.

  "I don't even know where to begin.” Mel motioned for her to wait a second while she ordered her smoothie.

  "Begin with what happened yesterday,” Liv said as Mel slid into her chair. “You sounded upset on the phone."

  "I was upset." She took a sip of her purple coconut-berry fusion. "Did you read the papers?"

  Liv shook her head. "Sorry. I've been busy. The deadline for my column was this morning. I'm only just now coming up for air." She stirred the straw in her thick, green concoction and considered Mel for a moment before continuing. "That was why I couldn't talk to you last night."

  "I totally understand." And Mel did understand. While she might not have writing deadlines, the fashion industry was difficult, with its own sets of rules and deadlines.

  "So, what happened?"

  "I almost got hit by a taxi."

  "You what?" Liv's eyes widened as a few others in the cafe turned to stare.

  "Shh, keep it down," Mel said. "I'm perfectly fine."

  "How can you almost get hit?"

  "I wasn't watching where I was going." Mel sighed and took another sip of her drink. "After I went to see you yesterday, I met this guy in the elevator, and he threw a bunch of really lame pickup lines at me."

  Liv chuckled. "He should know better. Stuff like that doesn’t work on you."

  "I know." She leaned back in her chair. "Anyway, he was persistent, even after I gave him the cold shoulder. He followed me out of the elevator."

  "In a creepy stalker kind of way?"

  Mel thought about that for a moment. "No, he wasn't all intense, or scary. I didn't feel as if my life was threatened or anything. He was just trying to get my phone number."

  "Then why didn’t you tell him no?"

  "I did."

  "And he followed you?"

  "He thought he could change my mind." Okay, this was sounding rathe
r lame. "He was rather insistent that we follow up the conversation at some later point."

  "Over dinner?"

  "In his bed." Mel pressed her lips together, trying to hold back a laugh.

  "I take it that he didn't succeed."

  "No, no he didn't." Mel chuckled and poked her straw in her energy drink. "But in my . . . obsession with getting away from him, I ran out into the street and into oncoming traffic."

  "You what?" Liv frowned. "That doesn't sound like you."

  "It's ridiculous I know. But I was all flustered and not thinking clearly."

  "I see." Liv studied her for a moment, then took a sip of her drink. "Let me guess; that was when you almost got driven over by a taxi."

  "Yeah, but that's not the worst part."

  Liv widened her eyes. “It isn't? What's worse than almost being run over?"

  "I stumbled back to avoid the car, then fell onto the pavement." Mel touched her back of her head. "I hit the ground rather hard and blacked out for a few moments."

  "Yikes."

  "Yeah. And when I came to, I kissed the first guy I saw."

  Liv smirked. "Well, that isn't so bad. Was he handsome?"

  "He was the guy from the elevator. The one I was running away from."

  "Oh."

  "Yeah. And it gets worse."

  "How could it get worse?"

  "I don't know what happened. I think it was the adrenaline from just cheating death, but. . ." Mel leaned forward and lowered her voice. "But I went back to his limo and fucked him."

  Liv inched closer and stared at her friend. "Well?" she asked when Mel didn't continue. "Was he good?"

  "Good isn't the point. I fucked a total stranger. An asshole I met in the elevator." Mel finished her drink and pushed it away from her.

  "What was his name?"

  "Not important."

  "Wait a minute. You don't even know his name?"

  Mel shook her head. "That's bad, isn't it?"

  Liv chuckled. "Not necessarily." She hesitated a moment before continuing. "Look. You don't know him; he doesn’t know you. Write the whole thing off as some crazy one night stand. Nothing to get all upset over."

  "Yeah, maybe." Mel's phone buzzed, and she fished around for it in her purse. "Shit, I’ve got to run," she said after she glanced at the screen. "My boss wants to see me immediately."

  "What about?"

  "I don't know." Mel shoved her phone back into her purse. "Sorry I have to cut this short."

  "No problem." Liv finished up her drink and wiped her mouth with her napkin. "Want to meet up for drinks tonight? Nayo left this morning for the Middle East, and I'm flying solo for a while."

  "Not drinks. Maybe a movie and pizza? My place."

  "Sounds great."

  They hugged, and Mel quickly made her way back to the office. What the hell did Kennedy want this time? She swore the man had this sixth sense. Whenever Mel was starting to relax, the man did something to knock her off balance. He thrived on making other people miserable.

  “Do you know who this shoe belongs to?” Jett shoved the shoe in the face of a man dressed in an impeccable gray suit carrying a briefcase as he walked past, only to be ignored. “Have you seen the woman who owns this shoe?” Spinning around to approach a woman exiting a taxi, but just as the man in the suit, she avoided eye contact and continued on her way without a word.

  Jett honestly couldn’t even believe himself. He was acting like a crazy person, approaching strangers on the street asking them about a sparkly pink shoe. Who did he think he was, Prince Charming? But in the end, he didn’t care. Let people think he was crazy: he needed to find her.

  The ever-changing crowd out front of The Black Towers seemed like the best place to start, he figured he was bound to find someone who recognized the shoe and could point him in the right direction, but the sidewalk was filled with bustling people too busy to even listen to what he was saying, brushing him off and pushing past him. People would actively avoid him, putting their heads down or pulling out their phones as they walked past to discourage any contact.

  Jett was beginning to think his Cinderella mission was a lost cause. But he wasn’t ready to give up just yet. Scanning the crowded sidewalk, he decided to be more selective with who he approached, looking for people exiting and entering Black Towers. As he started to make his way from the curb to the front of the buildings, the revolving door caught the sun, flashing bright white light as the door spun in place. His heart started to hammer out of his chest when a glimmer of chestnut and chocolate exiting the building caught his vision. Was it her? The wind had blown her hair in her face, and the crowd was thick, preventing him from getting a good look, but he was sure it had to be her.

  Squinting his eyes and bobbing through the crowd, he watched as she tucked her long strands behind her ears to expose the face with the slightly hooked nose that he had been searching for all morning. Beautiful.

  “Hey!” He shouted as he started to push his way through the crowd. “Wait! I’ve got your shoe!” He held the shoe up in the air high above his head as he rushed after her. “Wait!” God dammit he wished he knew her name.

  Jett rushed through the crowd, dodging behind a woman with a stroller, nearly tripping over a dog’s leash, all the while calling after his beautiful brunette, trying to keep her in his sights. But as she got further and further away from him, each time someone blocked her from his view, it got harder to find her again. By the time he reached the doors of the building, she was gone.

  “Fuck!” He yelled as he nearly ran right into a brick house of a man who was coming out of Black Towers. “Watch where you’re going, asshole!” He called out after him, taking out his frustration of being so close yet so far from finding his mystery girl on the massive man.

  “You better watch who you’re talking to, or that pretty pink shoe of yours will find a new home up your ass.”

  Jett ran his hand through his hair and huffed the air out of his lungs as. “Shit. Sorry man, that was my bad. Gotta girl under my skin. You know how it is.”

  Mr. Brick House reached for the hand of the man standing next to him – Jett hadn’t even noticed him standing there until that moment as he was about half the size of his partner and much less intimidating – and a huge, warm grin widened over the large man’s bearded face. “Naw man, I don’t know how it is. But good luck with your girl.” And they both walked away, hand in hand, heads tossed back in laughter.

  Ready to give up, Jett turned the shoe over in his hands as he watched the sequins dance in the sun. Who are you?

  When he looked up from the shoe, ready to call Vince to come pick him up, he noticed a woman watching him with a strange look on her face.

  “Excuse me,” he said as he stepped closer to her “Do you know who this shoe belongs to? I’ve been looking for her.”

  The woman tilted her head, placing her thumb to her mouth she nibbled on her nail as she contemplated what to tell him. “I might.”

  Jett couldn’t help the ripple of excitement that coursed through him. This girl knows something. She must. “You might?”

  “I might, considering I just gave her those shoes.”

  “Well, what’s her name? Where can I find her?”

  “I don’t know if I should tell you, I’m not so sure she wants to be found.”

  “Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll give you anything you want.”

  “Anything?” She seemed to be considering his offer.

  “Anything at all. Just name your price, everyone’s got one.”

  “I don’t know…let me think on it and get back to you.”

  “Come on, just a name. That’s all I need.” Impatient, Jett didn’t want to wait. He wanted to know now.

  “Why don’t you give me your number, and I’ll call you after I’ve had time to think about it?”

  Jett let out a frustrated sigh as he pulled his business card from his wallet and handed it to the woman. “Call me as soon as you’re ready to give me wha
t I want. Or better yet, just have her call me. Or text. It doesn’t matter, but we’ve got some…unfished business to take care of.”

  “All right. I’ll think on it.” And she turned to walk away.

  “Hey, wait!” Jett called after her. “Give her a message for me?”

  She turned around to face him again, “What’ve you got, lover boy?”

  “Just tell her I just want to ask her out. Take her on a date. Get to know her better. Ok?”

  “Yeah alright, I’ll tell her.”

  With that, the woman was on her way. Jett hated letting her leave knowing she had the information he wanted…needed, but he had no choice. He didn’t want to scare her off by pressing too hard. So far she was his only shot at finding her, he didn’t want to blow it.

  The whole encounter gave him a new burst of adrenaline. He would find her. He was sure of it. Not wanting to rely solely on the whim of a stranger, he decided to start asking around about the shoe again. But right on the heels of that burst of adrenaline was his agent, ready to burst said bubble.

  “Jett, there you are, I’ve been looking for you all over. Why don’t you come upstairs to my office so we can chat?” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder, tucking it more tightly under her arm. Jett was fairly certain she wished she could do the same thing to him, keep him tucked more neatly, on a shorter leash.

  “Don’t you think we’ve chatted enough lately, Gloria? I already heard what you had to say yesterday. I need to stay focused on the game, stop doing things to hurt my image. Blah blah. I get it.”

  “Do you? Then why are you out here like a crazy person shoving a woman’s shoe down everyone’s throats? Why are you making headlines and popping up on all of the celebrity gossip websites? We just talked about this, Jett.”

  “Listen, I know this looks crazy. It is crazy! But I can’t help it; you don’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  “I don’t know what it is about this woman, but I can’t get her out of my head. And I don’t even know her name. I have to find her. I just have to.”

  “Look, I’m all for a romantic story, but there’s a difference between romantic behavior and stalker behavior. Try and distinguish between the two. And try not to kill your career while you’re at it, okay?”