by E. L. Todd
I learned to steer clear of those a long time ago.
It would be easy for me to turn around and walk the other way like I hadn’t spotted her, but my feet remained in place. After examining her for a few more seconds, I walked up to her. “Hey, sweetheart. You look lost.”
She kept her eyes glued to the map and didn’t look up. “What gave you that idea?” She laughed in a natural way, beautiful and soft. She held herself with a strict posture, shoulders back and her head held high. It was a completely different stance than the one she had last night.
“First of all, no one uses maps anymore.”
“My phone died, and now I can’t find it.” She turned the map right-side up again. “And I can’t remember where my apartment is…”
“Talk about a bad day.” She still hadn’t looked at me, and I began to wonder if she ever would.
“I’ll figure it out. It might just take me a while.”
I placed my hand on the map and pushed it down so she was forced to meet my gaze. “Or you could rely on a gentleman to steer you in the right direction.”
A smile was still on her lips when she looked up. It was only there for a brief second, but it was long enough for me to see her perfectly straight teeth, plump and beautiful lips, and the same laughter in her eyes. She didn’t have any makeup on, but somehow her features were more distinct that way. Once she realized it was me she came face-to-face with, that smile disappeared quicker than lightning could strike the earth. “Oh, hey… What are you doing here?”
“I was just about to get some coffee when I saw a lost puppy.” I gave her a smile so she knew I was only teasing her. “Can I help you? I have a phone that already has Google Maps installed.”
She folded up the ridiculously big map and shoved it into her purse. “Maybe that’s a good idea. I couldn’t see anything on that thing. And there was no key. Who makes a map without a key?”
“And who reads maps in this day and age?”
She rolled her eyes. “I lost my phone, alright?”
“Have you tried calling it?”
“It’s dead so that didn’t work.”
“Hmm…”
“It’s probably somewhere in the mess of my apartment.”
“That’s a good place to start.”
“I thought I had it on me when I left, but by the time I got here, I realized I was wrong.”
“And where exactly were you trying to go?” This girl must be ditsy to lose her phone and get lost in the same day.
“I was trying to get to the Museum of Natural History but realized I was going to the MET instead. Now, I’m just trying to get home so I can find my phone.”
How did anyone get those two mixed up? “We definitely need to find you that phone. What’s your address?”
“Ugh…” She bit her bottom lip as she tried to remember.
Seriously, she didn’t know that?
“I know it’s on East.”
That didn’t help at all. “That’s a pretty big street.” I kept my agitation to myself because being a dick wouldn’t help anything. “What’s the cross street?”
“I can’t remember that either.”
Geez, woman.
“I know how to get there from work. So, if you can direct me to Bristol Academy, I should be able to figure it out.”
She worked at a school? I hoped she was a janitor for the kids’ sakes. “I know where that is.”
“Great. Which way?” She looked at the cross street then looked the opposite way.
She would only get more lost if I gave her directions. “I’ll walk you there.”
“You don’t need to do that—”
“I don’t mind. Let’s go.” I started off without waiting for her to follow me.
When she realized this was really happening, she walked beside me. “It’s pretty late for a cup of coffee. Do you drink a lot?”
“I just got a late start this morning.” Really late.
“Oh…” She looked away like she figured out exactly what I’d been doing the night before.
“So, do you get lost like this on a daily basis?”
“Lately, I have.” She pulled her sunglasses out of her purse and placed them on the bridge of her nose. They were aviator sunglasses, and they looked cute on her small face. “I’ve only been here for a week. I’m still not used to everything.”
Now it all made sense. She wasn’t some stupid girl. “You just moved to New York?”
“Yeah. It’s been a really big change.”
“Where did you move from?”
“Nashville.”
She didn’t have even a hint of an accent so I suspected she wasn’t born and raised there. “Cool. Did you move for work? For a guy?”
“Not a guy. For work.”
I realized I’d been asking her a lot of questions, and I needed to back off. I hated it when people interrogated me, so I shouldn’t do the same to her.
“Thanks for walking me. That map wasn’t helpful.”
“No problem. New York is a big place—especially without a phone.”
“I’ll never make that mistake again. I’m usually organized and prepared for anything, but I still haven’t unpacked all my things so my apartment is a bit of a mess.”
“Understandable.”
“It’s pretty ironic that I ran into you.”
“Why?”
“Natalie just told me last night that I shouldn’t go anywhere without makeup because you always see someone you know…and she was right. And I don’t even know that many people right now.”
“You look good without makeup, so you’re fine.”
“Thanks…” She adjusted her glasses again and kept walking. “So, Volt is an interesting name…”
“It’s my middle name.” I had the lamest first name ever, and I didn’t like it when people called me by it. It didn’t fit my personality or my identity, and I rarely told people what it was.
“Oh, I see.”
We passed a few blocks before we finally reached the area where the school was located. It took up the entire block because it was a big school. There were quite a few prestigious private schools in the city, and Bristol Academy was one of the top three. “You work here?”
“Yeah, I teach science.”
“Really?” After my first impression of her, I couldn’t hide my surprise. She didn’t strike me as the academic type, but apparently, she was the nerdy, awkward type. “Do you like it?”
“This is my first year teaching, so I’m not sure yet.”
If Bristol Academy hired her as a starting teacher, then she must have had an impressive resume. Prestigious academies never did that sort of thing—and I would know. “You’ll love it. It’s a good school.”
“I can tell. The staff is friendly and the kids are great.”
“Because they’re all geniuses.”
She chuckled. “Some of my students are smarter than me—but I’ll never admit it to them.”
I stopped when we reached the entrance to the school. The gates were closed, and the campus was shut down for the weekend. No one could get in there if they tried. “Well, do you know your way from here?”
She shielded her eyes from the piercing rays and looked across the street. “Yes. I can see my building.”
Then she should be fine. “Alright. I’ll see you around.”
“Thanks so much for helping me. I know I must have looked like a weirdo standing there with a map in my hands.”
“I didn’t mind. And yes, you looked like a weirdo.” I gave her a teasing smile so she knew I wasn’t really being an ass.
“People warned me that New Yorkers are coldhearted and brutal. But in my experience, they’ve been nothing but nice and friendly.” She shrugged and gave me that pretty smile I spotted when I first saw her. It was the kind that formed in her cheeks as well as her eyes. Her green eyes naturally glowed under the sun, and even in the darkness of that bar, they emitted their light like a star in the sky.
She wasn’t the typical type of woman I was attracted to. I liked women in short dresses, with thick hair and heels that made them almost as tall as me. I liked the flirty and sexy kind, the ones who stuck their tongues down my throat the moment they laid eyes on me.
Taylor was nothing like that.
But now I really looked at her, seeing the young smile on her lips and the gentleness in her eyes. She was her own breed of beauty, a rare kind that many people never got to see. “That’s because you’re a pretty girl. And everyone is nice to pretty girls.”
Chapter Three
Taylor
The students were gone, but I stayed behind my desk and finished grading lab reports. We just did a lab that measured the water displacement of pennies. The kids seemed too advanced for it, so I’d have to think of more challenging things for them to do. If they were too bored, they would become reckless and loud.
And that would give me a headache.
Natalie stepped inside with a folder of papers under her arm. An empty coffee mug was in her hand, and it said #1 Teacher. She wore a necklace with her keys hooked at the end, and every step she took was accompanied by a gentle rattle. “How was your day?”
“My kids are bored,” I said with a sigh.
“Oh, no. You’ll have to step it up.”
“You’re telling me.” I placed the cap on my red pen and set it on the desk. “What’s up with you?”
“The guys really liked you the other night.”
“They did?” I asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Thought you were charming.”
I thought I stuck out like a sore thumb. “Well, that was nice of them to say. It seems like you have a fun group.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “It is what it is.”
I wondered why Natalie hung out with her brother. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d heard of siblings being close, but it was usually because one of them was dating a mutual friend. That didn’t seem to be the case with them. “I liked them too. Made me feel welcome.”
“You never hooked up with Volt?”
My body immediately stiffened, and I felt my cheeks redden. At the end of the night, I saw him leave with two pretty girls, so I knew whom he went home with that night. “Uh, no.” My initial attraction to him was physical, and now that I knew more about him, I realized he wasn’t my type. He was the kind of man who had no intention of settling down, wasn’t looking for a girlfriend, and broke hearts like they meant nothing. “He was nice but…not my type.”
“How is he not your type?” She sat on one of the desks and crossed her legs.
“He seems like a player.”
“Well, he is.”
“And that’s not what I’m looking for.”
“Really?” she asked. “I thought you’d want a welcome lay, to see what this amazing city has to offer.”
I wasn’t against one-night stands, and I wasn’t one to turn down good sex, but a meaningless fling wasn’t on my list at the moment. Now that I’d started my career and settled down, I was looking for a husband to start a family with. I was twenty-seven years old, and I’d already had my fun. “I’m sure I’ll find a good lay soon. But it’s hard to enjoy it when I know it’ll never go any further.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re one of those girls who needs to get married right away.”
Her words ruffled my feathers and set me in a sour mood. Like she hadn’t understood a word I said, she immediately labeled me. “I spent my youth partying and having a great time. I enjoyed that lifestyle, but now, I don’t miss it. I’m ready to move on and settle down. I’m looking for Mr. Right, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Just like I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you for enjoying your freedom and sleeping with whomever you want.” I was a nice person who kept my judgments to myself, but once people started pushing me around, I bared my fangs and my claws.
“Taylor, I didn’t mean it that way. I just want you to loosen up.”
I wasn’t going to loosen up with Volt. He was ridiculously sexy, at a dangerous level, but he wasn’t the man for me. Maybe one day he’d be the right man for someone else, but I knew I wasn’t the woman who would make him realize that. “Have plans tonight?”
“Derek, Jared, and I are going bowling. You want to come?”
Did she always hang out with her brother? “Sure.” I didn’t have anything else to do.
“Great. We have even numbers for a team.”
“Perfect.”
***
Pizza and beer were on the table, and we took our turns bowling.
“You’re up, Tayz.” Jared winked.
“What did you just call me?” I grabbed the pink bowling ball from the machine because, you know, pink is my favorite color.
“Tayz,” Derek said with a nod. “I like it.”
“It suits you,” Jared said. “Taylor is too long of a name.”
“It has the same number of syllables as yours,” I countered.
Jared started counting on his fingers. “Oh shit, she’s right.”
I tried not to smile before I turned to the alley and bowled. I hit nearly all the pins, but two remained.
“You got this, Tayz,” Derek said. “Focus.”
“Why are you cheering her on?” Natalie asked. “She’s not even on your team.”
“Well, she has a nice ass,” Derek said with a shrug.
I rolled my eyes then bowled again. My aim was true, and I knocked down the two remaining pins. “I got a spare.”
“She’s a pretty good bowler,” Derek said.
“No kidding,” Jared said. “Maybe you two should switch.” He moved out of the way just before Derek could punch him in the shoulder, and then he headed to the machine that spit out the balls.
I sat down, and Derek took the seat beside me.
“You know what?” He grabbed his beer but didn’t take a drink. “I don’t know too many girls who can pull off bowling shoes. But, girl, you make them look hot.”
My lungs immediately tightened in preparation for a laugh and my chest heaved. Unable to keep it in, I let a loud laugh escape my lips. “Oh my god…that’s the cheesiest line I’ve ever heard.”
“But it’s true. You make them look awesome.”
“Well, thank you. What a nice compliment.”
“So, you don’t think Jared is a looker, right?”
The question gave me whiplash because I had no idea where it came from. “Uh, he’s okay.”
“But you aren’t into him?”
“He’s a nice guy, but no.” The only person who gave me that queasy feeling in my stomach was Volt. The second I laid eyes on him, the butterflies exploded from their chrysalises and soared. I wasn’t sure what my problem was, but I was always attracted to the dangerous ones. We’d have our fun, and I’d get my heart broken—again and again. But I wasn’t doing that this time. I wasn’t looking for just any man—but the right man.
“Perfect. Because I’m totally single and looking for a lady.” Whenever Derek said cheesy things, they didn’t come off sleazy. He had an innate charm that made him harmless and actually cute.
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
“And Jared is Natalie’s man.”
He is? “She told me she wasn’t seeing anyone.”
“Well, she’s been in love with Jared forever, but he’s not into her.”
Every puzzle piece came together, and the full picture was revealed. “That’s why she always hangs out with you…”
“It’s sad, really,” he said. “She makes it so obvious.”
“Why isn’t he into her?” Natalie was smart, beautiful, and fun to be around. What more could Jared want?
“I don’t know. We grew up together, so I guess he sees her as a little sister.”
“Does she know this?”
“No. She’s totally naïve and thinks no one suspects her feelings for Jared. I’ve tried telling her a few times, but she just denies it. I feel bad for her b
ecause she just looks desperate.”
I eyed Jared and Natalie in the seats across from us. He said something funny, and she leaned in and grabbed him by the bicep as she released a laugh that was real but also fake.
“See what I mean?” Derek followed my gaze. “She makes it obvious.”
I’d have to help her. Friends didn’t let friends look clingy and obsessive. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“I just don’t want you to waste your time with Jared.” He leaned in and winked at me. “When you have Grade A, top choice meat right here.”
His lines just got worse and worse. “I think you’re cute and very sweet, but I’m not interested.” There was no reason to be rude to him when all he’d ever been was nice, but I didn’t want to lead him on either. He was a good-looking guy, but there was zero chemistry between us. I’d had more chemistry with cute dogs than this guy.
“That’s fair,” he said. “But maybe one day you’ll change your mind.”
I highly doubted that, but I wasn’t going to shoot him down again. “Yeah. Maybe.”
***
After Sara and I went shopping all day, I walked into my apartment and dropped all the bags of useless stuff on the ground. I got new shoes, a few sundresses that were on clearance, and a new pair of shades. Since I got my first paycheck, I decided to do something reckless with it.
My apartment was finally clean and organized, so I didn’t have anxiety the second I walked in the door. My office was ready to go, and my Internet and cable were set up as well.
I got a text message from Natalie.
Hey, we’re watching the Yankees game. Come over.
Come over where?
To Jared’s place.
I really needed to tell her she was making a fool of herself—and I needed to do it soon. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.
Perfect. See you then.
After I grabbed a six-pack of beer, I headed to his apartment. I had my phone this time, fully charged, and I used that to navigate to his place a few blocks away. I walked inside and greeted everyone.
“Just in time,” Derek said. “It’s the second inning.” He grabbed the beer from my hands. “And you brought presents.”