Redeemed: Book Two of the Love Seekers Series

by Maria Vickers

  I hoped.

  My phone beeped with the notification a few hours later that she had received the roses I sent to her office. I waited. And waited. I was tempted to pick up the phone and call her myself when my cellphone finally rang, and her name lit up the screen.

  I released the breath I had been holding and hit the talk button. “Hello?” I pretended to be busy and nonchalant, cringing when I realized I was losing cool points because I had been anxiously awaiting this call. From Rayne. The person I hated.

  “Chad.” My name from her lips came through the phone as terse and forced.

  If she wanted to play that game—and I realized I had started it, but so what—I could play along. “Rayne.” I made sure I sounded completely bored with the conversation already. “What can I help you with?”

  “Did you send me roses?”

  “Possibly.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I was simply apologizing.”

  “These are roses though?”

  “Yeah, so? Something wrong with roses?”

  She sighed. “No, nothing.”

  Was that longing I heard in her voice? Surely I had to be mistaken. “Is there something else I can help you with?”

  “Why did you send me roses?”

  “Didn’t you read the card?”

  “I did.”

  “Then there you go. Is there anything else? I’m kind of in the middle of something.” I wanted to keep her guessing, keep her on edge and uncertain.

  She hesitated, but only for a second. “Can you meet me for dinner tonight? I need to ask you something.”

  “Just ask.”

  “I can’t. It’s something about the contract.”

  Had she found out more information? “Sure. I have an appointment at the gym. How about you meet me there around seven? We’ll go from there.”

  “Fine.” She paused, but I had the feeling she wasn’t done yet. And I was right. “Thank you.” The smallness of her voice threw me off and unsettled me. Something was wrong.

  “You’re welcome,” I told her, my voice as soft as hers. “I’ll see you tonight.” This time, I waited until she hung up on me before I dropped my phone to my desk. Thankfully, Mark had taken the day off to take his son to the doctor with his wife. He wasn’t there to witness my complete and utter bewilderment. She threw me off my game when she should be the one off kilter.

  There was something in her tone, something about the catch in her voice that had me befuddled and concerned. I tried to play it off as nothing, to lie to myself, but I couldn’t. Not when I replayed that entire conversation again in my head. Something was very wrong.

  ****

  Rayne

  The urge to call Chad over the past week had me picking up my phone, pulling up his number, and quickly changing my mind. My poor cell had been dropped more times this week than it had since I picked it out a year ago.

  After what happened on the way to the gym, I had every intention of cutting him out of my life—regardless of his friendship with my brother, Bryan. I knew I could ignore him if I wanted to, but something happened.

  Leaving him standing in the parking lot, I planned to never see him again. The weekend let me rest and catch up on my sleep. And to pout, because whether he meant to or not, and I had a feeling he very much intended to, he hurt me. Once again, he took up Emma’s cause without thought or provocation, or without trying to see things from my perspective.

  I also had time to think about work over the weekend, about who had it out for me and how I needed to proceed going forward. I honestly didn’t know what to do. I would need hard evidence for anyone to believe me, but I didn’t know how I’d find it or how I’d get it.

  And then this past week at work, things happened that left me questioning myself. Things like my filing cabinet in my office had been left unlocked when I thought I had locked it, or co-workers staring at me oddly. I was even called into the new HR manager’s office to meet with her. Her in her wheelchair, sitting next to our soon to be ex-HR person, eyeing me like I stole the last cookie in the cookie jar. What had I done to deserve that kind of disdain when I had never met the woman?

  Then again, I could very well be reading more into it than necessary. I didn’t think so, though. Becky, the new human resources manager, made me very nervous. Maybe it was her wheelchair—Lord knew I wasn’t comfortable around it due to some of my issues—but there was something in her demeanor that told me to remain focused and alert around her.

  Apparently, I was right. It felt like everyone had it out for me. Although it could just be my paranoia after finding out someone at work hated me enough to frame me. And the most messed up part of the whole situation was being on the verge of believing Chad was the only person I could trust. Chad, of all people. I could only think of one explanation for that: the world was coming to an end.

  Even knowing he had a plan for me, suspecting he wanted me to depend on him, I had fallen into his trap. I tried to be careful, to circumvent the net he had set, but I failed. Justin withheld vital information in an effort to test me. I still wasn’t convinced he had shown me his entire hand. Regina hated me—a fact that could not be disputed. The new HR manager was one of those disabled people and already looked at me as if I was the scum of the earth. I wasn’t the one in the fucking wheelchair! My brother had Emma and was constantly pissed off at me. My parents doted on Emma. And my other friends…this wasn’t something I could talk to them about. Chad was right. I didn’t have a lot of people who were close to me.

  Justin walked into my office as if he owned the place, which he did, but that was beside the point. “Rayne? Make sure you set up a meeting with Chad to discuss the changes we went over earlier.”

  “On it. I’m actually supposed to meet up with him tonight, so I’ll go over it all with him then,” I rattled off, my mind still distracted by everything that I was dealing with as I focused on the computer and pretended to work.

  “Tonight? After working hours?”

  My head popped and I gaped at him. What exactly was he implying? “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

  “Is there something going on there?”

  “No, Chad is my brother’s friend and that’s all.”

  “Oh, so Bryan needed you to give something to him?” he pressed, not letting it go. Sometimes he could be as bad as the office gossips.

  Nodding, I threw my long black hair over my shoulder with feigned exasperation and said, “Yeah. He and Emma are apparently still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship and instead of coming up for air, I’ve become their errand girl.” I hoped my contempt for my sister-in-law sounded more like irritation than anything worse. I was already on thin ice and I didn’t want it to crack while I stood in the middle of it all.

  “I can’t blame them for that. You know Chad is single.”

  I scoffed. “Yeah, and I know he likes to be single so that he can enjoy the ladies.”

  “Maybe he just hasn’t met the right one,” Justin hinted with a lift of one of his eyebrows.

  I laughed. “I don’t think so. He’s known me since I was a teenager.”

  “Nothing? Never?”

  “Nope, and there never will be.” I offered him a small smile, while inwardly I winced knowing one drunken night there had be something—multiple times. If it was anyone else except Chad, I’d jump him sober just to remember the feeling of him thrusting into me, the feel of his hardness in my hand and mouth. I wanted to taste him…if he was anyone else.

  “Too bad. He’s a nice guy that deserves a good woman. Well, I have to run to a meeting. I’ll see you on Monday.” He waved and left my office.

  And as soon as my door clicked shut behind him, I broke out into a fit of giggles. Justin withheld vital information because he honestly thought I betrayed him, and yet, he seemed to think I was a good woman for Chad. He was either an oxymoron or just idiotic.

  When I was about to leave the office for the night, still humored by what Justin tried to impl
y, I ran into Regina. Smack dab into her, knocking her files to the floor. That’s what she got for standing right outside my door at 5:30 P.M. The time when almost everyone else had already left. Why was she still here?

  “Regina.” I stood in my doorway, blocking her. She had no business in my office.

  “Rayne,” she said snidely. “Leaving already?”

  “Considering it’s after hours and a Friday, then yes, I’m leaving. What are you still doing here?” Leaning against my door jamb, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. This woman was our customer service supervisor, a department that reported indirectly to me since there never had been an actual manager over that small group. She thought she deserved a bigger title and better office space. I didn’t trust her.

  “Work. You know that thing that we do here?” Her narrowed eyes glared at me with ferocity.

  If I could get away with it, I would have slapped the crap out of her and relished my handprint on her pale ivory cheek. The red would have stood out nicely. “Yes, I do. I’m actually taking some home with me because I have a meeting tonight.”

  “Oh, really. Is it actually work, or are you using the company dime to meet up with one of your fuck buddies?”

  Regina had her claws out tonight and I couldn’t help but wonder if a touch of jealousy had taken root. The day Chad came into the office, I noticed how she and some of the other women drooled and tried to peek inside Justin’s office as I walked toward it. But then again, I pondered what had brought on her accusation. Only Justin knew I my plans were to meet Chad.

  “Sorry, Regina, that’s something only you would think of doing. I have a real business meeting with a real vendor, and you want to know something else? I’m paying for myself. I’m not using my company card at all.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yes, really. Now, did you actually need me for something, or were you simply passing by?”

  I noticed a slight shift in her eyes, and that told me I had busted her doing something. For now, I had to play it cool, or it might come back to bite me in the ass.

  “You think you’re all miss high and mighty, but one of these days you are going to fall from your perch and find that it’s a long way down.” Her lips curled into a sneer.

  Chad had said something similar to me in the past. His threat annoyed me and I brushed it away. With Regina, I couldn’t do that. Her words gave me chills and made me wonder if this was a prophecy of what was to come. It reiterated the need to watch myself around the people in the office. No one could be trusted—not even Justin.

  “We’ll see,” I stated simply as I took a step toward her. I noticed when I did, she flinched and took a large step backwards.

  “Are you trying to intimidate me?”

  The bark of laughter escaped before I could stop it. “No. Don’t flatter yourself. I was turning around so I could lock my office door.

  “New lock?” she observed.

  “Yes.”

  “Why? You think you’re special?” My nemesis with her green eyes and her expertly styled short blonde hair, had started to become a little too nosey for my peace of mind.

  “Not at all, but my lock was broken and since I have proprietary information in my office, I’m required to make sure everything is secure.” I baited her, but I couldn’t be sure she would take it. Someone—my money was still on Regina—had broken into my office and my files, and I needed to find out who. Barring that, I had to prevent another break-in.

  Rolling her eyes, she huffed, “Whatever,” and stomped off toward her cubicle. I honestly didn’t know what her problem with me could be, and I couldn’t bring myself to care. For now, she remained at the top of my suspect list.

  After making sure my door was locked tightly, I quickly walked out of the office and toward my car. I needed out of this suffocating environment. Hell, I needed a drink! My world had been transported to the Twilight Zone and someone forgot to inform me.

  Chapter 23

  Rayne

  I was five minutes early when I pulled into the parking lot at the gym. A week ago, I had gotten out of Chad’s vehicle pissed off and upset, vowing to myself and the universe that I would never speak to him again. Today, I called him in desperation. Who else could I trust or turn to? Chad became my lifeline after he defied convention and told me my career hung in the balance. Okay, that sounded a lot more like a cheesy made for TV movie than reality, but according to Chad, I could be a drama queen.

  I remembered the first time I met him. After many weeks of begging and pleading with my parents to visit my brother at school, they finally relented and I went. I wasn’t sure what to expect or what I would see. All I knew was that I wanted to see my brother. I missed Bryan—not that I admitted it to him until after he had joined the Navy. To this day, I’m not even sure why he did that. My parents sure as hell didn’t want him to join the military. If he’d been called up through the draft during a time of war, that was one thing, but he volunteered and joined against their wishes.

  Arriving at my brother’s place, I was surprised to find that he wasn’t alone. Our friend Mel, who we’d known since she and Bryan were in high school together, was there. I sort of expected to see her, but I didn’t expect there to also be a man that reminded me of a Greek god. His tanned skin was taught with muscles, and his pants were so tight I needed to be blind to miss that bulge. But it was his blue eyes that captivated me, and his smile that held me prisoner.

  At twelve, I knew he wouldn’t give me the time of day. He probably only saw me as Bryan’s little sister, which considering my age, made sense. But then again, to a twelve year old going through puberty, I wanted him to notice me, to think of me as a person…not at an extension of my brother. Who would ever want that? I was defensive and before he could turn me down or treat me like a child, I decided to give him hell thinking that if I did that, he wouldn’t look at me as a kid. At least I never had to hear those dreaded words, “Bryan’s little sister,” from his lips.

  Since then, I watched Chad from afar and each time I saw him with another girl, heard another girl talk about him, it felt like a knife to the gut. It was fine though. It sealed that door for me early and I came to the conclusion, I didn’t want him. He would never be mine.

  I still couldn’t escape though. Mel or Bryan talked about his conquests like it was some sort of sick joke, and it fueled the fire of determination to never fall for him or the bullshit lines he used on women. Not that he would ever want me since I was always Bryan’s little sister, and a lot younger than him. He didn’t have to say it. I could see it in his eyes.

  To be honest, the fact that he cared enough about Emma to come up with this grand plan to put me in my place, hurt. I hated that he always defended her, and that he didn’t take the time to see my side. She had my brother now, she didn’t need Chad.

  Fuck Emma. Fuck Chad. Fuck everyone.

  I would not fall under his spell. After tonight, I was done with Chad Alexander.

  “Speak of the devil,” I mumbled in my car when I saw him take a step outside of the gym and look around. Glancing at my dashboard clock, I noticed that I was now fifteen minutes late. That was Chad’s fault too, since memories of him had made me lose track of time.

  He ducked back in and I watched him walk up to the receptionist. I rolled my eyes at the other woman’s behavior. She squeezed her arms inward so that her breasts sat higher and beckoned to Chad. Her flirtatious smile called out to him, and then she leaned forward so that anyone and everyone would get an eyeful of her boobs. Desperate much?

  My blood started to race when she leaned closer and ran her hand up and down his arm. It started to boil when she kissed a piece of paper before slipping it to him with a wink. And it erupted when she lifted his hand and kissed the palm of it. She wasn’t just desperate, she was a complete tramp with her bleached blonde hair that looked like a someone had done a horrible job putting in her extensions. Actually, it appeared more orange than blonde to match her overly tanned orange skin
. Her hair looked fake, her tan certainly was fake, her large pouty lips looked like they had been injected with collagen, and no one had boobs that big and perky. She could be pincushion Barbie.

  This man was supposed to be waiting on me. The asshole should grab his shit and walk out the door. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt with some sort of design on it, which meant he was done with the gym, but instead of leaving, he was flirting with the bimbo. Typical Chad.

  I shouldn’t be surprised since he was a well-known ladies’ man, however, knowing we had plans, I couldn’t believe he stood in there trying to finagle another date. He had balls, but I was going to end Casanova’s game tonight.

  Shoving my door open, I slammed it shut and marched to the front door of the gym. Yanking that open, I stormed up to the counter, plastered on a smile, and sweetly simpered. “Chad, are you coming, dear? I’ve been waiting in the car forever, and I know you said you didn’t want me to bother you at work, but we have reservations and you know I hate to be late. Besides,” I rubbed my belly, “me and Junior are hungry.” The expression on the tramp’s face was classic and I wished I had a camera. Judging by the tick of Chad’s jaw muscles, I was going to catch hell later.

  “Are you married? When did that happen?” the bimbo asked. Up close, she looked even more fake and overdone. If I held up an orange crayon from the box, I believed it would be the same color as her skin.

  “Not hardly,” he scoffed.

  “But you have a baby on the way?”

  “Not a chance in hell. She’s my friend’s baby sister. I’m just being nice and making sure she has her milk and cookies before bed.”

  The tramp snickered. “How cute.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, which may not have been as ample as Barbie, but I still had a D cup. “Isn’t it?” I sneered.

  Chad grabbed my upper arm and jerked me out of the gym. We were at his car and he was throwing me in the passenger seat before the shock wore off and I found my voice. “What the hell?”