Obsession (23 page)

I nodded, hiding behind my
sunglasses.
“
Why
wouldn
’
t I be?
”

He reached for me again, but I moved
in my seat, away from his touch. His shoulder slumped.

“
Can I see you tonight?”
he asked as we pulled into the parking ramp at Riverhouse. He
started to turn off the car, but my eyes darted in his
direction.

“Please don’t make this more than what
it was.”

Mitch gave me a puzzled look.
“What?”

“We both know why I went out with you.
We’re co-workers, friends… don’t be difficult, please,” I said,
even though my heart was pounding rapidly from being in the same
air as him. “I’ll see you in Miami.”

Mitch huffed in bewilderment. “I guess
so.” His voice was bitter as I slammed the door, keeping my head
down as I marched to the elevator. He sped off, his car loudly
leaving the ramp. My heart dipped. I’d hurt him, but there wasn’t
any other option. My mind was spinning in a million directions,
hoping Becca and Tyler were in their own bedroom so I could crawl
into mine and never come out.

“What happened?” Becca asked the
second I unlocked the door. I should have known better than to
think she wouldn’t be waiting up for me.

“Nothing. I didn’t get any information
out of him, sorry,” I muttered as I stopped quickly, then continued
down my hall.

“Jamie!
” Becca called after me.
There wasn’t a way out of this. We both reached my room at he same
time.

“Well?
”

“He’s not dealing,” I said quietly,
stripping off my dress and pulling a T-shirt over my
head.

“Did you…?”

“Just because I was out with him all
night doesn’t mean I slept with him,” I said
defensively.

“I wouldn’t care if you did,” she said
truthfully. “Did you have a good time?”

I covered my eyes, mumbling through my
hands. “It was fine.”

Becca
’s grin was still in place
when I moved my hands. “It’s okay if you like him,” she said
softly. “I know he’s not your normal type, but outside of what
Tyler says, I think he’s a good guy.”

He was a good guy.
Annoying as shit most of the time, but after last night he proved
to have sides to him that weren
’
t as
obnoxious.

“
I
’
m going to make breakfast. You
want something?
”
she asked, patting my back. I shook my head, offering her an
apologetic smile for being grumpy.

“
Okay, let
’
s hang out when you wake up.
I
’
ll make sure Ty leaves you alone,
too.
”
Letting out
a soft laugh, I waved her off.

My phone buzzed in my
purse, and I went to reach for it, feeling the all too familiar
friction of those haunting black letters. Pulling the letter from
my purse, I was reminded why I couldn
’
t get close to
Mitch. He
’
d be hunted for the rest of his
life if I showed interest. Rod would ruin him, just as
he
’
d ruined every other male in my
life I
’
d gotten close
to
—
with the
exception of Nathan. But he was gay; that was the only grace I
could imagine Rod was giving him.

Tearing open the letter
that was left outside of my apartment before I
’
d
left for Grand Rapids became numbing, and the anticipation of
finding out its contents made my head ache.

Enough moving around. Stay
put, sweetheart. We’ll be together soon.

-Rod

His words were chilling even on paper.
My phone buzzed again. My emails were backing up like they normally
did over the weekend, but a Saturday filled with work would at
least distract me from my rambling thoughts and confusion
surrounding my personal life.

One of the emails surprised me, making
my face light up. It was something I had inquired about weeks
prior, and the warmth that filled me was uncontrollable. Even
though I was fighting having any type of relationship with Mitch,
I’d found something I thought could help him.

***

Nathan met me on-site where Kobiashi’s
property for the amusement park was located. We’d gathered a team
of architects and designers to join us to get a feel for the
atmosphere and what Kobiashi wanted them to create. I’d brought my
tablet in hopes of running into Mitch. I hadn’t seen him in a week
and a half, and he hadn’t texted me any cheesy pick up lines
either, but he was probably busy. Miami was starting to boom, and
both he and Nathan had been in Grand Rapids. Our last words had
been harsh, but that had never stopped Mitch and his ever constant
chatter.

“Can you feel it, Nathan?” Kobiashi
said in his broken English. “People will be everywhere, laughing,
eating, the whoosh of roller coasters followed by the roar of fear
and excitement of its passengers.”

Nathan rubbed his hands together. “The
sound of cash and credit cards swiping.”

Kobiashi flashed his white teeth. “I
love how you think, Nathan. This is why we get along so well. Our
ultimate goals are very similar.”

I turned away and joined the
architects. A table was set on the outer-banks of the parking lot
as we returned from wandering the property. A rugged man in faded
jeans and a white T-shirt was fumbling with papers and plans. A
smile formed on my face instantly when I noticed who it
was.

“Mitch
, glad you could make it,”
Kobiashi greeted with open arms. He offered Mitch his hand. Mitch
took it, giving Kobiashi a nod.

Nathan slapped Mitch on the back as he
rolled out the elevation plans that shared the depths of the
property. It was covered in numbers and graphs, certain colors and
depths. I didn’t know what it all meant. It was mainly a bunch of
random numbers. My face lit up as I made my way to Mitch. Touching
his arm, I gave him a slight smile. He didn’t move his arm, but
wouldn’t meet my eyes. I wasn’t surprised; these numbers made him
nervous, even though Tony was on his other side.

“Can I show you something?” I asked,
barely able to contain my excitement.

Mitch squinted as he took in all of
the other onlookers. For the most part, they were still chatting
among themselves, not yet discussing the plans. He nodded quickly,
barely acknowledging me.

“Check this out.” I pulled my tablet
from my purse, opening up the application that a developer had been
working on the past six weeks. There was a scanner that looked like
it would search for a barcode. But it wouldn’t just read the
numbers on a barcode, it would read any number it could register
out loud, including hand written.

One thousand three hundred
and forty-two
, the voice synthesizer
said.
Mitch
bit his lip, his eyes
squinting as though he was intrigued. I held the tablet over
another number.
Nine hundred seventy
-three point
six, eight.

“What the hell is that?” Nathan asked.
Everyone was staring at me as I tried out the new app.

“It’s an app that reads numbers out
loud.”

Nathan laughed. “Why the
hell wouldn’t you just read them? Surely you’re intelligent enough
for that, Jamie.” The crowd of people started laughing, everyone
except
Mitch.
His head dipped low, and
when he glanced up, anger was all over his face.

“Are we going to look at this or not?”
he said loudly over the hackles of our co-workers.

Nathan contained his
laughter, then began discussing possibilities with the architects
and Kobiashi. Mitch remained quiet, his hands firmly grasping the
table. Obviously,
Mitch
wasn
’
t thrilled with the app
I
’
d searched hard to find.
He
’
d barely looked at me since
I
’
d arrived, and I was pissed by
how he was acting.

We finally broke free from
the meeting, Nathan and Kobiashi agreeing to go for dinner
later.
“
Come with
us, Jamie. I
’
d love to hear some of your
marketing ideas for the a
musement
park.
”
Kobiashi set his hand on my lower back as he
spoke.

Mitch glared at his hand, then stormed
to his truck, plans skewed in his arms as he threw them in the
back. “Sure, I’ll meet you both there? We should have time before
our flight to Grand Rapids, right Nathan?” I asked
pleasantly.

“Of course, we’ll leave right from
dinner,” Nathan assured as he and Kobiashi took off to their cars.
After stalling around my car for a moment, I smoothed over my coral
dress, marching to Mitch, who was fiddling with the plans in the
back of his truck. Thankfully the handful of people we’d been
meeting with were in their cars on their way out by the time I
spoke.

“What’
s your deal?
”

Mitch chucked one of the
tubes filled with plans across the hatch before he turned to me. My
arms were crossed, prepared to fight with him. “What do you
mean,
what’
s your deal
?
”

“You’re acting like something crawled
up your ass and died.”

Mitch crossed his arms, his big frame
coming toe to toe with me. I wasn’t intimidated, I thrived on
challenges. “My ass is fine. You’re the one who’s all hot and
cold.”

“What?”

Mitch threw his hands to his sides,
balling them into tight fists. “You were completely different in
Grand Rapids a week and a half ago, then morning came and you
turned back into the ice queen. Now you’re here, all smiles and
cutesy?”

“Ice queen?
” I gasped in shock. “I
thought we got along great in Grand Rapids.”

“We
did
until you freaked out and had to
go see your best friend and my brothers.”

I shook my head in frustration,
running my hands through my hair. “We can’t be together that way.
It’s against company policy.”

“You won’t even try. And
what the hell was up with that show in front of everyone today?” I
scowled in confusion. “That app. You’
re a real comedian,
Jamie.
” He was flustered now, and I sensed
the real reason why he was so upset.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” I
said quietly, peeking around as though people were watching us. “I
know you have trouble with reading numbers. I thought it’d help
you.”

“Who said I have trouble with numbers?
I’m fine, okay? Mind your own fucking business from now
on.”

“Fine, Last time I do anything nice
for you.”

“Good, I’m sick of your mood
swings.”

I spun on my heels, facing
him again. “
Mood swings?
You haven’t seen my
mood
swings
, you dick.
”

Mitch stomped toward me, his eyes
stormy. “I’ve seen every side of you, Jamie. The side when you’re
working, confident and sure of yourself. The side when you’re with
Becca, perky and alive. How you are with Nathan and our high
society families, proper and politically correct.” He took a step
closer, his breath warm as it tickled my cheeks. His demeanor
shifted, becoming softer. “Then there’s the sexy as sin side of
you, where you play games until you get whatever it is you want.
Then just as it’s at your fingertips you pull away, leaving whoever
it is you’re about to take from in the dark.”

Our eyes were now locked. His scent
was starting to consume me, his words sinking into my heart. I felt
exposed.

His hand gently came to my ear, barely
grazing my cheek as he looked down at me in frustration. His words
were a harsh whisper. “Then you let down your walls for a split
moment —no longer confident and sure of yourself, but vulnerable
and afraid. Where you want me to save you from whatever ghosts are
in your closet.” My breathing sped up while I hugged my chest
tighter.

“
You don’t need to save
me.” My voice was a murmur on the wind.

“You shut down with me on that
rooftop. I want to know why.”

His thumb caressed my cheek as he
patiently waited for my answer. Tears pressed my eyes, wanting to
flow into his hands, but I couldn’t show him my weakness, not
again.

“I need to go.” My voice was strong,
but my feet wouldn’t move.

Mitch sighed, running his hand down my
cheek and to the side of my neck. I flinched, biting my lip to keep
it from twitching. Shrugging from his touch, I turned to my car,
fighting tears as the dirt crunched beneath my nude heels. Mitch
growled as he slammed the back of his truck closed. Heavy boots on
rocks and dirt followed me. A hand reached for the door, stopping
me from escaping inside.