Wild Hearts (Forever Wild) (5 page)

“I’ll see you there,
” I replied.

***

The Pierrot Gourmet was an upscale restaurant on the Magnificent Mile. It was located at the ritzy Peninsula Hotel and was supposed to have a European cafe feel with its French doors opening out onto Superior and round tables sitting under yellow awnings, perfect for watching tourists while you enjoyed your fancy coffee.

Spring in Chicago could be anywhere from the 40s up to the 70s, which meant that no one knew how to dress for the weather so they would be in shorts at the first sign of the sun after winter. I was dressed in a black wrap dress with black leggings and some killer red boots. I may have hated how my body looked in clothes, but I had the perfect size feet for all of the best shoes. Even if they did kill my feet and I always spent way too much money on them.

The heels of my boots clicked on the sidewalk as I approached Pierrot. Max was already sitting at one of the outside tables. He was dressed impeccably as always in a dark blue suit, tailor made for his slim build. He wasn’t skinny, but the guy didn’t have an ounce of fat on him, which always made me hyper aware of how I looked.

He had
one leg crossed over the other as he took a sip of his double cafe latte (the same thing he always ordered). His brown eyes met mine as soon as I approached and he stood up, a broad smile on his face. He never looked this happy to see me.

“Valerie, so good to see you.” He
held his arms out as if he was waiting for a hug.

I didn’t want to leave him hanging, especially since a few women at the tables around us were already staring at the dapper gentleman and the big girl, so I reluctantly went in for a hug. To my surprise he placed a very chas
te kiss on my cheek before pulling out my chair behind me. I sat down, raising an eyebrow as he went around the table and back to his seat.

“I ordered breakfast for both of us, I hope you don’t mind.”
He had the cockeyed grin on his face that usually made my panties drop. I had to swallow hard so I wouldn’t grin like an idiot.

“Oh, I already ate. I thought this was just a quick chat
over coffee,” I said, my eyes flitting down to the linen tablecloth.

When I looked back up his smile turned into a grimace. “I see
...”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I’m not stupid. You obviously want something, so spill it. We both have work to get back to.”

He smirked, taking a sip of his drink before setting it back on the table. “I guess nothing gets past you.”

“Don’t dance around the question, Green.”

He sighed, steepling his hands in front of his face. “Fine, what’s with you and the guy who was at your apartment? Have you been dating someone this entire time we’ve been ...” His words trailed off like he didn’t know how to categorize us, even though he was the one that said he didn’t want to date anyone, just have some fun.

“The entire time we’ve been screwing around?” I
asked just as a slim waitress with bright red hair and way too big of boobs sat a latte in front of me. She quickly skidded away, making an ‘I’m sorry’ face as she gritted her teeth like she was embarrassed that she just interrupted our conversation.

Max’s smirk turned into a small smile as he dropped his hands to the table, his fingers tracing the rim of his cup. “You’ve always been straight to the point, Val. So tell me, are you just screwing around with the cowboy or are you actually seeing him?”

“Does it matter if I am or not?”

He shook his head, a low, sexy growl coming from his throat. “Dammit, just give me a straight answer. You leave for a week in Vegas and then I show up at your
place and some tattooed dude is hanging out in his underwear in your apartment.”

He blinked, a look of recognition crossing his face as his eyes widened and he stared at me. “Did you pick him up in Vegas? Did you have one of those
clichéd, one-night stands that you woke up married?”

I sucked in a deep breath. How did everyone know that?

He shook his head, a small laugh escaping his lips. “This is unbelievable. I can’t believe it. I thought you were a lot smarter than that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh please, like you have any right to judge me. The hedge fund guy that’s secretly a chubby ch
aser.” I took a sip of my drink, my hands shaking as I picked up the mug. I didn’t think I’d actually have the courage to utter those words, but I needed to say something.

“Chubby chaser?” Max raised his eyebrows.

I sat my mug down, clanking a little too hard on the saucer. “Yeah, you know, you prance around with model types on the street, but want some curves between the sheets.”

He laughed, a straight-up, all-
out belly laugh. My eyes shifted around the restaurant, hoping no one was staring at us too hard. They probably would have been anyway if they heard the context of our conversation.

“Think that’s funny, Max?” I asked and picked up my purse. “If you think it’s that funny, I can just go back to my office and you can go find a new fuck buddy.”

He stopped laughing, placing his hand on mine before I could even try to stand. I looked at his hand on mine. His hands weren’t rough like Wes’s, but had a soft, cool touch to them.

I looked up from his hand to meet his gaze. “Valerie, I don’t want you just as a fuck buddy and I don’t want you to leave.”

“Um, what?” I blinked hard, shifting back in my seat.

“We’ve been doing this
‘behind closed doors thing’ for so long that I never realized how much you meant to me until I saw you with that other guy.” His thumb trailed along the bridge of my knuckles and made goosebumps slink up my arm. I’d wanted him to say these words since the first day I walked into his office to talk about a social media campaign for his company. Now that he was saying them, I didn’t know if they were what I actually wanted to hear.

“Do you plan on keeping up this marriage charade with the cowboy or are you going to let m
e take you to dinner tonight?” he asked, his dark eyes staring at me from underneath his long lashes.

I cleared my throat, trying to gain a bit of composure before I spoke. “We have a meeting with a divorce lawyer today, so we’ll see what happens with that.”

“Does this mean it’s a yes for dinner?” he asked expectantly, his thumb tracing a line down the edge of mine.

“It means that I’m not going to cheat on my husband, but we can possibly talk afterward
.”

I couldn’t get my meeting with Max out of my head, no matter how hard I tried.

I remembered the first time I met the suave businessman. The guy
who made his first million at twenty-five and at thirty was approaching his first billion. But it wasn’t just the money, it was his whole presence. The way he stood in his office with his tailored suit and the smile that made him look like he owned the world. I was undressing the guy with my eyes the moment I saw him. It also didn’t take him too long to have me bent over his desk and me walking out of the meeting without any underwear on.

But after six months of casual sex, it was getting old. I didn’t want to be needy and ask him for anything more, but I was ready to be done with it. Ready to just use my left hand when I really needed it instead of waiting for a text from him.

Then Wes came into the picture.

I was busy staring at an E
xcel spreadsheet, working on some release day stuff for an author, when an instant message popped up on my computer screen. I clicked off my spreadsheet and saw that it was a message from Abbi.

You may want to get to the front desk. Wild Wes seems to be making quite the impression on Mrs. Flowers.

Dammit. He was supposed to text me when he got to my office.

I locked my computer and straightened my skirt before tossing my phone in my purse and walking as fast as my heels could carry me to the front desk.

I heard Mrs. Flowers’ hyena-like cackle before I even got there. Shit, did he have to schmooze the receptionist? When I made my way to the desk, she was sitting there with her hand on her heart and a big smile on her face as Wes leaned over the desk. Even though I was mad at him, I couldn’t help but stop and admire the way his butt fit in his jeans and the way his black button-down shirt hugged his muscular frame. I had to shake the visions of him naked out of my head. I was never going to be able to leave the guy if I couldn’t stop fantasizing about him.

“Valerie, you didn’t tell me you had such a nice young fellow,” Mrs. Flowers said with a gasp as she saw me approach.

Wes turned slowly toward me and I thought my heart was about to leap right out of my chest. The guy was starting to give me butterflies and I’d have to kill the butterflies, fast.

“Wesley,” I muttered. “I thought you were supposed to text me when you got here.”

He smiled, leaning against the desk and crossing one leg over the other. “I did. I called, texted, what have you, and you didn’t answer any of them.”

“No you didn’t.” I narrowed my eyes and pulled my phone out, scrolling through my messages. Two missed calls from Wes and three texts. How I didn’t hear them was beyond me. I really should have been paying better attention instead of
making it so Wes had to come inside of the building. The less people who knew about him at work, the better.

Wes’s hand reached for my phone, putting his fingers on mine and forcing me to meet his eyes. The butterflies were definitely back and they weren’t j
ust in my stomach, but between my thighs. Part of me wanted to say screw the divorce lawyer and see where the relationship could take us. But I knew better. This wasn’t real. This clichéd marriage couldn’t last forever.

“See something you need to apologize to me for?
” he asked.

I pulled my phone away. “Sorry,” I muttered.

“How long have you two been together?” Mrs. Flowers butted in.

I looked behind Wes
to see that she was standing, her reading glasses perched on her head and her eyes wide. She was definitely the gossip of the office and the gossip just found out about my stripper husband.

“Not long,” Wes said, turning toward her with a big smile and slathering on the southern charm. “But if you’re asking me out, ma’am, I’m going to have to decline.”

She giggled like a girl, covering her mouth before she swatted the air as if telling him to
stop
. “Oh, dear heavens, you flatter me.” She cleared her throat. “Now where are you two off to? Do you work downtown too, Wes?”

Shit. Why didn’t I check my phone?
I had to come up with something and fast. “He’s a personal trainer. My former one, we were just going to grab lunch before he has to go to another session,” I blurted it out as fast as I could. He did have a great body and it sounded better than Vegas stripper.

Wes took it all in stride, sliding his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, tightening his grip on my hip. “Yep, couldn’t resist my former client.”

“Oh, well that would explain that great physique that you have.” Her eyes roamed over his body. I suddenly felt very protective. He may have only been temporarily mine and probably wouldn’t go for the woman who should have retired a few years ago, but that didn’t stop me from pulling him closer to me.

“Are you taking any new clients? Or have a card I could tak
e?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

It took everything I had not to roll my eyes. “I can definitely email
you his info when we get back. We have reservations, babe.” I squeezed Wes’s side, causing him to wince. Good, he definitely got the hint. The lawyer was going to charge us four-hundred an hour and probably would do it even if we weren’t there, so I didn’t want to be late.

“Okay, darlin’.” He squeezed me back, but it was more of a tickle and I had to tr
y and keep from giggling. “Nice meeting you, Mrs. Flowers.” He nodded in her direction.

“Please, call me Loretta,” she cooed.

I pulled Wesley out the doors and into the elevator, which was already packed with people in suits, glued to their phone as if not staring at it would cause it to disappear.

“Well
, she was nice,” Wes said once we got to our spot at the back of the elevator.

“You think everyone is nice,” I grumbled.

“Not true. Paige isn’t nice. She’s kind of a bitch.”

A silver-haired woman in a pants suit glared at us and then quickly looked back at her phone.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. Quickly, Wes’s arm was around me, pulling me against him. He was going to have to stop being so touchy feely with me because I was really starting to like it. I wasn’t use to public displays of affection and Wes didn’t seem to be ashamed of me one bit. “You seem tense, Val. We can always reschedule this if you need to.”

“No, I’m fine,” I said, much sharper than I intended.

His eyes met mine and he just stared at me like he was full of questions but didn’t want to ask them out loud. I wouldn’t have known the answers either. For the girl who didn’t usually have a boyfriend, I was sure getting a lot of love from the opposite sex. If only my high school self could see me now.