Endless Obsession (12 page)

“I swear on my life, Poppy, I’ll never hurt you.”

“Okay,” she says quietly, and nods to herself.

“Have a good night, Beautiful. Sweet dreams.”

“Good night, Sterling. Bye.”

I hang up and watch her for a few more minutes. She has a sweet smile on her face as she glances down at her phone in her hand.

By the time I close down my computer, the sun has set. I get up from my chair, grab my phone, and head out to my car. My need to see her now, in person, is overwhelming.

Lunchtime on Wednesday, I’m sitting in mine and Liv’s usual spot by the window at Melly’s Sandwich Shop, while Liv waits at the counter for her order. This will be the first time we’ve really been able to hang out together since she’s been back from her vacation, AKA, “Fuckation” as she likes to put it. Apparently, that’s all they did over the weekend. I spoke with her briefly on Sunday morning before their flight back home, but was interrupted when Tony wanted a quickie—her words, not mine. Our short conversation confirmed Tony did propose, right before Liv jumped him and had her wicked way with him. Again, her words, not mine.

She was due to come back to work on Monday, but Sunday night her and Tony both got sick from food poisoning. Today is her first day back. I talked to her on the phone Monday just to see how they were both doing, but it was cut short when she started puking.

Liv drops her tray on the table across from me, sits down, and immediately dives into her turkey and Swiss on rye sandwich.

“Mmm… mm… This is sooo good!” she moans, rolling her eyes as she chews, swallows, and takes another bite. “It’s almost as good as sex.”

Laughing, I tell her, “I wouldn’t go that far.”

She takes a sip of her drink before stuffing her mouth again. With her mouth still full of food, she says, “Girl, you just don’t know. I’ve missed food so much over the last couple days, so yes, it’s damn near orgasmic.”

“That’s pathetic.” I shake my head and pick up my own sandwich. “Tony must not be giving it to you good, then.”

She drops hers on the table and grabs her napkin to wipe the mayonnaise off the corner of her mouth. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she replies, “Oh, he gives it good, all right. He has this move with his tongue…”

Her words are drowned out when I drop my food to the tray, put my hands over my ears, and chant, “La la la, I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”

I see, rather than hear her laugh. I stick out my tongue and remove my hands from my ears.

“You can’t say that crap to me. I don’t need any details on Tony’s tongue and what he does with it.”

She laughs. Her engagement ring twinkles from the light filtering through the window. I reach over and run my finger across the diamond resting on the silver band.

“I can’t believe how gorgeous this is.”

She looks down at the band. The smile on her face couldn’t be construed as anything other than pure joy and awe.

“It is, isn’t it? It belonged to his great-grandmother before it was passed down to his grandmother, and then his mom. Can you imagine having something that’s been around for generations?”

I smile at her soft look as she twists the ring around her finger.

“I know you just got engaged, but have you both talked about a date yet?”

“We haven’t made it official, but we were thinking this fall.”

Her answer doesn’t surprise me. Liv and I have talked about our dream weddings numerous times. We both want to get married outside; however, while I want to get married in the summer on a lake somewhere, she wants to get married in the fall beneath a canopy of trees when the leaves start to change colors.

“So that leaves us a little less than a year,” I comment. “We can totally pull this off, but we should probably get started.”

Her grin is huge. “Already started. Being sick in bed for two days was boring. Me and my computer started browsing dress shops.”

“Okay, that’s it. I’m coming over this weekend. You can’t do this without me,” I tell her, popping a piece of cheese in my mouth.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. You’re my maid of honor, after all,” she says, giving me a hopeful look.

While she hadn’t asked me, I was hoping she would.

“Oh, Liv. You know I would be honored,” I say, tears stinging my eyes.

Food forgotten, we both get up from our seats and embrace in a tight hug. Liv may be my best friend, but she’s so much more. She’s the sister I never realized I wanted.

“Thank you,” she says when we pull back. “Okay, enough with the sappy shit. You’re turn to spill. Have you heard from your mystery man?”

I go back to my seat. “Sterling,” I tell her. She looks at me curiously, so I explain. “That’s what I call him now. I have to give him some kind of name.”

She claps her hands in excitement, making me laugh. “Love it! Now, back to my question. Have you heard from him?”

She’s practically bouncing in her seat like an excited kid waiting for my answer.

“I have.”

I think back to our conversation on Monday. He’s hasn’t called me since then, but we’ve texted a few times. It’s hard to explain what I’m feeling regarding him. While I
should
feel threatened and exposed with him knowing so much about me, I don’t. What I feel is something I’ve never felt before. It’s unexplainable, but also undeniable. When he called me, I was shocked, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t get a full body shiver. Hearing his voice for the first time made it so much more real. Not only the seriousness of the situation, or the possible ramifications, but also the feelings he stirs in me. Feelings I can’t hide. Hearing his deep, smooth voice with a strong southern drawl just made them stronger. How can someone I know nothing about bring on such emotions and cause my body to light up? I don’t know, and I’m coming to the conclusion that I don’t really care. He makes me feel alive, something I haven’t felt in years.

When he revealed he got information on my date, Marc, I should have hung up and called the police immediately, but I didn’t. Yes, I was still upset, shocked, and pissed that he would invade my private life like that, but it also turned me on for some odd reason. This man really knows how to turn me stupid. The entire time we talked, I had to fight the urge to bring my fingers between my legs to relieve the pressure.

“Hello, Earth to Poppy.” Liv snaps her fingers in front of my face, bringing me back to our lunch date.

Heat creeps up my face, thinking of how my body responded to hearing his voice for the first time.

“Sorry,” I mutter.

“Well, well, then. Obviously, something’s happened while I was gone. Do tell.” Liv looks at me with a knowing smirk, bouncing in her chair in anticipation again.

Too bad there’s not a lot to tell.

“Do you remember my date on Saturday?” She nods. “He was a convicted criminal.” Liv gasps, but I talk over her. “He was convicted for sexual assault and battery.” The look on Liv’s face goes from shock to horror, and I continue. “He raped and beat his sister. Sterling found out and sent me a text with the link to Marc’s rap sheet.” When Liv opens her mouth to talk, I finish with, “While I was at dinner with Marc.”

“What?” Liv practically yells. I nod, letting her know I’m serious.

“Yeah. Apparently, Sterling knows how to get information when he wants it. I don’t know how, but he found out I was going on a date and started digging. I don’t have the details, something he refused to give me.”

“Oh my God, Pop. I am so sorry! This is all my fault. I should have never made you open that account. If anything had happened…”

I reach over and grab Liv’s hand, not liking the look of remorse on her face. This is in no way her fault. She was only trying to help me get over my slump.

“Liv, please, don’t blame yourself. You didn’t know this would happen. Besides, Sterling was there.”

“What do you mean he was there? Did you see him?” she asks, the look of guilt lingering, but now there’s apparent interest in her expression.

“No, but he said he had been watching me the entire time I was with Marc. He said he wouldn’t have let anything happen to me. I know it’s crazy, Liv, but I believe him.”

“Wow. I don’t even know what to say,” she says, still looking stunned.

“He called me Monday,” I reveal, moving the conversation along.

Her eyes grow wide. “How did he sound? Does he have a sexy voice? I bet he does, doesn’t he?”

I can’t hold my giggle in. “He does. It’s smooth and deep, and so sexy, with a hint of an accent. Damn, Liv. When I first answered and heard his voice, I swear I had a mini orgasm.”

We both laugh. “What did he say?”

“We just talked about what happened on Saturday. While he explained a few things, he really didn’t give me much. He did reiterate that I was his, and was willing to do whatever he needed to do to make it so. Said there were some things I didn’t need to know yet.” I roll my eyes, still not too keen on him keeping stuff from me, but I’ll let it go for now. Not for long, though.

“Has he said when you’ll meet?”

“No,” I say with a huff. “But he said it’ll be soon.”

“Damn. I don’t know if I should feel sorry for you or ask what your secret is.”

I wrinkle my nose.

“Believe me, you don’t want to be in my shoes right now. I hate not knowing who he is. I hate thinking there’s something wrong with me because I’m not more worried about what all this could mean for me.” I glance down at my phone and notice the time. “Crap, we’ve got to go.”

I gather our trash and walk it to the bin. Before we walk out the door, Liv pulls me in for another hug.

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Pop. You can’t help that you feel a connection to this guy. Even if it doesn’t work out, don’t ever think there’s something wrong with you.”

I look into her eyes, seeing she truly believes what she says. I smile and give her a kiss on the cheek.

“What would I ever do without you?”

“You’d completely fall apart and turn into a hermit crab inside your lonely house.”

I laugh, not because her visions of me without her are ridiculous, but because they are probably true. Liv has been good for me in so many ways. She’s taught me how to stretch my legs and show me it’s okay to let go of the past.

“Thank goodness. I’ll never have to find out if your assessment is true or not.”

“Hell, no. You’re stuck with me for life, babe,” she says with a wink.

Later that afternoon, I’m sitting at my desk, sending the last few “ping” emails for the day. When a client signs on with Silver Technologies, they not only get the server protection they pay for, but also a monthly “ping” report. We implement the firewall and put in place the security measures to keep hackers out, but we also put up something that’s sort of like an invisible force field. When hackers try breaking into a client’s server, their signal bounces off the force field and leaves behind an imprint. This imprint has the name, location of the attempted breach, date, time, and IP address of the hacker. We give this information to the client and they do with it as they choose. Some choose to report it, some don’t. That’s completely up to them. But at Silver Technologies, we feel the client has the right to know who is trying to break into their system.

I shut down my email program once the last of them are sent out and turn off my computer, just as Mr. Knight and Eric walk out of Mr. Knight’s office. Both set of eyes immediately turn to me. Eric gives me a smile and a wink, while Mr. Knight watches with his penetrating green eyes. I have no idea why, but I’ve noticed several times this week he’s had his eyes on me. Just watching, like he’s assessing me or something. Each time I notice, it sends a zing through my body.

He breaks our stare by looking down at the folder in his hand. My eyes move back to Eric, who is approaching my desk.

“Hey,” he says softly. I don’t know if he’s trying to be quiet so Mr. Knight doesn’t overhear, or if he’s just talking low because he’s right in front of me.

Red creeps up my cheeks as his eyes briefly run over me. Not lecherously, just appreciatively.

“Hey.”

“Are we still on for today?” he asks, leaning a hip against my desk.

“Yes. I just finished up with everything.”

I’m still unsure how I feel about meeting up with Eric for dinner. As much as I like him and the fact he’s been so nice to me, something doesn’t feel right. I’ve made no promises to Sterling, but it feels like some sort of betrayal to him. I never told him about my dinner plans with Eric. I don’t know if I should have. But then again, it’s just a simple dinner. It’s not like Eric and I are now dating. It’s just a couple of coworkers going out after work to relax and enjoy each other’s company, nothing more.