Hijacked (8 page)

Married. Really? They weren’t meant to be, that much was obvious.

She grabbed her phone, sent Gannon a text about missing work, and climbed out of her car. When she walked inside her house not having Kyle hit her like a ton of bricks. In one moment he had become her everything, and just as fast, her everything was gone. Tears streamed as she forced her weakened legs to walk to the kitchen. Was he possible to forget?

Aside from a half-full bottle of Jack, her cabinets were empty of liquor. And that was fine, Jack had never failed her. She grabbed her new best friend and a glass, then eased down on the couch. Hands shaking, she filled the glass and curled against the corner cushion. The bourbon was smooth, warming her chest. She took another sip, held the glass back examining it, then turned it up and drank it dry. Reaching for the bottle, she caught a glimpse of her pants—the capris he’d bought her only hours ago. Standing, a little off balance, noticing the Jack at work, she striped her clothes and tossed them toward the door. “Fuck you!”

Two glassfuls later, she was drunk, tear-streaked, and stark-ass naked.

While she stared at the ceiling, making imaginary shapes out of the Santa-Fe finish, someone knocked on her front door. When she didn’t respond, the door opened and in walked Kyle.

“Get out!” Sharon jumped up and headed for her bedroom. She would definitely lock the door behind her. Heart racing, she turned to close him out, and he stopped it with his foot.

“I need to talk to you.”

Arg! Why did she have to love his voice?

“Leave me alone, Kyle.” Giving up on pushing, she left the door and grabbed a t-shirt from her closet. Slipping it on, she felt his breath on her neck, causing a chill to run down her back. She felt his warmth and turned to face him, hoping to stay strong and not allow their lack of distance to distract her as it had done many times before. She was shocked. His blue eyes were broken, and his hair was all over the place, but damn he looked good. “How did you find my house?”

“I followed you.”

“And you’ve been sitting outside my house for the last hour trying to conjure up your next lie? Why are you here?”

“I told you. I can’t be away from you.”

“Well, I guess your wife kind of screws that up for you, huh?”

“She’s not my wife.”

“Not according to her.”

“Veronica is my ex-wife. She was there wanting money.”

“Sounds logical. That’s a good one.”

“I’ll give her all of it to make her leave us alone.”

“Don’t be stupid. You wouldn’t do that.”

He ran his hands through his hair in obvious distress. She brushed by him, chest jerking, skin begging to touch him, and went back to the living room.

He followed close behind. “Please. God! Please listen to me. I can’t lose you.”

“You never had me, Kyle,” she lied. He’d had her from the moment she caught him watching her at
Night
. “Don’t think for one minute you were anything more than a meaningless lay to me.” The words stung at her heart, but she would never let him know the truth—that he was everything to her.

He flinched as if she’d slapped him. “That’s not true.”

Shit! Damn tears threatened to pool. She fought them away. “Ask anyone. Ask Vic. He’ll tell you…I like to fuck, Kyle. I do it for fun. There’s no pain with fun.”

His eyes were stricken. “You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Crossing her arms, biting the inside of her cheek, she leaned against the back of the couch, not believing what she was about to say. “How long did it take before I let you finger me in the storage room?”

His face went red and he rushed across the room. Grabbing her arms, he jerked her from the sofa and pulled her to his chest. He gave her a quick shake, holding her eyes with his. “Stop it, Sharon! Just…fucking stop!” He looked at his hands and let go, stepping away with panic seeming to ooze from his pores.

“Leave. My. House.” Sharon broke, losing the battle with her tears. Her stomach lurched and twisted with nausea. She’d pushed him over the edge, destroyed him.

Reaching for the doorknob, he paused, and with his back to her he said, “You can’t make me stop loving you.”

* * * *

Sharon tossed three empty bottles in the trash and turned to Gannon. “I need a margarita on the rocks and a whiskey sour.”

“You all right?” He grabbed a bottle of tequila from the shelf behind him.

“I’m fine. I need the drinks, my only table is waiting.”

“It’s slow tonight, even for a Wednesday.” He dropped a few cubes of ice in a glass.

Wednesday. Eight days since she’d run him out of her house. Eight days of misery. Eight days of thinking the next would get better. It didn’t happen.

“Kayla will be here in a few.”

Gannon’s voice pulled her out of her trance. “Okay.” She’d managed to avoid Kayla’s questions so far. Kayla knew something was wrong, it was written all over her, and Sharon was afraid she might break if Kayla were to ask.

“Ah, you haven’t noticed the fridge all week. Ty helped me bring it in.” He handed her the finished drinks. “And it works great. I know you doubted.”

“That’s good.” Puddles of tears formed in her eyes, she pushed them back and headed to her customers.

I know you doubted.
She should have doubted Kyle, but no, she had to go and believe everything he’d said. Believing though, it somehow justified all of her emotions toward him. If he felt the same, didn’t that make her feelings acceptable? She’d liked a lot of men, but she’d never loved, and she wasn’t positive what it felt like, but she was pretty certain from the way her heart ached knowing she didn’t have him…she loved Kyle.

Once the two ladies paid for their drinks, she turned to the bar. Kayla was perched on one of the stools, waving. “Hey, girl!”

“Hi.” Sharon took a seat on the stool beside her.

“I missed you at lunch today.” Kayla reached for her glass of water, taking a sip.

“Didn’t want to be in the break room. I went to my car.” Sharon faked a smile, hoping Kayla wouldn’t see straight through it.

“You have to tell me what’s wrong, Sharon. I can’t stand seeing you like this.”

“I guess I look pretty bad.”

Kayla stood and walked behind her, freeing her hair from the half-done messy bun. “You look upset, not bad. You’re always gorgeous.” She combed her fingers through Sharon’s hair, retying it in a ponytail. “Is it a guy?”

She shook her head in denial, knowing it was a weak attempt.

“I figured it was.” Kayla sat back on the stool.

Sharon wasn’t shocked at her assumption. Before Gannon, Kayla had suffered a few break-ups. Sharon pulled a cigarette from her waitress apron and lit it, deciding to tell Kayla. “I was a fool. For the first time in my life, I let someone in. I fell for him hard. I couldn’t stay away. And last week, after accepting that everything between us was actually something worth having, I found out he’s married. And she’s fucking beautiful…tall, thin, auburn hair…I would swear she’s a model.”

“I’m so sorry. What an asshole. Has he tried to call you?”

“No.” She shook her head and took a drag from the cigarette. “I never gave him my number. But he showed up at my house that night. He told me the woman was his ex-wife. I was drunk. I was an ass.”
You can’t make me stop loving you.
She tossed his words from her head.

“Do you believe him?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter anyway. We’re through.”

“You never know.”

“Oh, I know.” Sharon wiped a tear from her cheek and took a deep breath. “I’m not sure I can forgive myself for—” Seeing Kyle walk through the door of the bar, Sharon jumped up from her chair and rushed to the storage room, hating that no matter how hard she tried she was unable to control the tears.

Kayla followed. “What’s going on?”

Sharon held her chest. The ache was intolerable, as if the veins to her heart were being plucked and threaded. Leaning over, she propped against the wall, never expecting this type of reaction from seeing him. “I…can’t…breathe. He’s…here.”

“Ugh! How dare him. What does he look like?”

“He’s the one—”

Kayla interrupted. “The same guy from last Saturday?”

Sharon nodded.
He’s the one.
The one she craved…needed…loved…the one that would never be hers. The pain of knowing he was as close as the other side of the wall made her dizzy, and her legs buckled beneath her. She slid down the wall and hugged her knees, despising how loving him was killing her. Though she didn’t regret the few days she had him, they were the happiest she’d been in as long as she could remember.

“Honey, stay here, I’ll take care of this.”

Five minutes later, Kayla was back. She squeezed Sharon’s arm. “He’s gone. Gannon got rid of him. Told him you were working and he’d appreciate it if he would leave you alone. But you need to go home.”

“I need to work.”

“Well, you’re not. You’re going home and taking a hot bath. Have a glass of wine, or a beer, or a shot…something…but do it. We’re slow tonight. I’ve got it covered.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Go. And take this with you. It’s from him.” Kayla held out a sealed envelope. Sharon’s unsteady hand took it.

* * * *

Kyle silenced his ringing phone before checking the caller ID. He didn’t recognize the number, but from the amount of times they had called, he assumed it was Veronica. He tossed the phone in the truck seat beside him. The past eight days he had been nothing more than worthless, only going through the motions every day of feeding his stock. He used to enjoy it, now though, since he’d had her and lost her, it all seemed pointless. Last night, he’d seen her for a second before she went behind the bar and disappeared.

Gannon Knight ran him out of the bar. He was nice enough about it, but at least Kyle knew that she’d seen him. He hoped the envelope he passed to Gannon had made it to Sharon. It was his last attempt to contact her, there was no certainty his heart could withstand another rejection.

“Mr. Phillips. My name is Scott Sims, I’m here about the job.”

The voice startled him, and he jerked his head around. “I didn’t hear you pull up.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Don’t apologize. I was sidetracked.” Kyle stepped out of the truck. “Let me show you around the place and explain what the job entails. Then you can let me know if you’re interested.”

After nearly four hours of touring the entire property by ATV, they stopped in the front yard.

“What do think? Can you handle it?” Kyle turned the key and stepped off. Scott looked to be in his early to mid-twenties. He seemed levelheaded, and he had showed up on time. That was something.

“It’s a lot of work, but sure, I can handle it.” He turned off the ATV but remained sitting. He was a little wiry, his arms were sleeved with tattoos, both of his ears were pierced, and his black hair was everywhere. Kyle was pretty sure he had no experience with running a farm, but neither did he when he’d bought the place. No, he’d basically grown up in a hotel. It didn’t get any more ‘city’ than that.

“Look, I don’t have many options. I’m in a hurry and you’re the only person who showed, so you have the job if you want it.”

“What’s it pay and when do I start?” Straight to the point, Kyle liked him.

“It pays one thousand a week.” He grinned as Scott’s jaw dropped. “I need you to start tomorrow. That’s when I leave.”

“Leave?”

“Yes, but don’t worry. I’ll have your salary set up with my accountant. You’ll have my cell number also in case anything comes up.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“Indefinitely.”

* * * *

Sharon sat in her car and stared at the envelope from Kyle. She wiped her eyes and pulled out the contents, going over the documents in detail. The letter he’d written was sweet and perfect, and each time she read it, her heart constricted more than the last. Stuffing the papers in the side pocket of her purse, she picked up her phone and sent Kayla a text explaining everything. Shit, Gannon was going to be pissed. She knew he’d planned on her working the weekend.

Parking had been hell and the walk was long. Standing at the entrance, Sharon took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her anxiety. She could do this, especially if she refused to let thoughts of Kyle distract her—making her way through the airport would be confusing enough. A lot of thought had gone in to this trip, leaving everything and everyone she knew was harder than expected…she’d never been out of Mississippi.

Forty-five minutes later, she was boarding a plane, finding her seat in first class. Toward the front of her section, standing in the middle of the aisle was the reason she’d left Pineville.

Kyle.

Her carry-on bag dropped to her feet, elated tears poured over her cheeks, electricity buzzed under her skin pleading for a touch, and for the first time since she’d last seen him, she felt she was breathing.

He rushed to her and held her face with his hands. His thumbs, trembling, wiped at her tears. “You’re here.”

“I got your letter.” She swallowed hard. “And the ticket.”

“I thought I’d lost you.” His thumb went over her lips, his eyes holding hers.

“This past week, I figured something out.” She smiled through the tears. “You mean everything to me. Kyle, I—”

A man behind her cleared his throat. “Excuse me. Ma’am, I need to get to my seat.”

She flinched and started to turn around to tell him he was interrupting what could very well be the most important moment in her life, but Kyle took her hand, leading her to their seats.

His touch alone calmed her and she looked into his electric blue eyes, staring back at her full of appreciation. It was time to tell him. “It took not having you for me to realize.” Her mouth went dry and her heart was clearly about to burst through her chest walls. She licked her lips.
Now or never.
“The last thing you said to me was ‘you can’t make me stop loving you’ and I don’t want to. I mean I don’t want you to stop loving me.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but she placed the tips of her fingers over his lips. “You’ve hijacked my heart, and I never want it back. Kyle, I love you.” Remembering the words he’d said to her at the hotel, she grinned as she repeated them, “I can’t be without you…ever.”