I nodded, half listening to what they were saying.
“Maybe we should see if we can swap it,” the other said.
“Still can’t believe that dumbass Jace would just walk away from the place. Although he wasn’t very bright.”
I turned my head abruptly towards them. “What did you say?”
“Meh, the guy who had it before just up and gave notice. Pissed Jimmy right off. Rumor has it he decided a day before the rent was due that he would give his thirty days. He stiffed him.”
Becca had gotten tied up with a real winner, I thought to myself as I turned to head back towards my car.
“Should we tell Jimmy that you were here?”
“Nah, I’ll call and book an appointment,” I called out behind me.
“Good luck with that,” they both yelled out in unison as I climbed into the front seat of my car.
I started the engine. Jace no longer had a job or a place to live. This was a worse situation than I originally thought. He was a total wild card and could be anywhere.
I pulled away from the curb and headed over to the Moscato Resort and Spa. On my way, I stopped and grabbed a coffee, and once in the parking lot, I cut the engine, sat back, and took a sip. I glanced at the clock. I was a little over an hour early to pick her up. I took another sip of my coffee and closed my eyes, putting out of my mind all the information I had found out and began thinking about last night. I’d fucked up my chances of anything with her, all because I had panicked at my body’s rapid response to her.
It had been a while since I’d been with a woman, but last night had felt different from the last time. Over the years, I’d gotten to know Becca pretty well in the letters we’d exchanged. She had kept my mind occupied on the many lonely nights I’d spent overseas, and I really thought little of it at the time, but I had spent so many nights thinking about what she was doing on the other side of the world. I knew that now wasn’t really the time for me to let my guard down when it came to her either; that would only distract me from what I was doing, and that was protecting her.
Yet, as I sat here, I could feel my cock stirring behind my zipper as I thought about that kiss. The way her soft lips felt against mine, the way she nipped my bottom lip between hers. When she’d straddled my lap and I felt the heat between her legs against me...I jumped at the sound of my phone ringing.
I pulled my cell phone from the holder and saw Chris’s number displayed across the screen.
“Hey, man, how is it going? All okay?” he asked.
“Well, it would be if I knew where this fucker was,” I barked into the phone.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, last night I started asking Becca about him. She divulged where they met and his address, so today I did a little detective work.”
“And?”
“Well, interestingly enough, he no longer works at The Wine Cellar. They fired him about a week ago. Apparently, he would grow agitated during shifts, sneaking off to make calls, and he would just disappear mid-shift. So once I discovered that, I paid a visit to his residence. You know, I just wanted to get a good look at this guy, know what I was up against.”
“What did you find out?”
“His place is for rent.”
“How did you find that out?”
“Ah, it was easy. Two guys who were out front of the apartment just sang like jaybirds. I didn’t even need to ask them questions. They volunteered everything.”
Chris let out a laugh. “Fuck, I love guys like that. Makes everything so much easier when you don’t have to work for the information.”
“Sure does. I didn’t even need to think.”
“Okay, so what is the plan?”
“Well, I’m working on that now. I’m waiting outside of Becca’s work. I’ll stop by the shop afterward with her to close up, then we will head back to her place and I will work it all out.”
“Okay, well, keep me posted. I should be home tomorrow night at some point.”
“Sounds good.”
I hung up and sat back and thought hard about what to do next. I needed to find this guy, so I could at least have a location on him. I’d also need to tell Becca that I had no clue where he was. I wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. I’d seen the look in her eyes this morning as she listened to the messages he had left. I’d also wanted to be the one who held her and assured her it would be okay. Worst was I knew that this guy was a ticking time bomb, and it would only be a matter of time before he exploded.
Becca
Grant had suggested dinner at The Vineyard Bar and Grill after he closed up the shop. We now sat across from one another studying the menu. The server approached the table and set a glass of white wine in front of me and an ice-cold beer in front of Grant.
“Are you ready to order yet?” she asked, pulling a pad of paper and pen from her apron pocket.
I glanced over at Grant, who still had his face in the menu and was clearly ignoring the fact that the woman had even spoken.
I looked up and smiled. “I’m sorry, but could we have a couple more minutes, please?”
The server was clearly annoyed and shoved the paper and pen back in her apron pocket, turned, and walked away.
I closed my menu and laid it in front of me. Then I looked over to Grant, who appeared to be on edge.
“Is everything okay?”
“Sorry, everything just looks good, and I am starving, which is making it hard to choose,” he said, not lifting his eyes from the menu.
“It’s okay.”
I picked up my glass of wine and took a long sip, then pulled my phone from my pocket, clearing any emails I had already dealt with. I kept looking up at Grant, who sat there with his brow furrowed, still apparently debating on what he wanted for dinner. I knew that there was something else on Grant’s mind other than hunger. He had been quiet the entire way to the shop and all the way to the restaurant. I didn’t know if it had something to do with what had happened between us last night or if he had found something out today about Jace. Regardless, I planned to find out what it was.
After another few long minutes, he closed the menu with force and set it down on the table, picking up his beer and taking a swig, directing his attention to the hockey game that was playing on the screen behind the bar, once again ignoring me.
“Did you decide?”
“Yep, think I’ll have the chicken.”
“You think?” I let out a laugh. “You’ve been studying that menu for almost twenty minutes.”
He shrugged. “Still undecided. Between that and the burger.”
I nodded and took a sip of my wine. The server had come back, and once our order had gone in and they had delivered another round of drinks, I sat there looking out the window as Grant continued to watch the game. He had barely looked at me since he had picked me up.
A few more sips of wine mixed with an empty stomach, and I suddenly had an insurmountable amount of courage. I put my glass down, crossed my arms in front of me, leaned forward and looked directly at him.
“It’s last night, isn’t it?” I choked out.
“Huh? What? What’s last night?”
“Grant, please stop. You’ve barely looked in my direction, and you haven’t said much more than two words to me since you picked me up.”