Hell, he just confirmed she was a doctor and married. I wasn’t surprised. She was a great catch. The bigger issue was what the hell was wrong with my stomach all of a sudden. I was never going to be marriage material to anyone, so why did I care if she was? At least it explained why when I Googled Prince a dozen times or so over the years I found jack shit. He straightened his pansy French cuffs, lifted his wrist just so, and flashed his diamond-studded cufflinks. Loser.
“It’s packed in here, let’s get going.”
She slipped off her stool and was eye to eye with the forever-dubbed douche. I forgot how tall she was, especially in heels. She always had the best legs and ass. I was definitely an ass/leg man. He looped his arm around her waist and she tightened imperceptibly, but I saw it.
“It was really great to see you ... Ash.” Her voice trailed off to a mumble. Something was off. Talia was never shy, not even close. Half the time I was lucky if I got a word in edgewise. And now she was ending our conversation. No introduction to the prick forcing her to leave. No ‘let’s catch up soon.’ Nothing.
“Why so early? Tomorrow’s a holiday.” I wanted her to stay. Of course I did. Missed her was an understatement of the century.
“Huh, a holiday?”
“Columbus Day.”
“Not for us, we have an early day.” At least her smile was back, but I wasn’t feeling the us.
Fuck me if he’s the reason her name’s Pryce.
“Later, bud.” No joke, the douche called me bud. He weaved his fingers through hers, turned toward the crowd and gave her a tug. I rested my back against the bar, rattled off a string of expletives under my breath and watched her slowly disappear. As quickly as she re-entered my life, she was gone again.
“There you are? I’ve been looking all over the place for you.” Randi’s seductive voice reminded me that I was still a horny male. This was the life I chose. And I liked it. I swung my arm around her neck and sucked right below her ear.
“Sorry, sweetheart, ran into an old friend.” I took one last swig and dropped the bottle down, probably harder than I should have. “So what’s it gonna be, your place or mine?” She bit her lip and smiled. We had more in common than I cared to admit. Lucky for me, a good fuck was one of them.
The sun was barely up and I was already antsy, wanting her out of my bed. I hated when they picked my place but that was what I got for offering. Randi’s blonde locks draped across my pillow and her naked body looked so comfortable. I let her sleep.
I threw on some gym shorts, and moments later, held a cup of joe. Last night’s five minute conversation was stuck on repeat while I struggled to flip through the paper. Always stopping on how I ever let Talia walk away again.
“Suzie, hey, it’s Asher,” I whispered into my cell, trying to avoid waking sleeping beauty. I had some heart even if I might break one today.
“Hey, Asher, everything okay? It’s ... um ... really early and I’m off for the holiday, and why the hell are you whispering?”
I glanced at my watch. Oops.
“Shit, Suz, I’m so sorry. I’m such an asshole, you already know that, though. Sorry to call so early, but I need your help.” Suzie, my executive assistant, was my second mother. But not in a weird love-my-son-more-than-life way. That was reserved for Maggie. One of the perks of being the baby, being a boy, and having three older sisters.
“Sure, what’s up? You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m totally fine. I just need you to look up a Dr. Talia Pryce. Practices in San Diego. Can you shoot me a text as soon as you find something?”
“Hey, baby, the sheets were getting cold.”
My eyes snapped up and so did my very responsive dick to a very hot naked body. Shit.
“Appreciate this, Suz. Got to go.” I clicked off my cell and dropped it on the counter.
“Sweetheart, listen, something came up and I have to head into the office for a couple of hours this morning,” I lied.
“Really? I thought we could spend the day together.”
No, no, no and no. We were teetering on the edge and definitely fell off the same page somewhere after round two last night. Time for this to end.
“Not today.”
She wrapped her arms across her bare chest and followed me back into my room. I willed myself to think of anything but tossing her tight ass back on my bed and banging her hard. Fat and ugly. Dimples and cottage cheese. I turned toward my closet and exchanged my shorts for jeans. I threw some gym clothes in a bag for later. I was definitely hitting the bags tonight.
“Take your time getting ready, shower if you’d like. Just make sure the door locks on your way out.”
She sat at the edge of my bed and I felt her eyes boring into my back. She knew. She wasn’t dumb. She knew my type. A good time. A good lay. On to the next. She screwed my type all the time.
“Later, sweetheart.” I kissed her cheek and made a quick exit. The door was barely closed and a wave of guilt passed over. Sure, I felt bad for letting it get this far with Randi, but she knew what she signed up for. But I couldn’t help but wonder what an old friend would think of my behavior, if she would be disappointed. Shit. I needed to get into my office. Screw that, Suzie had it covered. I needed to hit the bags.
It didn’t take much for the sweat to pour down my face and blood to ooze from my raw knuckles. It was hard to wrap my mind around how one chance encounter after nineteen years could have me so rattled. Those familiar brown eyes brought me straight back home. A place I didn’t frequent. She fell off the face of the earth, magically reappeared, and there was no way in hell she was running away again.
“La Jolla Dermatology, how may I help you?” A soft female voice bubbled through the line. Suzie, my savior had come through big time yesterday. My Internet double-checking confirmed Talia was definitely a doctor, a dermatologist no less, with a successful practice in San Diego. But what I couldn’t shake was that none of us had a clue for over a decade. I wasn’t sure if I was pissed or more disappointed. Whatever I felt ... was wrong. And I was going to find out why.
“Good morning. Is Dr. Pryce available?”
“She’s seeing patients—can I take a message please and I’ll have her call you back.” Fat chance. There was a fifty-fifty chance she was calling back if I left a message.
“I’ll hold.”
“Um, sir. It could be a while. She’s with a patient. May I ask who is calling?”
“No problem. I’ll hold. Tell her it’s an old friend.”
“Okay, sir.” The annoying advertisement listing every possible skin service looped over and over in my ear. She wasn’t wrong when she said I would be twiddling my thumbs. How long could shooting someone up with Botox take?
Twenty-eight minutes later.
“Dr. Pryce speaking.”
“TP?” I paused for effect. “Please tell me you’re the really ritzy dermatologist for the stars and you were freezing someone’s forehead?” The line was dead silent. I yanked the phone from my ear to see if we were still connected. Then I heard laughter. And a lot of it. Soft, familiar. Best sound in a long time. I wasn’t pissed or disappointed, I was relieved my friend was back.
“Ace?” Son of a bitch, she copied my pause. “I can play too, Mr. Monogram.”
Fuck, she remembered to use my childhood nickname. The one that embarrassed the shit out of me and was stitched on every backpack growing up. I didn’t care though. She could have called me Bambi if her voice stayed this relaxed.
“How lucky, you didn’t have to change your initials. Who would I think about every time I changed the toilet paper? Thank your husband for me.”