Had he been waiting for me?
My eyes fixed on him, meeting his, desperate to read his thoughts from across the room. I didn’t see where I was going and walked straight into someone. Apologetically, I began stammering apologies before looking up. I sucked in a breath when I realized I was face to face with a man I had seen before. In fact, his face was plastered on the cover of the book in my purse. I tucked my purse carefully behind me in slight embarrassment.
“Well, hello there,” he said, his voice a near purr as his eyes wandered over me.
“Hi,” I said, my voice catching slightly in my throat. He was just as handsome as he was in the picture on his book, if not more so in person. He was tall with a slim build, wearing a charcoal suit and a black shirt that matched his eyes. As dark as his eyes were, they danced in delight as they caught my own, capturing them in his trance.
“I’m Anderson. Anderson Bradley,” he said with a smile that crept across his lips as he held out his hand.
“Sadie,” I said, shaking his outstretched hand lightly.
“You live here?” he asked, glancing around the lobby casually as he ran a thumb casually over my knuckles before letting my hand go.
“I do.” It came out more as a question, wondering if I should be giving a stranger the details of where I lived. I quickly glanced behind him and saw Jeremiah watching our interaction from afar. I wondered what he was thinking based on the stoic expression on his face.
“Well, I might just have to move in for the chance of running into you again,” said Anderson with a playful grin.
I felt my cheeks turn pink, and a tinge of guilt for the color he was putting on my face with his charm when Jeremiah was just across the lobby. I laughed softly and shook my head, letting his flirtation wash over me. I hated to admit it, but it felt nice to be admired by someone so light and easy. He was a stark contrast from the brooding Jeremiah I had left in the town car earlier today. The one who waited for me now.
“Ahh, that’s a laugh I could hear every day.”
“You’re a real charmer, aren’t you?” I asked, raising a brow.
“Only when I’m with the prettiest girl in the place.” He shrugged. “Seriously, you’re glowing.”
I bit back a smile, remembering the glow was very well from being pregnant, but without saying so, I accepted the compliment anyways. I could have mentioned the baby.Shouldhave. But my body had felt so foreign to me lately, like it wasn’t my own. Even though Jeremiah told me how beautiful I was and showed me with how he couldn’t keep his hands off me, havinga handsome stranger tell me I was pretty was a boost in my confidence that I didn’t know I needed.
I glanced past Anderson again and saw Jeremiah get into an elevator, the gold doors closing. I furrowed my brows slightly. He wasn’t going to wait for me. Was he still upset about our argument earlier? Or because he missed the ultrasound? Or was he upset about me talking to Anderson? Either way, I felt my annoyance creep in that he would leave me here.
“Something wrong?” asked Anderson, his eyes following my gaze to where Jeremiah had stood moments before.
“No, nothing.” I managed a weak smile. “I must be going now though.”
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Sadie,” he said, his voice smooth as the jazz song that played softly through the overhead speakers.
“You too,” I said, walking past him toward the elevators. I could feel his eyes on me with every step I took.
Upstairs, when I opened the door to the apartment, I found Jeremiah pacing the living room with his hands behind his back. His suit jacket was tossed on the couch and his white button-down was messily untucked. His brows were drawn together under his disheveled hair and his lips were pressed into a tight line of thought. He hadn’t heard me come in.
“What the hell is your problem?” I asked, stepping into the apartment, and shutting the door behind me loudly.
He looked up startled, before a coolness seeped into his already icy blue eyes as they looked me over. He didn’t say anything. He just kept pacing.
“Why didn’t you wait for me? Iknowyou saw me in the lobby.”
“Yeah, talking tohim,”he said, a look of disgust on his face.
“Him?” I scoffed. “The guy in the lobby?”
He was jealous. I hated that it felt good. I also hated that it made him even sexier to see him like this.
Focus, Sadie.
He stopped his frantic pacing to look at me. “I don’t want you talking to him again,” he said firmly, pointing a finger at me. I wanted to break it off because of his controlling words.
“I mean it,” he reiterated.
“He was nice,” I said with a roll of my eyes, crossing my arms across my chest.
