“Thank you, Mr. Soucy.”
I start a little, thinking she’s recognized me, but then I realize it’s just because she has my card.
“Do you want to deliver it yourself? Or do you want us to?”
I mull over the question, finally deciding on them. The guy at the store already programmed my number as the only contact in the phone. It’s fully charged and ready to go. Now all I have to do now is head home and wait for her call. Or message. An excited thank you. “I want to give her the full surprise experience, so can you deliver it?”
“Of course.” She takes out another slip of paper. “Can you write down her address here?”
“It’s going across the street to Wingate. Penthouse.”
I’m not certain at that last part, but I have to believe Micah wouldn’t do anything less for Raeann, and by extension, Tab. He’s obsessive. We all saw it. Pursuing her like she was his sole focus.
I admired it, honestly. Was even a little jealous that he cared for someone enough to know implicitly what he wanted. There was no doubt hanging over his head. He was convinced from moment one.
Honestly, it’s how I’ve been feeling since the night of the fire. Seeing her at the café today only solidified it for me.
These thoughts race through my brain as I walk to my own apartment. The housekeeper came today, so everything is sterile, clean. It hardly looks like I live here. Or anyone for that matter. Simple, sparse modern furniture sits throughout the space. A state-of-the-art voice-controlled sound system is my pride and joy.
Striding to the fridge, the only thing in it is ketchup packets and a bottle of water. I grab the bottle of water and take a swig, then lie on the couch and stare up at the ceiling. A listlessness spreads through me. The quiet, the cleanliness, it all seems kind of wrong now. Before, I was okay being by myself. I could do what I wanted, when I wanted. But I can’t help but to think that Tab would liven up this place.
She’d put her stamp on the place to make it feel like a home. Her laugh would make it feel warmer in here. Cozy. That sass of hers bringing energy to it. Right now, this place is just walls and furniture, but it could be so much more.
Mind buzzing with ideas of how to insert my way into Tab’s life, I somehow doze off and awake to my phone pinging. I scramble to answer it to find the wrong person contacting me. It’s Kris asking me when my date is with the other woman, Andrea. I sigh.
It’s supposed to be tonight…
Another suit, another fancy restaurant where they charge you twice the price for a wedge of food and you’re supposed to be grateful.
I ignore her text. Right now, this is time to myself, for myself. And the only woman I want to hear from is Tabitha Riley.
5
Tab
The nearly one-million-count sheets suffocate me. For all their design benefits that’s supposed to make me feel like I’m lying on a cloud, they just give me the ick. The penthouse is silent. Somewhere in here, a clock ticks slow and steady, and all it reminds me of is that I’m cooped up in here. Alone.
Before, I could bear it. Almost. But being outside, enjoying life again, and let’s face it, running into Levi was an eye-opener. Like a continental shift in my brain.
He made me laugh.
Here I thought he was just eye candy, but Levi Soucy made me genuinely laugh. He swooped in like a superhero, paying for my coffee indulgence, but also gave me what I really needed: a moment not to fixate on what happened.
He’s probably already gone back to his day, forgetting we even saw each other. I’m sitting here stuffing the muffins he bought me into my mouth, wondering if it was just my imagination that he was flirting with me. Though, according toMicah and Raeann, he flirts with everyone. But me. I’m not the type someone flirts with right now. I’m the one they make sure to tell is friend-zoned.
Lordy, what past Tab would’ve thought about Levi charming her…
I stuff a piece of muffin into my mouth. She probably would’ve started picturing him shirtless. Maybe imagined him giving her a little strip tease.
The elevator dings, and I nearly choke on the baked goodness in my mouth.
I clear my throat, swallowing while stuffing the muffin evidence under the pillowy sheets. “You didn’t have to come home!”
“Ms. Riley?”
Who the…
I suck in a breath, frozen in place. The man’s voice is pure Tennessee drawl.
