Page 3 of Stalked By the Recruiter

“Now, I gotta get home,” he cut me off, and I knew I’d officially lost an entire fucking day.

“To the little woman?” I guessed, crossing my arms over my chest. Betty would say I looked like a damn toddler about to throw a temper tantrum. I opened the bottle of water and chugged it down.

“You know, I don’t know what you have against relationships, but maybe finding someone would help.” Was he fucking serious?

“Help?” I scowled. “Help with what? I’m a fucking ray of sunshine.” And again, the motherfucker chuckled. Loud and carefree.

“Right. Well, they do say admitting you have a problem is the first step. Denial is a bitch.”

“Hmm.” I rolled my eyes. “You really don’t think I could convince you into talking to him?” I asked, ignoring his advice to find someone. As if.

“Not even a little bit.”

“Fine,” I groaned and stood up, dropping my business card on his desk.My old desk.

“Man, they give you a bunch of these or something?” Red teased.

“Just take it, in case you change your mind or if you think of a way to help me out.”

“Look… you should save that one.” Red pointed at the business card. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only guy in this century still handing these fuckers out. You’ve handed me over ten of them since I started working here. Save that one and drop it into a free lunch giveaway at a diner or something.”

“Cute. Whatever.” I grabbed my jacket.

“I’m not trying to be a dick. I’m just saying I got your card, and I won’t be calling you. Not for Dominguez.”

“You have anyone in mind?” I asked, wondering if there was something he wasn’t saying.

Red Bridges went on to tell me about their kicker. It wasn’t a bad idea. Ours was thinking about retiring

“I’ll think about it. Thanks for the tip.” It wasn’t much, but it was something to think about. I turned around.

“Montoya!” Red called. I looked over my shoulder.

“Just so you know, it might be the water.” He pointed at the half empty bottle in my hand. “We bottle those here, so be careful,” he teased. My nose flared. I flipped him the bird before walking out of the office and directly toward the parking lot.

“The fucking water,” I muttered when I stepped out. The spring semester was coming to an end, and the parking lot for the stadium was empty. Just a staff and athletes parked about.And my rental.

I didn’t want to set out to my hotel. Not yet.

I glanced at my watch and frowned. It was too late to call my sister to see if she and her guy would want to grab dinner. I didn’t have friends in town. Most of the guys I somewhat considered buddies were from the team I worked with were all traveling trying to find solutions for where the team needed helpthis upcoming season. If I left now, I’d go directly to my room, maybe have a drink and dinner at the bar on the bottom floor and head back up.

That sounded fucking terrible.

Pathetic.

I rolled the sleeves of my dress shirt up my forearms and carried my designer suit jacket in my hand while I walked the campus that had been the background of more than half my life. I loved it there. It might be in the desert, but the campus landscape was beautiful. Trees and greenery mixed with natural succulents gave it a peaceful vibe.

My feet took me directly to my favorite place on campus. A bench that overlooked the quad. But the bench that was usually empty was occupied. I stopped mid-step and blinked. Surprise turned into a frown then morphed into a deep scowl.

A girl sat there.

Or a woman.

I couldn’t tell her age from where I was.

Something inside of me, the reasonable, practical, cynical-as-fuck side of me, shouted at me to turn around. Ignore the onslaught of emotions that slammed into me like a damn Mack truck.

The bench was taken, and if she was on campus at this time, she more than likely was a student. I had no business staring at a twenty-something like everything inside of me wanted to. Like I couldn’t get enough of the sight of her while my body woke up and other parts of me took notice.

---