Page 32 of Wanted

An hour in and I’d already consumed a couple of drinks. I wasn’tdrunk by any means, but the familiar twinge of lightheartedness was upon me andI welcomed it with open arms.

Alexa and I were in mid-conversation when Braden came walkingthrough the front door. Since there weren’t too many patrons, he’d been able tolocate us rather quickly.

“Hi, Sara. How are you?” he greeted. An undercurrent of sympathyswirled around his words as he addressed me.

“Fine, Braden. How are you?” Simple pleasantries passed betweenus as usual. I liked him. Besides being a nice guy, he was head-over-heels formy best friend. He was intense, but his love for her was undeniable.

I had that once. Or so Ithought.

“Good, good.” He locked eyes with his woman and I knew somethingwasn’t right. Palpable tension enveloped them, but neither one gave way to whatwas wrong. After more uncomfortable silence, she was the first to speak.

“I thought you said you were working late tonight,” she said withan air of aloofness.

“Yeah, well, I figured you were more important than the papers Iwas going over with my assistant.” He tried to smile but faltered.

“I’m surprised you were able to tear yourself away fromher.”

Oh, no.

Braden’s hand rested on her elbow. Leaning in, he softly spoke. “Canwe not do this here? In public? If you still have an issue, I would be morethan happy to go somewhere more private so we can discuss it like adults. Insteadof throwing out insinuations.” Her breath paused as she quickly made eyecontact with me.

Apparently, there was some sort of issue going on between them,and I was guessing it had everything to do with his assistant.

“I’m not going anywhere with you. Sara and I were having a greattime until you showed up to dampen the mood.”

He turned toward me and tried to force yet another smile beforehe focused all of his attention on Alexa. He leaned in close and whisperedsomething in her ear. She had no reaction until suddenly a blush crept up herneck and broke out across her cheeks. He leaned back and cocked his brow,waiting for her to make a move. Within seconds, she hopped off her seat. Hereached for her hand and she swatted him away but continued to allow him tousher her into a private hallway.

I remembered being in similar situations with Alek.Damn it.Why did thoughts of him have toinfiltrate my brain? I’d been doing well so far, only thinking about him twicebefore Alexa was able to successfully distract me. But she left me alone todwell on the one man who had consumed me for months.

Glancing toward the hallway where they had disappeared, I prayed theywould settle their issue and come back out to join me. A couple of minutespassed and still nothing. Running my fingers over the coolness of my glass, Ipicked it up and took a sip. The drink soothed my worries, allowing me sometime to swallow its tantalizing numbness.

Deciding to take in my surroundings, my eyes roamed all over thesmall space. There weren’t many people there, but that was fine with me. Twoguys were playing pool in the far corner. Four women were sitting in a booth,laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world. One guy was trying toscore for the evening, running his finger up and down a woman’s arm. She lookedinterested.

Lucky bastards. I miss him.I miss being wrapped in his arms. I miss the way his lips taste.

Deciding more liquor would squelch those insane feelings, Igulped down the rest of my drink. As I placed the glass back on the bar, I caughtmovement to my right, near the front door.

My eyes grazed over the man leaning against the wall. Even thoughI’d only looked at him for a split-second, I knew who it was immediately.

I blinked repeatedly, praying the alcohol was causing me tohallucinate.

But he was real.

Just when I’d started to feel a bit of humanity pulse through myveins, it was destroyed by the mere sight of him.

He didn’t see me at first because he was busy checking out theother patrons. . Was it a mere coincidence he was there? Was he waiting forsomeone else? Another woman? Was he meeting Cora? The thought alone broke myheart all over again.

A crazy thought entered my mind, but I quickly shoved it aside. I’dtotally forgotten about the tracker he installed on my cell phone after the kidnapping.There was no way he still kept tabs on me.Areyou kidding? Look who you’re talking about.The thought he was there for mewas ludicrous.But why, then? Aftermonths of silence, why now?

Then a thought barreled forth, almost knocking me off my stool. Thatnight was the first time I’d gone out since our relationship ended—other thanwork, of course.

Hope filled me but quickly dispelled any such feeling. I wasn’tgoing to allow him to play with my emotions any longer.

“Sara? Are you ready to gohome now?” Alexa asked, barreling out from the back of the hallway. She wasstill upset. It was obvious the issue between her and her man hadn’t beenresolved. If anything, it had only intensified. Braden was but a few pacesbehind her, looking none too pleased.

Swinging my head around, I locked eyes with Alek. He’d heard Lexcall my name and honed right in on me.

I was way too fragile to have any kind of communication with him,verbal or otherwise. I broke eye contact, seized Alexa by her wrist and leanedinto her ear, shaking the whole time.

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