And she’d still be procrastinating if she hadn’t gotten that postcard in the mail.
Which was weird.
It was a postcard for SEAL Security and the services they offered. There was literally no reason why Maddie should have been on their mailing list, but the timing was certainly convenient.
So now here she was and rather than getting out of the car and ripping the damn bandage off, she was rehashing history in her head.
“Dr. Marcia would say I’m reverting to my stalling tactics…” she groaned. “This shouldn’t be so hard!”
Basically, she was going to confront a stranger. She didn’t know this grown-up version of Knox Channing, so this shouldn’t be a big deal. Granted, she’d seen some pictures of him and wished shedidknow the grown-up version because he’d grown into a fine-looking man.
Not that she was surprised. He’d always been good looking and all the girls in school had crushed on him. But Maddie was the girl he picked–the one he fell for–and she was the envy of them all.
And then she was the girl everyone mocked because she was stupid enough to let him get away.
Not that she had a choice.
“Okay, no more of this,” she said firmly as she turned the car off and grabbed her purse. “No more stalling, no more depressing trips down memory lane.” Looking up at the big building, she let out a long breath. “Time to get this over with and move on.”
Walking across the parking lot, Maddie noticed that the people leaving the building were wearing baseball or softball uniforms. She didn’t know much about Knox’s business other than the fact that it was a training facility for bodyguards and security teams, but it looked like they also hosted ball games.
“Good for company morale, I guess…”
She hesitated slightly at the door, but when a group of people came out, she simply held the door and forced herself to step inside. Following the sounds of people talking and laughing, she made her way through a small office area and through a doorway that led to a massive gym. There were small groups of people scattered around the room and she scanned them all from her spot to see if she recognized Knox. It didn’t take long to realize she didn’t.
With no other choice, she walked to the first group and asked if anyone knew where he was, but they didn’t. Then she moved on to a second and then a third before she started to second-guess her decision to show up here today.
“Should have waited until tomorrow and normal office hours,” she said quietly before approaching a couple sitting on a pile of mats. “Excuse me?”
The dark-haired woman turned to her and smiled. “Hey! Can I help you?”
Glancing around nervously, she replied, “I’m looking for Knox Channing.”
They both stood and looked around the gym. “I think I saw him head into the locker room just a few minutes ago,” the guy said, pointing to a doorway in the corner.
“Thank you,” she said before turning and walking to the locker room door.
“Um…” he took off after her and stopped her before she could open it. “Um…that’s the men’s locker room. If you’d like, I can go in and get him for you.”
But she shook her head even as her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. “That’s okay. He doesn’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”
“Oh, uh…”
And for some bizarre reason, she finished with, “I’m his wife.” That effectively left the poor guy speechless before she walked into the locker room and let the door slam shut behind her.
Now what, genius?
Yeah, she probably should have thought this through before acting so recklessly.
Taking a minute to assess her surroundings, it didn’t seem like anyone was even in here. It was almost painfully quiet. After walking a few more steps, however, she heard the sounds of a shower running.
Uh-oh…
It was just her own breathing and the water until…
“I'm bringing sexy back…”The poorly sung lyrics came from somewhere in the back of the locker room.
Slowly, Maddie began to walk toward the awful voice and prayed it was Knox. She’d die of embarrassment if she ended sneaking up on some other guy caterwauling like that.