Page 2 of The Billionaire's Commitment

Though as I looked at him and saw how content he was with Grace, I was wondering if he needed me at all. I had come to the city to be there for him, and I would stay until I felt he was as good as he was going to get. I was still holding out hope that Lauren’s killer would be brought to justice. I just hadn’t thought about what would happen when he was and what I would do after.

“I didn’t mean it literally,” Eric said to me.

“Mean what literally?” I asked and brought my attention back to the conversation.

“You didn’t need to tune us out like that. Where did you go?” Logan asked.

“Just lost in thought and thinking how lucky my friends are to have two such great women in their lives.”

“Speaking of which, where is your much better half?” Eric asked Logan.

“She’s her own person and not my half. Though I would agree with the better part,” Logan said.

“Is she coming by tonight?” Grace asked.

“She should be; she was finishing up at work. She said she wanted to come by and have us meet someone.”

“Did she say who it was?” Eric asked.

“No, she was vague about it. I figured I could ask some questions, but she wouldn’t answer them, so I’ll find out with the rest of you.”

“Spoken like a man who knows and understands how women work,” I said.

“Or spoken like a man who knows the woman he loves,” Grace countered.

I nodded but didn’t say anything. I was glad my friends found the women they should be with, even if it meant they spent more and more time with them, and I saw them less and less. Sure, we hung out at the bar a lot, and I knew if I needed them, they would be there for me. I just didn’t need anything. Or the one thing I was hoping to find, I hadn’t yet.

Dating in New York City, or anywhere for that matter, was never easy. It was even harder for me as I wasn’t good at talking to people and never felt like I really belonged in New York City. I didn’t see the point in getting involved with a woman if I was going to leave the city eventually.

Though the more I saw how happy my friends were, the more jealous I got, and it made me rethink my dating strategy. My success on dating apps had been limited to short conversations that never went anywhere. I just hadn’t found one that I was interested in, one that I would look at and know instantly that she was the one for me. I was beginning to wonder if a woman like that even existed.

“There you are,” Logan said.

I turned in my chair to see Amber walking towards Logan. He opened up his arms and pulled her to him, kissing her passionately and causing a few patrons in the bar to make some cat calls and hollers. I barely noticed them as I looked to the door and to who had walked in with Amber. My heart skipped a beat as I looked at her.

It took me a second to comprehend who I was seeing and that she was really there. She was just as gorgeous as I remembered her, if even more so. She had always been petite and didn’t look to have grown over the five-foot-five inches tall she was in high school. Her body had matured and changed and had curves in all the right places. She looked professional in her knee-length black skirt and green blouse, but it only showed off how sexy her body was, at least to me. Her black hair was shorter than I remembered, but it suited her as it framed her face and her high cheekbones and pointy nose. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I knew they would be the same ice blue.

I found myself standing up and moving towards her. Her eyes darted to me and then to Amber, who was talking to Logan and everyone else. I didn’t pay them any mind as all I could think about was walking up and talking to her. I still didn’t believe that she was there, and until I talked to her, touched her, I wouldn’t believe she was.

I only got about two steps before she shook her head, said, “This is a mistake,” and walked out of the bar.

I turned to look at Amber, who was glaring at me. “What the hell did you do to scare my friend away?” she asked.

Chapter 2

Zoey

I tightened my jacket around my body as I walked out of the bar. My head was down, and I hardly looked where I was going. My only thought was getting as far away from the bar and my stupid idea as possible. I knew who was going to be there when I walked into the bar. I just hadn’t counted on him looking sexier than I remembered or for him to look at me like he hated me. It had seemed like a good idea before, but all it took was one look from Brody, and I knew I couldn’t go through with it. The best thing I could do was walk away like it never happened.

“Zoey. Zoey! Wait,” Amber called from behind me.

If I had been a stronger person, I would have just kept walking, but I was never rude to anyone, even if they had put me in a situation I didn’t want to be in. I stopped walking and took a few deep breaths. By the time I had taken my third, Amber was standing next to me.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry about that,” she said.

I looked at her and wondered if she had lost her mind. I was the one who had run out of the bar like the devil was at my heels. I was the one who said I would talk to her friends and boyfriend and had turned and run away like a scared little girl.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry. This was a mistake,” I said.

---