Ego Maniac(69)

“Don’t think so. He would have given her up. His skinny little junky ass was so afraid of Roman, he pissed himself. Plus, I know the guy. He would have tried to sell me where she was for enough to buy his next fix if he’d had any clue. Guy would sell his mother for twenty bucks.”

“So what do you do now?”

“I got to the courthouse before they closed and filed an emergency restraining order asking the judge to force her to go back to New York. Our custody agreement doesn’t allow either one of us to take Beck out of state without permission from the other. They’ll add the motion to the calendar with her change of custody demand for the day after tomorrow. If we can’t find her by Thursday, she’ll have to at least show up for court then.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Nah. Thanks, babe. Just hearing your voice is good for me.”

I smiled. “Maybe later tonight I’ll call you and this voice will have some dirty things to say.”

“Yeah?”

I bit my lip. “I’m a team player. I want to help any way I can.”

“I’ll get rid of Roman for a while later. He likes to sit at the bar and nurse a few whiskies at the end of the day. Don’t think I’ll be doing that for a long time after last night. Much rather hear you come while you tell me how much you miss my cock.”

“You got it. I’m going home soon.”

“Okay, babe. Call me later when you’re settled in.”

“Drew?”

“Yeah.”

“Just so you know, I miss you and your cock.”

He groaned my name. “Hurry up home.”





I’d never had phone sex, and I was really looking forward to calling Drew. So much so that I’d put on a cute little silky shorts-and-camisole set and some perfume for the occasion. It was a little after ten, so I figured he’d probably be settling in for the night, too. Picking up my cell, I dialed his number and smiled when he answered with a gruff voice.

“You naked?”

“No, but I can be.”

My hand was on the kitchen light switch, ready to turn it off and take my cell phone to bed with me, when there was a knock at my door. Drew heard it, too.

“Someone there?”

“I think so. Hang on a second.” I walked to the door and peeked through the peephole even though I knew who it was without looking. It wasn’t like I had many friends in the city, much less ones who would just drop by.

“Can I call you back in a few minutes?”

“Do I want to know who it is?”

“Probably not. Give me a few minutes to get rid of him.”

After I ended the call, I grabbed a sweater from the closet and pulled it on before opening the door.

“Baldwin? Is everything alright?”

“Yes, fine. I just wanted to check on you. I knocked last night, but you weren’t home. So I tried this morning, and you still weren’t here, and then you didn’t answer my texts today. I was beginning to get worried.”

My feelings for Baldwin had been so jumbled, I’d forgotten he was a good friend to me for a few years.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’m fine. Everything is fine. Just a crazy day yesterday, followed by a hectic one today.”

He didn’t seem convinced, so I decided to be honest.

“I’ve started seeing someone; I stayed over at his place last night.”

“Oh.” He gave me a sad smile that seemed forced. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”

When I didn’t offer to have him come in, his eyes roamed over my face like he was looking for something. I waited in awkward silence, clutching my sweater shut as I stood there.

Eventually, Baldwin gave me a curt nod, and his eyes dropped to my bare legs. “Is it the lawyer?”

For some reason, it rubbed me wrong that he called him the lawyer and not by his name. “Drew. Yes.”

He looked into my eyes. “Are you happy?”

I didn’t even have to think about the answer. “I am.”

Baldwin’s eyes closed briefly, and he gave me another silent nod. “Maybe we can get coffee this weekend and catch up?”

I smiled. “Sure.”

Coffee at Starbucks was probably the best way to reset our friendship. The reset was entirely on my end, because Baldwin had never really been interested in me the way I’d been in him. But now that I was seeing someone, it wouldn’t feel right to go out with him for dinner. Maybe someday in the future, when more time had passed between the feelings I had for Baldwin and the start of a new relationship, but right now it would just feel wrong.

After we said goodnight, I took a minute to regroup my thoughts before going to the bedroom to call Drew back. It had been a long time since my feelings for Baldwin had grown. I couldn’t turn them off completely, but something had definitely changed. Even though I knew part of me would miss the unrestrained comfortableness I’d enjoyed with Baldwin when there was nothing holding me back, I realized it was more important for me to respect the boundaries I knew Drew would want me to have—like not inviting a man into my apartment this late while I was in my cute little pajamas.

Feeling content, I turned off all the lights and slipped into bed as I dialed Drew’s number on my cell.