Thief(16)

After he gets rid of his girlfriend.





Chapter Ten


I’m walking into my office on Monday morning when I see him leaning against the wall by my door.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, glancing around. I lower my voice. “And how did you even know where to find me?”

“Xander wouldn’t give me your number, so I just did a quick Google search of your name,” he says, pushing off the wall and approaching me. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back on Saturday night.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to being right,” I say, arching my brow at him.

“You look good,” he tells me. “Classy business attire suits you. The heels are sexy.”

“Why are you here, Dash?” I ask, getting to the point. I know he didn’t come here to check out what I wear to work.

I open my office door and walk inside with him following me. He shuts the door behind himself and takes a seat.

“We need to talk,” he says, resting back against the chair and studying me. “About a shitload of things. Let me take you out for lunch today.”

“Why can’t you just say what you have to say now?” I ask, scanning his features. He has sexy stubble on his cheeks that I want to run my fingers over.

“Still difficult, I see,” he grumbles before his expression softens. “I don’t think your office on a Monday morning is the best place to discuss us, or our history, or why the f*ck we lost contact in the first place, and what we’re meant to do, now that we’re back in each other’s life.”

My mouth makes the shape of an O.

“Fuck, Vi, it’s you. I still can’t believe it. I just want to spend some time with you to catch up. Let me buy you lunch, or dinner, if that’s better for you.”

I watch him. The fact he’s not mentioning Vanessa has me feeling confused. Does he want us to just be friends? Wouldn’t that get in the way of his relationship with his clearly possessive girlfriend? And if he says he doesn’t care about what she thinks, then why is he with her in the first place?

New Dash confuses me.

Is it my responsibility to worry about his girlfriend though? I mean, I’m no one’s side chick, and I’m not a home wrecker, but she isn’t my girlfriend.

“Okay, we can go to dinner,” I give in, glancing over my schedule. “Does seven work for you?”

He nods quickly and says, “I’ll pick you up from your house.”

My eyes narrow. “I can just meet you there, Dash.”

The less this seems like a date, the better. I don’t need any more disappointment in my life.

“Just let me pick you up, Vi. Stop being so damn stubborn,” he says then smiles. “You know, now that you’re back in my life, I’m never letting you leave it again.”

My expression softens, and I stand up and step to him, opening my arms.

It’s Dash, after all.

He wraps me in his arms, and I bury my face in his chest and close my eyes.

“I missed you,” I admit softly, loving the feeling of being in his arms again.

“I missed you too,” he says, running his hand down my back. “I was so f*cking shocked when I saw you standing there next to Summer. I thought I was seeing things.”

“I was shocked too,” I tell him. “You smell good.”

He chuckles, chest shaking. “So do you, Vi. So do you. I’ll see you tonight at seven. Message me your address.” He slides his phone out of his pocket. “What’s your number?”

I tell him my number and he saves it in his phone.

“I still have the same number from high school,” he says, our gazes connected.

“You do?” I ask, eyes widening.

“Yeah,” he says, shrugging a little sheepishly. “Just in case you ever needed me, I wanted to make sure you could contact me.”

“Dash,” I whisper, jumping back into his arms.

That was the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. He kept his number just in case I wanted to get a hold of him one day?

He kisses my forehead, flashes me his dimples, and then leaves my office.

All I want to do is chase after him and spend the day with him, to talk everything out, but unfortunately, I have to work. I spend the day thinking about how I’m going to see him tonight and wondering what to wear. Then I tell myself we’re just friends, so it doesn’t matter what I wear.

Why does everything in life have to be so difficult?

*****

I figure jeans is the best option, so I wear blue skinny jeans with a black top. He arrives ten minutes early, and I open the door to his dimpled smile.

“You look beautiful,” he says, offering me his hand. I take it, and he leads me to his expensive-looking black car and opens the passenger side door for me.

“Thank you,” I say before sliding in.

He gets in the driver’s seat and grins at me. “Your house is amazing.”

“Your car is amazing.”

“I didn’t know where you’d want to eat,” he says as we reverse out of my driveway. “The Vi I know would have said ‘fries, lots of fries,’ but I’d think your tastes would be a little different now.”

“Oh, I still love fries,” I tell him. “But maybe as a side, next to a steak or something.”