Elastic Hearts (Hearts #3)(58)

He was quiet for a beat before reaching down to pick up Bonnie and going inside my house. I followed, confused, but still feeling like I had the upper hand, until I shut the door and curtain and turned around to find Victor taking long strides toward me. I took a step back, my heart rate spiking at the sight of his narrowed eyes on mine, his head slightly tilted as he appraised me. When he reached me and placed both arms on either side of me, caging me in, I swallowed as I looked up at him.

“Like I said, people change. Besides, that’s how it works in nature,” he said, his eyes on mine. “Most of the time, males chase until the woman is forced to cave.”

“And that’s what you’re trying to do? Force me to cave?” I asked in a whisper.

“I’ll do whatever it takes if it makes you cave to this,” he said, lowering his voice.

“You’re not afraid of the consequences anymore?” I asked.

“I am.” He paused, his eyes searching mine. “I think you might be worth it, though.”

Even if my galloping heart would have let me speak, I had no response for that. This careful man who cared about his job more than anything else had taken a chance and chased me down, and it thrilled me.

“Come to breakfast with me,” he said. “I’ll leave through the back. We’ll take separate cars, but come.”

I nodded, in awe of what was happening, and when he lowered his face and brushed his lips against mine, I reached out and pulled him closer into me, taking his mouth in mine, and kissing him deeply. He groaned against my lips before pulling away.

“I’ll text you the address.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

I fed Bonnie before I walked to my car. On my way there, I sidestepped a jogger, almost losing balance because I was looking down at my phone screen.

“Nicole,” he said. My head snapped up from my phone, where I was typing a response to Victor, letting him know I was on my way.

“Hey,” I said, smiling at the hot jogger I’d met the other day. I couldn’t for the life of me remember his name. It must have been apparent from the face I made because he chuckled and said.

“Brent.”

I smiled. “Brent. Sorry. How are you?”

“Better now,” he said, eyes glimmering as he gave me a once-over. “I’m assuming you’re not headed to the beach.”

“Not today. I still haven’t been able to enjoy the perks of living here.” I sighed. “I work all day tomorrow, so that’s not looking promising either.”

“On a Sunday? Tough job.”

“You can say that.” I looked up and down the sidewalk. “It was nice seeing you again.”

“Maybe Monday?” he said. I looked at him with a frown. “The beach?”

“Oh.” I thought about it. “Maybe.”

He smiled. “I’m going on my run at noon. It’s the perfect time to catch rays.”

“Maybe I’ll see you then,” I said with a smile.

I watched him jog away. He was really freaking hot. Twelve months of zero interaction by any straight male and suddenly I had their attention. Unfortunately for the rest of them, my heart was set on one. I shook my head and sighed as I walked toward my car.





I GOT TO my parents’ house earlier than usual and dropped the bomb about Nicole coming over. My dad didn’t say anything, only raised his eyebrows. My mom, on the other hand, gasped and covered her mouth as if I was announcing my engagement.

“She’s just a friend, Mom,” I said. “A friend who I also happen to be representing in her divorce.”

“Oh. Dammit, Victor. I thought you were bringing a girlfriend,” she said, sighing. “Maybe she has friends.”

“Please don’t talk about my love life, Mom.”

“What love life?” she asked. “You have no love life. Even your friends are somehow involved in your work.”

I groaned. I really wished I could just be straight and tell her how I felt about Nicole, but I didn’t even know how I felt about Nicole. I felt this overwhelming sense of needing to see her again after last night. So overwhelming that I panicked when I realized she’d left. Panicked and chased her down. I had to. And then she’d tried to treat it like a one-night stand, as if I would jeopardize my job for a f*cking one-night stand. I wanted to tell her to pack a bag and go away with me, but she’d mentioned that she had to work Sunday, so I knew she wouldn’t do it. Restaurants were out of the question because they were so public and I really wanted to touch her. I wanted to talk to her and look at her openly.

My phone rang in my pocket, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked at it and frowned at Quinn’s name. Quinn was the founder of one of the biggest gossip blogs in the world, so big they’d turned it into a television series. He only called me on a weekend when something important was going on.

“What’s up, Q?” I asked upon answering.

“Dude. I was going to call last night, but then I got busy. How’s everything?”

“Everything was good until I saw your name on my phone screen.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Well. Yeah.”

I raised an eyebrow. My parents were watching me, so I put a hand up and excused myself, walking outside. “What’s up?”