Obsession (2 page)

“
A little wound
up?”

“I’ve never been wound up. If I need
release, I get it,” Nathan said, trying to sound offended. “I have
a phone full of available prospects to get the job
done.”

I tapped my chin as I sat back down in
my chair. “You never seem to use them,” I taunted. I knew this
because Nathan always stayed at my Condo whenever he was in Miami.
I was sure once the Miami location took off, he’d find some snazzy
place, but until then, I’d enjoy his company.

“Ha! That’s what you
think.”

“Yeah, that’s what I know. You get it
about as often as I do lately,” I muttered. “I could really use
some attention between my legs.”

Just as the words came out of my
mouth, the office door swung open, and that damn hot shot with his
cheeky grin came walking through the threshold. I knew he’d heard
my inappropriate comment. I rolled my chair the opposite way of
Mitch, swinging in the direction of my computer, I wanted to seem
busy and not like I’d been discussing my lack of sex life over the
phone.

Nathan groaned with disgust. “If you
think I’m going to help you find a carpet muncher, you’re insane.”
I had to pull the phone away from my ear because he was so
loud.

“Don’t worry, one just walked in,”
Mitch flirted as he sat down on my desk, completely invading my
bubble. My face turned beet red in frustration and
embarrassment.

“Nathan, I have to go. We’ll talk
Friday.” I slid as close to my computer screen as possible, making
my stomach flush with the desk.

A rumble of laughter emerged from the
phone as I hung up, and I knew¬Nathan had heard Mitch’s bold
interference. Damn those Conklin men. I swore they fed off each
other.

“I’m free for the next
hour if you want to satisfy your need for
attention
,” Mitch teased.

My embarrassment quickly faded into
anger as I spun in my chair, jolting from my seat while giving
Mitch the best glare I could.

The worst part about him? He was
attractive. And by attractive, I meant sexy as sin. His sandy blond
hair and emerald eyes fit perfectly with his tanned skin. He wasn’t
the trendy male I usually dated, suits and ties were my typical
turn on, not washed out jeans, work boots and white T-shirts. All
of the Conklin brother’s could turn heads, but for whatever reason,
Mitch got to me.

He stared back at me, his mischievous
smile never leaving his face. “What do you say, Jay? Want to have
an afternoon delight?”

My eyes shot to the sky as I crossed
my arms. “It’s not even the afternoon. It’s 11 am.”

Mitch hopped down from my desk so we
were standing face to face. There couldn’t have been more than six
inches between us. The twinkle in his eye faded as he blinked, his
strong jaw ticking in thought. Fantasies of what that jaw could do
popped in my mind.

“I have a meeting in twenty minutes.
What do you want?” I snapped.

His lip quirked into a smile again as
he reached behind him. “I just wanted to bring you my latest
upgrade.” He pulled a brick from behind him and held it between us.
“Tell me what you think?”

I pushed his chest with
annoyance as I turned to find my chair again. “
I don
’t give a shit about those stupid bricks. I don’t know why
you insist on constantly showing them to me.”

Mitch found his spot on my
desk again. “Because you need to tell clients about them.
They’
re safe
boxes. You can
’t even tell they open. It’s
a great seller.”

I closed my eyes and put
my hands on my head in frustration. “
Mitch, I can
’
t
just
market
the bricks. It’s not a deal
breaker for clients. Besides, Nathan doesn’t want them to be well
known. What’s the point in having a secret safe box if everyone
already knows what it is?”

The thud of Mitch slamming
the brick on my desk caused my eyes to pop open.
“
Well,
hook
the client and
then
tell them about the bricks. I don’t see why you
need to get into such a huff about it.”

My hands left my head and moved to the
air as though they were trying to help defend my point. “I’m not in
a huff about them. I just don’t see why you feel the need to tell
me they’ve been upgraded.”

Mitch narrowed his eyes slightly, but
then relaxed his features again. Sliding off the desk, he took a
step to fill the space between us, leaning down and placing his
hands on either side of my chair. His face mere inches from mine,
he’d never gotten this close before. My mind became distracted by
his scent. It was a woodsy yet refreshing smell that made my breath
hitch for the slightest second. The quickest flutter of my
eyelashes brought me back to the now, until my eyes found his pecs
straining against his white shirt. The muscles in his arms bulged
as his hands flexed to grip my chair tighter, and by the veins
protruding from his arms it was obvious he lifted heavy objects
most of the day.

Damn it.

I could feel his breath as his deep,
husky voice asked, “Did I ever tell you how sexy you are when
you’re feisty?”

“
Did I ever tell you that
you remind me of a Neanderthal?” I hissed.

He grinned knowingly. “If I had to
guess, a Neanderthal is exactly what you need. Someone who’ll take
the bull by the horns and drive you screaming into the
red.”

I prayed the snort of disgust hid how
much his statement turned me on. Our proximity was too close, so I
shoved his chest and turned toward my computer.

The sound of Mitch
chuckling made my ears burn with annoyance instead of attraction.
“Let’
s do
dinner tonight.
”

“Can’t,” I muttered.

“What’s your excuse this
time?”

“I have to organize my closet.” I
sighed dramatically, flipping my caramel hair over my shoulder, my
focus remaining on my computer screen.

I heard a deep breath, then the heavy
steps of Mitch’s boots walking away from me. “You’ll say yes, one
of these days. By the way, I brought you the mail,” he tossed a
stack of envelopes and a few magazines in front of me. “See you
later.”

The door clicked shut, and I puffed
out air. I couldn’t believe how stupid I was. Closing my eyes, I
attempted to clear my thoughts, but the way his biceps flexed as he
gripped my chair wouldn’t leave my filthy mind.

Shaking my head, I reached for the
pile of mail, hoping to find something else to focus on besides
that asshole. It amazed me the ridiculous amount of junk mail we
received, considering we’d only been in Miami for six
months.

I skimmed the stack,
noticing the array of magazines mixed between the electrical bill
and an invoice.
Architecture’
s Digest
,
People
with, of course, a Kardashian
on the front. And
hello
, Property Brothers.
Mmmmm…
What those two dark haired
gorgeous men could do to me at once.

But then…

My hands pushed the magazines to the
side, and a thick, strangling gulp pushed its way down my throat
.

There it
was
—ghostly familiar black envelope
addressed to me; my first name written in perfect script letters
with white ink. It had been nearly a year since I’d gotten an
envelope with that eerily perfect handwriting. The air was stolen
from my lungs as my shaking hand lifted the haunting
letter.

He'd found me.

Chapter Two

My mind couldn’t focus the rest of the
day.

My body was jittery and hyper aware of
everything that happened within close proximity, and I jumped every
time the door opened to the office. I continually let my mind drift
and had to ask a potential client to repeat his questions and
comments several times throughout our meeting.

A bitter chill ran up and down my
spine from the mere thought of that stupid letter being in the same
state as me. The letters had stopped when I’d moved to Grand Rapids
a year ago. I thought I’d escaped them, but now that I was back in
my home state of Florida, too close to where it all started, I was
panicking.

“What time are you coming in
tomorrow?” Corey, the architect who shared the small office with
me, asked. I jolted in my seat, startled by his question. “Sorry,
didn’t mean to frighten you.”

I shook my head, putting on a smile as
I stood from my chair. “It’s fine, I was just focused. I’ll be in
around nine.” I nonchalantly grabbed the pile of mail, including
the tormenting letter. “See you tomorrow,” I mumbled as my heels
clicked on the gray laminate.

The humid Miami air hit me like a
freight train when I swung the door open. I loved the warmer
weather, but my oxygen supply was cut short at the moment. My brown
eyes were constantly moving as I made my way to my car. It was only
twenty feet from the office, but my anxiety was always on high
alert when those letters appeared.

My eyes skimmed inside the back of the
Lexus, my company car while I was staying in Miami, to make sure no
one was there. It was silly of me to think such a thing, he’d never
hide in my back seat. That wasn’t his style. He was way too
intelligent to go for the obvious.

Good thing I knew him well. Or maybe I
just hadn’t pissed him off enough yet. The entire ride home, I
massaged the front of my neck. It was a gesture that always soothed
me as long as it was my hand doing the massaging and no one
else.

My phone rang as I pulled
into my parking spot at the condo Conklin had provided for me, and
I nearly pissed myself. “
Jesus
!” I shouted as I hit my elbow
on the glass of the window.

I rubbed my elbow, furious with myself
for letting that stupid letter rile me.

“Hello?” I grumbled.

“Hey, is it a bad time?” Becca, my
very timid and concerned all the time best friend,
asked.

“No, I just got back to the condo.
What’s up?” I climbed out of my car, my purse close to my stomach.
Even though I was on the phone, I still scoped out the parking lot
as I scrambled to the entry door.

“Oh, you know, the usual,” she said
timidly. Her voice made me worry. Becca and Tyler were going
through an engagement rough patch. His father had committed
suicide, and Tyler didn’t express his feelings well enough for my
worry-wart of a best friend.

“Did you have another rough day?” I
asked, counting on her opening up to me. I could really use the
distraction.

“I’m flustered and worried about
Tyler. I never see him anymore, and he hasn’t talked to
me.”

“I know you’re sick of
hearing this, but he lost his dad, Becca. Yeah, they didn’t have
the best relationship, but sometimes that can make losing someone
harder. It’s not easy hearing good things about a person at their
funeral when you really couldn’t stand being around them. He’s
probably feeling guilty for thinking his dad was such an asshole.”
Tyler’s dad had been the owner of the Conklin business and was a
womanizing dick.
Explained why Mitch was
such a cocky bastard.

“I think you’re right. I don’t like
how he’s pushing me away.”

“Time, Becca. If he doesn’t shape up,
then you bring in the gauntlet. Threaten to leave,”

I said confidently. This was the
biggest difference between us, I was assertive and knew what I
wanted, where she thought too much.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far,”
she said shakily.

“I doubt it will. He’ll come around.
So I booked my flight from Miami to Chicago today for dress
shopping,” I said, changing the subject enthusiastically as I threw
my purse on the kitchen counter. I wasn’t going to bring up the
bachelor/bachelorette party Nathan and I were planning.

She giggled at my eagerness. “I’m
still impressed Nathan and Mitch are coming to Chicago that weekend
to get fitted.”

I gritted my teeth at the
sound of his name.
Mitch.
How had I let him get to me today? Anger always
seemed to help control my unstable attraction toward him. “I’m so
glad I get to walk down the aisle with Nathan and not Mitch. He
keeps texting me, and the man is driving me bonkers.”

“What’s he texting you?”

“He’s the king of sexual innuendos and
cheesy pick-up lines, ugh, and he won’t take the hint,” I grumbled
as I plopped down on the couch, kicking off my heels.

“Mitch is hilarious.” She laughed.
“You’ll have to show me them when we see each other.”

I slammed my head against
the back of the couch. “He’s not
hilarious
. He’s annoying as shit and
behaves like a high schooler.”

“Yes, but I think he’s grown up since
his dad died.”

“Not that I’ve seen,” I
snorted.