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Simon knocked back his second drink and put the coin in his front pocket. It wouldn’t leave his possession until he could give it back to her. Personally.
Grabbing his cell phone, Simon dialed his security manager, Hoffman. He answered on the second ring.
“Are you tailing her?” he asked his security chief gruffly, not bothering with niceties.
“Of course. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but she seems settled for the night. Good neighborhood, decent house. Belongs to a Dr. Reynolds,” Hoffman informed him.
“She left. Keep a team on her twenty-four-seven. I want to know if she sneezes.”
“Okay, boss. Will do.”
Simon disconnected with a sigh. Obviously she had gone to stay with her friend, Maddie. She’d be okay there. For now.
He had never told Kara, but she had been guarded every moment of every day since the incident at the clinic had occurred. Hoffman’s team ran in shifts, always watching, always ready. The police had never caught the junkies who had shot at her and robbed the clinic, and Simon wasn’t willing to take any chances. Kara had seen their faces, had helped with composite drawings. Until the assholes were caught, she needed to be safe. Simon needed to know that she would be okay.
Every instinct, every cell in his body was screaming at him to go after her, to drag her back over his shoulder if necessary. He wanted to, but he couldn’t win her over that way. The incident with Sam had obviously upset her. Giving her some time would help. Hauling her back would only settle the problem for a short time, and Simon wasn’t in this for the short haul. He needed Kara, had to have her forever. Anything less was unthinkable.
If someone had told him several weeks ago that he would meet a woman he couldn’t live without, he would have laughed until his ribs hurt. But he wasn’t laughing now. Kara had become his life, and he couldn’t even think about going on without her.
What kind of life had he lived before her? As he thought about all of the women he had fucked in the past, he frowned. Women who had to get half-drunk and be offered expensive gifts, just to give their bodies to him. They had been empty experiences, women who tolerated him for his money. They may have temporarily satisfied his urge to get off, but they had left him with a huge emptiness that he had never even thought about before he met Kara. Now that he knew what it felt like to be with a woman who actually wantedhim, he acknowledged that he could never go back. He needed Kara as much as he needed the air that he breathed. God knew, he didn’t deserve her, but he would have her.
Forcing himself to his bedroom, he stripped out of his clothes and headed for the bed. Turning around abruptly, he headed back to the pile of clothing on the floor and fished in the pocket of his pants. Pulling out the coin that Kara had given him, he kept it in his grasp and slid into bed, not sure if he could even sleep, but longing for some sort of oblivion.
Having Kara gone was the ultimate torture. The house was too quiet, too empty. Her presence had been palpable since she had first arrived and now he could feel only the ghost of her essence, echoes of her laugh.
Sliding the coin under his pillow, Simon flopped onto his back, already restless. He prayed for sleep to take him away…but God must have been busy because he lay awake most of the night, trying to decide the best way to get Kara back.
He would get her back. That was the only option. It was just a matter of figuring out how to accomplish his goal.
Dawn was breaking before he slipped into a troubled sleep, visions of Kara tormenting him in his dreams.
Kara pulled the heavy wooden door of the restaurant manager’s office closed behind her and leaned against it with a heavy, broken sigh. It was her eleventh interview in the last ten days, all of which had been a complete waste of time, and this one hadn’t gone any better. No one wanted to hire a student who was only a few months away from graduation. No restaurant wanted a waitress who was likely to leave within six months for a position in her chosen profession. While Kara couldn’t blame the prospective employers for their judgment, she really needed a freaking job.
The familiar sounds of clanging dishes, barking cooks, and sharp-tongued servers filtered through her mind as she took yet another walk of shame through the back halls of another restaurant that wasn’t willing to take her on as even a part-time employee.
Okay, it wasn’t as if she would starve. She still had ten grand in her bank account, the loan she had given herself from Simon. Biting her lip as the pain of thinking about him crashed over her, she exited the main door of the restaurant, letting herself lean against the cool brick exterior to gather her thoughts after the disastrous interview.
Actually, she had more than ten thousand dollars in her account. Nine days ago, on her birthday, Simon had sent several delivery men and a messenger to Maddie’s home with all of the items that she had left behind. The delivery guys had been loaded with her belongings, all of which had been purchased by Simon, and the messenger came bearing several dozen red roses and an envelope with a note.
Kara,
I am returning your check. Please accept the money as a birthday present from me and don’t fight with the delivery people. They have been instructed to put the items wherever you want them or leave them on the doorstep. As they work for me, they will follow instructions.
I’m sorry about what happened with Sam. Please come home.
Happy Birthday. I wish we could spend it together.
Yours,
Simon
Kara choked back a sob and rubbed unconsciously at her upper thigh, feeling the stiff paper of his note that was resting in her front pocket.
I’m going to have to talk to him.
Kara had hoped that giving herself a little time might help her feel more grounded, less mired in depression. But it wasn’t working. Every day she didn’t see Simon seemed like an eternity, and she was just fooling herself if she thought that a week or two would help her get over her longing for him. If anything, she sank deeper into the darkness as each day passed.
I have to talk to him. Make him take my check. Work out terms to repay what I borrowed. Return the things he bought.