Page 14 of Operation Annulment (Silent Phoenix MC)
thirteen
Kate
“ K aty girl, you’ve been avoiding me for—let’s see—seventeen days, eighteen hours, and forty-seven minutes, give or take. I know why you left, but I’m asking that you at least hear me out before walking away for good. Please…”
I listen to the voicemail while gathering up my things to leave for the day, ignoring the painful tightness in my throat. It’s one of countless he’s left in the weeks since I left, but I’m not ready to talk.
Still, it doesn’t stop me from replaying his voicemails over and over like a masochist. It’s like I can’t help but rip the scabs off and let myself bleed out all over again.
I’ve almost made it to the door when my office phone rings from my desk, forcing me to turn back. “Hello?”
“Your five-thirty is here,” the office manager chirps. “As soon as he’s finished filling out his paperwork, I’ll send him up.”
“Five thirty?” I echo with a frown. Are you sure it’s mine, Stacy? I didn’t see anything on my calendar.
“I added him in yesterday after Carla called to cancel. It should have synced to your calendar and sent you a reminder, but maybe there was a glitch in the system. The poor guy’s been trying to get in for weeks, so it was perfect timing.”
“Let me check,” I murmur, pulling my cell phone from my purse. “Yep, here it is. Chris Brander. I don’t know how I missed it.”
So much for my regularly scheduled sob fest while listening to Celine Dion in the car.
I unpack my things, trying to pinpoint why the name sounds so familiar.
Chris Brander… Chris Brander… Chris— that conniving bastard!
Chris Brander is the main character from the movie Just Friends .
Nate’s favorite movie.
Before I can buzz Stacy to tell her to cancel, the door opens, and Nate walks in, looking hotter than any man has a right to in his solid black suit.
“Hey,” he says as he folds himself into the armchair I typically sit in.
I stay behind my desk, praying that it hides my wobbling legs. “You know I can’t actually counsel you, right? Fake name or not, it just wouldn’t be right.”
He nods and leans forward to rest his forearms on his thighs. “I know, but I needed to see you. You won’t take my calls?—”
“Because there’s nothing to say, Nate.” My voice cracks at the end, and I swallow hard, refusing to let him see me fall apart.
“There will always be something to say when it comes to us,” he argues before taking a deep breath. “
I can’t. If I admit that overhearing him on the phone with his ex-wife was only part of why I left, I’ll also have to tell him about my family drama.
Like my sister being arrested and having to reach out to my estranged mother for bail money only to learn she’s in deep with the local biker gang.
Nope. I am nowhere near ready for that conversation.
There would be a Nate-sized hole in my office door before I even got to the part about Thor being an undercover cop who was investigating Dakota the entire time she thought they were dating.
“I’ve been a little busy,” I finally say, which is technically accurate. “And I don’t have the mental capacity to work out whatever we had between us. I just can’t focus on that right now.”
“Have.”
My brows furrow. “What?”
“Whatever we have between us. I’m here now,” he says before glancing at his watch. “And I’ve got an hour and a half to hear anything you want to tell me.”
He gestures for me to sit down, but I shake my head. “Nate, I can’t. My time is reserved for paying patients.”
“Oh, I’m paying for this,” he mutters dryly, the corner of his lip lifting in a slight smile. “I’ve been paying for it since I met you.”
“I’m not a whore.”
“Jesus, Kate. I didn’t mean it like that.” He rakes a hand over his face with an exasperated groan. “I don’t think you’re a whore, but I would like you to hear me out.”
“Fine,” I bite out. “The floor is yours for the next hour and a half.”
“Will you at least sit down?”
“You’re in my seat.”
Nate briefly closes his eyes as if praying before moving to the couch. “How about now?”
I sit and cross my arms over my chest, pretending the heat left behind from his skin doesn’t make my pulse flutter. “Go.”
He nods before looking down at his hands. “Taking a call from my ex-wife was quite literally the stupidest thing I’ve done. Believe me, I’ve already gotten an earful from my family, and I regret hurting you like that.”
“So you didn’t pick her up?” I ask, pinching my lips together to keep them from trembling.
“I did,” he admits with a grimace. “But I swear, nothing happened. ”
I lift my chin. “Yeah, I’m not interested in sharing. Been there, done that, and gotten the emotional baggage as a souvenir.”
Nate moves around to sit on the coffee table in front of me before reaching for my hands. “Give me another chance. Let me prove to you that there’s no one else.”
He nudges my legs apart with his knees, forcing my skirt up toward my hips. Instead of putting some distance between us or calling for a time-out, I close my eyes and breathe in his scent.
I pride myself on my ability to stay in control, yet I feel like a ship caught in a hurricane he’s around—entirely at the mercy of his waves.
His hands move over my arms as if trying to warm me up. The proximity is making my brain short-circuit. All the reasons for staying away from him seem ridiculous and petty when his face is inches from mine.
My downfall comes dressed in a suit and smelling like sandalwood. I try to remember what I’d planned to say to him when I first walked in, but my mind goes blank.
I wrap myself around his torso, pulling him closer. “I want you.”
No. Bad Kate.
“Is that a yes?” he asks, tracing my knuckles with his thumbs.
“Yes.” My tongue darts out to lick my dry lips, and his eyes narrow in on the movement.
“Fuck, Katy girl,” he murmurs. “It’s taking everything in me not to spread you out across your desk.” His lips curve into a sly grin. “But that would be wrong.”
The image of him taking me on my desk short-circuits my brain and leaves me aching with need. I wrap my fingers around the end of his tie and tug him forward to whisper, “Show me.”