Waiting for Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

pointer finger, concentrating on its contours.
     I didn’t even have to break a sweat to know that whatever he’d done was the reason
     her reservation had changed from two tenants to one...and he was the last thing she
     wanted to discuss.
    No problem. Any more talk of a man who brought my tiny gladiator to her knees would
     result in using my resources to make his life hell.
    “How about you?” She broke the silence. “What happened with you and Delilah?”
    I wanted to discuss Delilah James even less, but she’d opened up to me. Picked at
     a fresh wound; I could do the same. “First off, there was no me and Delilah.” I looked
     out at the water, blue and gray and crystal. I backtracked to the night I met the
     celebrity darling. “My company, Mason Acquisitions, was holding a charity benefit.
     My marketing coordinator had been teasing a special celebrity guest, and the room
     went wild when Delilah strutted onto the stage.”
    I remembered the slinky red number that clung to every curve, the coy little smile
     on her lips. She’d sought me out, fucked me with her dark brown eyes. That night I
     had her in the bathroom, wrists bound with my tie as I fucked her until she couldn’t
     walk straight. That memory should have made me hard as a rock, but time and drama
     drained all pleasure from every tryst we’d ever shared.
    “What we had was purely physical—”
    “But you were photographed out,” Melissa insisted, still tracing that damn circle.
     It was as if she was trying to convince herself that she was right about me. Conveniently
     not looking into my eyes to maintain her grip on her confirmation bias. “You were
     clearly more than just fuck buddies.”
    “Because some tabloid said so? Please,” I scoffed. “It’s in their best interest to
     sell their product, scoops on the famous. And who wouldn’t buy an ‘exclusive’ on the
     billionaire and the A-list actress?”
    She stopped her rotation. “So you two just hooked up.”
    “That’s right,” I nodded, even though she’d never know it since she’d turned her attention
     back to the water. I followed the line of her jaw, the stubborn set of it unyielding.
     “Lunch, dinner, drinks–all of the above can be enjoyed by friends, despite popular
     opinion.”
    “But you’re not friends anymore.”
    “Correct,” I said bluntly. “Our arrangement suited both parties just fine until she
     asked for more. I distanced myself and that’s when I discovered letting Delilah James
     in my life was an error, to say the least.” A colossal fuck up was closer to the truth.
     She started showing up at my office and my home, unannounced. Her calls and texts
     became incessant. I ignored my legal counsel when they suggested a restraining order,
     and then she released the Kraken...her legion of bloodthirsty fans. Texts, calls,
     even one package with white powder that forced us to evacuate Mason Acquisitions headquarters.
     Even though it ended up being flour, the damage was done.
    “So you really don’t do relationships?” Melissa asked gingerly. “Not ever.”
    Her face flitted through my mind. Not Delilah, her . A slice from my past that choked my heart.
    “I don’t do relationships anymore. Didn’t .” I corrected quickly as Melissa’s eyes narrowed. I put the past back where it belonged—behind
     me. The pull of Melissa was as strong as the waves that rushed to meet the sand. I
     brushed her hair from her eyes. “With you, things are different.”
    She nuzzled my hand, then squeezed her eyes shut and pulled away. “I’m a challenge,
     or a novelty since I’m nothing like the women you usually dat–” She paused. “Fuck.”
    “I admit, you are quite the challenge.” She popped her eyes open, murder in the bright
     blue things, but a reluctant smile was on her lips. Her smile burned brighter than
     the sun. I wanted to stand in its light and let everything else fade away. She moved
     her hand back to the sand, ready to pick