Allan mumbles to himself as he takes down the notes, repeating everything at a snail’s fucking pace. “Okay, I think I got it.”
“One more thing,” I remember suddenly. “She seemed to be running from something, or someone maybe. She came from the Deli on the corner heading West and ran into me in front of Maddox Corp. Can you try pulling some of the security footage around that area? I’d like to know if we can find out what she was running from.”
“Sure thing,” Allan replies cheerfully. Too cheerfully. He knows he can expect a big commission on this one, and I’m sure that’s why his day just got a whole lot brighter.
Chapter Three
Victoria
Four days have passed since I met Gabriel Maddox, and I still can’t believe it. Of all the men I could have crashed into in this city, it had to be him. The twenty-seven-year old heir to the Maddox Hotel Chain. For some reason, his face is always plastered in magazines and people consider him a big celebrity. I suspect it has more to do with his good looks than anything else. I don’t actually read the articles about him because they’ve never particularly interested me. People like the Maddox family might as well live on another planet because we’ve got nothing in common.
Work has been slow this week with only a few deliveries from the courier company, and nothing from the temp pool I’m signed up with. I try to keep myself busy by taking photos around the city, but I can’t seem to focus on anything. Since Gabriel touched my hand, I’ve pathetically found myself day dreaming about him. They are harmless fantasies, of course, but I can’t understand why I’m having them. I find the man completely appalling. He is arrogant and rude and exactly the kind of guy reckless me would go for. And I’m trying to keep her under wraps. Shows how pathetic I am, a little male attention and I want to throw myself at the guy. So much for not reverting back to my old ways.
I would be lying if I said I didn’t think he was attractive. The man is sexy as hell, but the fact that he knows it definitely detracts from that. He looks at everyone as if they are a bug to be squashed beneath his polished shoe. Then again, it could have just been my angle from the ground.
He looked intimidating all the way up there although I suppose that’s what he was going for. He stood before me like the perfect male specimen. Tall and virile with a lean muscular build, filling out his impeccably tailored suit with ease. His dark brown hair had been gelled into a style that leaned just on the edge of wild. But when he started running his hand through it, things really started to get crazy. It only made me think of what his hair would look like after sex, which wasn’t a good thought to have in that moment of weakness.
But what really got me were those eyes of his. I’m such a sucker for a bad boy with nice eyes. And he had them in spades. They seemed to change before me from icy blue to stormy gray. And I couldn’t help but think that his photographs in the magazines hadn’t done him justice. Or maybe I just never really paid that much attention before. I guess I can see why all the women go gaga for him.
Still, all the good looks in the world can’t make up for his shitty attitude. I giggle as I recall the way I talked to him that day. I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe he just really pissed me off, but either way I think he was as surprised by my outburst as I was. He just stood there, towering over me like he was King of New York. Looking at me like he wanted to rip my clothes off right there in the street. Or maybe that was just my imagination because the thought is ridiculous.
I am so not his type. From the little I’ve seen in the pictures, I’ve gathered as much. But still, I can’t dismiss the fact that he had that look in his eyes. It’s something I learned a long time ago, how to tell when a man wanted you. It might not sound like rocket science, but there are a lot less obvious clues than people might realize. And when you base your entire self-worth off a man’s affections, those things become important. Of course, that was reckless me.
I’m proud to say I’ve come a long way from my self-destructive ways. It helps that my best friend Alanna is always here to guide me too. She doesn’t tolerate any of my bullshit and has no problem telling me when I’m doing something stupid. With her help, I’ve gone two years without dating anyone.