about their upbringing or education. I wasn’t the man she assumed I was.
But maybe I should just leave Marcie alone. She’d been through enough without me trying to take advantage of her. If I pressed it, she may feel like she doesn’t have a choice. For the moment, she was reliant on me and pursuing anything with her would be highly immoral.
There had to be a way to make this work, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure it out. My head pounded; I was exhausted, my body even more so. A shower and a good night’s sleep would help me think my way out of this. Well, a shower, a drink, and a good night’s sleep.
I took the fastest shower known to man, barely able to move enough to clean myself, and poured myself a drink as I toweled off. I carried the drink as far as my nightstand, but the moment my head hit the pillow I was asleep.
It had been many years since I’d last left a glass of liquor untouched. Even more years since I woke up after eight solid hours of sleep. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d slept without a nightmare. As embarrassing as that is to admit for a man in his thirties.
My first waking thoughts were of Marcie. I glanced at the clock and realized it was afternoon and cursed. I didn’t mean to sleep so late. I could only imagine how confused and timid she was when she first woke up. I hoped that she got breakfast and was finding ways to entertain herself in my absence.
I yawned and stretched, hissing at the sharp pain in my side. I examined my injury, frowning at the dark bruise like that would scare it away. I didn’t care about being hurt, but I could think of a few people that would lecture me for it.
Speaking of which, I grabbed my phone, preparing myself for the disaster I was going to find.
20 missed calls. 35 new text messages. 5 new voicemails.
“Jesus, Tanner,” I griped, not bothering to listen to any of the messages before calling him back.
“Oh, you’re alive,” he answered. His voice sounded like an echo.
“Yeah, of course I am.”
My bedroom door opened and Tanner stepped through, hanging up the phone.
“Well, it’s not like you’d tell me about your funeral or anything.”
I rolled my eyes, getting dressed quickly.
“Whoever let you in here is fired.”
His warm rich laughter made me smile and eased his tension.
“You wouldn’t fire Clara even if you were dirt poor,” he teased.
I made a show of frowning.
“Damn. You got me there. Why are you here?”
“Did you listen to any of those messages I left you?”
“No. I never do. I know you’ll just tell me everything again anyway.” I could tell by the twitch in his jaw that he wanted to hit me. He might’ve done it if it weren’t for the giant purple splotch covering half of my body.
“I got a lead. A real lead,” he added after seeing my incredulous look.
“I’m not interested today.” I buttoned up my shirt and tried to make myself look half-way presentable. I knew I should shave, but that was only one more thing keeping me from seeing Marcie.
I wanted to know how she’d slept. I wanted to make sure that she was okay. That she wasn’t the fabulous creation of my cruel imagination. I needed to know that she was real and really here and not leaving before I had my chance. Yes, I’d decided not to pursue her, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make her want to pursue me.
“Since when are you not interested in a lead?”
I shot him a warning look. He didn’t heed the warning.
“Oh, right, since little miss superhero fell into your lap. It’s not like you to just forget about everything for a woman, Bryce.”
“Weren’t you just telling me yesterday that I needed to drop this whole search thing?”
“This is different. You’re exchanging one obsession for another. You don’t know anything about this girl and you’re letting her turn your life upside down.”
My hand clenched against my will. I knew he didn’t mean it. He didn’t have anything against Marcie;
But maybe I should just leave Marcie alone. She’d been through enough without me trying to take advantage of her. If I pressed it, she may feel like she doesn’t have a choice. For the moment, she was reliant on me and pursuing anything with her would be highly immoral.
There had to be a way to make this work, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure it out. My head pounded; I was exhausted, my body even more so. A shower and a good night’s sleep would help me think my way out of this. Well, a shower, a drink, and a good night’s sleep.
I took the fastest shower known to man, barely able to move enough to clean myself, and poured myself a drink as I toweled off. I carried the drink as far as my nightstand, but the moment my head hit the pillow I was asleep.
It had been many years since I’d last left a glass of liquor untouched. Even more years since I woke up after eight solid hours of sleep. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d slept without a nightmare. As embarrassing as that is to admit for a man in his thirties.
My first waking thoughts were of Marcie. I glanced at the clock and realized it was afternoon and cursed. I didn’t mean to sleep so late. I could only imagine how confused and timid she was when she first woke up. I hoped that she got breakfast and was finding ways to entertain herself in my absence.
I yawned and stretched, hissing at the sharp pain in my side. I examined my injury, frowning at the dark bruise like that would scare it away. I didn’t care about being hurt, but I could think of a few people that would lecture me for it.
Speaking of which, I grabbed my phone, preparing myself for the disaster I was going to find.
20 missed calls. 35 new text messages. 5 new voicemails.
“Jesus, Tanner,” I griped, not bothering to listen to any of the messages before calling him back.
“Oh, you’re alive,” he answered. His voice sounded like an echo.
“Yeah, of course I am.”
My bedroom door opened and Tanner stepped through, hanging up the phone.
“Well, it’s not like you’d tell me about your funeral or anything.”
I rolled my eyes, getting dressed quickly.
“Whoever let you in here is fired.”
His warm rich laughter made me smile and eased his tension.
“You wouldn’t fire Clara even if you were dirt poor,” he teased.
I made a show of frowning.
“Damn. You got me there. Why are you here?”
“Did you listen to any of those messages I left you?”
“No. I never do. I know you’ll just tell me everything again anyway.” I could tell by the twitch in his jaw that he wanted to hit me. He might’ve done it if it weren’t for the giant purple splotch covering half of my body.
“I got a lead. A real lead,” he added after seeing my incredulous look.
“I’m not interested today.” I buttoned up my shirt and tried to make myself look half-way presentable. I knew I should shave, but that was only one more thing keeping me from seeing Marcie.
I wanted to know how she’d slept. I wanted to make sure that she was okay. That she wasn’t the fabulous creation of my cruel imagination. I needed to know that she was real and really here and not leaving before I had my chance. Yes, I’d decided not to pursue her, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make her want to pursue me.
“Since when are you not interested in a lead?”
I shot him a warning look. He didn’t heed the warning.
“Oh, right, since little miss superhero fell into your lap. It’s not like you to just forget about everything for a woman, Bryce.”
“Weren’t you just telling me yesterday that I needed to drop this whole search thing?”
“This is different. You’re exchanging one obsession for another. You don’t know anything about this girl and you’re letting her turn your life upside down.”
My hand clenched against my will. I knew he didn’t mean it. He didn’t have anything against Marcie;
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