Libby’s eyes widened. “Wait—he knows where you are?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess? I mean he found the phone number, should be pretty easy to find the office from there. Ugh I hate that he makes me feel like this. He still has such a hold on me.”
“Joanna, this sounds serious,” Libby said, her brow lowering. “You’ve got to do something. You have to say something. Zander sounds unstable. You don’t want someone like him coming back into your life. You need to tell Tobias.”
“I know, but…”
“But what?”
“Tobias, my brother has been so good to me, I don’t want him to wind up in the middle of this. I never even told Zander about Tobias and his business, and I sure as hell don’t want him to ever find out. I just don’t want Tobias ever getting caught in the middle of this insanity.”
“That’s understandable, but Joanna, your safety is at stake! This isn’t something to take lightly.”
I shook my head, knowing Libby was right, but remaining in denial. I didn’t want to think about it. I wanted it all to go away like a bad dream. “I’m probably just exaggerating,” I said, although my voice sounded lackluster.
“Joanna, do yourself a favor and please at least call the cops.”
I swallowed nervously, not liking the sound of that at all. Calling the police would make it all seem too real, and I still wanted to hold on to the hope that it was all a bad dream that would end soon.
I forced a smile onto my face, this time succeeding. “No, I don’t need to do that. Zander won’t come. He was just bluffing. He’s all talk. It’s nothing really. I’ll be fine.” I stood up, pulling my hand away from Libby’s. “Thank you for your concern anyway, though.”
And then I left the room.
CHAPTER 9
Anderson
I left work, fully intending to behave myself. But the very moment I stepped into my apartment, images of Joanna filled my mind so thoroughly that I could think of nothing but her touch and how badly I wanted to feel her again. Not even the threat of Tobias could shake her from my mind, which was startling in its own right.
There had been plenty of women in my past—too many to even consciously remember. Yet I was fairly certain I had never felt yearnings for them as intensely as I felt for Joanna, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. On one hand, I supposed it had something to do with the fact that she was supposed to be off limits to me; I’d always been the kind of man who liked a challenge, and there was something infinitely appealing about the forbidden. As my best friend’s sister, Joanna was definitely forbidden, which was part of the reason I wanted her so badly.
But there was another part of me that painstakingly thought there was more to it than that.
After last night, I honestly could have considered Joanna a mission accomplished. So why then, was I so desperate to be in her presence again? My habit of tossing women into bed and then being done with them afterwards wasn’t exactly commendable, yet most women who got involved with me knew what they were getting into. Almost everyone knew I wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted to seriously settle down. I liked playing the field too much.
But when it came to Joanna, however…
Something just felt different, and frankly, I was afraid to contemplate it too much for fear that I would have to face a realization I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.
After changing out of my work clothes, I grabbed myself a beer and settled down on my couch, trying unsuccessfully to push Joanna from my mind. But naturally, I had no such luck. I kept thinking about her soft skin and curly hair. Her tasty lips. Her scent. Her gorgeous gray eyes and the sound of her voice. Her small but supple body in my arms…
Resigning, I grabbed my cell phone, my fingers automatically scrolling through my list of contacts for her name.
“Hello?”
My cock throbbed at the simple sound of her voice on the other line.
“Hey Joanna,” I said.
There was a brief pause before she spoke again. “Hi, Anderson.”
“I was just thinking about you,” I said. “Um…are you busy?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Would you like to come over for dinner at my place? I can cook up something for us.”
There was another pause, this one a little longer than the first one. “Sure,” she finally said.