Chasing Him (Dark Love 4)

“Oh, he had um… some errands to do.”

“At eight o’clock in the evening?”

He nods, then swiftly changes the subject.

The sound around me drowns out as I swirl the food on my plate, unable to concentrate on anything but Julian. Why hasn’t he called me?

“You okay?” Charlie mouths over the table.

“Just tired,” I lie again.

Kate wipes her mouth, directing her conversation to me. “So, Adriana, tell us all about your trip to Sydney.”

All heads turn my way. Lex places his fork down, giving me his undivided attention.

“It’s a beautiful country. The weather is warm, and the people are friendly. The shop I looked at was to die for, just waiting on Charlie to read the fine print, and if all is well, I’m ready to sign.”

“What else did you do?” Charlie asks.

Julian, I want to say. My sadistic side is laughing like a lunatic at the thought.

“Spent most of my time in the city doing tourist stuff. Oh, I took some surf lessons at Bondi. The water is—”

Lex interrupts me. “You hate sports, Adriana. Anything athletic. What possessed you to do that?”

I roll my eyes at him. “Lex, surfing isn’t athletic. It’s something on my bucket list, plus the teacher was hot,” I add to make the lie more believable.

“Now you’re talking,” cheers Kate.

The ringing of my cell stops the conversation at the table. I lean into my purse and see his name flash on my screen. Lex is watching me intently as I grab my cell and excuse myself from the table, practically running outside.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” he replies.

There’s a lot of noise in the background, and I try to figure out where he is, but it slowly disappears.

“Where are you?”

“Publisher party.” His voice becomes clearer as he moves to a quieter environment. “Adriana, I miss you.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “I miss you, too. This week has been hard without you talking to me,” I admit.

“I’m sorry, I was a jerk. It’s been hard on me, too. I just… I am frustrated, you know?” he slurs his words.

“And drunk?” My conscience tells me not to ask if he’s high. He said that he wouldn’t touch that stuff again, and right now, I trust his word.

“Yeah, maybe a little. Adriana, I can’t stop thinking about you. How beautiful you are, the smell of your skin, the way your face glows when I’m inside you.” It may have been a drunken ramble, but it’s exactly what I need to hear. I know I’m blushing, and phone sex is super-hot when you’re not at your brother’s house.

“I, um…” I lower my voice and move further into the yard. “I can’t stop thinking about you. All of you. I’m shit at phone sex, but to make a long story short, when you’re back, you’re mine for at least the first twenty-four hours.”

He laughs. “You’re shit at phone sex, but knowing you want to fuck me for twenty-four hours straight satisfies me plenty.”

I hear the door creak open. Nikki has moved onto the verandah, prompting me to end my call.

“Listen, I gotta go. I’ll call you when I’m home, okay?”

“Okay, and Adriana?”