CHAPTER 2

Tony

Another night, another party. Don't get me wrong, I love parties just as much as the next man but going to them night after night can put stress on anyone's body. My head was still throbbing from last nights one. Boy, had that been a party! I'd had so many drinks that I couldn't even remember some parts of the night. Rarely did that happen to me. Amazingly, I'd woken up alone so that meant I didn't take anyone home with me. But that might change tonight. Hot girls always attended these business parties.

I pulled my favourite blue shirt out from the closet and quickly buttoned it up. After that came a black jacket and bow tie. As I tied up my bow, I tried to imagine someone doing it for me. Like a wife. I found myself staring into the mirror for a few minutes before I shook myself from those thoughts. I didn't know what was causing them, but for the past few months I'd been feeling lonely. And it was a lonely feeling that wouldn't be fixed by a few one night stands (I'd tried but it didn't work). That had led me to start thinking about what my life would be like if I stopped sleeping around and actually tried to have a proper relationship with a women. I would have to find the perfect women but I just couldn't see that happening.

I closed the closet door, ran a hand through my hair and picked up my phone from my bedside table. As I exited my room, I turned right but my gaze fell upon the end of the hallway. Ugh. Ever since I moved into this new house I'd been doing that. It had been almost a month since I moved in here but I was still turning right. It was annoying but the house was so damn good I was just going to have to get use to it. I turned left and walked down the stairs. The view from this place was amazing. Every morning I woke up to views of the beach and every night I got an amazing sunset. Plus this place had the best garage. Huge. All my cars could fit inside plus I still had more than half the room left over. It cost over $16 million dollars but it was worth every penny. But the place seemed empty. I'd been thinking over the idea of creating an Artificial Intelligence system for the place.

I checked my watch and saw that I was late. Really late. I jumped down the steps two at a time and pushed in my new code for the garage door. It opened with a little beep and I quickly entered. Most of my cars were already parked and gleaming brightly but there were a few empty spots which I was eager to fill with some new ones. I stood there for a second, admiring them all before I unlocked my Saleen S7 and revved her engine. It sounded beautiful.

Within a few minutes I was flying down the freeway, well above the speed limit. Horns beeped as usual but I continued at my speed until I'd reached my destination. As I pulled up out front, a valet ran up to the side of the car. I chucked the keys to him as I emerged from the car and headed for the door. The moment the press realised who had arrived, the flashing bulbs began. I smiled and inclined my head towards them but sped up my pace. Soon I was at the front door and strolling through. The security guard knew better to stop and check my ID.

The sight of the dance floor and talking couples was all too familiar. My eyes instantly scanned the crowd in search of any good looking women. There was quite a few but I decided to get a drink first. My mood for partying was suddenly gone.

I pushed through the crowd, ignoring the people that tried to make me stop and talk. I didn't care about seeming rude. I just wanted a drink. Relief swam through me as the bar came into my view. And luckily for me there were only a few people waiting. After only a minute my vodka shot was handed to me, Thank God. I downed it quickly and asked for another. As I threw my head back and felt the burn of the alcohol as it went down my throat, something caught my eye. I set the shot glass down upon the bar and search for what had caught my attention. That's when I saw her. I wasn't one to believe in the whole "Love at first sight" crap, but there was definitely something about her that had stirred an emotion deep down inside him.

She had a drink in her hand (looked like mineral water) and was leaning up against the wall, almost as if she was bored. She was the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She was wearing a figure hugging blue dress, her blonde hair was up in a bun and as she scanned the room, I saw her eyes were a piercing, crystal blue. She was stunning.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I was leaning against the wall beside her. "Well, hello beautiful," I was surprised at how smooth and level my voice was. Inside I was a mess. No woman had ever done this to me before. I watched as she looked to see who had spoken, her eyes widening when she realised who I was. But a second later her face was neutral, not showing any emotion.

"Hi." Her response was brief and curt. Her gaze went from my face back to the crowd. I began to wonder why she didn't want to talk to me. By now, most women would be tripping over themselves to even look at me. But that fact that she wasn't only made me more determined to get her.

"Why is someone as pretty as yourself standing here alone?" I prayed that she didn't have a boyfriend. Even if she did, I wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Because I don't want to dance," She barely glanced over at me as she answered . I studied her closely as she kept her eyes from looking anywhere but my face. It was clear she wanted me to leave but I didn't. I grinned to her as she looked my way and shuffled closer to her, still resting my shoulder against the wall.

"How about if you dance with me?" I was using all of my charm now, but she looked as uninterested as she had a second before.

"No, thanks." She replied, repositioning herself ever so slightly. Now her body angled away from me.

Okay, this wasn't going like I planned. Why was she so uninterested in me? I didn't get it. I was good looking, smart, rich, great in bed. What else did she want? Her resisting me only made me want her more. But there was this unknown feeling inside me. I didn't want her just for a one night stand. I wanted to get to know everything about her. I didn't know what was happening to me. Why was I feeling this way?

"What is your name?" I asked her as I moved to stand in front of her, forcing her gaze upon me. I stared into her amazing blue eyes. They reminded me of the ocean.

"Clare Adams." Clare...what a beautiful name. It suited her perfectly.

I opened my mouth to tell her mine (Of course she already knew) but before I could even get two words out, she had cut across me. No one had ever done that before.

"Anthony Stark. I know," The way my name rolled off her tongue sent shivers up my spine. And why did she call me Anthony? Everyone called me Tony. The only person to ever call me Anthony was...my mother.

I grinned at her. It was in that moment that I resolved that I would not rest until she agreed to go out with me.

"You can call me Tony. Would you be interested in going out to dinner some time?"

I watched her sigh and picked herself up from leaning against the wall. "No, I am not interested in going out to dinner with you. Go find some other floozy to pick up," And with that she put her glass on a table and stalked off.

I could feel the shocked written all over my face. No one had ever said that to me before. At least not before I slept with them. After they realised I wasn't ever going to call them...well that's when the rude names began.

But this girl was different. And I liked it. And no matter how many things she called me, I wasn't going to give up.

Just as she left, someone else took her place. A small woman with long red hair was grinning up to me, battering her eyelashes. I tried to at least smile but that was a hard thing to do right now. Instead I simply spun around and headed for the bar, again. After two more vodka shots and bourbon I was done. Normally I would have drunk at least three times that before I stopped but I didn't want to be drunk tonight. Not if Clare was here. I wanted to impress her and judging by her drink, she didn't drink a lot of alcohol. I kind of admired her for that. A lot of woman these days were getting pissed off their faces and it wasn't a good look for them. Granted, I did get drunk a lot but it looked worse on a woman.

I began to run ideas through my mind. What would make Clare say yes to me? Money? Clothes? Jewellery? Probably not. She didn't seem like that kinda girl. And that's exactly what I like about her. If she was with me, I would know it wasn't just because she wanted my money.

I sighed. I had to do something but what?

I'd barely spoken to this girl for 5 minutes and I couldn't get her out of my mind.

I began walking around the vast room, hoping for a glimpse of Clare. With the amount of people in this room, it seemed unlikely. My spirits began to dip. All of a sudden, all I wanted to do was leave. I'd barely been at this party for half an hour and I already wanted to go. I didn't know what was happening to me. Normally if a girl rejected me (which was VERY rare) I'd just move on to the next girl. But Clare had definitely rejected me and now I wanted to go home, to what? Sulk?

I was angry at myself now.

A sigh of relief escaped my lips as the door came into view. I immediately made a bee-line for it. Just when I thought I was home free, a familiar voice pulled me back.

"Get your hands off me! Let me go!" Clare's voice was full of panic and anger. As I spun around, the only thing I saw was a drunken idiot with his hands around Clare. Anger instantly flared up inside me. I wanted to go over there and punch the guys' lights out. His arm was wrapped around Clare's waist and from the looks of it, he was holding on tight. Tight enough to hurt Claire because her face was twisted in pain.

I marched up to the drunken man and grabbed his wrist in a tight hold. I resisted the urge to just snap his wrist, it would be so much easier. "Let her go now."

The man looked up in surprise but his expression quickly turned to fear as he saw the rage on my face. After a moment he removed his hand from Clare's waist he took a step forward. "Fine! Let go of my wrist man!"

For a moment I thought about punching his face but as my eyes flickered slightly to Clare, I released his wrist from my grasp. I didn't want to do anything like scare her or make her think I'm an even bigger idiot than she already thought I was.

"Leave. Now." My voice was dripping with fury. I was still suppressing the urge to beat him into the ground. The man opened his mouth to retort but he snapped it back shut and turned to leave, not before giving me one last glare. I returned it with one of my own.

We both watched him leave the building as I tried to calm down before I spoke to Clare. Seeing that man with his hands all over Clare had clicked something inside me. Primal instincts to protect the one you love. Wait...? Did I just say I loved Clare? I meant like. But still, seeing another man's hands on Clare, even if she wanted it, would drive me crazy.

"Are you alright?" I asked gently, gazing down into her eyes.

"Uh...yeah," She replied, gingerly looking down at her wrist. I guess he grabbed her there first before he went for her waist. Damn it. If I'd just been quicker then that wouldn't have happened. "Thank you Tony. Umm...sorry if I was a bit rude to you earlier,"

I tried not to smile. Only someone as nice as her would apologize to me. Most people came back to yell and insult some more, not apologize. A few strands of her hair had come loose as she struggled with the man and I resisted the urge to lean in close and push them behind her ear.

I shrugged with a grin. "Don't worry about it."

I wondered if she'd accept my dinner date if I offered again. As if she had read my thoughts, she fixed her dress and smiled to me. "Well, I really have to be going. Thank you again Tony."

Before I even opened my mouth, she had turned on her heel and was exiting the building. As I watched her retreating figure, several things ran through my mind. Should I call out to her? Should I go out after her?

But it was too late. She had descended down the steps, out of sight. I remembered the drunken man who had left only a minute before she had. My feet were instantly in motion, running towards the door. But as I looked out onto the street, I saw Clare safe and sound as she hailed down and slid into the back seat of a taxi. I watched her mouth move as she said her destination and the taxi began to pull away from the curb. Before it drove out of sight, I caught a glimpse of something on Clare's face. She looked...disappointed. Why would she be disappointed? Had she wanted me to go after her? Maybe I'd seen wrong in the darkness. She'd rejected me, why would she be disappointed?

I sighed. This night sure as hell didn't go as I'd planned. But I couldn't help but think maybe I'd gotten something more tonight. I'd met Clare, and that seemed to be one of the best things that had happened to me lately. Sure, she didn't see it that way, but one day she would. I wasn't going to give up.

I walked down the steps swiftly and approached the valet. He instantly ran off to fetch my car. I had barely been standing on the curb for 20 seconds when someone approached me.

"Tony! How are you?" A busty blonde in a tight red dress was standing there smiling at me. A second later she took a step forward and twisted a lock of her hair around her index finger. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. I hated to disappoint her but she wasn't gunna get any from me. Only one woman was on my mind.

"Good...Kristy?" I knew for a fact her name was Sarah, I just wanted her to leave as possible and this was the best way to do it.

"Sarah." She said, her face falling slightly. But she stepped even closer until our bodies were touching. She than ran her hands up and down my chest while grinning up at me. My patience was wearing thin but luckily my Saleen S7 came around the corner in the next second. Relief flooded through me.

"Sorry, Selma but I have to go." I smiled warmly and extracted myself, stepping away from her. The valet exited my car and I pulled out a twenty to tip him.

From the sidewalk I heard her whine, "It's Sarah!" I tried not to laugh. People really had to learn when its time to give up. Before I started my car, I glanced over to see Sarah stalking off back inside the building. A bark of laughter escaped my lips before my car roared into life and my foot hit the gas pedal.

I took it slower on the way back. I wanted more time to think. How could I convince Clare to go on a date with me? She wasn't like any other girl I'd met. I'd have to approach this differently. Instead of trying to charm and woo her, I'd have to show I was a gentleman. She'd heard all the stories about me and that probably is what is keeping her from saying yes to me. She didn't want to be a one night stand, there and gone. Many girls didn't care if that was all they were. But she did care and I respected her for that. I just had to show her I wanted her to be more than that. I can't explain why I was sure I wanted more from her, I didn't know why, I just knew I did. So I couldn't just jump into bed with her, or expect her to jump into bed with me. I'd only had a few, very short relationships in my life so I didn't really know how to show and treat a woman who I actually wanted to see again. But I'd have to learn quickly. Flowers, I know women like flowers. Maybe that was the first step in my plan.

Soon I was over my thinking and was back to speeding down the freeway. Luckily I was less than 2 miles from my house. I was anxious to start on my Get Clare to go Out With Me plan. As I pulled into my garage, I was glad to see that I'd remembered to setup all my computers last week. They were a crucial part of my plan.

Hurriedly, I parked my S7 and was out the door in the next second. I switched on one of my many computers. I was glad I'd reprogrammed it to boot up instantly because I didn't feel like waiting tonight. I wanted to get started on this A.S.A.P. As my desktop screen popped up, I double clicked on the internet icon. I decided the best place to start was the easiest place; Google.

As I typed in 'Clare Adams' into the search engine, I began to worry slightly. What if I found something I didn't want to know. What if she was really 40 years old with good Botox? What if she was an ex con who had just gotten out of jail after being sentence for murder? What if she was a man?

Okay, now I was letting my imagination run wild a bit. I'm sure Clare is a nice ordinary woman with no skeletons in her closet. At least, I hope she was.

Amazingly, Google had no results. Well, it had no results on the Clare Adams I was looking for. That was odd. Normally you could find someone's address and even sometimes phone number on Google. She had no facebook, no myspace, no twitter. Nothing. Okay that was weird. Even I had a facebook page, granted, I hardly even went on it, but I still had one.

I sat there for a second, deciding what I had to do. I didn't really want to hack into any databases like the FBI but if that was the only way I was going to get information, then so be it.

It wasn't long until I was reading Clare's page on the FBI secret database. And the things I read made my blood boil.