Chapter 9
(2 days ago)
379 Remsen Street Apt 18B, Brooklyn Heights
John knocked on the door of the apartment. There was no response so he knocked again, harder. After a few seconds he heard a female voice on the other side of the door as a shadow came over the peephole. "Who is it?"
"Detective Stills. Is Megan or Brian Milton home? I have a few questions regarding the whereabouts of Chloe Richards," he responded as he held the badge close to the peephole.
After a few deadbolts were unlocked and the chain removed, the door opened to reveal a short and petite woman with milky skin, curly auburn hair, and round brown eyes. She looked hopeful as she asked, "So did you find her? Where was she? Why didn't anyone call me?"
"Mrs. Milton?" John inquired.
"Call me Megan, please."
"Megan, your daughter, Chloe hasn't been found yet, but I've been assigned to your case and had a few questions after reading her file."
A look of disappointment covered her delicate features and she looked down at the floor. "Oh, okay. Well, come on in." She opened the door to the apartment and John walked in. It was reasonably sized apartment for this area and was comfortably furnished. "Can I get you something to drink?"
"No, thank you. Is Mr. Milton home?" he asked as he took a seat in the oversized chair in the living area.
"No. Brian is out right now. What did you want to know? When I filed the missing persons report, I told them everything I knew. It's been almost two months and I haven't heard from her or anyone. I check the shelters everyday hoping that I'll find her, because I know the police don't actively look for runaways. I wish I knew why she left. She was such a good kid," Megan replied as she sat down on the couch facing John.
"In your report, your husband said Chloe was a bit of a trouble maker. Do you know if maybe she was involved in anything dangerous? Hanging with the wrong crowd?"
"No. She didn't really have a lot of friends, or not any close ones that I've met. She isn't so much of a trouble maker, but she and Brian never really got along. He would always complain about her smart mouth and how I would never do anything to get her under control. Chloe was a bright girl and I gave her the freedom to express herself as long as I felt it wasn't disrespectful. He always disagreed with that, but that was my choice on how I wanted to raise her." She looked down at her hands pensively.
"How long have you and Brian been married?"
She looked at him and gave a small smile. "We've been married for three years. When Brian and I first started dating, he and Chloe seemed to get along okay. It seems as if their relationship became more strained over the last year."
"What changed?"
"Brian used to have a really good job in construction, but he failed a random drug test and lost his job. So he would stay home more and the longer he was out of a job, the more depressed and bitter he got. It was a strain on everyone, but Chloe especially. We had to sell our house and move from Westchester and found a decent sized place here that was affordable under my income."
"What is it that you do again?"
"I'm a nurse at an assisted living facility."
"And your husband, Brian; is he working again?"
"Well, he picks up odd jobs here and there," she answered, avoiding John's eyes.
He wondered why she felt the need to lie about what her husband does, but pressed forward with his questioning. Looking at an older picture of Chloe on the coffee table in a soccer uniform, he asked, "What were some of Chloe's hobbies? Did she still show an interest in soccer?"
"No," she smiled. "Actually she started showing an interest in business and finance. I would always catch her watching Mad Money on CNBC or something like that. I purchased a few books for her about the financial markets and she seemed to really be into it. Frankly I find that stuff to be boring, but she was fascinated by it. I think she was influenced by her uncle."
"Her uncle?"
"Yeah, Brian's younger brother, Roger. He's a CFO for some company on Wall Street. He even managed to get her an internship type of job there a few months ago. She was really happy about that."
"What about her father? Do you think she went to stay with him? I'm assuming she's from a prior marriage, but I didn't see anything mentioned in the report."
"No, Brian is my first husband. Chloe doesn't know her father. I gave her my last name, my maiden name, Richards."
"Does her biological father know about her? Perhaps he was trying to find her and succeeded?" He asked, grasping for clues.
She shook her head. "No. No, he doesn't know about her. His name is on her birth certificate, but he didn't sign it because I never told him. I was barely 19 years old when I found out I was pregnant. I thought I was in love." She shook her head and smiled as she reminisced. "I foolishly fell for a rich guy during a fling while I worked a summer job in the Hamptons. He was pre-law at Princeton while I was struggling through and barely able to pay for community college. I found out I was pregnant before the end of the summer and broke things off with him. I always wondered if things would be different if I'd told him..."
She looked down at her hands placed on her lap, feelings of regret still lingering from the decision she made long ago. "We came from two very different worlds, it would have never worked. I was literally the girl from the other side of the tracks. His mom would have probably paid me to have an abortion. She never really liked me. She didn't approve of us seeing each other; said it was beneath him to marry 'the help'," she said bitterly.
"Do you think that Chloe would try to find him? Especially if she wasn't getting along with your husband?"
"She always asked about her father, but I would always lie and say I didn't know who her father was. I figured it would be less painful for her to not know about a family who wouldn't want her."
"Who is her father? What's his name?"
She sighed, and reluctantly answered, "His name is Chris Thomas."
She stood up and crossed the room to a small bookshelf to pick up a framed picture of Chloe. It was a recent picture taken at her school. "I just want her to come back home, Detective Stills. I want you to find my baby and bring her back home."
Before John could give his reassurance to her, the door opened and he saw who he assumed was her husband, Brian walk in. He gave John a curious look before glaring at Megan, clearly displeased at having a strange man alone in his home with his wife. He tossed his keys on the kitchen table and made his way over to the small living room. "What the hell is going on here?" He eyed John with suspicion.
John stood and introduced himself. "I'm Detective Stills. I've been assigned to your daughter's case and was here to get a little more info from you and Mrs. Milton."
"Step-daughter," he corrected. "I've already given my statement. If that ungrateful brat wants to run away and break her mother's heart, she can stay gone for all I care." His face hardened as he spoke.
Tears ran down Megan's face as she lashed out at Brian. "What is wrong with you? Why would you say that? God, I wish this stupid feud between the two of you would end! I'm so sick of you two arguing. I'm tired of you tearing her down, tearing me down. All your insults… the mood swings. When she comes back-"
"If she comes back," he interrupted in anger.
"When she comes back, it ends. No more! I want my daughter back and if that means you have to leave so be it!" She stormed off to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
John stayed silent as he watched all this unfold, and was curious to find out what happened before Chloe ran off and wondered if there was more behind Brian's animosity towards the young girl besides having a smart mouth. Something was off here, and if the machine gave out her number, he had a feeling that her stepfather was the reason she was in danger.
Brian turned to John and looked him up and down. "I think you've seen enough. Show's over. It's time for you to leave."
John's face remained in his usual unemotional mask, but his azure eyes hardened as he moved closer to Brian. In a quiet tone used to garner fear in many of his enemies, he spoke. "Not before you answer a few questions for me, Mr. Milton. In your statement, you said that you got into an argument with Chloe and she said she couldn't stand to be in the same apartment with you. After that little spat with her mother, I can see why. What was the argument about?"
Brian nervously stepped back to put distance between the two of them and averted his eyes. "Hell, I don't remember. Probably something stupid, like doing her chores. Or her smart mouth."
John knew the man was lying and started to close in on the distance between the two of them when the ringing of a cell phone broke the silence and cut through the tension in the room. Brian reached for the phone in his pocket and turned away from John to answer it. While he was preoccupied, John force paired their phones.
"Hey, I can't talk right now. I'll call you back."
Brian quickly ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He walked out of the living room to the front door, opening it wide and made a gesture with his arm. "You can see yourself out, Detective. I have nothing more to add and you've overstayed your welcome here."
John walked out of the apartment to the sound of Brian's cell phone's shrill ringtone before the door was slammed shut behind him. He used the cloning app on his phone, to listen in on Brian's conversation as he walked down the hall and made his way out of the apartment building.
"I told you that I would call you back. What do you want, Roger?"
"Did you find her?"
"No. I just got back from following up on a lead we got about the shelter where she's possibly staying, but got nothing."
"You need to find her. You were supposed to take care of it last week! If she is able to get that information to the wrong people, everything is going to hell in a hand basket."
"Don't put this on me! If you were as smart as you claim to be, some little nosey teenage bitch wouldn't have been able to figure it out. Besides, everything has already gone to hell. You've got the fed's up your ass and I've got the boss on mine. I even have a fucking detective sniffing around the house. He just left. On top of that we still haven't found her and now we've got to look for the jackass you couldn't control."
"I told you I hacked his email and saw communication between the two of them. What happened during the meet up? The plan was for you and those idiot goons of yours to take the both of them. How in the hell could you have let him get away?"
"I guess Chloe got spooked and decided against meeting up with him, so they guys took him instead. I didn't stay there because I went out to try to see if some of those street kids would give up her location. When I returned, it was pure mayhem. They told me some asshole in a suit busted up the party. Just when the guys were about to get some answers about how much he knew, this mystery guy rolls in there like Batman or something. Two of them had to go to the hospital for getting shot in the kneecaps."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me. That's their story? You actually believe that? Some mystery guy takes on a room full of men?"
"Well, we need to find her, and find her fast. They've shut down operations at the company here and no one is allowed in the building."
"Can they do that?"
"They can when the co-founders of the parent company strong arm the board of directors into shutting it down and opening all the books for the feds."
"Shit….shit, shit, shit! I gotta tell the boss about this. I gotta tell him what's going on or my ass is grass!"
"Brian, don't do anything stupid! Your idiocy has gotten us into enough trouble as it is."
John tapped his earpiece after the conversation ended. "Finch?"
"Yes, Mr. Reese."
"I need you to look up a Roger Milton."
"Of course. Any reason why?"
"He's Chloe's uncle and she used to intern at the company he works for. I think there's more to this than her being just a runaway. I'm going to hit the streets and see if I have better luck locating her than her stepfather. I also have a call to make…" John disconnected his call with Finch, and looked in his contacts for another number and hit send.
"Hey, John buddy! I promise I've been staying out of trouble."
"Leon, exactly who were you meeting last week?"
(6 days ago)
"Let me know if she calls," John replied and walked away leaving Fusco standing alone in the empty warehouse.
He walked out of the warehouse and back towards Fusco's squad car. He pulled out his phone once again to call Joss' new number. It rang twice before going to her voicemail. He huffed in frustration and dialed her number again. This time it went directly to voicemail. She turned off her phone. He took slow, deep breaths to quell his rising anger. He should be worried, but he knew she had to be somewhere safe. He just couldn't understand why she wouldn't tell him where she was. Why keep that from him when all he wanted to do was help her? So many questions ran through his mind.
Why didn't she tell him about her plans to rescue Elias? Why was she avoiding his calls? Why did she take off? What was she so angry with him about? He replayed the previous conversations they had before she left town in his mind. "How do I look, John?... I've been better, but look that can wait."
He knew she was having a hard time dealing with trying solve Beecher's and Szymanski's murders. He knew she went to dig up Stills' body. He knew he was a jerk to her when she called for help before she did it. It was his mess to clean up, and he should have been the one to do it. Not Joss. He was too busy trying to avenge Dr. Nelson's impending death for it to matter. But even though her moving Stills' body was never directly addressed, she seemed okay. Well, maybe not okay. Sad, hurt, even defeated, but not angry. Not angry like this. "I didn't ask you to clean up my mess. And don't you dare chastise me for my actions. You don't have that right, not after…" She was pushing him away. Why?
He was interrupted from his brooding by a phone call from Finch. He tapped his earwig to answer the call and watched Fusco as he walked back to the car.
"Yeah, Finch?"
Finch could hear the irritation in John's voice, but decided against commenting on it. He'd overheard the heated conversation between John and Detective Carter and knew the reason for his surly mood. He pushed forward with the reason for his call.
"Mr. Reese, Leon Tao's number has come up again. I am unable to track his latest location because I've lost the signal for his phone. However, the last bit of activity on his tracker showed him at Prospect Park about 30 minutes ago."
John sighed. "Finch, this is the fourth time in five months. I'm really getting tired of his antics."
"As am I, but the machine has given us his number so he's still getting into trouble. After reviewing the surveillance footage at the park, it appears that he was waiting for someone, and was ambushed by a group of men. I need Detective Fusco to run the license plate number I was able to get from the van they threw him in. That way, I'll be able to track the owner and we can find out where Leon could be."
John disconnected the call and got in the car, gearing up to get Leon out of yet another sticky situation.
Joss walked back to the party in a hurry, the handsome green eyed stranger far from her mind as she was consumed with anger about the argument with the blue eyed vigilante at home. She knew she needed to keep her cool and was desperately trying to push down her anger at John. How dare he demand that I give him my location? As if he doesn't already know where I am. Cleaning up my mess? What an asshole!
Joss couldn't help but remember that night she called John to find out what he was doing to help Fusco. He brushed her off, telling her he was busy. Busy doing God knows what, but busy nonetheless. Then he gave her some very bitter food for thought before ending the call. "Once a dirty cop, always a dirty cop, right?"
He threw it back in her face. If only he knew how those words were now haunting her during her self-introspection. She was a dirty cop now, whether she was helping her friends or not. In a black and white world, she was a dirty cop who broke laws, but she knew that her world was no longer black and white. She was wallowing and losing herself in the muddy shades of gray.
She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out as she took a look around the party area to look for Janice. She'd had enough of letting John get to her. She was determined to take Janice's advice. She would leave her issues from home─ at home. She would make an attempt to distract herself and try to have some fun.
Once she spotted her, she made her way over to the table in the center. Of course she'd find the table in the center, Joss thought. She has to be the center of attention and place herself in the center of everyone's business.
Janice was busy gossiping with an older brunette woman sitting at the table next to her and looked up to see Joss walking back from the azalea trail. Uh oh, she thought. That phone call must have been a doozy. Joss looks ready to spit fire. She turned to the woman next to her and politely excused herself, stood up, and met Joss halfway.
"Everything okay, Joss?"
It was almost as if she didn't hear her. She turned to Janice and blinked a few times before it seemed as if the question finally registered. "Yeah, it's fine. I'm fine," she replied tersely.
"Yeah, right. Jossy, I told you to leave whatever it is that's going on at home─ at home. We're here to have a good time. Let's try to have some fun. Come on; let me introduce you to a few people. I'm gonna introduce you to Louise. She's the company gossip. Knows everything about everybody. She's a trip."
"So she's just like you, huh?" Joss asked with a smirk.
Janice laughed. "No. She's worse."
"Now if that's all you need," Ethan stood up from the bench. "I have another pressing matter I need to take care of," he said thinking of the beautiful woman that ran into him moments earlier. "You have my number. Use it next time instead of crashing a barbeque without an invite. Until we meet again, Agent Burke." Ethan gave a mock salute and walked in the direction of the party.
Ethan walked the trail back to the entertaining area where the tables were set up and scanned the area, looking for the mysterious beauty. He looked around and saw her sitting at a table with Janice, Gabriel's fiancé. So she came here with Janice, he thought. That might be a problem. He was hesitant to move forward after that, but he saw her laugh and smile. A genuine smile that exposed the most adorable dimples and made her eyes sparkle. He wondered what was said to produce such a reaction as his initial concerns about Janice poisoning the well were no longer a barrier keeping him from finding out who she was. Just as he began to walk over to their table, he felt a hand grab his arm.
"Hey, what was that all about with the FBI agent? What did he want?" Gabriel asked in a hushed tone.
Ethan turned to Gabe and saw lines of worry and concern across his face. He sighed. It seemed like he would be delayed in meeting the mystery woman once again. Or would this be a good opportunity to get some information? Hmm... time to discuss business first.
"That was Agent Burke coming down here for free food and to hassle me for the hell of it. Leon Tao has gone missing. He was supposed to meet with two other agents working on the case at the NY headquarters. It appears that he may have obtained some evidence that can prove that there actually was money laundering going on with some of those accounts."
"Jesus Christ... So it's true? No longer speculation?" Gabe asked in exasperation.
"Looks like it," Ethan replied with a deep frown.
"And what exactly did he expect you to do?"
"He thought I would know where Leon is or if I'd heard from him."
"Have you?" Gabe questioned, with uncertainty in his eyes.
Ethan looked at Gabe incredulously. "Of course not. I'm ready to get the Feds off my back so we can get back to business. That company has gone from a cash cow to a money pit, so they need to find whatever it is they're looking for so that we can cut our losses." He was almost insulted that Gabriel would think so low of him. Sure he'd done some rather ethically questionable things in his past as they were getting their business off the ground, but nothing he ever did was illegal.
Ethan looked over to the table where Janice was still sitting with the mystery woman. Janice seemed to be chattering away with the company gossip, Louise. Her smile was gone now and she appeared to be bored yet deep in thought about something.
"Gabe, who's the woman with Janice?" he asked still looking at the woman, hoping to catch her glance his way. Hoping to make a connection with her, even from a distance. She finally looked his way and he caught her eyes. She turned her head a bit to the left and a brief smile crossed her features. She looked away and focused her attention on Janice.
"Ohhh no, Ethan," Gabe replied, shaking his head.
"What?" he asked nonchalantly.
"No. That's Janice's cousin. Just drop it."
"So they're related. Okay. What's her name?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to know. Who is she?"
Gabe sighed. He thought this was a bad idea, but when Ethan had his mind set on something, he never backed down or gave up. He was rather tenacious in that way. His ambition and drive is a factor that helped them become very wealthy. His unwillingness to give in when things looked tough is what got him mostly everything he set his mind on. Gabe decided against putting up a fight and only hoped that Janice would give her a heads up to his rather doggish dating ways. "Her name is Jocelyn. She's down here from New York visiting Jan for a few days."
Ethan looked back at the table and mentally willed Jocelyn to look his way again, to no avail. He turned back to Gabe to face him, giving his full attention. "When does she leave?"
"Sunday. I think Jan told me she's leaving Sunday."
Janice led Joss to the table where she was seated earlier and introduced her to Louise.
"Louise, this is my cousin Jocelyn Carter. Jocelyn, this is Louise Miller. She's a liaison between the Atlanta branch and the newly opened London location."
"It's nice to meet you, Louise," Jocelyn said as she shook the woman's hand.
"Why, the pleasure is all mine," Louise drawled with a smile. Her accent was over the top and reminded Joss of the Blanche Devereaux character on The Golden Girls. "You're just as pretty as Janice, here. Hopefully not as much as a troublemaker," she said with a wink, her eyes twinkling in amusement.
Janice feigned displeasure at Louise's comment and responded, "I'm insulted! I'm not a troublemaker. I simply observe from the sidelines and provide necessary commentary to the parties involved."
Joss and Louise exchanged looks and shared a knowing laugh. Joss was finally able to have her first smile since they'd arrived at the gardens and relaxed a bit as Janice and Louise began to gossip about the people at the party. However, the feeling was short lived. She felt her thoughts turning back to the argument she had with John earlier, but then gave herself a mental shake and abruptly tuned out those thoughts in order to observe her surroundings and people watch. As she scanned the area, she spotted the man she ran into before, locking eyes with him as he held her gaze.
She turned her head to the side a bit and gave him a small smile. He's cute. Who are you kidding, Joss? He's gorgeous, she thought to herself. She noticed he was standing next to Janice's fiancé and wondered how they knew each other. She felt a nudge to her side and turned to see Janice smirking at her.
"What? Where's Louise?" she asked, noticing the seat next to Janice was now unoccupied.
"She left to go gossip with Diane even though she can't stand Diane. But enough about her, let's talk about you. What's with you giving Ethan the googly eyes?"
"Who?" So his name is Ethan, she thought.
"Don't play coy with me, Joss. That man is staring at you like you're something good to eat. And you don't seem to mind. Now, I'm not gonna get in your business or anything," she said as Joss shot her a look, "but just be careful with him. He's a 3-F kinda guy."
"3-F?"
"Flirt, fuck, and forget. He's a known player, so if you're interested you need to know what you'll be dealing with upfront," she said casually as if she was discussing the weather. She took a sip of her sweet tea and looked at Joss before diverting her eyes to see Ethan in what appeared to be a deep discussion with Gabriel. She was pretty sure that Ethan was getting the 411 on Joss as well. She smirked as she looked back at Joss who seemed to be mulling over this new information.
"How do you know this about him?" she finally asked. She was almost done making up her mind whether or not she would pursue this fling, casual greeting, or whatever it was she would have with Ethan. She decided earlier that she would try to have a good time while she was here, why not have a fun, fine, and fuckable distraction while she was at it? She smiled inwardly at the thought. I got your three F's Janice.
"Ethan is Gabe's best friend and business partner. They started the company together."
"Hmm…"
Janice could see the wheels turning in Joss' head and wondered where this would lead. She wasn't sure if she should talk her out of it or convince her to cut loose with a man knowing there would be no strings attached. She suddenly thought about Joss' list and made her decision. "You know what, Jossy-bear?"
"What?"
"You should go for it. Have some fun and stop being a stick in the mud. He could be your number 18," she said with all seriousness.
"My what?" Joss asked in confusion.
"Number 18. On your list."
Joss stared at Janice blankly, not understanding what she meant. "What list?"
"You know… the list. From last night."
Realization finally dawned on her and she instantly remembered the ridiculous list she wrote last night while she was heavily under the influence of one too many margaritas. She chuckled and shook her head. "I only wrote that list to appease you, Jan. I'm not doing anything on that list."
"Sure you are. And you need to do number 18. I mean, look at him Joss. He's fun, fine, and fuckable." Joss couldn't help but laugh as Janice said her earlier thoughts aloud. "He's a terrific choice if you want to get laid with no strings attached. When's the last time you got some? When's the last time you got the big O?" Janice asked with a toothy grin.
Joss rolled her eyes at Janice's attempt to rile her. "Like I said, I'm not doing anything on that list."
Janice shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, Joss. To each his own." She spotted the event planner of the gardens waving to get her attention. This woman had been badgering her about having her wedding here, but Janice had repeatedly turned her down. However, she thought it would be nice to have a bridal shower here, so she stood to go meet the woman and have a talk with her. Before she left the table, she turned to Joss. "I see someone I need to talk to, I'll be back in a bit. You good?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine Jan," Joss replied as she looked back over to where Ethan was only to discover that he was no longer standing there. She watched Jan walk towards the event planner, unaware of an older man taking a seat next to her.
"Hello there."
Joss turned to face an elderly man with stark white hair and light blue eyes. He had a soft smile and a friendly disposition.
"Hello," she responded with a polite smile.
"I don't believe I've ever seen you at one of these events before. Are you here from the New York location?"
"No, actually I'm here as a guest. But I am visiting from New York."
"New York is a beautiful city. I was there last year birding and was amazed at how many different birds I spotted in Central Park alone..."
The silver haired man continued to drone on and on about bird watching and big years and other nonsense that Joss could care less about. But she nodded her head during all the right pauses and chuckled when appropriate during his less than funny jokes. She felt as if she would die of boredom if Janice didn't hurry back.
"... I love birds. Who doesn't love birds? Sure, they'll wake you up in the morning, or ruin the fruit in your garden. And sometimes, of course, they'll crap on your car. But they're beautiful, and they fly, and they're capable of incredible things."
Joss managed to keep her smirk at bay as she thought about Finch and his different bird aliases. No, no, no, Joss. You will NOT think about any of them. Before Joss could excuse herself from the overly talkative man, she felt a large hand cover hers and an arm around her waist as the handsome stranger─ now known to her as Ethan─ sat in the unoccupied seat Janice vacated moments earlier.
"Jocelyn, darlin' is Chitter Chatter Charlie here boring you with innocuous facts about the tufted titmouse or the... what is now? The chickadee?" he asked with a brief glance towards older gentleman before focusing all of his attention on Joss.
Caught off guard at his brazen approach of invading her personal space and touching her with a familiarity not yet granted to him, she simply glared at him and responded with a tight smile. "Actually, Ethan, he was telling me about the sooty shearwater of Tazmania."
She saw the amusement in his eyes mixed with smug satisfaction because she already knew his name; which let him know that she was at least somewhat interested. That and the fact that she didn't slap him for being too touchy feely. He gave her a megawatt smile and turned on the charm.
"Charles thank you for keeping this beautiful lady company for me," he said to the sweet bird watching man, while looking directly at Joss.
Charlie chuckled at the two of them. He may be an avid birder, but he also people watched and he was able to read body language. He could feel the tension coming off the pretty young lady in waves as she shot daggers at Ethan with her eyes. But just as quickly he sensed a shift in her attitude. She continued to allow him to keep his hands on her and looked like she could kiss him and then slap him. Interesting...
"So how did you two meet?"
Joss turned to Charlie to see if he was serious. He couldn't possibly believe they were a couple.
Ethan gave a crooked grin and slid his hand from around her waist and up her back rest below her neck as his thumb caressed the nape of her neck. She didn't move but she turned to face Ethan again and gave him another look of disapproval at his need to touch her.
"When Jocelyn and I ran into each other, she nearly knocked me off my feet. She didn't even have the decency to apologize. Lucky for her I'm a forgiving man, and it doesn't hurt that she's absolutely stunning," he drawled; his eyes twinkling with laughter at his version of events versus how they actually met.
With a smirk, Joss replied, "I don't believe it quite happened that way. I remember apologizing. I actually said sorry twice." She removed her right hand from under his and went to gently touch his face. If he wanted to play this game, so would she. "Don't you remember?" she asked softly.
He lifted the hand rubbing her neck to grasp her hand and held it to his face for a brief moment before placing a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist and holding it in his lap. "Is that how it happened? I don't remember it going quite that way, but if you insist..."
In her mind, Joss knew that this man would be bad news for her. Everything about him screamed playboy from the moment he sat down next to her as if he was her date. Not only that, but she couldn't help but hear Janice's warning ringing in her ears. "He's a 3-F kinda guy. Flirt, fuck, and forget. He's a known player…" She may have decided to let go and have a little fun, and maybe even have a nice little fling as a distraction. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, she had doubts. She knew she that there needed to be distance between them because although her mind and maybe even her heart was saying no, the way he looked at her with full attention and admiration, the way he touched her with sensuality and tenderness, made her once dormant hormones wake up and shout yes.
They continued to look at each other with intense interest until Charlie broke the spell. He cleared his throat and continued to pry. "So Ethan, have you taken Jocelyn here to the azalea gardens? It's a very beautiful and romantic setting for you two lovebirds."
"Lovebirds?" Joss asked with slight irritation.
"Well sure, I recognize lovebirds when I see them, too," Charlie replied with a chuckle.
"Charlie, I think you have the wrong idea. Ethan and I-"
"Were just about to go to the gardens. He's right sweetheart, we should take a walk down the trail. The flowers are in bloom and I think you'll enjoy it," Ethan said, finishing her sentence for her. He stood up and pulled Joss' chair from the table, taking her hand as she stood up. "Nice seeing you again, Charlie. We'll catch up later."
"Of course, Ethan. Take care. It was nice to meet you Jocelyn."
"It was nice meeting you too, Charlie."
She allowed Ethan to lead her away from the table to the outskirts of the party area before she stopped walking. He turned to face her to see why she was no longer walking with him.
"Is there a problem, Jocelyn?"
"No. There's no problem. I appreciate you saving me from… Chatterbox Charlie?"
"Chitter Chatter Charlie," he answered with a smirk.
"Whatever. I appreciate you saving me from death by boredom, but I'm going to try to find Janice."
"What about our walk?"
"What about it? I'm sorry Ethan, but I'm not interested. I tend to stay away from arrogant men with too much ego." She was proud of herself. She knew she made the right decision. Her mind and heart were happy, but those pesky hormones… or was it pheromones? She needed to put distance between them and she needed to do it as soon as possible.
He smirked and replied, "We have something in common because I tend to stay away from those guys, too."
Joss sighed and rolled her eyes. "Nice knowing you, Ethan." She turned to walk back towards the direction of the party.
"Jocelyn, wait." She turned around to face him.
"I'm sorry. I was simply trying to break the ice. Maybe even get a smile. There was a time when that line used to work." He stepped closer to her and gently took her hand. "Come on, just a walk. We can talk and actually have a real introduction. Just me and you."
She gave a small smile in spite of herself. "Just a walk?"
"There's a hint of that beautiful smile. Yes, just a walk."
She looked down to see his hand still holding hers. She looked back up and saw the sincerity in his eyes. It's just a walk, not a marriage proposal.
"Okay."
