Page 270 of Mr. Charming

I glanced up at her, finding something unusually comforting in her touch, almost as if this woman had been a friend of mine for my whole life. In that moment, I also realized how badly I wanted to talk to someone about Zander. He had kept me isolated for so long, I didn’t really have any friends by the end. Leaving Miami had been easy because of that. But now, I’d been holding so much in for so long, I just wanted to get it off my chest.

“My ex, his name is Zander,” I said, “and he was wonderful in the beginning, until he started hitting me.”

Libby gasped. She squeezed my hand tighter. “I’m so sorry,” she said.

I nodded. “Things got pretty bad between us. He would explode over the littlest and stupidest things. The first time he hit me, it was because he’d had a bad day at work, and I hadn’t fixed dinner for him. Never mind that I had just gotten in from work myself… Soon, I started to notice that whenever he felt something was wrong, he would take it out on me as if it was somehow my fault. After so long, I just got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I was afraid for my safety. Afraid for my life. So I had to leave him. That’s why I’m here now. I was living with him in Miami, but after the last fight we had, I couldn’t take it anymore. I called my brother and he told me to come live with him, and that he’d give me a job working here. So here I am.”

Libby gave a reassuring smile. “Well that’s wonderful. You see, things always have a way of working out in the long run. And you should be proud of yourself for finding the strength to leave Zander. So many women never find the strength to leave their abusive relationships, until it’s way too late and they end up leaving in a body bag.”

“It’s not over though,” I said in a strained whisper, a lump forming in my throat. “He…He just called me. Here. On my office phone.”

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.