Role Play(Plaything #4)(34)

The aroma of coffee permeated the room signaling that she had returned from her sister’s house. I would get dressed and hurry down to see her and find a way to repay her. I stood up out of bed and saw a plate with a plump blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee. A swirl of steam curled up from the cup. It was still hot. Yet another mystery.

I walked to the dresser. There was a handwritten note under the cup. It was from Coco.



“Dearest Jessica,

I hope you enjoyed your stay at the Silk

Stocking Inn. My sister wasn’t feeling too well, so I’m staying with her for several days. Turn left at the massive oak tree on the corner, and you’ll find your way back to the city. It’s been a pleasure having you as my guest.”

Yours truly,

Coco



I stared at the note. It was short and concise, and it left me feeling sad. I wouldn’t see Coco again. Just like that, she’d left without even saying good-bye.

I showered and got dressed in my own clothes and my terribly impractical high heels. The house seemed especially quiet, and I hadn’t once heard the sound of a hammer or table saw.

I grabbed my purse and walked out into the hallway. I knocked on Grayson’s bedroom door. It hadn’t been latched and it opened. I looked inside. The room was clean and in perfect order. There was no sign of Grayson, or his belongings, for that matter. The scene was the same inside the bathroom across the hall. It looked untouched as if no one had used it in days. My stomach knotted up with the bitter prospect that he’d gone without a good-bye.

I walked down the stairs. Aside from the usual creaks and moans of the old house, it was eerily silent. My heart was thudding in my chest and an icy sense of utter disappointment fell over me. I stepped outside the back door. It was treacherous navigating the muddy yard in my horrid heels, but I made my way around to the side of the house where Grayson had been working. The sight I came upon felt like a slap in the face. The ladder was gone. The tools were gone. The man was gone. And without one word. I’d been played like a fool.

Tears clouded my eyes as I hiked my way to the front of the house. This was all my fault. How silly I was to think I could have a wild, devil-may-care weekend and then just drive away from it without a second look back. I’d stepped out of my comfort zone, and now I was paying the price. And worst of all, I’d let my guard down and fallen for a man who’d snuck out of my bed this morning without so much as a good-bye. I’d never done anything so reckless or stupid in my life. It was going to be hard to forgive myself for this embarrassing blunder.

I hurried to my car, anxious to return to my normal, predictable life. I hoped the way back would be as easy as Coco had described. It all seemed more than improbable, and my hostess was the most improbable of all. No wonder it had all seemed like a dream. The entire weekend had just been a damn illusion, a mirage, a figment of my imagination. Yet it had left me with a feeling of despair that I was sure would not go away anytime soon.

I sat in my car, feeling just a bit relieved at the familiarity of the dashboard, steering wheel and leather seats. My tiny silver dragonfly dangled from the rearview. I fingered it, hoping it would bring me back to reality and help relieve the sudden rush of homesickness I was feeling.

I allowed myself one last glance at the house, more to assure myself that it existed than for any other reason. I blinked at it in disbelief. Long, lush vines dripping with fat blooming roses traversed the entire front side of the house. Suddenly nothing about the decaying facade looked shabby. The roof shingles and missing porch balustrades had been replaced. It looked nearly as picture perfect as its interior.

I shook my head and started the motor. I was done with this twisted prank. Obviously, I’d fallen prey to a horrid scheme. I wasn’t sure what the payoff had been for my pranksters, but I wasn’t sticking around to find out.

My tires chewed the gravel drive as I turned my car around and fled down the driveway. I turned right. A massive oak tree with a trunk as wide as my car and roots that snaked up and over the hardened ground loomed in the distance. I put my foot on the gas and raced toward it.





Chapter Nineteen





Cara greeted me with an enthusiastic smile and a cup of coffee. I had spent the night sitting alone on the couch, watching Mad Men reruns, eating ice cream and trying hard to erase the weekend from my head. Then, with a heavy heart and a mint chip migraine, I’d plodded off to bed where I’d spent the first hour staring at the ceiling and the next six tossing and turning.

“They’re already sprucing up the corner office for you.” Cara’s heels click clacked along the floor behind me. “The movers will come tomorrow morning. I’ll help you pack up your things after I’m done with my morning work.”

I looked around at my office. “This is a perfectly acceptable office. Why do I have to go through the hassle of moving?”

“Uh, your own executive bathroom? And there’s even a tiny dinette with a refrigerator attached. Ooh, which reminds me, can I keep my yogurt in there? Nina from payroll is always taking mine and pretending that she thought it was hers. Only she never actually remembers to bring one.”

I lifted my cup to remind Cara that I couldn’t chat until after I’d finished my first cup. She was more excited about the promotion than I was. I took hold of the door to let her know it was time for her to go.

Cara’s bottom lip jutted out. “But I wanted to hear all about the weekend.”

“I know, but not right now. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

For the first time since she’d greeted me, she seemed to notice that I was feeling down. “Are you all right? You look upset.” She pointed to her own eyes. “You’re sort of puffy like a blow fish as if you’ve been cry—” She stopped and her eyes widened. She lowered her voice. “You’ve been crying.”

“Please, Cara, not right now. I’m fine. I’ve got some calls to make.” I dreaded the idea of talking business this morning but hoped that the sooner I threw myself back into my job, the one part of my life I could always count on to keep me satisfied, the sooner the past weekend would fade away.

“I’ll let you get to work then” Cara said hesitantly. “Oh wait, jeez, nearly forgot. Mr. Taylor wants you to drop by his office as soon as you get settled this morning. Guess he wants a debriefing with the new V.P..”

I sighed. “So early?”

“Actually, the timing is probably perfect. Maintenance is sending some heating and air conditioning company here this morning to check the vent system.” She glanced up to the screen vent at the top of the wall in my office. “They are starting in your office.”

“Any other bad news, Cara?”

“No, that should be it.” She walked out and closed the door behind her.

I put my purse away and settled into my desk chair. Cara had already turned on my computer. My meadow screensaver blinked back at me from behind the folder icons. I could almost picture the rusted gazebo in the center of the field. I’d never done anything like that in my life.

I slumped back against my chair. I thought I could throw caution to the wind, kick off my shoes and every other carefree idiom I could think of. But I’d been wrong, and it was coming back to bite me in the butt . . . and hard.

I sat forward and, just because I liked to torture myself, I typed in the words Silk Stocking Inn. I’d tried to find it once before, when Coco had denied she knew anything about a website. I’d sat right in this office and obediently typed out my deepest fantasy for the stranger on the other end. Now there was no hint of the website. Not even a trace of information about the Silk Stocking Inn or Coco . . . or Grayson. It was as if I’d slept through the entire weekend and been stuck in a forty-eight hour dream.

I ran my finger down the list of clients I needed to call this morning and decided to delay the calls until after my meeting with the owner. With any luck, the vent maintenance worker would be finished with my office by the time I got back.

Cara knocked at the door and poked her head inside. “The heating and ventilation man is here.” She rolled her eyes behind her and then shook her hand like she’d touched something hot.

“Cara, not really in the mood for your mimes today.”

She slipped inside and closed the door. “He’s gorgeous,” she whispered, and then opened the door. “Come on in.” Cara walked over to my desk to get out of the way.

The top of a ladder entered the room, followed by the bottom half and the man carrying it. I stood up so abruptly my chair shot back and hit the window.

“Tried to warn you,” Cara whispered from the side of her mouth.

My heart thumped a loud beat against my ribs, and I wondered if anyone else could hear it. I steadied my hands on the desk and stared at him in shock.

Grayson’s dark blue eyes smiled casually back at me, as if he was meeting me for the first time. “Sorry to interrupt your work day. I’ll only be a few minutes.” He spoke to me exactly how any complete stranger would. Only the tall, broad shouldered man in front of me was anything but a stranger. He carried his ladder to the wall with the vent and busied himself with his work.

My head spun and I swayed a little, relying on my desk to keep me from falling to the floor in a dead faint.