“Oh, shit.” He had forgotten about this meeting. Or rather, he had blocked it out because it was going to be terrible. It was about the lawsuits going on with his company and how he was addressing the current scandal.
“It’s in an hour. You should get going,” George advised.
“Find me that note,” AJ growled, swinging his legs out of bed. The empty side called to him again, reminding him of just how much fun he’d had the night before. How happy he’d been.
He paused before standing, the shoe still in his hands. It sparkled like glass in the sunlight pouring through the windows. Last night had been so wonderful. He’d never felt a connection with another human being like he did last night. It was more than just physical, though the physical had been pretty damn amazing. Being with her, he’d forgotten his worries. He could honestly say that he had been happy last night.
He looked down on the metallic, shimmering shoe still in his hands.
There had to be a note. George had to find it. Last night had been too amazing for it all to just disappear in a puff of smoke and magic.
Doubt settled on his shoulders for a moment. What if she was married? What if she was already seeing someone else? What if last night were just a wild fling for her and it wasn’t the connection he so felt it was? What if she didn’t actually leave a note for him, not because she forgot or George lost it, but because she didn’t want him to find her?
His grip tightened around the shoe.
No, he told himself. It doesn’t matter. I’ll find her anyway.
If she was married, he’d let the whole thing drop and never bother her again. If she couldn’t be his, then he would just remember this as a great one-night stand. But...
If she could be his... If he could feel this way all the time...
AJ closed his eyes, and for a brief moment, let himself hope for happiness.
11
AJ
Two weeks later...
AJ sipped at his morning coffee as he sat down at his office desk and started his day. The leather seat creaked slightly as he leaned forward to turn on his computer and the smell of dark roast filled his nose. It was his third cup but he still felt groggy, like his brain wouldn’t turn on.
He began flipping through his emails absentmindedly, not really reading any of them. He knew the reason had nothing to do with stress or lack of sleep. His mind was on someone.
His mind was on Kat.
AJ leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen, at a long chain of replies about the proposal that he was hearing tomorrow. He had been skimming when his eyes fell on a signature line.
Yours Truly,
E. Ryder
What an odd way to sign off on a business email, he thought. It wasn’t even part of her signature line. She had specifically typed it out. It was so familiar, but then he knew that everything was reminding him of that night two weeks ago.
He closed his eyes and remembered the soft scent of her hair and the way she had smiled at him. One night had been enough to ensnare his heart completely. Unfortunately, the one night was all he had.
George had found the note. The poor man had to dive through two dumpsters to find it, but he did find it. However, by then, water and something that AJ didn’t want to speculate on, had erased half the message. The note was written with a felt-tipped pen, so the liquid he was hoping was water had stripped the note away. Even worse, the next page on the pad showed no indentations. Damn high quality stationary.
He’d even hired a professional to try and salvage the letter. The man had years of experience with police departments around the world and was renowned for being able to make the invisible appear. Unfortunately, due to the quality of the pen and paper, there was no trace of what she had written. The best the professional could do was give him a picture of the unreadable text.
AJ didn’t have to look at the picture on his phone to know what wasn’t readable on there. The professional he had hired to restore the note had done well, but there was nothing that could be done. Only the left side was readable. He had looked at the picture so many times that he could recall it by memory.
Dear AJ,
I had an amazi
I want to see y
I wish I coul
I hope you unde
Please call me. 5
Yours Truly,
Kat
He could figure out what most of the note said, and she had definitely left her phone number. It meant that she wanted him to find her. She had wanted more. The fear that she was married or uninterested evaporated as soon as he saw the note. Unfortunately, he had no way of telling her that since he couldn’t read her phone number.
AJ had asked the bride for a guest list, but that had been a dead end as well. There were three Katys, four Katherines, two Kathys, and two more Katelyns. Given the current media climate, the last thing he wanted to do was contact each of them and find out if they were missing a size 11.5 silver Louboutin heel. It wouldn’t take more than a single speculation as to how he came to acquire the shoe to have the media all over him.