Page 32 of Protecting Her

I wanted to shout at Emily, but it wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t the kind to break the law and try to track someone with their phone. I knew what she’d say if I shouted at her, anyway. It was the same thing my brain kept shouting at me.

Why don’t you try to call her?

Because I was afraid she wouldn’t answer. If Veronica had scared her off, she probably didn’t want to talk to me anyway. My heart clutched at the thought that I wouldn’t see her again, but I told myself to calm down. We’d find her. One way or another.

Sooner rather than later, I hoped.

I’d ended the call with Emily soon after that and went into the bathroom to shower. That dream, damn, it was still on my mind. The way she’d been out of reach, right there one second, and then gone, until I’d found her. I wanted that sweet bliss of reunion with Ember.

I could have sex with any woman, or even have a nice long wank, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want relief. I wanted Ember. She was the only relief that would soothe me.

I slumped against the shower wall and wondered if I was on the verge of losing my mind. Nothing else mattered, only Ember. I didn’t care about deals in London, or that one of our hotels was an embarrassment. That could all wait until after I’d found Ember and satisfied myself that she wouldn’t leave me again.

She’d been afraid from the start, and who could blame her? I’d thrown a world at her that she’d never lived in, never dreamed of, and hadn’t made a single promise to her, other than the fact that I’d make her a star. I’d have a long talk with the managers at the bar when things calmed down. They should have gone over the contract with her before she’d had time to see Veronica.

Although, I knew I couldn’t blame them. It had been at my feet to take care of Ember. I’d promised myself that, and I’d failed. The water remained hot, but it didn’t soothe me.

I washed myself and my hair then got out of the shower. With a towel around my hips, I dried off, shaved, and pulled clothes out of the bag I’d brought with me. A pair of navy blue slacks, a light blue button-up shirt, and a jacket to match the slacks. I’d just thrown things in the bag. I hadn’t really planned, and my hands had chosen my normal business attire.

By the time I dressed my hair was dry, and I looked in the mirror to see a handsome face, a powerful body, and the mark of confidence that money lent to any suit. It didn’t matter how much the suit cost, or how good the tailor was when it came to my eyes, though. Sadness lived there now, and I couldn’t seem to shake it.

I gave a scowl and walked away. I didn’t know what I’d do, but I couldn’t sit in this room and wait. I found myself outside, a car waiting for me. I told the driver to take me to the center of the city, and then asked him to let me out. I wandered the streets until I found a café.

I watched for signs of Ember. Every person who passed could have been her, and I scanned the crowds until my head swam. I ordered a coffee and a donut. I didn’t taste either, but the coffee helped to warm me up. I didn’t bother to make small talk with the waitress. I just ordered and looked away, too busy scanning the crowds to notice her.

I went out into the streets and knew this would be impossible. There were too many people and too many places she could be. I kept walking though, the Italian leather of my shoes soft, but little protection from the cold. For a while, I stopped at another café, a place where I could see more people as they walked by.

I didn’t want to let defeat in, and I refused to think about the negatives for long. I would find her, I just knew I would. I passed shops full of expensive, luxury goods, buildings where millions of dollars could be made or lost in an instant, and saw a thousand women who paled in comparison to Ember, but could obviously afford only the best in life.

I decided then I was in the wrong part of the city. Ember wouldn’t be here. She’d go where the apartments were a more reasonably priced, even if those prices still outpaced those we’d found in Nashville. I had to go to that part of the city then.

I found a car rental place and soon left the lot with a car made for city driving. Luxurious city driving. I headed toward the outskirts of the city, to the places where people took the buses more often because cars were too much of an expense. I’d wasted the morning, I knew that as soon as I found my way in a less affluent borough. This was more like Ember. This was where she’d gravitate to.

Not because she’d grown up poor, but because she didn’t have much use for shiny and pretty. She liked practical and pretty. I grinned at that, she was definitely frugal, but she did like to have pretty things every now and then.

I parked the car and paid for parking before I looked around. I found a café off to my right and went there. A good spot to sit and watch for one curly-headed blonde woman to pass me by. That was something else about, Ember.

When all the other women were spending a fortune on making their hair straight, she embraced her curls. I preferred them to the straight version that she would sometimes wear. It took her hours to iron out all of those curls, so I could see why she rarely did it.

I knew I was just killing time, but I couldn’t sit still in that room. It would have driven me crazy. I hadn’t counted on the cold, or the snow that soon began to drop, so I left the café and found a shop that sold coats. I bought one that wasn’t my normal quality but would keep the cold out. I zipped up the two black wool panels, added a scarf before I paid, and left the store.

Now. Which way should I go?

The sun had started to set by now, and I knew it would only get harder to see her. Maybe I should go back to the hotel. I chose a direction without even thinking about it and walked. I walked until I couldn’t even remember where the car was, but found myself in a quaint little street with a lot of brownstones and trees.

I passed a lot of people, but none of them were Ember. I saw a diner up ahead, shiny and well-lit. The steam on the windows screamed warmth at me, otherwise I’d have ignored it. But it was the exact kind of place where I’d find Ember.

I walked up to the place and saw a tall redheaded woman serving coffee to a man. A little further down, still with her scarf wrapped around her throat, I could see her. At last. Ember. I stood still in front of the window where she was sat and couldn’t believe it. I’d found her!

I placed my hand on the glass and she looked up, startled. She looked at the hand and then past it to look into my eyes. I saw her brown eyes go wide before she stood up and ran out of the diner.

“Kevin!” She launched herself into my arms, and I pulled her in tight, determined to never let her go.

“Ember. Oh my god, I found you!” I kissed every inch of her face as I held her in my arms against my chest. Then I sank down onto my knee and pulled the box from my pocket. “I can’t believe I found you, but now that I have, please, Ember, will you marry me? Never leave me again and be my wife?”

I opened the box and heard cheers behind us. I saw all the people that had been in the diner, plus a few people that had been about to walk by were all now an audience for my proposal.

“Ember?” I prodded, an eyebrow lifted.