The Playboy, page 12
First thing I wanted to figure out was what books she’d written already. Maybe that would give me some insight into the way her mind worked. She’d said she was a historian, and now I was kicking myself for not asking her what area of history. For all I knew, she had ten books about cold cases and a podcast with a million listeners.
And then I started laughing when I saw the covers of the two books that Piper had written popping up on Amazon. The Highlander’s Naughty Bride (A Steamy Scottish Romance Novel) was the title of the first book and the cover featured a shirtless man with long black hair and bulging muscles holding a petite redhead with a shy smile to his chest. The background featured what I assumed was a castle set in the highlands of Scotland. I noticed that the book was available in both paperback and a digital format.
“Knew I should have gotten that Kindle,” I mumbled to myself as I bought the book and downloaded the Kindle app on my phone. It took about a minute to download and then the book cover popped up on the screen. I clicked on the cover. I was excited to read Piper’s book; even I knew that there wasn’t going to be some big exposé on Scottish clansmen in the pages. Still, I was curious to read words that had flowed from her brain. I decided that I wanted to read the book in a more comfortable space and got up to head to the bedroom to relax.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I stopped halfway down the corridor. I had almost forgotten that I had my meeting. I couldn’t afford to miss the meeting. Getting this role would put me right at the top of the Hollywood A-list. Once I was there, I could make any movie that I wanted to. Absolutely any movie at all.
“Oh, my lord, please wake up. It’s morning and your duties await.”
“Amelia, how many times do I have to tell you to not enter my bedroom in the morning?” Lord Mcintosh scowled at the fair maiden, her cheeks flush and pink.
“But, my lord, the sun is already high in the sky and the birds are singing.”
“Birds do not sing, Amelia.”
Lord Mcintosh arose from the bed with no shirt on and Amelia Abernathy knew that she should look away, but she couldn’t stop herself from peering at his chest under lowered eyes.
Callum Mcintosh glanced at his ward and hid a dark smile as he strode to her. With her long red hair and big blue eyes, she was a picture to behold, but she was far too untoward and capricious for a lady. Her father, clan leader John Campbell had left Amelia with Callum and his Aunt Suzie while he had gone to Parliament, and it seemed to Callum that John was hoping he would take her as a wife. But Callum Mcintosh didn’t have any plans on making an innocent virgin his wife. He had a proclivity for the late night clubs of London, and Amelia was not the sort of woman he could see enjoy his lifestyle.
I smiled to myself as I finished reading the last paragraph of chapter one and grabbed my phone. This was what I needed after my meeting from earlier in the day. It had been so long and intense and the whole time I’d been there I’d been thinking about Piper. Before I could stop myself, I rang Piper’s number again and waited to see if she would answer. Tapping my fingers against my bedsheet, I only realized I was holding my breath when she answered the phone.
“Hello?” She sounded angry.
“It’s Zach.”
“I know.”
“What proclivities did Callum have that he didn’t think Amelia could keep up with?”
“Huh?”
“Did the Scottish lord have a thing for sex clubs?” I grinned into the phone as I heard her breathing. “Or is that your thing?” I started laughing at her sharp intake of breath. “You can tell me, Piper, I won’t tell anyone. Promise.”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” She tripped over her words, and I laughed even harder.
“The Highlander’s Naughty Bride,” I said in a serious voice. “Written by Piper Meadows, sex club partaker.”
“I don’t go to sex clubs!” she protested.
“Really? It was only the one time, then?”
“What was only one time?” She paused. “Oh,” she said finally adding two and two together. “Why are you calling me?”
So she wasn’t in the mood for playful banter, then? Not that I was surprised. In fact, I would have been shocked if she had flirted back with me in any way. Shocked and on high alert. Because the only way Piper Meadows would sound happy to hear from me would be if she was really writing a book about me and wanted an inside view of my life.
“I wanted to apologize.”
“Oh?”
I knew I had her attention then. I had surprised myself as much as I had surprised her. I never apologized. I didn’t even recognize who I was right now; it was like some part of me had forgotten to be the cold and indifferent person that I normally was.
“What are you apologizing for?” she prompted me when I didn’t continue talking.
I grinned into the phone, feeling the first genuine smile on my face in days. I wanted—no, needed to see her.
“Can I tell you in person?”
“In person?” I could hear the frown in her voice. “I don’t live in LA, remember? And you also never told me how you got my phone number.”
“The Internet is a wonderful invention, Piper Meadows. You can learn many interesting facts about people there.” I cleared my throat as I thought quickly. “But I was thinking we could meet up in San Francisco. You’re in Oakland, right? I’m actually heading up there tomorrow for a meeting with some software engineers about a tech startup I’m investing some funds in. Maybe we could meet later in the day if you’re free?”
“You’re going to be in San Francisco?”
“Yes.” I was lying through my teeth. I had no plans to be up in the Bay Area, but that was the good thing about being rich and famous. You could make almost anything happen at the drop of a hat. “I’ll text you tomorrow afternoon with a time and place to meet. Maybe we can grab dinner?”
“I don’t know.”
The phone went silent for a while and I decided to keep my mouth shut. I knew if I pushed her too hard, she would just say no, and I couldn’t have that. I needed to talk to her, needed to see her. And if I were being honest with myself, I needed to touch her as well. She had been in my head since I’d met her, and it wasn’t just because I wanted to know if she was planning on writing a tell-all on me and Jackson. There was just no way she could know much of anything, I thought to myself, but that was a lie. There were several loose ends that Jackson and I hadn’t been able to take care of, and any of those loose ends could lead back to us in a really bad way.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea, Zach. I just have no interest in seeing you again, to be honest. We had our fun and well, one night was enough for me. I’m afraid the hype was bigger than the man.”
Then she hung up on me again.
This time my jaw dropped so wide open that ten flies and a couple of spiders could have made my mouth their abode and there still would have been space for more visitors. I dropped the phone on my sheets and got up. I needed to go for a swim, but this time it was going to be in the ocean. The ocean was like my safe space. It had been since I was a little kid, though I had to admit I was more at home in the warmer waters of the Atlantic. My favorite beach was in Tampa Bay in a place called Treasure Island, and it had the same turquoise blue waters as the Caribbean.
When we were in college, Radley, Jackson, and I would take weekend trips just to go to the beach. All three of us had an affinity for the water. Our surfboards were our second home, and in college, we’d all wanted to become pro surfers. Radley had been the best of all of us though. He had a natural talent of riding the waves that had surpassed both Jackson’s and my abilities, which is what made it all so ironic.
I sighed deeply as memories of the past came back. It had all happened so quickly. He’d known too much. We’d all been too drunk. We hadn’t been thinking. I blocked the memory out and grabbed my phone again. I wasn’t going to sleep well until I knew what was going on. I couldn’t have this hanging over my head.
“Piper, don’t hang up,” I said before she could speak as she answered the phone. “I know what I did was rude, and I want a chance to explain. Five minutes is all I ask. I’ll even come over to Oakland. How does that sound? You can pick the place.”
Silence filled the line, but I knew she was listening because I could hear her breathing.
“Five minutes. Please?”
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll text you a place tomorrow.” And with that, she hung up. I didn’t care though. I fist-pumped the air and then called Boris, a private pilot to see if he had his Cessna available for the next two days. Now I had to make a trip up to San Francisco, and I was hoping that I was going to be able to spend the night.
Chapter 14
Piper
“Was that him again?” Alexa hovered excitedly as I put the phone down next to me. “Wow, he’s really into you.”
“I don’t want to see him.” I bit down on my lower lip, my heart racing. I couldn’t believe that Zach had called me again and had apologized. I still didn’t understand why he’d been so rude, and I didn’t really want to see him again, even though the sex had been amazing.
“You can ask him some questions.” Alexa sat next to me on the couch and I could see her thinking how to phrase her next sentence without getting me mad. “We weren’t able to find anything about him and Radley or Jackson. And we have no links as to what Spacecoast69 was trying to say. This way, we can find out if he has information.”
“Oh we can, can we?”
“Piper, I know he’s an asshole and perhaps a murderer or a kidnapper or a sex trafficker, but—”
“But?” I laughed disbelievingly at her words. “Aren’t any of those things scary enough? You still want me to meet up with him?”
“We can find out the answers.” She stared into my eyes. “This is important.”
“I don’t need any answers. I don’t even know who Radley is. I never heard of him before the other day. And if this is the only way I will get to learn more about him, then I don’t want to know.”
“You said you wanted to get to the bottom of this.” Alexa made a face. “Come on, Piper.”
“Why do you care so much?” I looked at my best friend and she looked away nervously. “What’s going on here, Alexa. What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing.” She jumped up off the couch. “I’m going to get a shower.”
“Alexa!”
She stopped to look back at me, emotion written all over her face. Why was this affecting her so much?
“You know you can trust me with anything, right? I won’t judge you and I won’t ever be mad at anything.”
Her eyes crinkled, and she smiled at me. “I know, girl. I know.” She wavered for a second and then sighed. “Look, there is more. I can’t tell you now, but I will when I can. I promise.”
“I’m meeting him tomorrow. For a drink.” I bit down on my lower lip. “I didn’t say yes for the story, though. I want to see him. I want to know why—well, you know.”
“Are you falling for him, Piper?” Alexa’s expression changed to one of worry. “I know you fall fast, but you know you don’t even know him, right? He’s an actor. Just because we’ve seen his movies doesn’t mean we know him.”
“I know I don’t know him.” I wrinkled my nose and sighed. “But we had a moment. I really felt like we had a moment. I guess I was just imagining it.”
“Maybe not. He does want to see you again. Maybe there’s something there.” She came back toward me. “Don’t fall for him, Piper. We can scratch everything if you think you’re going to fall for him. This whole thing isn’t worth breaking your heart.”
“We only had sex. It was a one-night stand. We didn’t promise undying love to each other. I never thought I’d see him again.”
“I know.” She nodded and gave me a quick hug. “Just be careful. And meet him in a public place.”
“What exactly do you want me to find out?” I asked her softly, thinking back to our meeting in Starbucks earlier. She’d been so eager to show me the article and the photo of a young Zach and Jackson. I was surprised that no one had recognized them in the photo, but it seemed like the story had never been syndicated and gone national. If Alexa hadn’t gotten the Orlando Sentinel for her research, we never would have known, either.
But really, what did we know? We knew that the two men had been friends with a missing man. We knew that someone had left a weird comment under an article about Zach dating someone. And that someone had inferred that Zach had been responsible for someone going missing, which may or may not have had something to do with Radley Markham’s disappearance. Neither Alexa nor I had been able to find out much information about Radley Markham, either. It was all quite suspicious, but it wasn’t really my business.
And, well, I didn’t think that Zach could be involved in something nefarious. Granted, I didn’t know him well, but I felt like I’d connected with him. Under other circumstances, I could have seen myself dating him. I didn’t understand why he wanted to meet up with me and talk so badly, though. What did he care if I thought he was an asshole? He had been an asshole. What sort of gentleman threw money at a woman?
I sat at the back of Kells, an Irish pub in the financial district of San Francisco, and sipped on a glass of water while watching a baseball game on the screen opposite from me. I tried breathing deeply to control my nerves and deliberately stopped myself from looking at the entrance. Zach was five minutes late and my anxiety was at an all-time high. Was he going to stand me up? After practically begging me to meet him and then texting back and forth with me all day, was he going to just stand me up? For some reason, this made me inexplicably upset. I took another sip of water. I’d give him ten more minutes and then I would leave.
“Do you think it’s possible to ever have a second first impression of someone?”
I looked up to see that Zach was standing in front of me with a pair of aviators on. He pulled them off and his blue eyes pierced into mine. He grabbed the chair and sat down with aplomb, giving me a wide smile. “Sorry I’m late, Piper, I’d forgotten how bad the traffic is in the Bay Area.”
“You live in LA.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “The traffic is way worse in LA.”
“True, but I know that I so always leave thirty minutes earlier back home. That was my indirect way of saying that I regret being late. Well, maybe not so indirect because I did start off saying I was sorry.”
“Hi, Zach.” I gave him a small smile. “It’s fine.”
“Knock knock.”
“What?”
“Knock knock.” He gave me a knowing look.
“Who’s there?” I asked reluctantly.
“Amos.”
“Amos who?”
“A mosquito just bit me.” He grinned, but I didn’t respond. “Knock knock,” he said again.
“Really?”
“Knock knock.”
“Who’s there?” I rolled my eyes.
“Andy.”
“Andy who?”
“And he just bit me again.” He laughed this time and leaned forward across the cedarwood table.
“Funny,” I said with a small smile.
“I’d rather it was you, though.”
“You’d rather what was me?”
“I’d rather it was you that had bitten me twice. Even one time would do. Or three. Or ten.” He winked at me and I just shook my head at him, even though my insides were warming up.
“No disguise today, Jethro?”
“The aviators are enough.” He shrugged. “Everyone in SF is too cool for school, no one cares about me.”
“I don’t know about that. There are a lot of rich people, but they’re nerds. Trust me, they care.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I had a driver drop me off right outside the door. Cool bar. Do you come here often?”
“That sounds like a pickup line.”
“Maybe I'm trying to pick you up, hmm? Have you considered that?”
“Can you pick someone up that you’ve already had sex with?” I laughed then and he grabbed my hands and squeezed my fingers.
“Thanks for meeting up with me. I’m sorry for how I ended things.”
“You mean throwing two thousand dollars at me?” I gave him my angriest stare.
“Yes.” He sighed deeply. “That wasn’t my proudest moment.”
“I agree. I’m worth a lot more than two thousand dollars,” I said with a small wink and he dropped my hands and leaned back and started laughing harder than I’d seen him laugh before. “What’s so funny? You don’t think I’m worth more?”
“I’m not laughing at you. I think you’re worth way more than two thousand dollars. I’m just surprised that you’re even talking to me and joking with me. I didn’t expect you to be so nice.”
“Nice? Is that a word that means anything?” I said, but I knew what he meant. I had surprised myself as well. I hadn’t planned on even smiling at him.
“Hey, I’m Sarah. Did you guys have a chance to look at the menus yet or do you need a minute?”
“Can we have a moment?” I said with a small smile. She nodded and backed away. “Do you want to get a drink?”
“I do. Is the food here good?”
“As good as you can get at an Irish Pub that’s not in Ireland.”
“What are you getting to eat?”
“Is that really what you came here to talk about, Zach?” I folded my hands and leaned forward on the table. I wasn’t going to let him flirt his way out of this one. Something about him just made me enjoy being around him. I felt a lightness when I was with him that I hadn’t felt in years, and that scared me. I didn’t like someone having power over me like that, especially him. He had too much power to hurt me, he already had, and I didn’t want to be hurt anymore. I had way too much going on in my life for that.
“No.” he stood up and then he got down on his knees and stared up at me. My heart was thudding now, racing so fast that I thought that I was going to have a heart attack. There was no way that he was going to propose, was there? Oh God, I could feel myself starting to panic. What if he proposed? I mean he was an actor. Didn’t they call it Hollyweird? Didn’t actors get married really quickly sometimes?
