“Damn it, Rory! Wake up!” Ian yelled.
My eyes flew open. I was out of breath. My heart was racing and the only thing I could do was throw my arms around Ian’s neck and beg him to hold me. I broke down and sobbed as I buried my face into his neck. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he held me tight.
“Shh, it was only a dream. Calm down. No one is going to hurt you anymore,” he whispered as he kissed the side of my head. “Come on; let’s get you back in bed,” he said as he lifted me up and carried me.
As soon as he laid me down, he sat on the edge of the bed and began pushing the strands of my hair behind my ear. “You have nothing to fear.”
“I need to find him, Ian. He’s crying out for help. I can feel it. He’s in trouble.”
As he gave me a warming look, he ran the back of his hand along my cheek. “We’ll talk about this in the morning. Get some sleep,” he said as he got up from the bed.
When he started to walk away, I reached out and grabbed his hand. I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted him to stay with me and comfort me. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed him at that moment.
“Please stay with me tonight.”
Ian turned around and looked at me. I could see the hurt in his eyes as he spoke, “I’m sorry, Rory, but I can’t.” He walked out of the room, leaving me there, scared, lonely, and starving for comfort. I began to get the impression that I wasn’t the only one who was shattered.
The next morning, I got out of bed, showered, and headed downstairs. As I walked into the kitchen, Ian was just walking through the door. He had just come back from a run. He was dripping in sweat and he looked even sexier. I quickly diverted my eyes to the coffee pot because I couldn’t face him after last night. I was hurt and confused by his actions. One minute, he was all over me and the next, he was pulling away.
“Good morning. How did you sleep?” he asked as he wiped his face with a towel.
“Not good,” I replied as I poured some coffee into my cup.
“How are you getting to work?”
“I’m going to call a cab.”
“A cab costs money. Something you don’t have any of. Joshua will drive you in or you can take one of the cars if you know how to drive.”
“You have cars?”
“Yeah, I have three of them. Actually, Joshua will drive you in and I’ll drive myself to work.”
I gave him a small smile as I took a sip of my coffee and waited for Joshua to show up.
“I need to go and shower. Good luck today,” he said as he turned and walked away.
Something was off with Ian Braxton that morning. He was moody. I’d already picked up on that, but there was more going on with him than he was letting on.
Joshua walked into the kitchen and smiled. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah. Just let me grab my purse.”
As I sat in the back of the limo, I pulled out my phone and pulled up Adalynn’s name. I sent her a text message, telling her about my new job. A few moments later, she replied.
“That’s great news, Rory. To celebrate, I’m taking you to dinner. Text me with the time you get off and I’ll pick you up.”
“Thank you. But that’s not necessary, Adalynn.”
“Nonsense. I’ll be there and you better be hungry.”
“Fine. But next time, I’m paying.”
“Deal.”
I asked Joshua to drop me off around the corner because I didn’t want to risk Ollie and Jordyn seeing me step out of the limo. They would begin to ask questions and I wasn’t ready to answer them. I walked through the door of Java Hut and saw Jordyn standing behind the counter with a big grin on her face.
“Welcome, Rory! You have no idea how excited I am that you’re part of the Java Hut team!”
“Thanks. I’m happy to be here.” I smiled.
Jordyn showed me around the coffeehouse and showed me how to work the register. It was pretty much the same cash register I used back in Indiana, so it only took a few minutes to learn.
“Where’s Ollie?” I asked.
“He’s still at home sleeping. He doesn’t come in for another couple of hours.”
“The two of you live together?”
“Yeah, we’ve been dating on and off for about four years.” She smiled. “Oh, by the way, do you have your address?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said as I grabbed my purse from under the counter and took out the small piece of paper.
Jordyn looked at it and then at me. She looked back down at the address and then at me again. “This is where you live?”
“Yes. Why?”
She started to speak, but couldn’t. It was funny watching her try to spit out the words. “This is Ian Braxton’s address. You’re staying with him?”
Fuck. How the hell does she know that’s his address? I looked down as I nodded my head. “Yes, I’m staying with Ian. How do you know his address?”
“I’m a journalism student at UCLA and I did an interview with him about three months ago for the university magazine. His office was under construction, so we did the interview at his house. Are you dating him?”
Great. I hadn’t even been there twenty minutes and the questions about my life were already starting. “No, Ian and I are not dating. We’re just friends and he was kind enough to let me stay with him because I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“He’s a very intimidating man. Have you met his father yet?”
“No,” I said.
Jordyn laughed. “That man is piece of work, let me tell you. While I was interviewing Ian, his father came over and rudely interrupted our meeting. He told me that I was insignificant and to step outside while he had a conversation with his son. I’d never met anyone so rude in my life.”
“Ian’s never talked about his family,” I said.
“How long have you been staying with him?” Jordyn asked.
I knew if I answered, more questions would be asked, and I didn’t want to get into it with a girl I’d only known a day. In fact, I didn’t want to get into it with anyone.
“Only a couple of weeks. I’m just a guest and I barely see him.”
A rush of people walked through the door, and that distracted Jordyn from asking me any further questions. Ollie came in as scheduled and the three of us got along well. I could easily see myself becoming friends with them. My shift had ended and I said goodbye to Jordyn and Ollie. Before I walked out the door, Jordyn handed me my schedule and, surprisingly, I had tomorrow off. I gave a wave goodbye and walked out of Java Hut. I saw Adalynn’s car parked at the curb and I climbed in with a smile on my face.