Saint James, Elle - Unbridled and Unbound [The Double Rider Men's Club 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (22 page)

* * * *

Tyler sat in front of the clock, staring intently and waiting patiently for Stella to show up. She’d said she would be here no later than eleven thirty, but as the clock struck one o’clock, he figured she wasn’t going to make it.

The lunch had been an impromptu one, scheduled directly before Dominick left on a short business trip to Montana for a couple of nights. Tyler had also invited her to come back to the ranch after work if lunch was too difficult to manage.

She’d seemed confident she could get away for a bit of lunch. But perhaps her Monday hadn’t gone according to plan.

A growing voice in his head told him he should let her go and stop chasing her. If she wanted to hang out with them while they still lived in Colorado, she would. If a future breakup due to them moving back to their own property seemed too difficult, they’d all agreed it would be better not to get totally involved right now.

But after Dominick left, Stella had seemed so content to see where things led. She told them she needed to keep her job for three years. He didn’t know why. But that after that period of time, she might be in the mood to travel.

Three years was a long time to spend away from Montana, but Tyler was ever optimistic they could make it work. If Stella wanted to. Her lunchtime no-show made him more nervous than he was willing to admit.

Bottom line, he didn’t want to say good-bye yet.

Before he’d left, Dominick told him not to be overbearing. As if.

He checked his cell phone for the umpteenth time, looking for a text message, and finally gave up and called her office number at work. Perhaps an unexpected meeting had come up. She did say she was a workaholic in a place that demanded lots of her time. But he was disappointed not to see her today.

After leaving three messages at her work, three more on her cell phone, and two on her home phone, he figured he’d covered all his bases, and she thought of him as a pesky stalker now. The police would soon have copies of his repeated and more and more desperate phone calls for the trial on his crime of being completely overbearing and stalker-like.

He sent his gaze skyward and shook his head. What was he doing? Dominick would kick his ass if he could see him waiting around, watching a clock, and sending copious numbers of messages without hearing a response.

After spending a luxurious weekend fucking their respective brains out, their serious discussion regarding a future coincided with Dominick leaving this morning.

They’d been straightforward about the semitemporary nature of their stay at the DRMC ranch in Colorado, and the land they owned in Montana that they hoped to return to eventually once things were straightened out with this club property. She seemed to understand.

Perhaps they’d read her wrong. Maybe her independent streak didn’t allow for temporary relationships. Completely mad for her, Tyler promised himself he’d give her a bit of space this afternoon.

Tyler decided to take care of his ranch chores and promised himself he wouldn’t check again until later tonight. Six o’clock. Or maybe five would be better. Didn’t she leave work around five thirty?

Upon reflection as he hustled through his chores, Tyler wondered if she hadn’t just been being polite at his request for company.

Dominick had cautioned him to give her space, but he hadn’t listened. The second Dominick had left for the airport, he’d cornered Stella with a seductive kiss and a reminder invitation for a sexy lunch to break up her day. He told her he’d give
her
a blow job like her orally fixated employers, if she wanted.

She laughed and told him she looked forward to it.

Once he’d finished all the things on the ranch that needed to be done, plus Dominick’s chores as well, Tyler took a long, hot shower and contemplated his next move.

Should he leave her alone or not give up in his effort to pursue her no matter what it took to see her?

Easy choice.

Pursuit.

Tyler got dressed and looked up the law firm Stella worked for. He dialed the central number and asked for her, ready to pretend he had some sort of legal issue only she could solve for him.

“Is Ms. Gilbert in today? I really need just a quick minute of her time.” Tyler tried to sound businesslike in his urgent tone. The phone receptionist paused for a long space of time at the mention of Stella’s name.

She soon cleared her throat and said slowly, “I’m sorry, sir, she’s not currently in the building. Is there someone else that could help you?” Tyler glanced at the clock. Five twenty in the afternoon.

“No. It must be her. Has she left for the day? Could you leave her a message to call me when she gets back?”

Another long pause and what sounded like some whispers in the background that he couldn’t make out. “Unfortunately, sir,” she continued in practically a whisper, “she won’t be back.”

“Thanks.” He hung up the phone. Well, if she’d already left for the day and wasn’t already here, it meant he’d been too pushy after all.
Damn it
.

She was likely avoiding his calls and wondering how to tell him she didn’t want to further their relationship. His continued calls had to be making everything that much worse. She was so nice, she probably didn’t want to hurt their feelings.

As much as it would pain him, he knew what he needed to do. He’d go see her in person and straighten things out once and for all. Clay knew where she lived. He’d get the address and go see her in person to do the right thing. Dominick might actually be proud of him for being so adult about this issue when Tyler truly wanted to simply wrap her up and hide her in his bedroom bound to his bed for all eternity.

The fact that she hadn’t called or shown up today at lunch seemed to indicate she was didn’t want to continue in their lifestyle. However, if she didn’t want to continue the relationship, he’d be the one to break it off so she didn’t have to. He didn’t want her to suffer with the decision to end things.

He’d man up and do it himself.

Chapter Twelve

Stella lumbered out of bed after several hours of justifiably feeling very sorry for herself. She made her way to the kitchen for water to rehydrate. Fatigued from the seemingly endless crying jags, she actually hadn’t slept at all.

Oh, she’d closed her eyes several times trying to calm down, but the nightmare that was her current life kept intruding and spilling into her consciousness, keeping any rest at bay.

She looked down at her clothing. Wrinkled and messy, her garments might have fared better if she hadn’t lounged around in them all day wallowing in her own self-pity.

A lone bottle of water rested on the top shelf of her refrigerator. She grabbed the bottle, took a long sip of cool water, and shuffled into the living room. Night had descended, although it really wasn’t very late. The television was still tuned to the Home and Garden channel where she’d left it from earlier.

Watching a team of folks transform a ho-hum landscape into a spectacular one made Stella’s eyes fill. How could she even have a drop of moisture left in her body?

The doorbell startled her and she hoped there wasn’t going to be more bad news from her landlady. If she had to even think about leaving before the end of next month she was going to run screaming down the snowy streets and bury herself in the nearest snowbank head first.

A rapid-fire knock came on the heels of the final chime of the bell.

“I’m coming,” she called out bitterly.
Sheesh. Keep your pants on
.

Through the peephole she saw salvation in the form of an agitated Tyler. Realizing she’d completely forgotten to call him earlier once she got the final straw regarding her housing situation, Stella was grateful he’d tracked her down at home. She truly needed a shoulder to cry on.

She wrenched the door open and stared. She couldn’t believe he’d come all the way here.

His expression was unusually clouded. He started to speak, but then glanced up at her face and stopped himself. She probably looked a mess. He returned his gaze to the threshold of her apartment.

Fearful that if she spoke even one word she’d lose it and sob herself into a puddle, Stella motioned him inside and pointed to a chair. He didn’t seem to notice she hadn’t spoken.

“I can’t stay long,” he said as he crossed the threshold.

She closed the door and also decided that if she touched him, she’d break down, too. She was just so glad he was here. Especially after she’d stood him up for both lunch and dinner without so much as a text message in explanation.

“Tyler—” She began trying to figure which of the many pieces of horrible news she’d suffered through today to tell him first.

Face pointed at the living room rug, Tyler cut her off. “Listen, I won’t keep you, I just wanted to tell you in person that I’ve had a great time with you. I know Dominick has, as well.” He stopped talking and a long sigh escaped.

Stella took a step closer, intending to fall into his arms, but he moved away. He hadn’t even looked at her since he’d been in here. What was going on?

“Given that Dominick and I will only be residing in Colorado for another year.” He crossed his arms and shook his head slightly before continuing, “I think it’s better if we call it quits before we get in too deep. I know you’ve probably been trying to think of a way to say the same thing all day, and why you didn’t come over, so I decided to come here save you the trouble.”

Stella threw the bottle of water overhand and slammed it against her front door. The plastic broke open at the abuse and sprayed moisture on the door the wall and at her feet. “What the fuck, Tyler!” she fairly screamed.

He’d jumped at the crash and finally looked up at her face. A visible look of confusion was soon covered by one of concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Really? Are you serious? What’s wrong? Besides the fact that you just broke up with me after the suck-fest of a day I’ve had, you mean?”

She stalked to the kitchen and grabbed the linen towel on the counter. Before she could return to the front door to wipe up the water, Tyler had followed her. He pinned her against her double pantry doors with his sizable, firm body and held her in place.

“Have you been crying?”

Stella pushed at him. “Get off of me.” But he didn’t budge.

“No. Tell me about your suck-fest of a day and why your eyes are swollen and red.”

“Why should I? You said it was better if we called it quits.”

Tyler’s eyes narrowed. He pushed out a sigh. “I expected you at lunch and then at dinner at the ranch. I left you several messages, both voice and text, at your home and your cellular with no response from you all damn day long. I even looked up the number for your work and called there looking for you, but you’d already left for the day.”

She squirmed at the mention of her workplace, but he still wouldn’t let her go. The tears were welling up in her soul. She wasn’t going to be able to hold them in much longer.

“What happened to you today, Stella? I was truly worried about you,” he whispered, and kissed her temple with such tender care, she lost it.

A lone sob shook her body and she sucked in a quick, weepy breath, and then reiterated every horrible event. “I got fired today. And the full balance of the loan I secured to take care of my mother right before she died was handed to me instead of any kind of severance pay. I’d planned to work at that fucking place for three more years to pay it off. And, worst of all, if I don’t pay the huge balance in thirty days, they’ll prosecute me as per the fine print I didn’t notice when I signed it as my mother was dying.

“They came and took my rental car a day early because I misread the date it was due back. When I got home, my landlady told me she sold the apartment building I’m living in. So now I have thirty days to find a new place and move because the new owners will be leveling the place in order to put up condominiums I won’t be able to afford, even if I was willing to wait for them to be built.

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